Trust the Power

Introduction

"Management practice is characterized by power; the ability to influence others' behaviour. By virtue of the power that managers hold, the variations in organizational design, relations between managers and employees, and HRM practices will be largely shaped by senior management." (Bratton and Gold, 1999, p.33.) Management is being able to get people to accomplish goals together. (Autry, 1991). Business only exists among people for people, so having good managers is as important as having good employees. In this essay I will discuss the relationship between managers and their employees. Specifically the power relationship involved.

Discussion

The power managers have over their employees is actually an illusion. What they have instead is authority over their staff. Authority is the ability to influence others not the power to force someone to do something against their will. The only power a manager has is the willingness and commitment of their employees to carry out their goals and vision. Unfortunately most employees feel their managers have power over them because they have the ability to hire and fire as well as the say in who gets a promotion. Managers have been considered to be the boss who sits behind a desk all day pushing paperwork and not engaging with the staff.

They are there to monitor office hours, dress codes, lunch breaks and coffee breaks by their employees, which results in official warnings or docked pay. This is a constant cause of conflict between management and staff. It also forces the manager into a position of distrust. For a good working relationship to exist between staff and management, there needs to be trust and honesty. There also needs to be a change in the way staff issues are dealt with, instead of punishment, there needs to be reward systems in place such as appraisals and bonus payments. Encourage the staff to want to do their best and achieve the desired outcomes on their own without the fear of reprisals.

Good staff are a company's greatest assest. As good people become a company's most valuable asset, the company must manage them just as skillfully as it does its physical and financial assets. (Cairncross, 2002). For this reason, managers must pay special attention to their employees and what their expectations for the job are. If their expectations are not met, they will become despondant and their work will suffer. A happy employee is a good employee. This may be an old addage but a truer word has not been spoken.

Empowering the employee by making the work more personally important and getting the employee to commit to a goal or task involves getting the employee to identify with how well the job is performed. "Individuals need a strong sense of their own competence; self-worth; and independance of external control, whether substance or circumstance." (Vogt, J & Murrell, K.L 1990). By training employees in leadership, decision making, communication, and conflict resolution, you are creating an environment where the staff feel they are part of the process, ...