Leadership & Navigation 1 PDF

Effective HR leadership combines several critical skills: the ability to see opportunities and problems, to envision a different future and design a path toward it, to rally necessary support within the organization, and to manage initiatives that create measurable and sustainable benefits. Compete...

Effective HR leadership combines several critical skills: the ability to see opportunities and problems, to envision a different future and design a path toward it, to rally necessary support within the organization, and to manage initiatives that create measurable and sustainable benefits. Competency Connection Leadership Communication Relationship Management Business Acumen Analytical Aptitude The HR professional in this scenario helped her organization realign head count to optimize benefits costs and managerial efficiency. She used her Business Acumen and Analytical Aptitude competencies to understand the issue more fully and then used her Relationship Management and Communication skills to win support for and implement a solution. The HR professional is an HR director for a health and fitness business with multiple locations. The business typically has about 350 employees, although employment does predictably rise during vacation periods. The chief financial officer came to the HR director with an interesting and concerning observation: Head count had grown by 8% over the past year although no new department programs or specific positions had been added. Although the business was increasing its revenue, this situation might be depressing revenue growth. HR launched an investigation and discovered that hiring managers, across all departments, had allowed employees to reduce the number of hours they worked and then filled the open shifts with additional staff. The reasons for reduction in hours were varied, and sometimes they were understandable (for example, children’s school activities, the demands of other jobs they were holding, university class schedules). Sometimes an employee simply did not want to work nights or weekends. Instead of insisting that staff maintain the minimum number of hours required for their position, managers allowed employees to work fewer hours. Many managers commented that these were “good employees” or they had “worked here a long time” and the managers felt bad about letting them go because they could no longer work specific hours. At HR’s suggestion, the company implemented a temporary hiring freeze. To minimize panic, HR communicated with all employees through an e-mail. HR positioned the freeze as part of an efficiency study, not a tactic necessitated by poor revenue. The e-mail expressed pride in the workforce but described the unsustainable situation. Too many people were working too few hours. This put a strain on customer service since employees with low attendance were not available when a fitness center tried to change hours to meet customer needs. It strained company costs since all employees, without regard to the number of hours worked, enjoyed the benefits of fitness center membership for all family members. It also strained managers’ efficiency since they had to supervise more employees. As a result, during the coming months, HR would be working with departments to establish minimal expectations of hours worked for current and future hires. HR and managers would work with individual employees to meet these expectations. The HR director was able to draw on her knowledge of business needs and her understanding of the frequent time pressures on the company’s employees. The initiative also benefited from the culture that its leaders had created. The concept of sharing employees and working together across department lines was accepted enthusiastically. The Role of the Leader The term “human resource management” points immediately to the role of management skills for HR professionals. The 20th-century French management theorist Henri Fayol defined the functions of management as planning, organizing, staffing, directing, and controlling. These management skills are necessary for HR professionals to assist their organizations in implementing their strategies, but just as important as management skills is the ability to create an organizational environment that develops, releases, and includes team talents and perspectives. Daniel Goleman reported in the Harvard Business Review on research into the impact of different leadership styles on factors that help create motivation and engagement in a workplace. The research indicated that leadership style affects: Employees’ ability to make decisions that affect their work. Employees’ sense of responsibility to the organization or team. The standards employees seek to meet or exceed. Employees’ belief that they will be rewarded for their work. An understood mission and shared values.  A feeling of commitment to a shared goal. Because environments differ and situations change, HR professionals need to become more skillful at understanding their team needs and their organizations’ cultures and more flexible and thoughtful in being the leader that the situation calls for. They can then help other leaders in their organization to fulfill their roles more effectively. Approaches to Leading Six approaches to leadership are summarized in Exhibit 1-1. There is no single effective approach to leadership. Different approaches may be more or less effective in achieving results under certain conditions. The different approaches also have different effects on the organization’s environment. For example, coercive leadership may be effective at certain times but tends to weaken the workplace environment. Exhibit 1-1: Leadership Approaches Approach Suitability Coercive leadership: The leader Effective during crises when immediate and imposes a vision or solution on the clear action is required. team and demands that the team Ineffective at other times when it can damage follow this directive. employees’ sense of ownership in their work and motivation. Authoritative leadership: The Effective at times when there is no clear path leader proposes a bold vision or forward and when the proposal is compelling solution and invites the team to join and captures the team’s imagination. Team this challenge. members have a clear goal and understand their roles in the effort. They are encouraged to contribute their own ideas and take risks. Ineffective when the leader lacks real expertise. Affiliative leadership: The leader Effective at all times but especially when a creates strong relationships with leader has inherited a dysfunctional and and inside the team, encouraging dispirited team that needs to be transformed. feedback. The team members are Leader must have strong relationship-building motivated by loyalty. and management skills. Ineffective when used alone. For example, opportunities to correct or improve Approach Suitability performance may not be taken because the affiliative leader fears damaging a relationship. Democratic leadership: The Effective when the leader does not have a clear leader invites followers to vision or anticipates strong resistance to a collaborate and commits to acting change. Team members must be competent; by consensus. leaders must have strong communication skills. Ineffective when time is short, since building consensus takes time and multiple meetings. Pacesetting leadership: The Effective when teams are composed of highly leader sets a model for high competent and internally motivated performance standards and employees. challenges followers to meet these Ineffective when expectations and the pace of expectations. work become excessive and employees become tired and discouraged. In the leader’s attempt to set high goals, he or she may focus exclusively on the task and not give enough time to activities that motivate team members, such as feedback, relationship building, and rewards. Coaching leadership: The leader Effective when leaders are highly skilled in focuses on developing team strategic management, communication, and members’ skills, believing that motivation and when they can manage their success comes from aligning the time to include coaching as a primary activity. organization’s goals with Team members must also be receptive to employees’ personal and coaching. professional goals. Ineffective when employees resist changing their performance. It is important to recognize the difference between coaching and mentoring. Mentoring helps an employee navigate and understand the organization, which in turn can help them determine a career path. It is an approach to people management focused on both character and fostering skills. When a relationship is based on more than just a future promotion, the mentor can help the mentee invest in and develop their self-awareness, empathy, confidence, respect for others, and relationship-building skills. A mentoring relationship is most effective when the mentor has time to commit to the relationship and when the mentee is after more than just career advancement. Universal Characteristics of Leaders The importance of certain leadership characteristics will vary among cultures, but in general effective leaders draw their authority less from their hierarchical positions and titles and more from personal characteristics and skills. They achieve results through their teams and share recognition and opportunities for growth with team members. They are not “solo leaders” who must direct everything. Effective leaders tend to be trustworthy, ethical, motivational, efficient, collaborative, and focused on continuous improvement. Ineffective leaders are focused on their own needs and goals, poor at developing and sustaining relationships, and given more to ordering and demanding. Exhibit 1-2 lists characteristics associated with effective and ineffective leaders. Exhibit 1-2: Universal Leadership Characteristics Universal Characteristics That Define Universal Characteristics That Detract from Leadership Leadership Trustworthy and dependable Asocial (doesn’t value relationships) Just Poor at communicating (both sending and receiving messages) Honest Noncooperative Thinks and plans ahead Irritable Encouraging Egocentric Positive Ruthless Dynamic Dictatorial Motivational Confidence building Decisive Committed to excellence Universal Characteristics That Define Universal Characteristics That Detract from Leadership Leadership Intelligent and informed Effective, win-win bargainer Administratively skilled Communicative Organized Although leaders’ personal styles may differ, management experts agree about the behaviors that distinguish effective and ineffective leadership in organizations and in the HR function. Effective HR leaders: Develop and coach others. Build positive relationships. Model their values and fulfill their promises and commitments. Have functional expertise. Ineffective HR leaders: Focus internally rather than externally, failing to look outside the HR function to the organization’s internal and external stakeholders. Lack strategic perspective, focusing on short-term objectives and daily tasks. Do not anticipate or react well to change. Resist “stretch” goals and act as a drag on the organization’s attempts to innovate. Leadership Theories Although approaches to leadership can change, individuals often develop a “default” style of leadership. Understanding theories of leadership can help HR professionals to identify these default styles—in themselves and in those they work with, both inside and outside the organization—and to plan ways to adapt their own styles or to work effectively with a colleague with a different style. Exhibit 1-3 summarizes key points of several leadership theories. Exhibit 1-3: Leadership Theories Theory Description Trait Theory Leaders possess certain innate characteristics that followers do not possess (and probably cannot acquire), such as physical characteristics (for example, strength, stamina) and personality traits (for example, decisiveness, integrity). Sometimes referred to as the “Great Man” theory. It equates these characteristics and leadership but without evidence. It may discourage leader development by implying that the ability to lead cannot be acquired with study and practice. Behavioral Theories Leaders influence group members through certain behaviors. Blake-Mouton Leadership involves managing: Theory o Tasks (work that must be done to attain goals). o Employees (relationships based on social and emotional needs). Five types of managers, only one of which (team leader) is considered a leader: o Country club managers (low task, high relationship) create a secure atmosphere and trust individuals to accomplish goals, avoiding punitive actions so as not to jeopardize relationships. o Impoverished managers (low task, low relationship) use a “delegate-and-disappear” management style. They detach themselves, often creating power struggles. o Authoritarian managers (high task, low relationship) expect people to do what they are told without question and tend not to foster collaboration. o Middle-of-the-road managers (midpoint on both task and relationship) get the work done but are not considered leaders. Theory Description o Team leaders (high task, high relationship) lead by positive example, foster a team environment, and encourage individual and team development. Situational Building on behavioral theories, situational theories propose that Theories leaders can flex their behaviors to meet the needs of unique situations, employing both task or directive behaviors and relationship or supportive behaviors with employees. Hersey-Blanchard Leaders adapt their behaviors to meet the evolving needs of Situational team members. Like Blake-Mouton, the behaviors involve Leadership tasks and relationships. As team members grow in skill and experience, leaders supply the appropriate behavior: 1. Telling when the employee is not yet motivated or competent. 2. Selling when the increasingly competent employee still needs focus and motivation (“why are we doing this”). 3. Participating when competent workers can be included in problem solving and coached on higher skills. 4. Delegating when very competent team members can benefit from greater levels of autonomy and self- direction. Fiedler’s Leaders change the situation to make it more “favorable,” Contingency Theory more likely to produce good outcomes. “Situation favorableness” occurs when: o Leader-member relationships are strong. o Task structure and requirements are clear. Theory Description o The leader can exert the necessary power to reach the group’s goal. Unfavorable situations must be changed to improve group (and leader) effectiveness. This can include: o Improving relations between the leader and the team (for example, by building trust). o Changing aspects of the task (for example, breaking a project down into more manageable pieces, providing more resources for the team). o Increasing or decreasing the leader’s exercise of power (for example, to increase team involvement in and ownership of ideas, to decrease harmful conflict or resistance to change). Path-Goal Theory This theory emphasizes the leader’s role in coaching and developing followers’ competencies. The leader performs the behavior needed to help employees stay on track toward their goals. This involves addressing different types of employee needs: Directive—Help the employee understand the task and its goal. Supportive—Try to fulfill employee’s relationship needs. Achievement—Motivate by setting challenging goals. Participative—Provide more control over work and leverage group expertise through participative decision making. Emergent Theory Leaders are not appointed but emerge from the group, which chooses the leader based on interactions. Transactional This theory emphasizes a leader’s preference for order and structure. Leadership It focuses on control and short-term planning. Employees and subordinates are expected to follow orders from above. Theory Description Employees and subordinates are motivated by rewards and consequences. Employees and subordinates are closely monitored to ensure that work is done properly and on time. Creativity and inventiveness are not typically encouraged or nurtured. Transactional leadership is more commonly found in the military and large and multinational organizations. Transformational This theory emphasizes a leader’s ability to inspire employees to Leadership embrace change. Transformational leaders are able to encourage and motivate their employees to innovate in their work, to seek out changes that can add value and growth to the organization. Transformational leaders do not micromanage. They give their employees greater autonomy to make decisions and come up with creative solutions. A leader will also lead by example, exemplifying moral and ethical standards and values, and encourage the same from others. This leadership approach also encourages communication, cooperation, and collaboration with others and can use mentorship to help raise up future transformational leaders. Leader-Member This theory focuses on a two-way relationship between leaders and Exchange Theory chosen employees. The leader mentors a selected team member (or members) and gives them access to more information and resources in order to strengthen levels of trust and support. This mentorship is intended to maintain the leader’s position through the development of different two-way relationships. This type of relationship can contribute to growth and productivity but can also create in- and out-groups within the team. The in-group may tend to strengthen and support the leader’s decisions and position due to their closer relationship. Members of the out-group Theory Description may lag in development and productivity if they perceive that they are excluded or neglected. Servant Leadership The leaders’ goal is to serve the needs of their employees. This theory emphasizes the sharing of power. Leaders should work to help their employees develop and perform to the highest possible level, and this will generate benefits within and without the organization. It is a way of inverting the organizational/leadership norm of bottom-up service. Servant leaders tend to be more empathetic and more trusted by employees. This can lead to greater innovation, collaboration, performance, and participation. This approach to leadership can be more resource-intensive and can take longer to produce results.