Management

Assignment 2 "A Critical Incident Occurring within the Workplace" Rationale The aim of this report is to analyze the process of project management and decision making within the early years sector. Also to look at alternative styles and approaches in effectively managing the workforce. I will evaluate theories of motivation and performance enhancement with relation to management. The report is on an incident that occurred in an early years setting. It involves a member of staff being victim to theft within the workplace. Critical Incident The critical incident that occurred within the workplace was theft. Money was stolen from an envelope that contained donations from staff members for another member of staff who was leaving the setting. The person to who was responsible for this money had left the opened envelope within the nursery in the baby unit kitchen. This kitchen is located inside the baby room and is assessable for the baby unit staff to use. The member of staff did not inform anyone she was leaving this money overnight and simply left the envelope containing £43 at 4pm when she had finished her shift. It was not until 8.30am the next day when the member of staff went to collect the envelope that she noticed a £20 note missing from the collection. The member of staff questioned the baby unit staff as to the whereabouts of this money and did they have any idea where it was. The staff that was on the morning shift said they had no idea the money was even there as it was put behind the back of the microwave. The member of staff then informed the manager that she had left the envelope there at 4pm the previous day as she has not got a locked cupboard in her room and felt this was a safe place to store it as she has use of this room throughout the day and is next door to her nursery room. She then explained that she had questioned staff to see if they had information or had seen anyone else entering the kitchen, which they had explained to her, they had not and as the kitchen is located within the baby room they always know who enters the room. What did the manager do' The manager's first reaction was to calm the member of staff as they were quite distressed. She then asked what had happened and what the situation was. The manager took note of what the member of staff said and asked what time the money had been left and what time she noticed money had been stolen. The member of staff informed the manager she had searched the kitchen numerous times and had not found the money, she also assured her that £43 was most defiantly in the envelope and there is no possible way a child or parent could have had access to this as it was put behind the microwave out of sight and reach. The manager then informed the member of staff it was down to her to speak to each member of staff in the nursery. The member of staff informed then manager that she had done this and no one knew where the money had gone. She informed the manager that she had left along with 3 other members of staff at 4pm and returned with these same 3 members of staff at 8am the following money. The practitioner involved said she had spoken to the cleaners via the telephone and they had only cleaned the floor in the kitchen as it’s not in their role to clean anywhere else within that room. The staff member then explained to the manager that she felt it was one of the other staff who had been on shift until 6pm, but informed her that they had all said they did not see the money there. The manager was not happy with the member of staff for making this assumption and told the staff member that money should not be getting left within rooms as it is a busy nursery with a high turnover of staff members. The manager said that if money is being collected in the nursery then she should be informed of this and it can be kept in the safe located in the office overnight. She then said there was nothing that could really be done as there is no way to prove that the money has been taken by a member of staff as we do also have cleaners that come in at 6am every morning. The manager explained that this is down to carelessness on her behalf and that the only thing she could do is to record it and hope it doesn’t happen again. Literature Search “A leader shapes and shares a vision which gives point to the work of others” (Handy, 1992) Communication is a key importance in effective management. Communication is our link to others (Steiner, 1999). It is the way we represent our thoughts and feelings to others, transport knowledge, solve problems and build relationships. Managers gain power from the proficient use of communication skills as they help others to feel encouraged, rewarded and optimistic. Effective communication is fundamental in the management role. Managers need to have the skills to be able to implement communication strategies so that communication between different stakeholders in the organisation works well. The practitioner involved in this incident felt that effective communication between herself and her manager was not met. The practitioner felt that the way in which the manager communicated with her left her feeling the incident was her fault and she had no one else to report this incident to. In many ways, effective communication is dependent on the leader’s sensitivity to other people’s needs to feel understood. In this instance, the manager involved did not have the skills gained to effectively ensure her staff member felt understood. There are many components to communication. Verbal communication skills, listening skills, telephone skills and non-verbal communication. In this incident it was the mangers verbal communication skills that had caused upset to her staff members. Effective communication is part of high-quality team work and depends on being able to share successes and to handle conflict openly and fairly. Developing trust within the team depends of team member’s capacity to communicate well with each other. As Cowley (1995) suggests: “.... Talking with other people is a complex task combining the giving and receiving of a range of messages, values and attitudes, not only through words but also through the looks, the gestures and the tones we use. We all communicate in different ways when we are with people, and it is important for us to have some awareness of the ways in which we communicate and how that feels to others, so that we are better and more clearly understood” (Cowley 1995:42) Cited in MILLER, L. ET el (2009) There are many qualities that are required to be a respectable leader or manager. A worthy manager must be able to think creatively to deliver a vision for the company and solve problems, be calm under pressure, make clear decisions, possess exceptional two-way communication skills, have the aspiration to accomplish great things, be well educated and knowledgeable about matters relating to the business and possess an air of authority. Managers deal with their employees in many different ways. Some are stern with their staff and like to be in thorough control, whilst others are more unperturbed and allow workers the freedom. There are three main categories of leadership styles: autocratic, paternalistic and democratic. Autocratic managers like to make all the crucial decisions and attentively supervise and control workers. Managers do not trust workers and simply give orders (one-way communication) that they expect to be obeyed. This approach relates to McGregor’s theory X view of workers. Paternalistic managers give more thoughtfulness to the social needs and understandings of their workers. Managers are concerned in how happy workers feel. They consult employees over issues and listen to their feedback or opinions. The manager will however make the actual decisions (in the best interests of the workers) as they believe the staffs still need direction and in this way it is still somewhat of an autocratic approach. A democratic style of management will put trust in employees and inspire them to make decisions. They will delegate to them the authority to do this and pay attention to their advice. This requires good two-way communication and regularly involves democratic discussion groups, which can offer useful suggestions and ideas. From looking at the above leadership styles it is clear to see that the manager involved in this incident is an autocratic leader. She is short tempered with her staff members and issues threats to make her staff members follow instructions. According to McGregor (1960) "Theory X" managers believe their employees dislike work and try to avoid it. "Theory Y" bosses feel that people do like work and value it as part of their lives. Some of the problems with this theory is that it make's assumptions about the employees. The two types of manager styles that McGregor (1960) describes could be seen as extremes, whereas in real life a blend of the two types of managering style is more likely. Managers Role Theft at work is generally considered to be an issue of serious misconduct which will justify dismissal, yet when you are a manager and you are faced with an instance of theft which nobody owns up to, it is hard to know what the next step of action to take is. Before any disciplinary steps are taken, a thorough investigation needs to be conducted. Employees are innocent until proven guilty. Stealing from your employers is not acceptable under any circumstances, and the main member of staff involved in this situation believes this to be true. When caught either in the act of stealing or when having to confess for one reason or another later, many employees cite the fact that the company made it so easy to do so and, therefore, the temptation was too good to resist. The surprising fact would seem to be that employees who have been caught stealing have not been under any real financial pressures to do so. The mangers role in this incident should be been to investigate the situation and speak to all staff members within the setting. Instead the manger put all blame on the innocent staff member who had been the victim of this incident. In dealing with the possibility of theft, the manager must seek to gather some kind of hard, tangible evidence that theft has occurred and that they can link that to a particular person. Accusing somebody of theft is a highly risky move to take unless you have hard evidence to back it up. The effect of the manager’s decision to not do anything about this at all left all staff members feeling confused and angry. Practitnors felt that an incident like this should not have been forgotten and it was not simply down to the member of staff whom the money had been stolen from to question each staff member. All staff within the nursery felt that it was the manager’s role to question staff about this incident. It left staff feeling demoralised, upset and angry about the whole situation. Conclusion In conclusion with completing this report it has given us a clear understanding of the different qualities required for effective management in the workplace. We have been able to identify the different styles of management and what styles work best within a workplace. In this particular incident the management style was that of a very autocratic manager, this being one who does not support staff and leaves the staff members feeling very demoralised and displeased. This style of management is to always the best to adopt when in a management position. It is always priority for a manager to ensure there staff team is content and working in a positive environment, especially within a nursery setting when working with children. Staff members who feel they are not supported by their manger will reflect there negativity felt in the way they work. Managers who want to motivate there staff members firstly need to get to know there staff members and take an interest in each team member as a person. Respectable managers will ensure that all team members have the opportunity to utilise their strengths and play to them. They will also ensure that weaknesses are addressed through staff training and appraisal. The early years practitioner involved felt very negative after this incident and was not supported in the correct way. Nothing really went well in this incident as nothing was solved and the early years practitioner involved was not able to do anything about this as she is not in a management position and is unable to formally interview all staff members involved. The manager did not make any other suggestions to her as what to do to prevent this from happening again apart from simply telling her to not be careless in the future. The manager could have suggested that she would look into installing closed circuit television (CCTV) into rooms within the nursery that the children do not have access to and where valuables could possibly be stored.