BMG881 Assignment Sample – Managing & Leading People in International Organisations 2022
Introduction
Learning and development of the employees are one of the main areas of human resource management (Zhang et. al. 2015). Leaders and managers play a vital role in efficiently managing resources, including human resources. People management is a significant task in attaining the organizational objectives and gaining a sustainable competitive advantage. Human resource management is a crucial function of a business enterprise that required inefficient and effective corporate management.
The present writing is based on the title “A strategic approach to employee training and development”. It further elaborates the significance of human resource management in fostering employee development and providing growth and career enhancement opportunities. The essay also outlines the roles of leaders and managers in various organizations to promote a culture of learning and development.
Assessment 1: Essay
Context and discussion
Significance of human resource and its management
As per the views of Knies and Leisink (2018), Human resources or employees are the critical assets of a business organization. The efforts of the employees in a company are irreplaceable. In other words, Human resource is the foundation of a business and can lead towards success. Human resource management is responsible for managing these employees in the company, resulting in better performance.
Employee performance is crucial for the overall success of the company. Thus, it can be said that managing people in an organization is a complex task and requires appropriate planning. HR management bridges the gap between strategic business objectives and employee performance. The HR manager of a company is responsible for recruitment, building relations, providing compensation, and learning and development.
Evaluation and synthesis of a strategic approach to employee learning and development
According to Sparrow et. al. (2016), employee learning and development is the critical approach in an organization where the employees’ skills, knowledge, and competencies are improved. This enhances their personal and professional development. Employee development is crucial in international organizations as they are the direct contributors to the growth and success of the company.
Therefore, the company must ensure to provide a continuous learning culture to its employees. In the organizational context, the skilled and competent workforce enables better work performance and improved productivity.
Hence, it can be explained that the employee learning and development approach is beneficial for the employees and organization in various ways. Alagaraja et. al. (2015) stated that a learning work environment in the company promotes the development of the individual and improves job satisfaction and morale. With this approach, it can be evaluated that this enhances employee performance and reduces the turnover rate.
Issues faced ineffective leadership and management.
There is no disagreement that an effective leader acts as an example for the employees. However, leaders and managers face severe issues in assessing the training needs of the employees. The most common leadership and management challenges in an enterprise are developing others and leading change (Armstrong, 2016). The primary role of the leader and manager is talent development.
Thus, to identify the talent and area of interest, it is needed to search the potential and encourage their growth. It becomes a challenge for the leaders and managers to understanding their desires and hopes and developing them.
Challenges facing international business and the role of managers and leaders in responding to challenges
Cultural differences are pretty common in a company operating outside the national boundaries. People having different cultural backgrounds have differences in opinions and perspectives (Martin and Siebert, 2016). In simpler words, it can be explained that cultural differences are considered the most significant barrier in effectively managing an international business.
To deal with challenges, the leaders and managers play a crucial part. They are the individuals who promote a work environment of equality and fairness to remove this difference.
Good managers and leaders are essential for organizational effectiveness. Leaders set the vision of the business and motivate and guide the employees to act as per that. Leaders and managers provide direction to the team members and encourage them to attain the desired goals (Storey, 2016).
It is the role of a leader and manager in an international organization to develop a positive and supportive work environment. In order to manage and retain the employees in the workplace, a good work environment and culture are crucial. Leaders define an organizational structure that outlines a chain of command and guidelines for effective communication.
Change is a part of a business organization and an effective leader act as a change agent (Marchington et. al. 2016). Generally, the employees’ change is resisted, and leaders inspire them to adopt the same and step out of their comfort zone by providing learning and training.
On the other side, a good leader and manager are responsible for educating and mentoring others. It is the role of a leader to develop others and help make them succeed in their roles and prepare for their career. Leaders, with their skills and competencies, deal with the issues and problems of an international business. Pucik et. al. (2017) considers another critical challenge for an international business as management of the global teams
. Leaders and managers, by developing a strong bond with the diverse workforce, tackle the issue. It has been further analysed that leaders and managers promote employee development by motivating them, identifying their talent, and organizing sessions to enhance the same—employee development results helps in organizational success.
Learning and development strategy
This strategy is vital for businesses to align corporate training with objectives. According to Greer (2021), appropriate learning and development in a business enterprise have various benefits. For instance, this strategy helps ensure that the employees’ needs learning and developmental needs are met efficiently. In addition to this, the L&D approach is beneficial in developing the company’s requirements for senior management.
Unilever is a British multinational consumer goods company headquartered in England that offers home care, beauty care, and refreshments worldwide. The company firmly believes that learning and development need to reach every employee in the organization. Unilever implements a learning and development culture by connecting every person to their purpose and inspiring lifelong learning.
Evidence of theories and application
International companies use various leadership and organizational theories to guide and manage their employees. Numerous leadership theories exist that the leaders adopt for people management, such as trait theory, situational theory, and transactional leadership theory.
However, Bailey et. al. (2018) state that the transformational leadership approach helps encourage the employees and gain their trust and confidence. It is evident that employees work with full potential and dedication when they feel emotionally attached to the company. In this regard, transformational leaders are the one who changes the people’ behaviour, gains their loyalty and focus on their learning and development.
Transformational leaders set up clear and consistent goals for the employees and encourage them to attain the same (Vance and Paik, 2015). They lead through charisma and influence and emphasise employee development and the attainment of the company’s objectives.
With a view to explain this transformational theory, evidence of a multinational company can be elaborated. Apple incorporation is a global American technology company that deals in computer software, online services, and consumer electronics. Apple is considered the world’s largest technological company in terms of revenue.
Apple has an estimated 1 47,000 employees working. Being a global company, managing employee base and focusing on their development is a crucial as well as challenging task.
This is the reason that the company adopts a transformational leadership Theory to lead, guide and inspire its employees. Further, these transformational leaders of Apple incorporation emphasize drafting numerous strategies in the workplace to focus on employee development.
They formulate various practices and procedures to make their employees creative and innovative (Hatane, 2015). The valuable organisation is inclined towards creating an efficient learning culture for the employees to enhance their careers. The learning and development strategy that Apple embraces is to motivate the employees to self-learn to improve their careers.
There are several kinds of Management theory exists which aims at managing employees in an organisation. Classical management theory is concerned with the belief that employees only have an economic need. On the other hand, modern management theory is based on the use of mathematical techniques to assess the relationship between employees and management.
According to Noe and Kodwani (2018), behavioural management theory is mainly concerned with the human aspects of work. Behavioural management theory focuses on gaining a better understanding of human behaviour in the workplace to enhance productivity. In other words, this theory has been implemented in numerous global organisations. It is primarily inclined towards assessing behavioural aspects, including expectations, group dynamics, and conflicts.
Behavioural management theory is concentrated towards human dimensions and thus is adequate to retain employees (Chandani et. al. 2016). Amazon incorporation is an International technological company that serves worldwide and has approximately 12 98,000 employees.
The company understands the needs of employees and thus satisfies them by providing proper training and development. It has been identified that Amazon is investing $700 million in order to provide skill training to its employees. This training will prove beneficial for their careers in gaining in demand and high paying roles.
Amazon develops a supportive work culture for promoting employees personal growth. The company opens up numerous and diversified career opportunities for its employees, and it organises innovative Amazon programs, Amazon technical apprenticeship program training, certifications, and many more. This leads to better performance in the company.
Impact of organizational approaches and environmental influences on people management
Parker (2017) opines that several factors, including organizational and environmental, affect employees and organisations. The managerial approach highly influences employee productivity and work performance. Some of the critical organisational factors are structure, competence, policy, leadership style, and belief.
These elements impact the employees’ actions and behaviours and thus determine their work performance. On the other side, Akdere and Egan (2020) argue that, some environmental factors, such as economic, political, legal, and technological, also impact the organisation’s employees and functioning. This can be illustrated that the leadership and management style in a company governs the actions of an employee.
For example, when employees are treated with equality and in a fair manner, and the superiors support them, they work with dedication and commitment. Thus, it can be said that adopting an effective leadership and managerial approach to manage and guide people in the company.
Recommendations
Based on the above analysis, it can be recommended that an effective learning and development strategy can be embedded in the business organisation to foster career growth. In this regard, it is crucial to consider the future requirements of the employee while formulating the strategy.
Other than this, a learning culture can be adopted by the company that encourages and motivates the employees to keep learning new things and applying them to the company’s process and product improvement. Both management and leaders must focus on bringing out the employees talent and helping them identify their interest area and future growth. On the basis of the interests of the employees, their learning can be determined.
Moreover, it is also suggested that a company develop a personalized learning plan to make the learning more relevant for the staff members. The company can engage the employees in their development process, and eventually, they will be able to contribute more to the organisational goals (Zhang et. al. 2015).
Leading by example is another recommendation for corporate leaders at all levels. Further, after analysing the employees’ performances, required training sessions can be arranged for them to enhance their skillset and competencies.
Conclusion
Hence, from the comprehensive study, it can be articulated that learning and development is a crucial aspect for an employee in an organisation. The HR department of a company is responsible for recruiting, selecting, compensating, developing employees, and managing them to achieve organisational goals.
Various leadership and managerial theories can be implemented in the business enterprise to foster a better work culture for the staff members. Moreover, the study reveals that managing a workforce in international business is challenging for leaders and managers. Application of learning and development strategy in the entity can promote a supportive work environment.
Assessment 2: Reflective learning log
A reflective log and diary helps in analysing self-progress and learning. I formulated a detailed, thoughtful log record in order to assess and evaluate my learning’s and experience during the module. It reflects and outlines my emotions and key knowledge enhancement in detail.
| Week | Description | Reflection | Evidence | Analysis |
| 4: Individual differences | During the study of week 4, I identified the individual differences. Every individual working in an organisation belongs to different cultural background and has different perspectives (Adair, 2016). | This topic helps me gain a brief knowledge of the cultural differences in an international organisation. I learned that individuals with different expertise and fields are required in an organisation. | While working in a business organisation as an intern, I got a chance to work with different people from various countries and have different viewpoints regarding anything. This helped me in working with a diverse workforce. | Understanding the concept of individual differences will prove helpful for me in future contexts as I am able to respect others views and cultures. |
| 6: Motivating people in the organization | In week six, I studied the concept of motivation. It can be of two types financial and non-financial (Armstrong, 2019). | While studying the importance of motivating people in an organisation, I learnt the need to inspiring people in a company. I gained the knowledge of encouraging the workforce to enhance organisational performance. | I Experienced the importance of motivation in the company as when I felt pretty low and anxious regarding my assigned work; my leader encouraged me and guided me to work better. | Learning about the motivational skill will be beneficial for me in a career as I will be able to guide people and stay dedicated to any work. |
| 7: Employee engagement | In this week, the concept of employee engagement has been learned. This analyses the importance of getting actively involved in the tasks of the company (Armstrong, 2017). | This developed my self-understanding regarding the concept of employee engagement in the company. I believe that involvement is crucial in organizational success. I assessed that this is important to take initiatives and leaders can encourage the team to do so. | I identified that active participation in the tasks and activities of the company leads to improved productivity. I examined myself and ascertained that I took the initiative to be a part of the entity’s activities. | This competency will guide me in my career and future activities. |
| 9: Employee learning and development | A learning culture in the company is crucial to retain the employees and making them loyal and dedicated to the company (Bolea, 2021). This module empowered my understanding. | I gained an in-depth knowledge of the learning and development strategy. This culture builds the career of employees and making them committed to the business enterprise. Further, I understood that employees are an asset of the company, and they must be provided with development opportunities. | While working in an entity, I examined that there were various training sessions and skill development courses were organized. This was because of providing opportunities to the employees. I also assessed that I was pretty active in participating in these. | I believe that employees require a learning work environment. In the future, I will develop a learning and development strategy for the employees after considering numerous aspects studied during the module. |
| 8: Performance management | Performance management is done to maintain and improve the quality of the work done by employees (Christiansen, 2018). This week study helped me in learning various techniques of performance management. | I feel that this concept is critical in management. I learned that performance management could enhance people’s work techniques, and the weaknesses can be addressed. Performance management is significant in maximizing the overall quality. | It is evident that this concept is applicable in all organizations. I learnt about managing performances while working in that unit and evaluated that 360-degree feedback is an effective technique. | Learning about the various aspects of performance management will surely help me in managing a team. With the help of this competency, I will improve the quality of work activities in the future. |
| 10: Leadership in organizations | Leadership is the most effective approach of an organization (French et. al. 2016). It guides, empowers, and motivates the team members to attain a shared goal of the business. | I believe that leaders are the backbone of a company—their skills and competencies aids in the success of the unit. Employees get encouraged and motivated by the leaders. I learned about leaders’ inputs in a company and firmly believe that a leader is a must in the company. Further, I also acquired a variety of skills, including communication, motivation, decision making and time management. | At the time of the internship, the leader guided me a lot in the organization to accomplish various tasks. I evaluated an effective utilization of the skills and capabilities done by the leader. After conducting a self-assessment of my leadership skills, I determined that I lacked decision-making skills and scored pretty high in time management competency. | I built several competencies, such as critical thinking and planning skills. The development of leadership skills will prove advantageous for me in managing a team. I can use my leadership capabilities in my professional career to lead and motivate others. |
| 5: Resourcing in organization | During the study this week, I identified the various resources needed in a company to operate efficiently. These are natural, human, technological, and physical. | I realized the technique of effective utilization of the resources for the tasks. I learned that human resources are the critical resource of a business organization helpful in attaining the objectives. The HR manager must assess the need of employees in a particular department and motivate them in such a manner to contribute appropriately (Adair, 2016). | During the work, I analysed that the HR manager was able to hire the right candidate at the right time. I also attained the knowledge base of proper resourcing. | I am a firm believer that this will prove advantageous for me in effectively using the resources within time and with efficiency. With the application of this skill, I will employ the resources at the right place. |
References
Adair, J.E. (2016). Developing Your Leadership Skills. 3 rd edition. London: Kogan Page. Sage.
Akdere, M. and Egan, T., (2020). Transformational leadership and human resource development: Linking employee learning, job satisfaction, and organizational performance. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 31(4), pp.393-421.
Alagaraja, M., Cumberland, D.M. and Choi, N., (2015). The mediating role of leadership and people management practices on HRD and organizational performance. Human Resource Development International, 18(3), pp.220-234.
Armstrong, M. (2017) How to be an even better manager: a complete A-Z of proven techniques and essential skills, 10 th ed. London: Kogan Page.
Armstrong, M. (2019). How to manage people: fast, effective management skills that really get results. 4 th edition. London: Kogan Page. Sage.
Armstrong, M., (2016). How to manage people. Kogan Page Publishers.
Bailey, C., Mankin, D., Kelliher, C. and Garavan, T., (2018). Strategic human resource management. Oxford University Press.
Bolea, A. (2021). Becoming a leader: nine elements of leadership mastery. New York: Routledge.
Chandani, A., Mehta, M., Mall, A. and Khokhar, V., (2016). Employee engagement: A review paper on factors affecting employee engagement. Indian Journal of Science and Technology, 9(15), pp.1-7.
Christiansen, L.C. (2018) The global human resource management casebook. 2 nd edition. Abingdon: Routledge.
French, R., Adam-Smith, D., Rayner, C. and Rees, G. (2016) Leading, Managing and Developing People (5th edition) London: CIPD.
Greer, C.R., (2021). Strategic human resource management. Pearson Custom Publishing.
Hatane, S.E., (2015). Employee satisfaction and performance as intervening variables of learning organization on financial performance. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 211, pp.619-628.
Knies, E. and Leisink, P., (2018). People management in the public sector. In HRM in mission-driven organizations (pp. 15-46). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Marchington, M., Wilkinson, A., Donnelly, R. and Kynighou, A., (2016). Human resource management at work. Kogan Page Publishers.
Martin, G. and Siebert, S., (2016). Managing people and organizations in changing contexts. Routledge.
Noe, R.A. and Kodwani, A.D., (2018). Employee training and development, 7e. McGraw-Hill Education.
Parker, S.K., (2017). Work design growth model: How work characteristics promote learning and development.
Pucik, V., Evans, P. and Björkman, I., (2017). The global challenge: International human resource management.
Sparrow, P., Cooper, C. and Hird, M., (2016). Do we need HR?: repositioning people management for success. Springer.
Storey, J., (2016). Human resource management. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
Vance, C.M. and Paik, Y., (2015). Managing a global workforce: Challenges and opportunities in international human resource management. Routledge.
Zhang, Y., Waldman, D.A., Han, Y.L. and Li, X.B., (2015). Paradoxical leader behaviors in people management: Antecedents and consequences. Academy of Management Journal, 58(2), pp.538-566.
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