Employee

1. Know the statutory responsibilities and rights of employees and employers within own area of work

List the aspects of employment covered by law

The law in UK covers the following aspects:

Minimum wage, Hours worked, Discrimination, Health and safety, Holiday entitlements, Redundancy and dismissal, Training, Disciplinary procedures, Union rights and consultation, among many others. Labour law covers the deal between employee and employer, Health and safety cover the work conditions, and minimum wage and other law set basic compensation levels. Within our area of work we also have the Disability Act, Manual Handling Operations and Regulations, Data Protection Act, The Medicine Act, General Social Care Council code 2001, RIDDOR 1995 and more.

List the main features of current employment legislation Pay

• Being paid and payslips
• Company sick pay rights
• Performance-related pay
• Employment contracts and conditions
• Contracts of employment
• Changes to employment conditions
• Breach of contract
• The National Minimum Wage
• The National Minimum Wage rates
• Calculating the National Minimum Wage: the basics
• Help getting paid the National Minimum Wage
• Time off and holidays
• Annual leave and holidays
• Time to train, request time at work to learn new skills
• Time off for dependants
• Working hours
• Working time limits /the 48-hour week/
• Rest breaks
• Overtime
• Flexible working
• Te right to request flexible working
• Working form home
• Part-time work
• Sickness absence
• Time off for sickness
• Statement of Fitness for Work /fit note/
• How work can keep you healthy
• Business transfers and takeovers
• Employment protection during business transfers and takeovers Transfers of employment contracts

1.3 Outline why legislation relating to employment exists

To ensure a more cost efficient and safer working environment. There is an increasing responsibility for employers to protect the health and safety of their employees. To protect workers, to guide, regulate and set standards, to provide rights and restrictions on workers and management though a legal relationship.

Indentify sources and types of information and advice available in relation to employment responsibilities

When I need information and advice with regards to employment responsibilities and rights, I can find these within my contract provided by my employer and the start of my employment, or I can find this information written within my staff handbook . There are policy documents available within my work place. I can also ask member of staff if I am unsure of my responsibilities.

2. Understand agreed ways of working that protect own relationship with employer

Describe the terms and conditions of own contract of employment

With regards to the terms and conditions of my contract it states the date on with my continuous employment began, the Place of work, Duties, Salary per hour, Working hours per week, Holidays, Holiday Pay, Sickness Absence Policy, Pension, Probation Period, Rights to Notice, Smoking, Data Protection Act 1998, Maternity rights; Ante/natal care, Maternity leave, Statutory Maternity Pay, Adoption Leave & Pay, Statutory Paternity Pay, Parental leave, Time off to care for dependants, Retirement, Right to Search, Short Time Working, Lay Offs & Redundancies, Extended Leave,

Variation of Terms and Conditions, Contradiction Between These Terms & Conditions and my Individual Employment Letters, Intellectual Rights, Use of The Internet, Email, Company Rules, Disciplinary Procedures, Principles, Table of Disciplinary Offences and Penalties, The Procedure, Stage One – Verbal Warning, Stage Two – Written Warning, Stage three – Final Written Warning, Stage four / Dismissal, Appeals Procedure, Other Dismissals, The formal grievance procedure, Equal Opportunities Statement, Anti-Harassment Statement, Management’s Responsibility, Additional information, Restrictive Covenants.

Describe the information shown on own pay statement

On my own pay slip I have my full name, the name of the company that employs me, Tax period, Interval, Date, Staff ID number, NI Number, NI Code, Tax Code, PAYE Reference, Taxable Gross, Gross to Date, Tax to Date, Employer’s NI, Employer’s Pension, NI Gross, Net Pay.

Describe the procedures to follow in event of a grievance

If I have grievance relating to my employment, I should attempt to resolve this informally by speaking with your line manager. If, however, I fail to get a satisfactory resolution within a period of 5 days of speaking with my manager of if my grievance is about my manager and I do not wish to discuss it with him or her, the Company has a formal grievance procedure. If I have a complaint, which cannot be resolved, it is essential that I use this procedure in all circumstances.

Identify the personal information that must be kept up to date with own employer

Employees personal data should be kept safe, secure and up to date by an employer. Data an employer can keep about an employee includes name, address, date of birth, sex, education and qualifications, work experience, National Insurance number, tax code, details of any known disability, emergency contact details.

They will also keep details about an employee such as: employment history with the organisation, employment terms and conditions (pay, hours of work, holidays, benefits, and absence), any accidents connected with work, any training taken, and any disciplinary action. Each types of personal information must be kept up to date all the time with my employer will be: Change of name, marital status, address, GP, Next of Kin, nationality, change of sex.

Explain agreed ways of working with employer

The Policies and procedures based on sector standards and guidelines and individuals care plans. To implement agreed ways of working I follow the care plan. Duty of care is the obligation I have to exercise a level of care towards an individual, as is reasonable in all the circumstances, to avoid injury to that individual or his/her property. Dilemma can occur when an individual makes a risky choice. They have a right to do this and I must respect and support their choices but I also have a duty to keep them safe.

3. Understand how own role fits within the wider context of the sector

Explain how own role fits within the delivery of the service provided

Maintain high standards of care and service toward service users. Assist service users in maintaining their personal hygiene, washing and dressing, toileting, shaving male residents, going to bed, promote independence and dignity, and assist in enabling to live their chosen lifestyle. Report complaints directly to the Manager in charge as son as they are made.

Explain the effect of own role on service provision

Our work is on one to one basic. Provide good quality of care, promote independent and dignity, assist in enabling to live their chosen lifestyle, makes clients happy and keep them in good living condition, make them to live longer, by this thing we can increase peoples confident in the Health and Social Care sector. I work in a care home as a care assistant. My responsibilities includes: assist the residents with personal care, dressing and feeding, helping them to move around, incontinence care, generally assisting with overall comfort, monitoring conditions.

Describe how own role links to the wider sector

I work in a care home where I take care of elderly and mentally ill people suffering from dementia. Old and demented people have problem with loss of short-term memory. I see people as individuals, focus on their strengths, treat them with dignity and respect, and protect the individual from abuse, injury and harm.

Describe the main roles and responsibilities of representative bodies that influence the wider sector

The main roles of these representative bodies are: to represent the people and be their voice in the senate, to be able assist the people they represent in asserting their humanitarian rights, to ensure that their government’s financial allocation for the sector they represent is enough basing on their immediate or basic needs.

Representative bodies my include: government departments, professional bodies, trade unions, sector skills councils, regulatory bodies, consumer groups. European Union is our representative bodies. The employee must again take all reasonable steps to attend the appeal meeting and will have the right to be accompanied by a trade union representative or fellow employee of his or her choice.

4. Understand career pathways available within own and related sectors

Explore different types of occupational opportunities

Different types of occupational opportunities for example: social worker, specialist, speech therapist, General Practitioner, children social worker, care specialist, Manager, Adult nursing, Child nursing, Mental health nursing, Learning disabilities nursing.

Identify sources of information related to a chosen career pathway

Sources of information: internet, books, Code of Practice, media /TV, radio, magazines, Newspapers/, individuals, training, Alzheimer’s Society, Supportive care for the Person with Dementia – edited by Julian C. Hughes, Mari Lloyd-Williams, Greg A. Sachs

Identify next steps in own career pathway

I would like to complete the upcoming courses and become a manager in a care home.

5. Understand how issues of public concern may affect the image and delivery of services in the sector

Identify occasions where the public have raised concerns regarding issues within the sector

Care home abuse and neglect is Britain’s next major scandal. The Panorama footage showed images of aggression and violence against residents at the care home, near Bristol. Staff pinned residents to the floor and forced one into the shower fully dressed and then outside until she shook from cold.

Outline different viewpoints around an issue of public concern relevant to the sector

The Government will give greater assurance to families that their complaints or concerns are being properly listened to. Anyone with worries about how their loved one has been treated at the end of their life will have access to an independent assessment of their case.

To support this independent assessment, the Government will make available a list of experts to provide local support for patients if needed – and all NHS hospitals will be asked to appoint a Board member with responsibility for overseeing any complaints about end of life care and for reviewing how end of life care is provided.

Describe how issues of public concern have altered public views of the sector

The bad practices and scandals in the social and health care sector arouse the public. People lose their confidence and keep their family members away from the care homes.

Describe recent changes in service delivery, which have affected own area of work

I like to work with service users alone when the situation and their health condition allows. My clients are suffering from dementia. They may become unusually emotional and experience rapid mood swings for no apparent reason, which may cause a dangerous situation. I make sure to call for help if necessary.

Introduction

This paper summarises the views of two authors on how job applicants or potential employees perceive selection procedures. Both articles focus on employees’ perceptions of selection methods.

Article 1: “Applicants Perceptions of Selection Procedures and Decisions: A Critical Review and Agenda for the Future”.

The first article is written by Ryan and Plolyhart (2000) and is titled “Applicants’ Perceptions of Selection Procedures and Decisions: A Critical Review and Agenda for the Future”. This article is motivated by the fact that low unemployment rates have increased the competition for employees, which has forced organisations to review the various components used in selecting job applicants and how job applicants’ perceptions of those procedures can affect the attractiveness of the organisation to potential employees. Another motivation for this study is the fact that there is lack of better research on applicant perspectives. Thirdly, the article notes that social justice theorists are looking for ways to apply social justice theory concepts to applicants’ perceptions of selection methods. Moreover, there is an increasing diversity in the workforce as well as racial differences in perception of selection procedures which can affect the manner in which job applicants perceive organisations and thus the attractiveness of those organisations to potential employees.

The article notes that one of the main assumptions of most research in this area is that the manner in which job applicants perceive selection procedures and processes affects the manner in which the applicant views the organisation and thus the decision on whether to apply for a job vacancy to that organisation or not. The article also suggests that differences in perceptions between minority and majority groups on certain selection procedures can account for some of the differences in job performance that is often observed between these two groups.

The article begins by reviewing the works of Schimittand Gilliland (1992) and Gilliland (1993). These studies develop a model which provides a link between between applicants’ perceptions of selection systems and situational factors and their subsequent “attitudes and behaviours” towards those organisations. The model postulates that applicants’ perceptions of the procedural justice system are influenced by situational characteristics. These characteristics include the type of test administered during the selection process, the human resource policy of the organisation and the behaviour of the human resource staff of the organisation. The overall fairness of the selection system is influenced by the degree to which the applicants’ perceptions of the procedural justice of the selection system meet the expectations of applicants. The framework further stipulates that applicants’ prior experiences with a selection system would affect the evaluation of the system. Distributive justice rules of equity, equality, and need have an impact on the perceptions of the distributive fairness of the final decision reached through the selection system. Distributive justice rules are in turn influenced by performance expectations and the salience of discrimination. In a nutshell, the framework concludes that there should be a relationship between outcomes such as “job application decisions, test motivation, self-esteem, self-efficacy, endorsement of the company’s products, job acceptance decisions, job satisfaction, and performance among others” and applicants’ perceptions of fairness of the selection process.

After reviewing the framework, the authors then move on to provide a critical review of the empirical literature and evaluating how they conform to the framework. The review focuses on four key areas including:

The perceptions that have been studied;
The factors that determine applicants’ perceptions;
The consequences of holding more positive or negative perceptions; and
The theoretical frameworks that have been presented.

With respect to the applicants’ perceptions that have been studied, the article notes that the most commonly researched perceptions include applicants’ feelings regarding degree to which the selection system is related to the job, feelings about the fairness of various aspects of the selection system and its associated outcomes, as well as feelings about test taking motivation.

The authors provide a critical review in this area and conclude that a major concern with most of these studies is that their constructs are imprecise with respect to the manner in which they are defined as well as the variability with which they are operationalised. As a result, the authors conclude that a better conceptualisation of research on test behaviours and on fairness is required to improve understanding. The authors however, admit that the work of Chan et al (1998) to a certain extent provides a link between test attitudes and perception of fairness although the study focused only on two concepts from each line of research. According to the authors, lack of an improved integration of studies on test attitudes on fairness and test attitudes makes understanding difficult. For example, it is difficult to determine whether potential employees who are more anxious perceive procedures are more unfair as opposed to those who are less anxious. In addition, it is difficult to determine whether beliefs about testing have a higher impact on perceptions of fairness of a procedure than characteristics of the procedure and selection situation itself. The author notes that notes that most test-taking attitude measures are perceptions of oneself (including motivation, anxiety, etc) while justice-related perceptions typically focus on the fairness of the test used in making hiring or rejection decisions. The authors argue that there should be a relationship between applicants’ motivation and anxiety and the justice-related perceptions.

The authors also suggest that it is important for other perceptions to be tested. Basically most of the studies under review focus on how the motivation or perceptions of applicants influence their perceptions of fairness. This approach neglects the impact of other perceptions of fairness that may be critical for the improvement of selection systems.

Article 2: “Fairness Reactions to Selection Methods: An Italian Study”.

This article is written by Bertolino and Steiner (2007). Like the first article, this article begins by reviewing the works of other authors who provide different conceptual frameworks on the relationship between applicants’ perceptions of fairness of selection systems and their attitudes and behaviours towards the organisations. This article cites the work of Schuler (1993) whose framework suggests that the reaction of applicants to a selection process is a function of the key characteristics of the selection techniques employed. In addition, the article reviews the work of Anderson and Ostroff (1997) who focus on the socialisation impact of selection methods. Like the first article, the second article also reviews the work of Gilliland (1993) who employ organisational justice theory to comprehend the reaction of applicants to selection systems.

Unlike the first article, which is based solely on a critical review of empirical literature on the reaction of applicants to selection systems as well as the underlying models of selection systems, the second article is based on both primary and secondary information. It begins by reviewing literature, and then conducts and exploratory study on the reaction of applicants to selection systems using a sample of 137 Italian students. The study is motivated by the fact that despite the presence of evidence on selection systems, most of the studies have been conducted in other countries with no attention given to Italy. The article notes that cultural differences may play an important role in the manner in which applicants perceive selection systems and thus their reaction to those systems as well as their attitudes towards the organisation. Based on the four dimensions of culture proposed by Hofstede (1980, 1991) (individualism vs collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity vs femininity, and power distance), the article suggests that it is possible for selection systems to be avoided by these four dimensions. For example, the article reviews the work of Ryan et al. (1999) who show that uncertainty avoidance can affect the selection practices of many countries. In addition, the study reviews the work of Triandis (1990) who argue that people from countries with high uncertainty avoidance prefer predictability, knowing what others will do, and having clear instructions and expectations. This means that employees who work in countries with high uncertainty avoidance should be more inclined towards engaging in structuring activities, including the standardisation of practices. On the contrary, those in countries with low uncertainty avoidance should be less committed to formal structures and should be prepared to accept spontaneous changes in practices.

The study employed a survey questionnaire to study the reaction of Italian student to selection systems. The questionnaire used in the study is the one developed by Steiner and Gilliland (1996) which presents 10 different selection methods used in the U.S or Europe. The questionnaire asked students to think about a job they would apply for upon completion of their course

Using a within-subject analysis of variance (ANOVA) the ratings of process favourability was compared across 10 selection methods. The evidence suggests that there are significant differences across the 10 selection methods. The selection method that received the most favoured rating was “work-sample test”. Resumes, written ability tests, interviews and personal preferences had the second favourable rating. Personality tests and biographical information blanks received a neutral rating while honesty tests and personal contacts received negative ratings.

The authors conclude that their results are similar to those obtained from other countries. In particular, they observe that employer’s right, opportunity to perform and face validity are the procedural dimensions that had a high correlation with process favourability for all four countries that were studied.

The two articles are similar in that they both begin by providing a theoretical framework on selection methods. Both articles provide the same theory which shows that there is a relationship between applicants’ perceptions and their reactions to selection systems. However, the first article differs from the second one in that it is based solely on the review of secondary literature. The article does not arrive on any conclusions with respect applicants reactions to selection systems. Rather, it identifies weaknesses in the literature and provides recommended procedures for improvement in future studies. On the contrary, the second article employs primary data to study how employees’ perceptions of selection systems affect their reactions to those systems. It compares findings to previous studies and concludes that culture has no significant impact on employees’ reaction to selection systems in Western countries. The study observes that the findings from France, Italy and other Western countries are similar to those obtained in studies from the United States. This shows that the different cultural dimensions mentioned in Hofstede (1981, 1990) do not influence the manner in which employees perceive selection systems which means that it does not affect the manner in which the react to those systems. The foregoing suggests that other factors may be affecting employees’ perceptions rather than culture.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Based on the discussion of the two articles above, one can conclude that employees’ perception of selection procedures influences the manner in which they behave towards the organisation and the decision to accept or reject an offer to work for a particular company. These perceptions may even influence the applicants other interactions with the company such as deciding to buy or not to buy the company’s products. The main difference between the two articles is that one focuses on criticising research on selection systems while one focuses on understanding how employees perceive selection systems across countries and how those systems affect their reaction. Based on this conclusion, it is important for organisations to note that the manner in which they design their selection system can affect the perception of applicants and as such affect the attractiveness of vacancies to potential applicants. Selection systems can even influence the ability of a company to attract qualified applicants. If employees have a negative perception about a particular company, they may not be motivated to apply for a vacancy in that company and this may make it difficult for the company to fill the vacancy with a qualified applicant. Consequently, employers should seek the most favourable selection systems so as to increase their ability to attract qualified applicants to their jobs. The first article shows that research on selection systems is limited. Therefore, this paper recommends that more research should be conducted on selection systems and how employees perceive those systems. By so doing one can provide better recommendations to employers to aid them in designing their selection systems.

References

Bertolino, M., Steiner, D. D. (2007) “Fairness Reactions to Selection Methods: An Italian study”, International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 15, Number 2

Ryan, A. N., Ployhart R. E. (2000) “Applicants Perceptions of Selection Procedures and Decisions: A Critical Review and Agenda for the Future”, Journal of Management, 26, 565-606

Abstract

The following research paper seeks to explore the correlation between employee involvement in decision-making processes within the organization and organization’s performance. The main focus remains to evaluate the existing academic literature to demonstrate evidence that employee involvement and participation initiatives produce tangible advantages for organizations. Hence, the research considers theoretical approaches towards the impact of employee participation on organization’s performance and examines empirical studies conducted on the subject stated above. The results of the following study are mixed. While chosen empirical cases show that direct forms of employee participation contribute to improved organization’s performance, such evidences have not been observed in reference to representative form of employee involvement.

Introduction

Over the past decades work reforms were implemented in order to guarantee humanistic patterns of work and to improve the quality of working life. As the global business environment started to become more competitive in the 1980s, major focus shifted towards the productivity and economic performance of the organizations. The organizations sought new avenues to gain competitive advantages over rival companies. According to the studies conducted in the 1980s by Gallup Organization, employees engaged in the company’s decision-making were more productive, customer-focused, profitable and more willing to stay and develop within the organization (Dicke, 2006). Hence, human capital started to be perceived as the company’s most important asset (Belanger, 2000). Currently a range of organizations including corporations, government agencies, schools and other non-profit organizations believe that employee involvement and participation are crucial to the good economic performance (Boxal & Purcell 2011). Employee participation contributes to the organization’s efficiency in two ways. First, it increases employee’s productivity. Second, it increases the company’s capacity to react quickly to changing business environment. Therefore, employee involvement as a part of Human Resources Management (HRM) practices became a subject of numerous academic researches over the last decades. The scholars from various fields in industrial relations developed various approaches and models in order to provide new evidences on the linkage between HRM and business performance (Gonzales, 2009).

The following research project examines the impact of employee involvement and participation on organization’s performance. First, the project defines a term ‘employment involvement and participation’ and demonstrates two concepts of measuring employee involvement. Further, the project discusses theoretical developments on the linkage between employee participation and organization’s performance. Finally, the project analyses empirical evidences of such relationships. The empirical study include the cases of direct and representative forms of employee participation.

Employee involvement – definition

Employee involvement, called also worker’s participation can be perceived as “a variety of processes and structures which enable, and at times encourage employees to directly and indirectly contribute to and influence decision-making in the firm and in the wider society” (Gonzales, 2009, p.8). The following definition indicates that there are various activities through which the employees can influence decision-making processes within the company. Generally, employee involvement can have a direct or indirect form. Direct involvement means that employees have an immediate influence on the decision-making processes within the company. Typical forms of direct involvement are employee surveys, team briefings, autonomous working groups or suggestion schemes (rewards for meeting company’s goals). Indirect involvement (representative involvement) means that a specific group which represents all employees is involved in the decision-making processes within the company. Common forms of indirect involvement are board representations, work councils or task forces (Eurofund, 2009). In turn, Gonzales (2009) classified employee involvement into three groups. These are informative, consultative and delegative participation. Informative participation refers to downwards communication within the organization. Employees have been given information top-down about the organization and its competitors, their own department or their individual performance. Information sharing includes open communication processes as well as information disclosure. Consultative participation regards various schemes developed by the management team to gain opinion of its employees and can have a form of individual meetings, team briefings and employees’ surveys. Delegative participation concerns various programmes which give employees capacity to make decisions on a particular set of issues and includes the forms such as problem-solving groups and semi-autonomous groups. Finally, Forth and Millward (2001) demonstrated three types of practices in reference to employee participation. These forms are individual supports (i.e. extensive information disclosure or specific training); task practices (i.e. quality circles or team work) and organizational supports (i.e. job security or employee share ownership).

A number of models measuring employee involvement and participation have been developed over the past decades. One of the most important seems to be a model presented by Marchington (2005). He identified four core aspects of employee participation within the company:

The degree of involvement: – this indicates the extent of involvement to which employees, either directly or through their representatives, may exert some form of influence on management decisions.
Scope: – the scope of management decisions that are open to influence by subordinate employees may differ depending on the subject matter and may range from trivial to strategic decisions.
The level: – the level at which the subordinates may be involved in management decisions varies substantially and can range from departmental level, through to division and headquarter level.
Forms of participation: – participation may be direct or indirect. Direct participation refers to the face-to-face involvement while, indirect participation occurs when workers are represented by trade unions in workers’ council or high-level consultation committees and through collective bargaining.

Another interesting model has been developed by Cox et.al. (2006). This model identified two dimensions of employee involvement, breadth and depth. Breadth regards a number of various employee involvement’s practices and programmes implemented in a work place. Using diversified but complementary schemes of employee participation leads to stronger impact on the company through mutual reinforcement. It also indicates that the management team aims to maximise the profits of employee participation. In turn, depth concerns the quality of employee involvement’s practices within the company. This measure indicates how embedded the employee participation’s practices are within the company. Both breadth and depth are important as they are strongly linked with organizational commitment and job satisfaction (Hayman & Mason 1995). That is, if employees’ views are taken into consideration and acted upon by the management, then they are more likely to demonstrate their commitment to the organization and indicate their satisfaction with their work. A major weakness of this measure is that the embeddedness of employee participation within the organization has often been assessed through management eyes rather than by analysing employee views on employee participation.

Employee participation and company’s performance – theoretical approach

The idea of employee participation as a part of Human Resources Management practices has been researched by a number of scholars who underlined significant benefits of employee involvement schemes on the company’s performance.

Kanter (1982) postulated that participatory character of the decision-making processes within the organization brings more positive outcomes than bureaucratic structure, as it involves knowledge sharing between workers and managers. Workers seem to be better informed than their managers with regard to the products and services, processes and work tasks, as they are directly involved in these activities. Hence, their views and suggestions might be very valuable in developing company’s strategy and achieving enhanced performance.

In turn, Lawler (1990) listed a number of various benefits of employee involvement within the company. He pointed out that employee participation leads to more efficient and innovative methods and procedures in a workplace and improves communication within the organization (between managers and workers as well as across work departments). Greater employee involvement results in higher job satisfaction and lower staff turnovers. Further, as employee participation concerns training and team work, it also leads to greater staff flexibility and higher job motivation. Additionally, high work motivation and better work methods determine increased rate of outputs and hence, contribute to the better quality of the products and services offered by the company. Finally, better communication and improved worker-management relations reduce a number of disputes and conflicts within the organization and help to resolve existing conflicts in the most effective way. All these factors contribute to improved performance of the organization. It is also important to add that Lawler identified various negative consequences associated with employee involvement. One of them are expectations created amongst the employees. These expectations usually concern organizational changes, personal self-development and career advancement opportunities. If the organization fails to meet these expectations, it will lead to dissatisfaction amongst workers. Employee participation causes also additional costs. Developing new skills is associated with additional costly trainings. In turn, accepting new responsibilities by the employee automatically requires an increased in salary of such an employee. Participatory character of decision-making is also slower than traditional style of leadership as it involves a significant number of people that have to accept the decision (Lawler, 1990).

Markowitz (1996) underlines higher morale of the employees and their greater commitment to performed job as a consequence of increased participation in the decision-making processes. As employees have a decision-making power, they fulfill their duties more accurately. Higher productivity of the employees contributes to higher profits of the organization and greater stability within the industry (Jones, 2006).

More recently, the effects of employee involvement were analysed by Appelbaum et.al (2000). Similarly like Lawler, the researchers emphasized the importance of information on the production (service) processes possessed by employees. The organization should aim to gain such knowledge from its employees in order to stay profitable. However, three conditions have to be met by the company to gain such knowledge. Employees need to be involved in substantive decisions. They are required to have specific skills and they need to be given appropriate work incentives. This approach indicated that employees cannot provide valuable information to the organization’s management if these conditions are not met. Additionally, employees are not willing to provide such information if they are not given appropriate incentives. Hence, this approach underlines the important of coherent and accurate HRM practices within the company (Jones, et.al., 2006).

Grimsrud and Kvinge (2010) postulate that employee participation is associated with the features such as responsibility, control rights, rights on revenue and risk taking. The companies are characterized by the areas of joint interests of employers and employees as well as by the areas where the conflicting interests appear. In particular, the author focuses on two conflict areas. These are principle-agent problem and free-rider problem. Principle-agent issue concerns different approach of the organization (owners and management team) and employees towards the inputs of work and distribution of created outputs. While the organization aims to achieve higher labour productivity and higher value added and keep fixed salaries at the same time, employees intend to share higher profits. Free rider issue refers to the situation when the organization cannot monitor individual contribution of its employees to the organization’s development and hence, individual rewards of employees depend on joint efforts. Hence, the organization tends to implement practices that will improve the productivity of employees, while employees seek to take advantage of such situation and gain additional benefits (i.e. higher return rights) in exchange of improved productivity.

Employee participation and company’s performance – empirical evidences

A number of scholars sought empirical evidences of the positive correlation between employee participation and organization’s performance. Some scholars based their analysis on the examples of a single organization (i.e. Jones, 2006) or selected industry (i.e. Sesil, 1999), while others examined the various businesses across the country (i.e. Guerrero and Barraud-Didier). Some researchers decided on a wider cross-country study (i.e. Gonzales, 2009; Grimsrud and Kvinge, 2010). Due to the scope of the following project, only key findings of selected empirical researches will be presented.

At the individual company level, Bartel (2004) conducted research on HRM practices amongst the branches of large bank. He proved that recognition system and performance feedback were of key significance for employees of this bank. Implementing these particular HRM practices contributed to the increasd sales of loans (Gonzales, 2009). In turn, Jones et.al. (2006) examined the influence of innovative HRM practices on performance of a Finnish company in the retail services sector. They proved that employees who have been given opportunities to participate in decision-making process within the company, to receive solid information and to gain rewards were willing to increase their productivity. It is crucial to note that these HRM practices were implemented in settings where employee were characterized by low skills and were assigned relatively simple tasks.

At the industry level, Sesil (1999) analysed the impact of employee participation and group incentives on the company’s performance in high technology industry in the UK. The research included 118 companies, primarily in electronics and engineering and concerned various aspects of employee participation such as quality involvement, presence of union, multi-skilling of employees, communication between employees and management, strategic planning and establishment plan. Additionally, the researcher examined the bonuses for employee as a form of group incentives. The research revealed that bonuses, quality involvement and multi-skilling had large positive effects on company’s outcomes, while other variables showed no impact on performance. Hence, these results indicated that there is strong correlation employee participation and the company’s performance. This effect is even stronger if the employee involvement is combined with group incentives.

At the country level, Guerrero and Barraud-Didier (2004) focused on high-involvement practices and their impact on French firms. The research was based on the questionnaire conducted amongst 180 large companies in France. 57% of these companies originated in the industrial sector, while remaining 43% – in the services sector. The study concerned four major HRM practices, namely empowerment, compensation, communication as well as training and skills development. The following study revealed that empowerment was a key determinant of improved company’s performance, while communication and training had a minor effect on organizational results. In turn, compensation showed no influence on company’s outputs. The following study underlined that the company should ensure enriched and challenging activities in order to manage employee participation. Further, the study postulated that the companies should promote open communication and power sharing amongst management and employees in order to develop participatory style of leadership as this style contributes to better HRM within the company and improved company’s performance.

In the cross-country context, Grimsrud and Kvinge (2010) conducted research on the economic impact of representative participation in eight countries[1]. The research took form of perception studies which means that “the respondents are asked to indicate whether different participation initiatives are believed to have an impact on different output measure” (Grimsrud and Kvinge, 2010, p. 149) and investigated various forms of representative participation such as work councils, trade unions or joint management – union committees. The following study showed very mixed results. Most of the analysis demonstrated that there was no correlation between employee participation and company’s productivity or such correlation was negative, while only several studies reported small positive productivity gains of employee participation. For instance, the study conducted on work councils amongst the German companies revealed that these councils had a positive impact on labour productivity while they influenced negatively company’s profitability. Similarly, the analysis of the Japanese companies showed a positive correlation between trade unions and labour productivity and negative correlation between trade unions and company’s benefits. Finally, the research amongst the British companies demonstrated that trade unions had a negative impact on productivity growth as well as on climate of relations between managers and employees at the workplace.

Conclusions

To sum up employee participation became a subject of theoretical debate and empirical analysis amongst the scholars. A number of researchers underlined positive correlation between employee involvement and organization’s performance. Precisely, employee participation (either direct or indirect) brings a valuable knowledge of products and services delivered by the organization and hence, contribute to the organization’s performance. Additionally, employee participation leads to higher job satisfaction and increased labour productivity as well as to lower staff rotation. These factors also determine organization’s success. On the other hand, some scholars stress various conflict areas within an organization (principle-agent issue; free rider problem) that might have a negative influence on the organization’s outputs.

Three empirical cases presented in the following paper revealed that direct employee involvement in decision-making processes within an organization contributed to its better performance. Employee empowerment and information sharing as well as financial rewards seemed to be mainly responsible for this improved performance. Employees must thus be sought for ideas on how organizational performance and quality of product or service can be improved. There is the need for management to ensure existence of employment participation programmes and initiatives that contribute to employee involvement in decision-making processes. Not only should the emphasis be placed on the existence of such initiatives but also on the embeddedness of such initiatives within the organization.

The evidence on strong correlation between employee participation and organization’s performance has not been found in reference to indirect forms of employee involvement. Although the following paper examined only one case of representative participation, this case included analysis across various countries and industries. This study revealed that employee participation had only minor positive impact on labour productivity while no effects (or negative effects) on overall company’s performance have been observed.

Reference

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India is among the fastest developing nation in the world and industrialization is at its full swing. While we admire the architectural magnificence, we tend to overlook the labour involved in creating that piece. Employees working in such industries are exposed to life-threatening hazards like working at heights, exposure to chemicals, and exposure to various poisonous gases to name a few. They are not only life threatening, but might also reduce the efficiency while on ground. Any company’s major loss would be the loss of employees when they are not safe and secure during their working hours. Managers should fully utilize all the resources to create and maintain health and safety standards for an organization.

Below are the 5 strategies that can be implemented to encourage and sustain employee wellness and safety.

Establish Open Communication

A key component in maintaining the trust of the employees is to encourage open communication on any health or safety related issues. No employee should fear in expressing concern for safety goals in the company. An HR Personnel should hold one-on-one meetings with the employees so that if any employee Is fearing to express safety concerns to the direct managers, will feel more at ease while talking to an HR personnel.

Implement strict safety policy

Those employees, who are not designated to work in a certain high-risk position should be discouraged to enter hazardous zones. By labeling unsafe environments, posting stringent warning signs and mentioning the qualifications required for such jobs on worksites, the candidates will get to know if they are suitable for such roles. For a corporate office that have less physical risks, it is advisable to identify all potential hazards early on such as broken glass or any kind of leaks.

Provide health and safety training

It is a must to provide required safety training programs for all employees who should necessarily include emergency action plan training and how to treat yourself while injured and alone. Make sure the employees are well efficient at the time of crisis by holding fire and emergency drills from time to time.

Encourage employees to be responsible if they fall sick and take leaves without reprimand.

With safety standards in place, a company can identify all the potential risks and keep the employees safe and sound while on the ground.

Coordinate with facility management

Facilities department play an important role in carrying out safety policies for business. By harmonizing Occupational Health and Safety goals in the organization, facilities manager can better protect employees. Encourage them to invest in safety tools and equipments, such as anti-slip safety mats, Eye Protection, Ear Protection, masks etc. These simple yet effective products will cultivate a general sense of wellbeing in the workplace.

Use positive consequences

The fear of discipline which drives under-reporting and stifles involvement must be driven out of culture.

Discipline has a place, but most safety issues can be effectively dealt without discipline, which has side effects that work against building a culture of safety. When discipline is used disproportionately in relation to positive consequences, it leads to lower morale, reduced trust, lower productivity, less teamwork and lack of engagement. It also suppresses reporting incidents which cripples the organization’s ability to learn from mistakes and become more proactive.

Recent studies (e. g. , Meglino, Ravlin and Adkins, 1989; O’Reilly, Chatman and Caldwell, 1991) claim value congruence to be the mechanism by which organizational and individual values affect members’ organizational outcomes. Some researches, however, state that “unfortunately, the congruence explanation rests on a mixed theoretical base, and with only a single exception, all empirical tests of value congruence effects have used flawed statistical procedures, which renders their results inconclusive at best” (Kalliath et al, 1999).

We may state as well that, given this theoretical and empirical history, no sound justification exists for stating any general conclusions about value congruence and leadership’s correlation through the industries. Many problematic theoretical and methodological issues found in most prior congruence research should be addressed. Rokeach (1973, p. 5) defined a value as an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence.

This conceptualization of values posesses enduring authority (e. g. , Chatman, 1989) and precision. The reference to ‘personally preferable’ indicates an individual’s values, and the reference to ‘socially preferable’ indicates values shared by the members of some social aggregate (e. g. , an organization). Thus, values can be both an individual and a social phenomenon. In the labor and HR market both types are actualized. The references to ‘mode of conduct’ and ‘end-state’ specify a distinction Rokeach (1973, p.

7) labeled instrumental and terminal values, respectively, a reference to means and ends. Taking all these definitions for granted we should call the degree to which an individual and an organization’s culture share the same values the individual and organizational value congruence (Money ; Graham). Examining previous value congruence research, it’s to realize that the studies either focused on a single value (Slocombe and Bluedorn, in press) or employed an overall set of values that represented a cataloguing approach rather than a well-developed theoretical value structure (e.

g. , Chatman, 1991; Meglino, 1989). Thus, previous conceptual/operational approaches to value specification and measurement in the value congruence literature do not always fully meet the criteria for obtaining a usable and practical model of values shared by employee and employer. Money and Graham supported the competing values model (Quinn and Rohrbaugh, 1983) in the organizational culture and effectiveness literature, which was originally developed to make sense out of the organizational effectiveness morass.

It quickly became a device for mapping organizations’ value profiles and conducting comparative analyses on them (Quinn and Cameron, 1983; Quinn and Kimberly, 1984), though Quinn and Kimberly (1984, p. 298) argued for the model’s ability to “explore the deep structure of organizational culture, the basic assumptions that are made about such things as the means to compliance, motives, leadership, decision making, effectiveness values and organizational forms”.

Usually the competing values model consists of four quadrants created by the intersection of two axes. One axis, flexibility-control emphasis, is a dimension that reflects the emphasis given to control in the organization. The other axis, internal-external focus, is a dimension concerned with the extent to which the organization focuses on matters in its environment (external) or within its boundaries (internal). The attributes within each quadrant reflect the unique means-ends values associated with the combination of axis orientations (e.

g. , internal and flexible) that define it. Of particular importance to value congruence research, the value sets in each quadrant include values about both means and ends, the modes of conduct and end-states specified as the two types of values in Rokeach’s (1973) definition of values presented earlier. Thus, the competing values model explicitly identifies both instrumental and terminal values in about equal proportions, a consideration absent from the cataloguing approach in other value congruence research.

Quinn and Rohrbaugh (1983) presented the detailed theoretical rationale underlying the model and each quadrant within it, and a growing body of research provides additional theoretical and empirical support for it as well (e. g. , Bluedorn and Lundgren, 1993; Cameron and Freeman, 1991; Kalliath, Bluedorn and Gillespie, in press; McDonald and Gandz, 1992; Quinn and Spreitzer, 1991; Yeung, Brockbank and Ulrich, 1991; Zammuto and Krakower, 1991; Zammuto and O’Connor, 1992). In each quadrant specific means-ends values are presented.

For example, efficiency and goal achievement are highly valued in the rational goal quadrant (formed by strong organizational emphases on control and external matters); order and stability in the internal process quadrant (formed by strong organizational emphases on control and internal matters); morale and loyalty in the human relations quadrant (formed by strong organizational emphases on flexibility and internal matters); and innovation and risk taking in the open systems quadrant (formed by strong organizational emphases on flexibility and external matters).

The four competing values quadrants described here represent four value sets that guide the organizational tasks of environmental management and internal integration. These models are by no means mutually exclusive; every organization expresses each value set to some degree, creating a value profile (Quinn, 1988). All organizations develop combinations of the four quadrants, with one or two quadrants often becoming more dominant than others (Dennison and Spreitzer, 1991; McDonald and Gandz, 1992).

It makes sense though in our paper to implement not just totally empirical definitions of individual and organizational value congruence but practical models reaching employee/employer value congruence in any organization working. One of help is the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) concept, acquired from innovative or other centers or self-borne by a growing quantity of organizations (including BMW, Nicon, etc. ). As Brad Petersen from Davis Advertising Inc.

in his article for Net Temps net-HR agency stated, EVP is “a measurement of the balance between what an employee receives from their employer in return for their performance on the job” (HR Quick Tips for Davis Advertising Inc. , www. Davisadv. com on http://www. net-temps. com/employers/hrcorner/). “In other words, – proceeds he, – it is the ‘get’ versus the ‘give. ’ If in the employees’ minds they ‘get’ rewards equal to or exceeding what they ‘give,’ the company will tend to have more satisfied employees and increased retention” and that is the simplest definition of employee/employer bonding value congruence we met.

To continue, in 2000 David Sutherland from Business Innovation Consorcium published an interesting document Attracting and Retaining World-Class Talent: The Employee Value Proposition. There Employee Value Proposition (EVP) was labeled “what a company offers employees that allows the company to attract and retain talent. ” It was emphasized that the given Employee Value Proposition should align with the Corporate Value Proposition. The given proposition represents a certain interest for our research as it drives a direct correlation between Values and Leadership (see Graph 1, 2).

Value Congruence in Correlation to Leadership Either we state value congruence as wage and benefits rates percepted by the employee and given by the employer; or in the stated above notions of values in general and systematic approaches coincide, we should derive the correlation by different means preferably on the practical data through interviews and statistically related instrumentum as far as the related research on value congruence (in accounting) lack correlation to leadership.

Porter though describes three approaches (1980) to competitive strategy (1985), which can be of use tracibg the basic elements of establishing value congruence. (1) a low-cost leadership strategy: its characteristics include a continuous emphasis on cost reduction (while maintaining acceptable levels of quality), tight controls and attaining economies of scale. (2) a differentiation strategy, when an organization seek ways to make its product or service unique. The strategy is exemplified by an emphasis on technical superiority, quality or high service. This generally requires an emphasis on quality rather than cost.

(3) a focus or niche strategy. An organization following can use either a low-cost leadership strategy or a differentiation strategy but will focus on a narrow portion of the market rather than the whole market. A rather recent study (Jackson, Schuler, & Rivero, 1989) indicated that differences in personnel practices vary with organizational characteristics such as industry sector, competitive strategy, and organizational structure. Additionally, systematic differences in human resource systems have been identified and described on the example of steel minimills (Arthur 1992, 1994).

This research has resulted in the labeling of two very different human resource systems namely control and commitment affecting employee value and types of leadership. (See Table 1) True that the achievement of value congruence between the leader and the led demands consensual decisions, individual rights and freedom of choice (Rost, 1991). Yet, free choice narrowly conceived can result in the tragedy of the commons. In the ethics of Nozick and Rand, the solution is found by negotiating interests in terms of a contract and then fulfilling that contract.

And indeed, “win-win” mathematical optimal solutions can be calculated (Brams & Taylor, 1996). “Contracts can be skewed in favor of those with more resources, contacts and “bargaining power. ” People often appreciate leadership which points the way out of dilemmas whether it comes from others within their own collective or from external authority,” Keith Ayers in her HR Magazine publication to trace the correlation between leadership behavioral models and better outcomes. Rost, reminiscent of Nozick and Rand, asks for leader-follower distinctions be erased to reach true participative democracy.

Burns (1998) partially agrees and would substitute for leaders and followers, initiators, supporters and opponents. But the counterarguments are that if everyone in a group is responsible for its leadership, no one is responsible. Furthermore, if a group is initially leaderless, the members compete with each other for leadership. One or more leaders emerge who initiate and propose more than the other members. Followers emerge who are responsive to the leaders, and non-responsive isolated persons remain who are passive (Bass, 1954).

“If trying to align the values of members of an organization with the good of all stakeholders is unethical, then it is unethical to contingently reward prison inmates with time off for good behavior or for transformational teachers to move pupils to internalize the values of good citizenship for the benefit of society. ” (Austin, 1998) “Libertarians would agree that one’s life plans are paramount but they are close to espousing anarchy as are the OD extremists who charge immorality if the transformational leader intervenes in the individual follower’s life plans”(Bass, 1998A, p.

179). “With this line of thinking that it is immoral to align the values and behavior of organizational leaders and followers, it then is unethical to send a soldier into harm’s way or to require an employee to avoid disclosing trade secrets of the former employer when the employee transfers to a competing firm. ” (Austin, 1998) It is stated that the leaders are aided by acculturation processes, for as followers are socialized into an organization, the congruence increases between their values and the values of the organization (O’Reilly et al.

, l991). And the congruence results in leaders being seen by followers as more considerate, competent, and successful (Weiss, 1978). Additionally, followers are more satisfied with their assignments (Engelbrecht & Murray, 1993). “For human relationists, the coming together of the values of the leader and followers is morally acceptable only if it comes about from participative decision-making pursuing consensus between leaders and followers,” says Austin and so right is he.

Fernandez and Hogan establish the following correlation: values are important to understanding leadership because they explain the focus and direction of people’s actions. The researchers used in their work the Motives, Values, and Preferences Inventory (MVPI), a 10-scale instrument designed to assess an individual’s core values. While studying the relationship between values and leadership, they uncovered four different values clusters. Each of the clusters produces a coherent, explicit managerial character.

They are: the strategist (driven by power, recognition, and excitement; create a work environment that is competitive and confrontational; rely on employees to whom they can delegate the day-to-day operation of their organizations, as well as those who possess excellent analytical and planning skills), the analyst (control resources and pursue stability and predictability; develop detailed prescriptive policies, procedures, and rewards to reinforce desired behaviors; prize experience and usually promote people with many years of service to the corporate team), the mentor (value collaboration, maintain high standards; spend the majority of their time in personnel-related activities, such as recruiting, performance reviews, and career planning; prize employees who embody the ‘company way’), and the innovator (value knowledge and imagination; build an environment that is conducive to learning and experimentation; pay special attention to revamping an organization’s performance evaluation and reward systems).

“Imagine a work environment where all employees are fully engaged in what they do and go to extreme lengths to fulfill their responsibilities each day, ” invites Keith Ayers in her HR Magazine publication to trace the correlation between leadership behavioral models and better outcomes. Suggesting the variant of values congruence between management and the staff she proposes a place where people want to work to be “a workplace based on trust and personal responsibility. ” The challenge for most managers is not just sticking to the given organizational outcome by promoting and rewarding the given responsible employees, but to get the rest of their employees to be accountable, too.

“Accountability is the natural outcome of a person deciding to take responsibility for something. People cannot be held accountable; they can only choose to be accountable, ” states the HR professional. Relatively, she devides employees into self-directed people (those who see themselves as responsible for their behavior and performance, thus who want to be held accountable) and other-directed ones. The researchers warn that using an authoritarian or control-based approach to enforcing accountability would drive at self-directed people leave, and other-directed people stay. “Many managers fear entrusting employees with the responsibility of defining their own success and determining how to reach it through their performance.

As a result of this fear, managers attempt to hold people accountable by insisting on compliance with policies and procedures, establishing goals and performance standards for employees, or offering incentives in an attempt to motivate people to comply. ” (Ayers) The practical research does not support this fear. (Employees who are trusted and given more say over how they do their jobs are more engaged, more committed and more productive. They achieve more. ) (ibid. ) The primary fears about being held accountable among employees are, e. g. , negative consequences if they don’t succeed. The reason is not trusting management enough to take the risk.

The author points at several elements of trust-building environment: being free exchange of information; clear expectations and disagreements discussed as well as individual performance; differences should be valued for employees feeling respected for their contribution and having input into how the organization can be more successful; keeping people’s commitments. The researcher eliminates 4 elements of trust: congruence ( “I walk my talk. ”); openness (“I can take good news or bad news, but I can’t handle surprises. ”); acceptance (“Take me as I am, not judge. ”), and reliability (“Keep the promise. ”). “Building a responsibility-based culture can only happen if leaders at all levels of the organization understand that they are responsible for the work environment they create, and that the work environment has a significant impact on whether people will choose to be responsible and accountable. ” underlines Ayers. These are the words to nut-shell the core essence of value-leadership correlation.

Introduction

With the changing economic many employers pay more attention on the employee’s personalities and what soft skills they have, especially for the customer service occupations, which defined as “passionate, stylish, confident, tasty, clever, successful and well-travelled” (Warhurst and Nickson, 2001)By contrast the hard skills are more tangible and easy to quantify. for example: Examples of hard skills include job skills like typing, writing, math, reading and the ability to use software programs; (investopedia, 2011). In the following I will talk about the soft skills which applied and important in the service industry and also mention the soft skills needed in face to face and voice to voice situation, also describe how employers to choose the proper employees they need and the changing trends affects the whole society.

Soft skills benefits the service industry

“The changing trend for companies to control their employees’ feeling and look as well as their behavior, give rise to work is under control the emotion to increase the production and efficiency. (Grugulis et al. 2004, Alan, 2008). Especially In the service industry the employers care more about the personalities which shows the employee’s soft skills for certain jobs, such as the waitress in the restaurant, the employees in McDonald’s, and the reception lady in the company, they all need to let the customer feel warm, friendly, happy and look good, sounds sweet and smile all the time without showing the nature emotions. (Nickson et al.2001).

For instance the service company like calling center, which is a centralize office used for the purpose of receiving and transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone in the voice to voice way. Their major job is to contact with the customer, and the mail order catalogue firms, computer hardware and software and etc, those are all the hard skills they need to contain, while now they improve the requirements for the calling center employees, the employers set a sort of the training and soft skills they need to gain. For instance: extraversion ,agreeableness, and openness to new workplace or different company culture, also they need to develop more skills to build the polite relationships with customer and has to be responsiveness to the customer ,most important of all is to be friendliness, compare to the basic voice to voice contact, it is not that easy to get the job for the calling person, the employers check the hard skills from the application forms and then give the telephone interviews ,also do the role plays to check whether they can act well through phone, and two person interviews given ,then if they pass all the test to check their personalities and soft skills they will finally get the job.

Employees have to look gorgeous and sound sweet, the employer will try to make sure they satisfy their requirements through recruitment and selection processes. (Nickson et al.2001). “But it is not only in this environment that grooming, dress sense, deportment, manner, tone and accent of voice and shape and size of body become vital. Workplaces as diverse as call centers, training consultants, investment banks and accountants all recruit, train and promote staff on their emotional and aesthetic ‘skills’ (McDowell, 1997; Trethewey, 1999; Thompson et al., 2001, Alan. 2008). Such as the sales in the shopping mall for famous brands, such as Dior, or Chanel brands, when the girls want to apply the job the employer will get the application forms first and then call them to come for the interview, because the sales is different from calling center, that is voice to voice customer contact, while this is face to face contact, so it will be more strict to request the employees. Employees prefer to hire the employees’ appearance,” language and, the dressing style and hairstyles and hair color, their weight and the size of their bust, hips and the way they make up, their taste of decoration. (Hochschild, 1983; Paules, 1991; Warhurst and Nickson, 2001; Nickson et al., 2001; Thompson et al., 2001.Alan, 2008).

Employers care more about the appearance of the employees because it is directly affects the customer‘s decision, for example, if the Dior sales has bad skin and wrinkles on the face, customer won’t believe if she give suggestion about the skin care products. And also the sales have to be more emotional control, they have to keep smile whenever the customer come. For a professional workers they have to enforce themselves control the real emotion, employees’ feelings and appearance are turned into commodities and re-shaped to fit their employers’ notions of what is desirable, employers wants them to work happily forget personal emotions and work more efficiency to increase the production. (Putnam and Mumby, 1993; Thompson and McHugh, 2002, Alan, 2008).Because no customer wants to spend money if the sales out of temper and patient.

The influence to the employer

In the past times the employer just see the application and to compare who is better or who is the best to decide who to get the job, while recently, application which shows the hard skills is just to help people to get the interview opportunity or phone interview, but the soft skills is the point to decide who gets the job. Employers prefer the candidate who had highly education experience and contains soft skills for example: communication, problem solving, self-motivation or willingness to get trained by the company.

While soft skills is differentiate from the hard skills, because it is hard to check whether a person has good soft skills, some organizations set a special psychological screening tests to check the candidates has good temper and personality. For example, in China, the employer will ask lots of sensitive questions and even pretend to be a customer to cause troubles to check whether they can sort it out nicely. Only they pass the test then they can get the job. If they get angry or loss control of temper then will fail to get the job. Perhaps the test is not accurate but it can do the prediction at least.

Because In emotional and aesthetic labor, employees’ feelings and appearance are turned into commodities and re-shaped to fit their employers’ notions of what is desirable (Putnam and Mumby, 1993; Thompson and McHugh, 2002, Alan, 2008).so the employers just reshape the employers when they fit in work, or even worse, some employers even want to put CCTV on to check the stuff works, get rid of being lazy employees. While this way is too dangerous, it will cause troubles. Even setting the culture and rules for the employees can increase tendency of acquiring soft skills, the employees get more pressure, if they obey the rules the company’s culture; they will increase the profits, productivity and efficiency of the work. So the manager and the employer just emphasize on the way to enforce employees under control.

The influence for society

The soft skills can benefits employees make them to work more efficiently and increase production and gain profits for the employers, then give rise to increase the living condition of the whole society and push the economic increase for the country eventually. while it may make negative influence to the employees if they want to immigrants to the other country which the company and society with different culture, and highly standard soft skills make them can’t find good work even with good hard skills which satisfy the company’s needs. For example, the government of Singapore they focus on inviting the highly hard skills people to work for the country but it is always hard for the immigrants who works excellent in their own country but can’t fit in the Singapore or even can’t find a job. Because they are lack of the soft skills, such as, lack of the culture of the organization and the country and even the language is the problems.

Conclusion

Gaining the soft skills increase the efficiency and production during the working time, even though it is intangible and harder to qualified than hard skills, need more practice and training to make it effectively, while in this economic knowledge society soft skills are what the employers desire. From the above mentioned how the soft skills differentiate from distinct occupations, and the employers can increase profits and production and make working more efficiency also increase the whole economic of the society ,in spite of casing the trouble of immigrants can’t fit into different culture in foreign countries. But we can’t live without soft skills in this society, then learn to increase the soft skills to gain the competence not just hard skills,then there is the solution for the employees and employers to find what they want from each other easily.

Reference

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With a strong organisational culture, an employee is influenced to think, act and communicate in accordance with their shared perceptions, patterns of beliefs and rites that have evolved over time. These serve as the glue that holds and maintains the organisation together (Sheng et al. 2004). These shared beliefs and perceptions are developed over time by continuous communication and socializing among employees within the organisation. Being upheld by the employees themselves, the organisational culture serve as a corporate framework that provides guidance on issues relevant to the the organisation’s optimised operations.

Issues such as how tasks should be carried out, the use and implications of technology and standards of communication, are commonly addressed by organisational culture. This in turn, affects the individual’s performance and his contribution to the organisation’s overall success (Sheng et al. 2004). Organisational culture has been proven to have a positive impact on the organisation’s overall performance (Yeung, Brockbank, and Ulrich, 1991). At the individual’s level, employees who are supportive and accepting of the company’s culture are also more involved at work and thus more productive.

2A. Management Approaches and Leadership Styles for Matrix and Functional Structures Under the matrix structure, coordination and conflicting interests are the main issues that need to be resolved. Having different bosses simultaneously causes confusion and ambguity in decisions. Furthermore, different boss may have different ideas and goals even if they are working on a single project. Conflicting ideas more frequently result in delays, incur more expenses; cause ineffeciency in the use of both energy and effort.

As a palliative, senior officers in a matrix structured organisation try to communicate as frequently as they can with their employees and managers, assessing the condition of every project in the process to avert problems (Bigliardi, Petroni & Dormio 2005. ). For conflicting ideas, management may formalize a general strategic plan on an annual basis to avoid conflicts between managers due to differences in perspective. In general, the management approach under the matrix system is intended to ensure that departments are effectively coordinating with each other and is coherent with the the organisation’s overarching goals.

The sharing of resources and even manpower could be carried out with relative ease (Understanding and Managing Organisational Behaviour 2006) The priority of managers is to remove the political and culture in order to freely implement the matrix structure (Bigliardi, Petroni & Dormio 2005. ). By removing political barriers, free and transparent flow of information and resources from top to bottom is more likely. Having it this way, communication among employees is enhanced. Having cleared up the barriers that could slow down employee performance, matrix managers may set and clarify the strategic objectives of the organization.

In an environment where information and resources freely move from one point to another, an employee could fully use his skills and do his job more effectually than in an atmosphere where these are not adocated (Bigliardi et al 2005). More often, the issue of rigidity is the core issue brought forth by a functionally structured organisation. Since the authority rests too much on the chief executive, departments are compelled to have their work and decisions revolve within a single individual or group of officers. Such a set-up undermines the success of syrnergy and of team effort (Gray & Larson 2008).

In order to avoid such an issue, the management of functionally structured organisations ought to carefully outline the responsibility that each department has. In effect, employees will have to act in accordance to what has been drafted and agreed upon. In doing so, even in the absence of the chief executive, employees and managers may still work and function normally. The management approach under a functionally structured organisation aims to ensure business continuity and the efficiency despite the absence of key decision makers (Kabacoff 2002).

Furthermore, by planning explicitly, employees would not have to rely unnecessarily on officers and managers for instructions. Instead, they may act autonomously, guided by the plan. Such a set-up would accord them an increased sense of empowerment (Kabacoff 2002). By having a single, core group of officers control the organization, the leadership style of functional structure tends to be centralized and perhaps close to authoritarian leadership.

In the previous diagram, it could be seen that authority rests on the chief executive, who controls most decisions if not all. The managers under him are the ones who relay orders down in such “chain of command” (McCarthy & Matthern 1999). All employees are forced to comply with such orders in the interest of their employer. In some cases, chief executives tend to shy away from decision making and leave this job to a group of officers who hold a significant amount of stock.

In influencing employee performance, leadership in a functional structure is best characterized by its clear and definite chain of command (Bigliardi et al 2005). Unlike the matrix system, employees will find it less confusing and there are no delays due to such confusion in organizational direction. Thus, employees are more focused on their task, minimizing failure at all levels. The leadership style within a functional structure tends to revolve around the officer or officers that hold most of authority.