Leadership Styles and Employee Performance

This assignment delves into the crucial relationship between leadership styles and employee performance. Students are tasked with analyzing different leadership models and theories, such as transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership, and examining their influence on individual and organizational effectiveness. The analysis should draw upon relevant academic research and real-world examples to illustrate the practical implications of these leadership approaches in various organizational contexts.

WORKING WITH AND LEADING PEOPLE
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................3
LO 1: Using recruitment, selection and retention procedures....................................................3
1.1 Preparing the documentation towards selection and recruitment process of PM Company3
1.2 Assessing the impact of legal, regulatory and ethical considerations to the recruitment and
selection process for the PM Company......................................................................................3
1.3 Being a part of the selection process....................................................................................4
1.4 My contribution to the selection process in the organisation...............................................5
LO 2: Understanding the styles and impact of leadership.........................................................5
2.1 Explaining the skills and attributes needed for leadership...................................................5
2.2 Explaining the difference between leadership and management.........................................6
2.3 Comparing different leadership styles for different situations.............................................6
2.4 Explaining ways to motivate staff to achieve the objectives...............................................7
Task 2.........................................................................................................................................8
LO 3: Working effectively in a team.........................................................................................8
3.1 Assessing the benefits of team working for PM Company and reviewing the effectiveness
of the team in achieving the goals..............................................................................................8
3.2 Demonstrating the importance of working in a team as a leader and member towards
specific goals, dealing with any conflict or difficult situations.................................................8
3.3 Reviewing the effectiveness of the team in achieving the goals..........................................9
LO 4: Assessing the work and development needs of individuals...........................................10
4.1 Explaining the important factors involved in planning the monitoring and assessment of
work performance at PM Company.........................................................................................10
4.2 Writing a plan and delivering the assessment of the development needs of individuals at
PM Company...........................................................................................................................10
4.3 Evaluating the success of assessment process...................................................................11
Conclusion................................................................................................................................12
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Reference list............................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
Employing the right person for the organisation is the key process to ensure the success of the
organisation. An effective selection and recruitment process is required for the beneficiary of
the organisation. Selection process includes proper screening and interview of the candidate,
which may provide reliable candidates to the organisation. The candidates, who have all the
required qualities, may give quality work to the customers. Right candidates give positive
effect on the customer satisfaction and on the quality of the goods and services offered by the
organisation. On the other hand, it has been found that an effective leader, who has proper
vision, values, creativity and good knowledge skills, can achieve enhanced organisational
performance. It can be said that good leaders have confidence and good communication
skills, which may lead to the betterment of the company.
Task 1
LO 1: Using recruitment, selection and retention procedures
1.1 Preparing the documentation towards selection and recruitment
process of PM Company
As an HR manager of PM Company, identification of post is required for, which the new
staff is to be recruited. As an HR manger, I observe the functions of management system and
the staff members. I evaluate proper planning of the need for the post. The position
description is the main part of the recruitment process. As a manger, first I have prepared the
job post for a new staff to be recruited and given the job description in the newspaper or in
the other media, which is important during the recruitment process. The documents are
prepared according to the post recruited. It helps to format the questions to be asked in the
interview. As an HR manager, I first declare the recruitment of the new staffs as this provides
a good impression to the candidates who may apply for the post. A proper documentation is
prepared in which all the requirements needed, the responsibilities that the staff may function,
the qualification to be needed for the new staff and giving written evidence that employment
decisions are based on the business needs (Ryan et al. 2014, p.143).
The next step is to collect all the general information of the staffs. The job description is very
important that helps me to select a particular staff for the particular work. In the
documentation I, first mention the job title, as an HR manager as this helps the candidates to
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apply for the post. As an HR manager of PM Company, it is my responsibility to declare in
the recruitment process that the people who are talented and have good knowledge of how to
work and work as a team. The main purpose of the interview is to collect the information
from the candidates and to check his ability to perform the work. As per Armstrong and
Taylor (2014, p.169), the interview to be taken for the recruitment of the new staffs must
include all the documents to be required during the interview is prepared. As an HR manager,
I prepared the interview questions before conducting the interview. A short list is prepared of
selected candidates to be interviewed. The new staff position is given to the recruited staff
according to his functions, his pay grade and the work that he is appointed for (Stone 2013,
p.365).
Human resource department is the basic part of every organisation. The success of the
organisation depends on the skilled, good quality, creative, eligible employees. All the
organisations are required to prepare a proper documentation while selecting the right
candidates through selection and recruitment process. For the betterment of the company,
proper selection of the candidates is required. (Cody, 2013, p.541) stated that the recruitment
of the new employee requires proper documentation, which is done by the human resource
department of the company. Selection is done under certain rules and regulations legally by
law. Proper recruitment is started with the approval by the organisation. As a HR manager of
the PM Company focus on the promotional activity, as it is essential to attract the candidates
towards the organisation and key part of selection process. Prokosch (2014, p.143)
commented that advertisement can be done by print media, online advertisement and mass
media. The advertisement may also include vacant position, required skill, educational
background, terms of salary, interview venue, working hours required to create job awareness
among the people.
1.2 Assessing the impact of legal, regulatory and ethical considerations to
the recruitment and selection process for the PM Company
The recruitment and selection process requires the legal rules and regulations. According to
Ryan et al. (2014, p.143), there are different types of laws and regulations which are related
to recruitment process such as Employment Protection Act 1978, Sex Discrimination Act
1975, Race Relation Act 1976, Disability Discrimination Act 1995, Rehabilitation Of
Offenders Act 1974. Being an HR manager of PM Company, all the terms and conditions
regarding his job, the announcement of the job, terms of payment should be deled with the
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employee. As per Employment Protection Act duration of job, list of holidays, terms of
payment, sick leave, job termination and procedures of compliance should be termed
properly.
According to the Sex Discrimination Act, discrimination between men and women is
unlawful. An HR Manager of PM Company should not entertain any discrimination among
men and women and provide equal pay for all employees. All the terms and conditions are
equal for both men and women during the selection process. The Race Relation Act states
that it protects the discrimination of racial nationality, racial religion and racial colour. All the
employees are paid equal pay and are maintained by equal terms and conditions. The
Disability Discrimination Act states that no discrimination for the disabled employees. They
must get equal job opportunity and get a chance to work in the company. Schmidt (2016,
p.124) mentioned that the rehabilitation act shows that, there is no discrimination for the
person, who may have done a small offence. An HR Manager of PM Company should not
entertain any discrimination among the disabled and provide them an equal environment as
provided to other employees.
1.3 Being a part of the selection process
In order to maintain the standards of the PM Company, it is important for me being an HR
manager of the company to look out for the right candidate for the selection process. It is
well-known fact that the initial work of the HR manager is to sort out the resumes submitted
by the candidates who meets the minimum requirement set by the company. The PM
Company has appointed me as their HR manager in order to ensure that the company does
not go in a stagnant phase due to lack of leadership. Stone (2013, p.365) said that in order for
a company to progress smoothly, proper managerial styles, leadership and skilled workers are
needed.
It has been seen that due to lack of skilled workers and poor performance of the employees
PM Company has been unable to satisfy the needs of the customers recently. The mails and
couriers delivered by the service member are not on time or delivered to a different address. I,
being the HR manager of the company need to perform my duty and take care of the
recruitment process. Armstrong and Taylor (2014, p.169) stated that one must follow the
company rules during the selection of the candidate, and look out for communication and
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interpersonal skills, followed by time management and decision-making skills. It can be said
that it will be helpful for the enhancement of the company’s progress.
1.4 My contribution to the selection process in the organisation
Being an HR manager of this company, I must prepare the job details, job venue, time, salary
structure, incentives, PF, ESI, and also the working hours of sorting out the resumes. Sharing
the information is a vital part of my job, which I will be doing through various media like
newspapers, the internet, and emails. Preparing the list of the interviewers along with
interview questionnaires that I will ask during the interview is also a part. As stated by
Townley (2014, p.106) confusing the candidates rather than testing their skills and knowledge
by setting tough questions is not a general part interview I must allow the interviewee to take
appropriate time in accordance to question to express their thoughts. I must check their
intelligence, mind presence, and smartness by asking tricky questions rather than confusing
them.
Within a specific time, I must judge the candidate's skills and knowledge, thereby also
consulting the other managers in the process. After that, I will select the best candidates
among them taking into account the managerial, administrative and leadership issues for the
consulate. The sole performance of the candidate will be on my shoulders should the
candidate perform well or vice versa.
LO 2: Understanding the styles and impact of leadership
2.1 Explaining the skills and attributes needed for leadership
Familiarising with the traits and skills for a leadership helps an organisation in enhancing the
managerial and administrative part (Dinh and Lord, 2012, p.654). Passion for the work and
feeling the importance for it is a trait of a good leader. Praising your co-worker for good
performance is a part of motivating your employee for performing the job even better.
Communication skills of a leader are as important as praising your co-worker. The sole vision
of the leader depends on how the person is emphasising the views in a proper order to make
their co-workers understand clearly too all the fact, rather than going blank.
As a leader, it is important to think out of the box, this is where creativity comes to the fore.
Ulrich et al. (2013, p.150) said that being decisive rather than taking the easy way out to find
a solution is a vital part of creativity. Inspiring your team, when going gets tough is one of the
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attributes of the leader. Praising your co-worker and raising their spirits for the job done is a
part of good leadership skills. No success can be achieved without the contribution of the co-
workers; commitment to the team member is the necessary part of leadership. Treating every
person equally helps in maintaining the integrity and harmony in the team of PM Company.
2.2 Explaining the difference between leadership and management
The difference between the management and leadership can be evaluated based on their
approach towards the entire work process of any organisation. The management counts their
employees as a developmental tool for achieving their organisational objective. On the other
hand, leaders make their employees actively participate and contribute in the developmental
process (Bratton and Gold, 2012, p.43). The leaders rely on the skills and potential of their
employees more than the management does. While the management maintains the
administrative framework and creates a sustainable working environment for the employees,
the leaders encourage the employees to develop proper working condition by taking an
innovative approach.
The leaders always account their team members to involve in the work process and keep the
balance of developmental orientation of the organisation (Buyens and De Vos, 2001, p.72).
On the contrary, the management tries to keep the structural orientation intact in order to
foster the development process. Some of the major objectives of leaders include motivating,
persuading, listening and counselling the team members. The responsibilities of the
management include preparation of financial reports, organising and controlling the
situations, imposing administrative decisions and utilising the resources. Although, the
management follows the status quo and the leaders challenge it, but only successful
cohabitation of both these institutions can ensure the success of the organisation.
2.3 Comparing different leadership styles for different situations
Every leader possesses an individualistic approach towards leading a team for fulfilling the
organisational objectives. As per Eagly et al. (2003, p.563), every leader tries to impose own
value and judgements on individual roles as leader accompanying the traditional forms of
leadership. The major six divisions of leadership include authoritarian, democratic,
transformational, transactional, laissez-faire and bureaucratic leadership. As the name
suggests, authoritarian leaders impose an authority to the work process, make quick decisions
and take prompt initiatives for execution.
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Democratic leaders include the team members in the decision-making process and encourage
active participation from their end. John F. Kennedy, the late former US President is an ideal
example of a democratic leader. Laissez-faire is a less regarded approach by leaders as in this
process, the leaders set back from their respective roles and let the employees make all the
decisions. This approach can lead to an undesirable anarchy and mismanagement within the
organisation. The bureaucratic leaders are motivated by the organisational structure and tend
to lead the team by setting the objectives beforehand.
Transformational and transactional leaders are contrary to each other. While the
transformational leaders encourage flexibility in the work process without compromising on
quick and effective decision-making, the transactional leaders try to earn the employee
loyalty by reinforcing monetary rewards. However, transactional leaders often fail to please
their team members, as they believe in punishing the employees whenever they face any
failure.
2.4 Explaining ways to motivate staff to achieve the objectives
Apparently, motivation may be looked upon as a continuing process that leaders exercise on
their employees in course of development process; however, motivation attaints the
maximum effectiveness when an organisation implies it in the time of crisis (Ferreira and
Otley, 2009, p.265). Considering the current scenario of Purple Mail Company, the human
resource department needs to configure an effective motivational strategy so that the
company can get back its strengths. As the company is indulged in a financial crisis,
rewarding the employees for retention purpose will not be a wise decision, as it will lead the
organisation in debt. The human resource department needs to earn the loyalty of the
employees by inviting them for openly communicate regarding their grievances against the
management if any. Active participation from the end of the department is required in terms
of resolving the issues the employees are facing. Other than this, the HR department should
formulate new strategies by confronting with the team leaders to resolve every work related
issue the employees are facing. The department needs to disclose the situations regarding the
company’s downturn in order to make the employee put trust on the intention of Purple Mail
Company.
Task 2
LO 3: Working effectively in a team
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3.1 Assessing the benefits of team working for PM Company and reviewing
the effectiveness of the team in achieving the goals
The biggest benefit for the leaders to indulge their respective members in teamwork is it
accelerates a collaborative environment within the organisation, increase the productivity and
make the employees motivated to achieve the organisational objectives (Gardner and Stough,
2002, p.69). Teamwork or a collaborative effort lets the employees involve into sorting out
their own issues through open communication. Sharing ideas and working approach help
them in crossing the hurdles more effectively. Teamwork harmonises the strengths of the
team members so that the lack of any individual does not come in the way of the entire work
process (Kouzes and Posner, 2006, p.33).
In the case of Purple Mail Company, fostering an environment of teamwork is extremely
necessary, as it will help the employees to resolve the emerging issues by working faster and
effectively. Any ugly competition among the employees in the current situation of PM
Company may lead to the more complicated situation. For this reason, involving the
employees in teamwork will help to generate a healthy competitiveness so that the employees
avoid the thought of surpassing each other and stay focused on joint effort. Moreover,
teamwork will further make the employees more competent in case of solving the problems.
Following the leadership style of challenging the status quo, the employees of PMC will
challenge the situations and bring out a positive outcome for the company.
3.2 Demonstrating the importance of working in a team as a leader and
member towards specific goals, dealing with any conflict or difficult
situations
Both the team leaders and employees may work collaboratively for fostering teamwork, but
the employees and team members have their individual responsibilities towards the
sustainability of teamwork. According to McColl-Kennedy and Anderson (2002, p.547), it is
quite evident that a team leader possesses many significant responsibilities in terms of
making the team strong and competent for generating the best possible outcome. In the case
of Purple Mail Company, the leaders have the most pivotal role to play for organising the
infrastructure of the company effectively. The leaders need to take the responsibility of
formulating strategies to motivate the employees and accelerate the productivity. Quick
decisiveness needs to be one of the key feature, the leaders of PMC has to possess.
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Employees often consider their leaders to be the supreme power and follow them without
countering their decisions (Tarricone and Luca, 2002, p.56). However, the employees need to
find out the reasonable grounds of every decision taken by the team leaders of Purple Mail
Company. In this current situation, the employees have to involve in the team efforts without
compromising on their individual growth. As the leaders open the platform of open
communication, the employees need to take advantage of that situation and contribute to the
effective decision-making process. In this way, the employees will be able to emphasise on
their importance for the benefit of the company.
3.3 Reviewing the effectiveness of the team in achieving the goals
The effectiveness of any team can only be determined if the workforce accomplishes the
organisational success effectively. As per Julnes and Holzer (2001, p.695), the review or
evaluation of the effectiveness of achieving the goals is extremely significant, as this process
does not only reflect the vitality of the implemented strategies but also identify the drawbacks
or risk factors. The very first determinant for evaluating the effectiveness includes measuring
the employee satisfaction level. The review process needs to follow a way of evaluating
whether the employees have evolved a strong problem-solving skill or not. Moreover, the
achievement of organisational goal cannot be completed without fostering the individual
growth of each employee.
The collaborative efforts and contributions of both the leaders and the management need to
be considered in order to review the success of an organisation. Whether the team leader has
contributed effectively to strengthen the team, the effectiveness of their decision-making
skills, methods they have chosen to execute the tasks without hampering the teamwork or not
are some of the parameters that will be considered in the review process. In the case of Purple
Mail Company, the prime objective of reviewing the effectiveness of goal accomplishment
will be the fact whether the company has successfully got out of their crisis or not. Moreover,
the contribution of each associate related to the company needs to be assessed in the review
process.
LO 4: Assessing the work and development needs of individuals
4.1 Explaining the important factors involved in planning the monitoring
and assessment of work performance at PM Company
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The Human Resource Department of Purple Mail Company needs to participate in the
monitoring and assessment of employee performance. As per the view of Durant et al. (2006,
p.506), the monitoring process not only helps the HR Department to recognise the potential
of the employees but also helps in preparing future plans for the organisation. Utilisation of
proper monitoring technique helps in getting a proper idea of determining the employee
performance. Moreover, this monitoring and evaluation process may also lead the company
to understand the significance of every decision made for the benefit of the organisation.
The most effective way of monitoring the employee performance is to observe them work, in
the case of Purple Mail Company. Incorporating a tracking tool will also be ideal in this
situation. It will further maintain the fairness of job allocation process and help the human
resource department track the performance of each employee on each day. The department
can understand the specific issues that the employees are facing in their daily work process
by having a routine conversation with them. This process will further help the department to
assess the employees’ understanding of the entire work process. Other than these, making the
employees use a self-monitoring tool, reviewing the works in progress and getting feedback
from the team leaders are also effective ways to monitor employee performance in Purple
Mail Company.
4.2 Writing a plan and delivering the assessment of the development needs
of individuals at PM Company
In order to retain the trained employees, it is highly required for the human resource
department to identify and resolve the issues faced by the employees of Purple Mail
Company. It is quite evident that apart from the financial downturn, another major issue the
company is facing in the current situation is the lack of growth. The continuous growth of
any company is intriguingly associated with individual growth (Stone, 2013, p.31). The
development of individual can be referred to the stages involved in accelerating both the
personal and professional growth of the employees.
In order to identify and fulfil the developmental needs of the employees of Purple Mail
Company, the best possible way is to prepare training programmes for them. However, before
planning for a training schedule, it is essential to analyse the training needs accordingly. The
training needs can be analysed by aligning the existing workforce with the required skills for
accomplishing the objectives. Integrating performance management in the infrastructure of
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the organisation is another effective way of getting proper feedback regarding the areas of
improvement. The company needs to take a 360-degree feedback from all the levels of the
organisation and plan for individual development. Documentation of each level of the process
is highly required in order to put the plans into effectiveness.
4.3 Evaluating the success of assessment process
The assessment process can be declared successful only after evaluating its core factors. In
the case of Purple Mail Company, the evaluation process will focus on how the assessment
techniques are implemented to bring out the effective results. In the course of the evaluation
process for PM Company, it is the foremost duty of the Human Resource Department to
understand whether every employee grants the purpose of the assessment process or not. At
the next level, the department needs to know whether the tools and techniques used for the
assessment process were effective or not. Thirdly, the department needs to make sure every
employee was fully aware of the criteria of their assessment. Lastly, the HR needs to ensure
that they have gathered enough evidence that can be put to use for the organisational
development purpose.
After the evaluation process is done, the HR department needs to provide a reward to the
employee who has delivered high-performance compared to others. As Purple Mail Company
is in a financial crisis, the management needs to alter the rewarding system with opening up
better opportunities for the employees. According to Bratton and Gold (2012, p.54), various
organisations utilise the assessment of employee performance in order to determine the
employee turnover. Considering this fact, Purple Mail Company will be able to reduce the
employee turnover without compromising on their employee retention strategies. Moreover,
the evaluation of employee performance assessment will help individual departments to
understand the key areas of their improvement.
Conclusion
Based on the above discussion, it can be summarised that Purple Mail Company can retrieve
its position by incorporating HR practices within the system. The Human Resource
Department can resolve the crisis by taking part in the recruitment and selection process,
abiding by the professional norms and legislation. The discussion further elaborates various
aspects of leadership styles considering the context of the situation of Purple Mail Company.
It further illustrates how teamwork can be effective in resolving the issues and make the
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employees work collaboratively for the benefit of the company. Lastly, it throws a light on
the assessment process of employee performance and its effectiveness.
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