Value Through Employee Management Most Ceos example essay topic

THE PEOPLE ERA Hisham Ibrahim Amer Human Resource MBA - Semester II October 1999 The People Era - Hisham I. Amer Page 2 InterMark is a Pan-Arab Marketing and advertising company, dedicated only to serve the Pharmaceutical Industry. The Mission of InterMark is to deliver unique Services to the pharmaceutical and health care industry that matches the everincreasing market competition in such important market segment. Despite the fact that clients do appreciate quality as the end result product or service, to be provided the elements of producing and maintaining such high quality products or services is not appreciated. Clients recognize the value of having high quality products or services as a necessity to remain competitive or maintain or grow market share. Clients still do not appreciate the incremental cost accompanied with higher quality product or services.

The challenge of improving the clients sense of the cost of high quality product and services is not our main challenge, since the increasing market competition will help clients to understand and to accept the extra cost of quality. The major challenge remains in creating quality oriented operation with a mission of delivering unmatched quality standards in the market it competes in. Our strategy to maintain and deliver quality services is to provide a team done products or services that are based on total integration of the company's most important resources! SS People!" . Adding Value through Employee Management Most CEOs are people persons. They are extroverted, like conver- sation, and have the kind of magnetism or p r e's - ence that attracts others.

B u t being a human assets C E O is more specific than just being a people person. It means managing poli c i e's, p r o c e - dures and systems related to the hiring, retention, and development of people at every level of the organization. Human assets CEOs do more than just know the names of many of their employees. They are actively involved in career planning and mentoring, meeting face-to-face with employees to discuss values, decision-making, and performance.

The importance of Values In large companies, employees come from a broad range of backgrounds and are involved in a broad range of activities. Yet, human assets CEOs believe that as employees, this disparate group of people must all adhere to the same distinct company values. Those values are the unifying thread of what are often complex employee-management systems. Pepsi Co CEO! yen Wayne Calloway! |, for example, emphasizes personal integrity. Integrity means employees are open, honest, and willing to put themselves on the line by telling the truth rather than keeping hidden agendas. Introduction Managing Relationships Managing people is more than managing individual performance and values.

It is also managing the relationships among people. United Biscuits CEO Eric Nicol i, for example, places great emphasis on friendship among employees. People who enjoy working with their colleagues will be more motivated and committed to perform. For Jan Timmer, CEO of Dutch electronics giant Philips, the relationship between people is fundamental to success of the fOrm. After walking around a factory for half an hour and watching how management and workers react to each other, Timmer says, ! SSI can walk out without looking at the figures, and I can tell you if that factory makes money or not!" .

How They Do It As with strategic management CEOs, human assets CEOs delegate day-to-day operations. This gibes them the time to closely monitor and be involved in the performance and careers of their employees. The People Principle Attempts to improve productivity in the 1970's and 1980's largely failed. Managers poured money into expensive computer technology but balked at underwriting employee skills. In the 1990's, companies downsized, right-sized, and re engineered, fOr ing their employees by the thousands.

This didn! |t work either. All this strip-down restructuring and pricey technology have raised individual productivity only 1 percent since 1982, according to an Andersen Consulting sturdy. It also has dropped employee morals to record low, filled workplaces with fear and paranoia, and depleted company coffers of billions of dollars. Clearly a new approach is needed, one that promotes people over processes. That's the message of The People Principle. People are illogical creatures often driven by emotion.

They are not machines. They do not produce on command. They produce because they are motivated from within. You can learn how to tap into this self motivation to increase their work output. Based on the notion of The People Principle, the company has adopted a series of strategies and tactics for the implementation of people oriented organization. These strategies are: 1- Understanding what motivates people's behavior 2- Becoming the kind of person others want to follow 3- Believing in people and getting them to believe in themselves 4- Coaching others to do their best 5- Getting employees to accept responsibility for their own problems 6- Setting up a goal-achievement system that works!

SS It's very important all the time to tell people to do it themselves. You don! |t have to stimulate an athlete who is running the thousand meters. You don! |t have to tell them that they have to win. They know that. But you can ask them, ! yen Have you checked your diet?

Have you got the best trainer?! | That you can do. !" - Paul Fen tener Van Vlissingen, CEO, SHV Holdings (Holland) The People Era - Hisham I. Amer Page 4 1- Understanding what motivates people's behavior: Improving productivity begins with understanding what motivates people! V what makes them want to work harder. Most behavior is motivated by an effort to satisfy needs. Although these needs differ from person to person, all fall into one of seven categories.

Progression of Needs The first level is survival. At its most basic, this a need to stay alive, but it includes emotional and financial survival as well. The second level is security. This encompasses a sense of safety and the freedom to control your own choices.

Knowledge is the third level. Problem solving, decision making, satisfying curiosity, and knowing how to function in different circumstances fall into this category. The fourth level is self-esteem. This includes feeling good about the person him self, loving others, and experiencing satisfying relationships.

The fifth level is self-expression. You express yourself in your drive to achieve, move toward purpose, and affirm uniqueness. Wisdom! V that is, understanding and being able to relate cause and erect! V is the sixth level, followed by transcendence, in which you move beyond material values. We move through the levels in sequence, starting with survival.

Each level must be satisfied before we can advance to the next. Our productivity increases as we climb up the ladder. We become more self-reliant, creative, and motivated as we try to satisfy more complex needs. Lower Levels Dominate Your job as a manager is to determine what kinds of needs are driving your people's behavior. They may be on different need levels in different areas of their lives.

For example, a worker going through bankruptcy may be in survival mode financially while seeking wisdom at work. The catch is that lower level needs often demand greater attention. Your financially strapped employee may be so worried about losing his house that he is not even trying to satisfy his needs for wisdom at work. As a result, he may be preoccupied and inattentive on the job. You cannot solve your employees! | problems but you can take the time to listen to them without judging them. People want to feel you understand and accept them.

In fact, you may solve many of your low-productivity problems simple by listening, understanding, and valuing your employees. 2- Becoming the kind of person others want to follow It is like the management by example. The company had agreed on a formula to be adopted by all department heads, branch mangers and CEO. This form help to set the example for the manager's subordinates to follow. 1- Do you know your self? Leaders discover their talents and strengths and how to use them to advantage at an early age.

Many say that one of their best learning experiences was being uprooted and reassigned to a new position or a new culture. They had to learn new beliefs and customs, and that made them examine their own responses to more familiar patterns. 2- Are you open to feedback? Next time someone offers you a little friendly advice, listen. Leaders, learn form the opinions and experience of others.

The key is finding people whose opinions you trust. Many executives say that person is their spouse. 3- Are you eager to learn and improve? Most leaders are lifelong students who continuously reinvent themselves, adapting to changes around them. They ask great questions. They know that acquiring new information keeps them from being blindsided.

Leaders hunger for knowledge. 4- Are you curious? Do you take risks? Leaders are always pushing the envelope, looking for adventure.

They embrace errors because they offer a valuable learning experience. They dare to take risks and explore new options. Leaders, like experienced skiers, know that success depends upon leaning forward toward your goal, not back toward the safety of the hill. 5- Do you concentrate at work? Interpersonal skills are important but not a critical as the ability to concentrate on the goals, the company, and the mission. Leaders are persistent.

Their ability to stay focused makes them effective. 6- Can you balance tradition and change? There is a lesson to be learned in the adage! SSD on! |t throw the baby out with the bath water. !" Some things don! |t need to change, others do.

So by learning the culture and tradition of an organization before making sweeping changes. 7- Do you have open communication channels? Open interaction enhances the free flow of information. Consider setting aside some time each day or week to make yourself available to those around you. Establishing open forums lets others know you are receptive to their ideas and suggestions and provides you with fresh perspectives. 8- Do you work with systems?

You cannot solve every problem. Functioning effectively within an organization means that sometimes you have to rely heavily on others in the system to make decisions and get things done. 9- Do you serve as a model or mentor? Setting a good example is not only a terrific learning experience of others; it's part of the process of self invention for leaders. Good leaders coach others, helping them focus on what's important, teaching mentoring, and empowering them. 3- Believing in people and getting them to believe in themselves: It is the task of empowering employees to take actions.

Even when urgency is high, a guiding coalition is in place, and a vision has been created and communicated, numerous obstacles can still stop people from creating change. At this stage of the process, you want to empower abroad base of people to take action by removing as many of those obstacles as possible. The four major barriers to change are structure, skills, systems, and supervisor. 1- Structure: The structure of an organization can stifle the initiative of even the most motivated people.

For example, change often requires cross-functional cooperation. But organizational walls between different, independent- minded functions slow down communication and cooperation. Layers of middle managers or fragmented resources and responsibilities are other structural barriers to initiative and change. Address these problems! V by enforcing cross-functional cooperation or consolidating resources, for example! V or eventually employees will bail out of the change program.

2- Skills: A lack of skills training can also impede change. It's not easy to discard years of habits and attitudes. People are often taught technical skills, but not the social skills and attitudes needed to make the change work. It's not enough to say, ! SS Okay, you are empowered, now go. !" You must give employees the training they need to use their power.

For example, if change requires teams, you must teach team building and team working skill. If change requires managers to empower their employees! V managers who have always made decisions and handed orders! V then you must train these managers in new employee! V relation's skill. Training doesn! |t mean that you should view your people as helpless employees who must be shown every detail.

You won! |t empower them with that attitude. With empowerment training, you are simply saying, ! SS We are going to be delegating more, so here's a course to help you with your new responsibilities. !" 3- Systems: Human resources systems, such as performance evaluations or compensation, promotion, and hiring systems, must be aligned with change. If the core of a new vision places customers at the center of all decisions, for example, then perform- The People Era - Hisham I. Amer Page 6 ance evaluations and compensation have to be tied to customer satisfaction results. People understandably link their efforts with how they are being evaluated and rewarded.

If they are not rewarded for acting on the vision, then vision takes a back seat. 4- Supervisors: Supervisors and managers can be foot daggers! V and from their positions of power they can drag the feet of those around them. The best solution: direct, honest dialogue.

Confront bosses who undercut change, explaining clearly the vision and their contributions to that vision. If they do not want to contribute, then they must be let go. 4- Coaching others to do their best: Coaching is not a performance appraisal. The purpose is to build people and help them discover their potential. Treating people as unique individuals. Measure them against them selves, not others, not the CEO.

What percentage of the work force is performing at peak levels? If your employees are average, the answer is probably no more than 20%. These top performers often are eager to learn because they have high achievement drives. The job is to get the remaining 80% to follow suit. One way to do this is by coaching them. All of us need coaches.

Most people work, learn, and stretch more if they are encouraged and coached, than if they try to go it alone. The Coaching Process Regularly scheduled coaching and counseling sessions will help improve almost anyone's performance. Hold coaching sessions in a completely private setting. Give your employees your undivided attention; don! |t allow any interruptions or distractions.

Your message should be that nothing is more important than this session. The coaching process has five parts. First, asking the employees about their goals or objectives. Get them to identify not only the goals but also how they plan to accomplish them; what, if anything, is holding them back; and what would help them make progress. Listening to them without interruption. Guide and help them discover their own answers.

These first two steps, asking and listening, will take up three-fourths of your session time. You should spend 80% of this time listening. Now we are ready to coach the knowledge, skills, or actions your employees need. Talk about problems or areas that need improvement.

Suggesting an action to help them overcome an obstacle or move toward a goal. Keeping the responsibility on their shoulders, not our's. Praising specific behaviors. Point out the talents, attitudes, and abilities they have that will help them reach their goals. Telling them that the company believe they can do it. Challenging them to become their best.

Ask them to commit to specific results and time frames. Explain that the company will follow up their progress. Thank them for the work they have done and tell them how important they are to your organization. You might want to write your questions and the coaching process!

V ask, listen, coach, praise, challenge! V on note cards to keep you on track during the sessions. 5- Getting employees to accept responsibility for their own problems A formula to encourage employees to solve their own problems thus giving them the responsibility to be more result oriented. A formula has been adopted to help the company force to solve their common work problems: 1- Defining the problem 2- Pinpoint the cause of the problem 3- Identify possible solutions 4- Solve the problem: removing the cause or take corrective action. 6- Setting up a goal-achievement system that works: The company has set a goal achievement system helping achieving and committing to the company's overall goals. Choosing Well-defined goals: Setting and reaching goals is more an emotional exercise than an intellectual exercise.

You begin by defining your objectives. Choose six that are important to you. These might include losing weigh, getting a new office, finding a new job, saving a certain amount of money each pay period, solving a particular problem, and communicating a different image to people around you. Be specific about what you want to accomplish. On a separate note cards, write down each goal and the date by which you want to attain it. Phrase it as a statement, such as, !

SS Beginning January 1, I! |ll save 10% of my income each month.! SS Be realistic about the amount of time you need to achieve your goals. Nothing happens overnight. Make sure your goals are consistent with each other, with your values, and with the goals of people close to you. If they are not, you will sabotage your best intentions.

Work to Achieve By working to develop the strengths needed to reach the goals. These include cultivating the right attitudes, proper habits, and useful skill. Evaluating the Progress By reviewing each goal and either proceed with, revise or recycle it. By making employees practicing this goal achievement system on their personal goals which is shorter in terms than the company ones. Employees learn to practice the system in full and se the impact in relatively short period of time.

Conclusion: People represent the most important company asset. A probably integrated company force will help improving productivity, reducing production cost and improving overall company efficiency. The company decision to consider the employees as the most important factor contributing to the company's long-term success was attained by setting up a multidimensional plan that helps creating and maintain a high caliber company members. The People Era - Hisham I. Amer Page 8 Introduction InterMark is a Pan-Arab Marketing and advertising company, dedicated only to serve the Pharmaceutical Industry.

The Mission of InterMark is to deliver unique Services to the pharmaceutical and health care industry that matches the everincreasing market competition.