Leadership and HRM Report: Working and Leading People at Cloudreach

This report analyzes leadership and human resource management practices within the context of Cloudreach, a digital transformation company. The report begins by examining recruitment, selection, and retention procedures, including the necessary documentation, legal and ethical considerations, and the author's participation in the selection process. It then delves into leadership styles, differentiating between leadership and managerial skills, and exploring situational leadership. The report further addresses teamwork, assessing its benefits, conflict resolution strategies, and methods for improving team effectiveness. Finally, it examines individual work and development needs, including factors for assessing performance, planning and delivering assessments, and evaluating the assessment process's success. The report provides a comprehensive overview of key aspects of leadership and HRM, with practical recommendations for organizational improvement.

Working With and Leading People

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Task 1 Using Recruitment, Selection and Retention Procedures.................................................................2
1.1 Documentation for Recruiting and Selecting New Staff Members....................................................2
1.2 Impact of Legal, Regulatory and Ethical Considerations in Recruitment and Selection Process.......4
1.3 & 1.4 Participating in Selection and Evaluating my own Contribution..............................................6
Task 2 Understanding the Styles and Impact of Leadership........................................................................7
2.1 Managerial Skills and Attributes.......................................................................................................7
2.2 Differences between Leadership and Managerial Skills....................................................................8
2.3 & 2.4 Situational Leadership.................................................................................................................9
Task 3 Working Effectively in a Team......................................................................................................11
3.1 Assessing Benefits of Teamwork.....................................................................................................11
3.2 Resolving Conflicts in Teamwork...................................................................................................12
3.3 Strategy for Improving the Effectiveness of the Team.....................................................................13
Task 4 Assessing the Work and Development Needs of Individual..........................................................14
4.1 Factors for Assessing the Work Performance..................................................................................14
4.2 Planning and Delivering the Assessment of the Development Needs of the Employees.................14
4.3 Evaluating the Success of Assessment Process................................................................................15
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................15
References.................................................................................................................................................16
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Introduction
Business organizations in the recent times have understood the importance of the people and so
they tend to value their employees and promote teamwork through effective leadership.
Moreover, in this context, I have recently been appointed as the General Manager of Cloudreach
that is involved in facilitating its clients to become digital revolutionaries by facilitating them
with the platforms, tools and people (Cloudreach, 2016). The company is planning to develop a
core team that can perform to the level of expectation of the company towards successful
achievement of its goals and objectives. The company is characterized with 25 members at
present who are working on a regular basis and it is also planning future developments for which
they need to recruit and develop some more staff members for proper operation and enriching
teamwork. So, it has been observed that the company needs to hire ten more staff members.
So, taking into consideration the above aspects and plan of the company the report emphasizes
upon being able to make an effective use of the recruitment, selection and retention procedures
that are adopted by the company, gaining an understanding of the styles and impact of
leadership, working efficiently in team and assessing the work and development needs of the
individual.
Task 1 Using Recruitment, Selection and Retention Procedures
1.1 Documentation for Recruiting and Selecting New Staff Members
From the case study it is observed that Cloudreach is planning to recruit some new staff members
and so it is important for the HR Department of the company to prepare documentations for the
initiation of the recruitment and selection process. The following documentation need to be done:
Recruitment approval
The recruitment process would be initiated by approval from the concerned authority and the
head of the departments that require new staff members (Sparrow, 2006). The head of the
departments would prepare a draft with proper designation, job description and person
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specification in consultation with the top management and once approved moves to the HR
department for the initiation of the recruitment and selection.
Position Description
It is important that before publishing the advertisement for recruitment, the description of the job
position for which the recruitment is being conducted need to be analyzed and it is important
because, the designation or job position cannot be changed once the advertisement is published
(Currie and Horsfield, 2007). So, in this context the company plans to recruit staff members for
administrator position, operational trainer, management executive and customer executive.
Advertisement
Before publishing the advertisement for recruitment, the HR department of Cloudreach needs to
get it approved by the executive director of the HR department. Moreover, appropriate media
should also be selected for placing the advertisement i.e. taking decisions regarding whether the
ad should be published through electronic media, the print media or over website and the
advertisement should be clearly evaluated to analyze whether it contains the number of vacancy,
the terms related to payment and the number of vacancy is clearly communicated and laws
pertaining to advertisement of the vacancy is adequately followed.
This can be illustrated with the help of an example as follows:
Recruitment Advertisement: For the post of Administrator
Starting date for receiving applications: 25/11/2016
Closing date for receiving applications: 5/12/2016
Employment type: Permanent
Location: Newcastle
Working hours per week: 40
Vacancy: 2
Salary: £3000 p.a.
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Brief Organizational Introduction
Cloudreach offers tools, platforms and people to its clients to help them become digital
revolutionaries and invites application for administrator position and is looking self motivated,
creative and innovative individuals who can lead the business to new heights.
Responsibilities
 The candidates would be responsible to meet the weekly, monthly and yearly targets.
 He would be responsible to enhance the organizational operations and strive towards
minimizing the cost of operation.
 To efficiently implement and monitor the health and safety regulations.
 He would be responsible for maintaining an effective relationship with the colleagues,
superiors and the subordinates.
 Promote team working.
 Take active participation in the strategy formulation and decision making.
Skills and Experience
 The candidate must have a degree or diploma certificate in business discipline. MBA
would be preferred.
 He must possess efficient communication skills and must be proficient in English and
other languages of Europe.
 Must have a minimum of 10 years of experience in the relevant field.
1.2 Impact of Legal, Regulatory and Ethical Considerations in Recruitment and
Selection Process
For efficiently conducting the recruitment and selection, it is important on the part of the HR
manager of the Cloudreach to have an enhanced understanding of the rules and regulations that
need to be followed during the entire recruitment and selection process and the implications of
the same has been discussed below:
Sex discrimination act The HR manger should not make no
discrimination in the recruitment and selection
process on the basis of the sexual orientation of
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the candidates (Yeung, 2011).
Race relations act The HR manager should take care of the fact
that the vacant job is advertisement not for
particular nationality or race and thus it should
welcome all the candidates who possess the
legal permission to work in UK.
Equality regulations act According to this act, all the candidates who
qualify and apply for the advertised vacant job
position should be given equal opportunity
irrespective of their race, religion, caste, sex,
disability, nationality and ethnicity, etc.
Law implications in advertising stage It guides the HR manager to design the
advertisement that is not offensive and do not
make discrimination of any kind and the job
advertised as per the implemented law
(Gopalia, 2011).
Law implications in interview stage The HR managers should prevent themselves
from asking questions that might appear
offensive for the candidate in terms of the
religion, caste, nationality and political views
of the candidate. All the candidates should be
treated in fair and just manner equally without
any personal biasness and equal opportunities
should be provided to all.
Right to employment The HR manager is also responsible to verify
whether the candidate has the legal rights to
work in UK.
Statement of employment The candidates selected for the job should be
provided with statement of employment and it
should clearly provide all the details that
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include the remuneration, holidays, working
hours and other employment terms and
conditions (Murray, 2009).
1.3 & 1.4 Participating in Selection and Evaluating my own Contribution
I have recently been appointed as a new General Manager of Cloudreach andit has been observed
that the company planned to recruit certain individuals for the growth and development of the
company. Thus, analyzing the vacant job position, I emphasized upon working collaboratively
with the HR department and other departmental heads to design the job description and person
specification and take effective decisions in context to the advertisement media and vacancy for
each designation or job position (Dale, 2007). Moreover, during the entire recruitment and
selection process, I provided them with specific instructions in various aspects as follows:
Panel for recruitment and selection
I advised the HR department to strategically design the interview panel. The recruitment was
being made for three different job positions and so I advised to form three different panels and
ach panel is characterized with high qualified and experienced individuals and they should be
related with the department for which the recruitment is being made.
Short listing
In the process of shot listing the candidates, I advised the HR department to conduct the selection
process in different phases. In the first phase, the applications should be selection that meets the
required criteria. The selected candidates should be called for Aptitude test, IQ test and
Psychometric test. The candidates who would qualify the above tests would be sent for HR round
interview followed by the technical round interview for efficient staffing.
Interview
Before the interview, I conceited a meeting with the HR manager, the departmental heads and
the others involved in the process to clearly discuss about the dos and don’ts for selecting the
right candidate and putting the right skills for the right job. I also monitored the all the entire
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interview process through CCTV footage to analyze and monitor whether the instructions are
being followed or not.
Appointment
The HR department and the interview panel was selected and instructed in manner that can prove
to be beneficial in avoiding cases of personal bias and discrimination of kind and select the
candidates who only fulfils the required criteria i.e. performance based selection. Moreover, I
advised the HR department to conduct a reference and medical check efficiently before offering
the appointment letter.
So, it can be said, I was involved in the entire plan of the recruitment and selection process and
this was mainly because I wanted to pick the talent from the labor pool that can enhance the
organizational efficiency and so I was personally involved in panel formation, shot listing,
interview and appointment process of the selection process.
Task 2 Understanding the Styles and Impact of Leadership
2.1 Managerial Skills and Attributes
Managers are responsible for getting the things done by others in an efficient manner and thus it
becomes important on their part to possess certain skills and attributes that can make the staff
members to trust and listed to the managers. The skills and attributes cab be listed as follows:
Personality Traits Self motivated, set high standards, confident,
optimistic and positive, accountable, courage,
engaged, passionate, integrity, respectable,
ethical, charismatic and loyal (Chabon-Berger,
2006).
Self Awareness Should efficiently manage one’s own and
others emotions i.e high emotional intelligence,
understanding of opportunity cost, maintain
discipline, perspective, risk manager and time
management.
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Communicate Lead by example, relationship builder,
friendly, charismatic, social skills, public
speaking skills, honest and transparent, bold,
reasonable, listening skills, compassion and
empathy, ability of confronting others and
negotiation skills.
Delegate Ability to teach, clarity, trust in the team,
ability to inspire, vision sharing skills, ability
convert vision into reality, deriving the best
from others, motivation skills, responsibility
taking, ability to set clear expectations, fair and
just (Mainiero and Tromley, 2007).
Agility and Adaptability Sense of urgency, decisiveness, commitment to
vision, consistency, courage to take risk, ability
to pivot, open minded, tough minded,
resourceful, ability to take good decisions,
strategic thinker, proactive, flexible, ability to
manage uncertainty, creative and organized.
Cultivate Wisdom Ready to pursue new experiences, competence
i.e. well qualified, focused, good learner.
Effect change Help others to succeed, knowledge of
direction, ability to challenge the process,
performance driven, servant skills,
independent, assertive and patient (Mainiero
and Tromley, 2007).
2.2 Differences between Leadership and Managerial Skills
Leaders Managers
Approach to tasks The leaders tend to identify
the problems and then
emphasize upon devising
The managers formulate
policies and strategies to
promote teamwork and
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unique solutions. smooth functioning of the
organization.
Decision making Leaders facilitate in the
decision making process.
Managers are involved in the
decision making process for
effective decision making.
Focus Leaders aim leading the
individuals to accomplish the
tasks.
Managers manage the work
and emphasize upon getting
the tasks accomplished by the
staff members (Moyer &
Dunphy, 2007).
organization Leaders have followers
(Giuliani and Kurson, 2010).
Managers have to deal with
the subordinates.
Orientation Leaders are people oriented Managers are task oriented
Risk approach Leaders are risk takers Managers are risk averse
2.3 & 2.4 Situational Leadership
In above discussed recruitment and selection process at Cloureach, I emphasized upon making an
effective use of a mix of leadership styles. Where at one hand, I emphasized upon working in a
collaborative manner with the departmental heads, the HR managers and other individuals
involved in to the process to design the job descriptions and person specifications, I emphasized
upon maintaining the control of the recruitment and selection process in context to the phases in
which the recruitment and selection would be conducted and maintenance of the policies,
procedures and legislations in the recruitment and selection process. Thus, from the above
discussions, I can say that I used both the democratic and autocratic leadership styles depending
upon the situation. Where in case of democratic leadership, I followed the ‘I share’ philosophy to
encourage the members to take active participation in the decision making process, on the other
hand I adopted the autocratic leadership style where I emphasized upon the ‘I tell’ philosophy to
ensure that the entire recruitment and selection process is conducted as per my directions and
maintained the authority to take final decisions in all aspects (Hersey, 2006).
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I have been appointed as a General Manager at Cloudreach and for efficiently leading the
organization towards success, I emphasize upon motivating my staff members with the help of
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy theory and Herzberg’s Motivation Hygiene Theory.
Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory
I personally try to satisfy the basic needs of my staff members so that they can be motivated
towards achieving the higher level of needs.
[Source: Duncan, 2006]
The employees are offered competitive remuneration as clear from the job advertisement so that
their basic needs are satisfied. I facilitate the new employees with the required training and
development programs to continuously update their skills to secure their job. I promote team
working and encourage the Hr department to organize events so that the employees can know
and understand each other to satisfy their social needs. I encourage the employees to put forward
their ideas and feedbacks and be creative in their approach and encourage them to take active
participation in the decision making process to develop their confidence that tends to satisfy their
esteem needs (Duncan, 2006). Moreover, growth and development opportunities are also
available by facilitating the staff members to move to higher level position that tends to satisfy
their self actualization needs.
Herzberg’s Motivation Hygiene Theory
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[Source: Jones and Page, 2006]
In this context, I emphasize upon facilitating my employees with both the hygiene factors and
motivators to keep their motivation level high and achieve performance that can lead the
organization towards success.
Task 3 Working Effectively in a Team
3.1 Assessing Benefits of Teamwork
When a team is formed it is characterized with diverse skills, experience and knowledge and it
proves to be beneficial for the team members to acquire the required knowledge and enhance
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