Focus Coordination Cohesion Decision Making

Characteristics of an Effective Work Group

In modern life, work groups are a vital and essential part. The tennets of work groups are applied every day in different situations, such as air travel and firefighting. Some of the characteristics of effective work groups include cohesion, good decision-making, conflict management, performance feedback, coordination and communication.

Coordination is a crucial characteristic in a work group which demands interpersonal actions to be done in an orderly manner so as to perform tasks which are complex. Coordination requires that work groups capitalize on differences and try to minimize the differences as well amongst the members by ensuring that expert knowledge and skills are utilized to the optimum. Cohesion in the work group is necessary as it acknowledges how each member is personally attracted to the group and the tasks to be completed. Cohesion causes team members to cooperate in an interdependent manner during the performance of the group tasks in order to achieve set goals. Good decision-making takes advantage of the breadth of skills and knowledge among members which results in extensive information which can aid in the formulation of legitimate decisions (Mickan & Rodger, 2000).

Conflict management is a desirable trait of a work group. There is positive conflict which results in idea generation and finding of workable solutions to complex problems, and there is negative conflict which results in destruction and deterioration of progress in the work group. Work groups require good strategies for mediation so as to avoid negative conflict. Performance feedback is the characteristic in a work group where timely and accurate feedback is given to every member so as to sustain effectiveness. Feedback is best in the case where it encourages cooperation and not competition among work group members. Communication is useful in interchanging information and precise interactions of values, attitudes and power among members in a group. Reliable communication processes are necessary in teams so as to ensure that responsibilities are defined clearly and delegated appropriately (Mickan & Rodger, 2000).

Working in the Employee selection group is a mind-opener. It grants one the opportunity to place themselves in the position of an employer and one can get to know the thought processes, and strategies used in selecting employees. Therefore, my group was collaborative and communication was well-done amongst every member. Everyone exhibited interest in completing tasks which were assigned and it could be felt that there is some connection amongst work group members. This is an illustration that group cohesion was in effect. Since not everyone has broad knowledge of the roles assigned to them, the reception of feedback was done less often. However, it was easy to identify whenever a member was slacking in their responsibility, and owing regards to good communication, performance feedback was given in a random basis.

In the current corporate world, organizations spend a generous amount of time, money and other relevant resources in the recruitment procedures in order to acquire the best talent from the labor market. It would be a great waste of resources when the organizations fail to retain great talent. Therefore, retention strategies are used by human resources departments. Some of the retention strategies which can be used are; a recruiting the right personnel at the beginning; b improving the line manager’s leadership capabilities; c giving employees feedback more frequently concerning goals which are clear and meaningful; dempowering employees in the management of their individual careers; e driving talent mobility in a proactive manner; f measuring and improving retention strategies progressively.

At the beginning, the employee selection work group needs to identify the top performers, whom when hired, will become strong contributors that are valuable to the extent that the organization will want to retain them. The newly recruited employee will be determined as being right for the organization after having met or surpassed the criteria used by the organization for the required skills, fitness, and experience.

Once hired, the responsibility of retaining talent transfers to the manager. The manager is responsible for guiding, directing and evaluation the new employee. Therefore, for the managers to be well ready to exhibit their diligence in the talent retention process, talent management ought to be incorporated into their daily business management activities. To retain talent, the manager needs to be up to date with the goals of the organization and align the new recruit’s projects and tasks with the previous and expected performance of the employee.

giving employees feedback more frequently concerning goals which are clear and meaningful

Giving feedback is crucial to ensure that the new recruit has sound knowledge of the right goals and how each task they complete further pushes the organization towards its goals. As a result of valuable feedback, the commitment, level of engagement, interest and degree of retention rises. Clear and meaningful goals will define the results which the talented employee will target to achieve. To add, good management of talent requires proper goal alignment and performance management. The goals serve as cornerstones for performance appraisal, planning and reward systems which will grant the talented employee job satisfaction.

Eventually, the organization will need to empower the new recruit’s career because in order to retain talent, they need to ensure that the employee grows exponentially. Empowering the new talented employee will be key in avoiding dissatisfaction which transitions into voluntary turnover. To retain the new recruit, organizations have to present opportunities in the employee’s career path. This will avoid voluntary turnover with the aim of searching for new challenges and wanting to fulfil their professional desires.

Another way that can further empower employees apart from career management is embracing he mobility of employees through internal promotions and lateral redeployment. Organizations in the present day concern themselves with succession planning as a way of reducing the turnover of employees and ensure career progression.

Finally, business intelligence and other analytical systems are essential tools that carry out automated analysis and reporting in core functional departments that can aid in measuring levels of employee retention. These tools aid in the fundamental practices which lead to the measuring of how retention levels fare over time. Talent systems which analytical capabilities can be used by managers and recruiters to reveal information that is actionable for improvement so as to minimize unnecessary employee turnover (Oracle, 2012).

Importance of Performance Appraisals

For the purpose of managing the performance of a newly recruited employee, performance appraisals are carried out. Performance appraisal is an official system of reviewing and evaluating the performance of an individual of a work group. Performance appraisal is a part of performance management and, as a separate function, it is critical to the success of managing performance. Its significance can be seen where it reflects the strategic plan of an organization. While performance management focuses on teams and the organization as a whole, performance appraisal focuses on the employee as an individual. Systems of performance appraisal evaluate the accomplishments made by an employee and set up plans for objectives, goals and development.

To point out, performance appraisal is important in ways such as resulting in employee reward and recognition, introduction of clear objectives and challenges, developing a culture of openness and trust, supporting and training employees, and prevention of employee’s long-term dissatisfaction (Buchanan, 2018). Monitoring performance determining the various ways employees can be rewarded, such as through bonuses, promotions or salary increment and recognition of employee’s efforts makes them feel valued for their work. The introduction of clear objectives and challenges grants employees a feeling of belonging whereby they have good knowledge of the organization’s path strategy. A culture of openness and trust is key in the maintenance of a give-and-take dialogues between staff which helps empower and retain talented employees in the organization. Training and support is key in pointing out problems early enough so that positive solutions can be explored. The prevention of long-term employee dissatisfaction aids in nipping issues before they bud to the extent of causing employee turnover (Buchanan, 2018).

Performance appraisal, in congruence with its significance in any organization, will grant out new recruited employee gain the feeling of job satisfaction and belonging to a larger group with a vision to fulfil. Performance appraisal will show that the employee selection team recognizes the employee’s efforts in the organization and in case they may be having problems, we would have it addressed to them before they escalate into terrible situations. A disadvantage, however, which is also evident among managers in the corporate environment, is the finding of performance appraisal being a hefty operation. It is understood psychologically that managers are resistant towards making performance appraisals and employees are not ready in the first place to receive them. Therefore, to battle this notion, I got to convince the team by reminding everyone that we are handling a concern of performance from an individual employee point of view which also affects the overall performance of an organization (Anon., n.d.).

Different Types of Organization Culture

Culture in any organization grows from the underlying beliefs, assumptions and values which denote the behavior of people within a certain firm. Culture of an organization can be regarded as its atmosphere or its environment. In contemporary business, organizations have moved from more rule-bound and staid cultures to those which are fun-loving. There exist cultures which are caring, and there are some which are impersonal and cold.

A competing values framework that was developed by Quinn and Rohrbaugh in their research carried out in 1983 revealed two main variables which underpin the four fundamental types of organization cultures (Stoner, 2019). The first variable is the extent of the focus of the organization, which is either internal or external. The second variable is how much the organization leans towards control and stability or towards change and flexibility. The four types of organization culture which are in debate here are the bureaucratic, competitive, community and entrepreneurial types.

This kind of organization culture is where the work environment is formal, well-structured and well-defined with strict reliance on authority, procedures and hierarchy in ensuring the smooth running of an organization. The focus in this kind of culture is smooth execution, reliability and efficiency. The approach to work is having things done in the right manner and the leadership style employed in this case is authoritative in nature (Stoner, 2019).

This organization culture presents a friendly working environment where staff members are encouraged to express themselves in an open manner. The frequency of team work and involvement is high and priority is given to morale and trust among employees. In certain cases, policies which are established are disbanded or ignored in order to sustain positive work relationships (Stoner, 2019).

This culture is where the staff members are pervasively focused on customer service and satisfaction, bearing an attitude of goal-orienteers and a strong orientation towards delivering results. Procedures and policies are established to correspond to the forces of market demand and meeting the needs of customers (Stoner, 2019).

This kind of culture has an environment where innovation is prioritized and staff members are encouraged to be risk-takers, engage creativity and to experiment in ways that they can. Innovation is valued over the policies and procedures which are already established. Individual freedom and initiative is encouraged. The atmosphere is free-wheeling and dynamic and roles of staff members are not well-defined (Stoner, 2019).

The type of organizational culture that I would want to develop in my organization is a competitive culture. This is because customers are the center of the organization and without them, it would be difficult to keep the organization running. Therefore, a competitive organization culture is necessary in ensuring every employee observes customer satisfaction and prioritizes service towards the customers according to the procedures and policies established in the organization.

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Bibliography

• Anon., n.d. Chapter 8: Performance Management and Appraisal. In: Part 4: Human Resource Development. s.l.:SemanticScholar, pp. 235-255.
• Buchanan, G., 2018. The Importance of Appraisals. [Online]
• Mickan, S. & Rodger, S., 2000. Characteristics of Effective Teams. Australian health review: a publication of the Australian Hospital Association, 23(3), pp. 201-208.
• Oracle, 2012. Talent Retention: Six Technology - Enabled Best Practices. An Oracle White Paper, pp. 1-18.
• Stoner, J. L., 2019. Four Types of Organizational Culture. [Online]