Analysis of Working with and Leading People at Purple Mail Company

This report analyzes leadership and people management within Purple Mail Company (PMC), a large UK courier firm facing challenges in leadership, management, and administration. The report covers the recruitment and selection process, including documentation, legal considerations, and the HR manager's role. It identifies key leadership skills and attributes, differentiates between leadership and management, compares leadership styles in various situations, and explores ways to motivate staff. Furthermore, the report assesses the benefits of team working, the importance of teamwork in achieving goals, and the effectiveness of teams. Finally, it examines factors involved in planning, monitoring, and assessing work performance, including the assessment of individual development needs and the evaluation of the assessment process's success.

Working With and Leading People
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................4
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Documentation for selection and recruitment of new staff for PM Company...........................4
1.2 Impact of legal and other considerations to recruitment process...............................................5
1.3 Take part in selection process....................................................................................................5
1.4 Evaluation of own contribution to the selection process...........................................................6
TASK 2.................................................................................................................................................7
2.1 Skills and attributes needed for Leadership...............................................................................7
2.2 Difference between Leadership and Management.....................................................................7
2.3 Comparison of leadership styles in various situations...............................................................9
2.4 Ways to motivate staff to achieve objectives.............................................................................9
TASK 3...............................................................................................................................................10
3.1 Assessment of benefits of team working for PM Company....................................................10
3.2 Importance of working in a team as a leader and member towards specific goals, dealing with
any conflicts or situation................................................................................................................10
3.3 Effectiveness of team in achieving goals.................................................................................11
TASK 4...............................................................................................................................................11
4.1 Factors involved in planning the monitoring and assessment of work performance at PM
Company........................................................................................................................................11
4.2 Plan and deliver the assessment of development needs of individual at PM Company..........12
4.3 Evaluation the success of the assessment process so that the PM Company is back on track
with high standard of management and leadership performance..................................................12
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
The present study is related to the working with and leading people and to understand its
importance within the firm, Purple Mail Company (PMC) is taken into the consideration. It is one
of the largest courier firms of the UK (Anderson and Anderson, 2010). In present time, company is
facing leadership, management and administrative issues. Along with this, organization is making
losses from last few years. Recruitment and selection process of PM Company has also poor and
due to this, the retention of the staff has also risen. Objectives that will cover under the current
research are role of recruitment, selection & retention procedures, leadership style & its impact
effective team working and assessment of development needs in individual (Beattie and Johnson,
2012 ).
TASK 1
1.1 Documentation for selection and recruitment of new staff for PM Company
PM Company identified a hiring need of 2 administrators. The HR head of human resource
department of company needs to prepare the following documents for recruitment and selection of
new member of staff: Approval of Recruitment: Recruitment process starts with the approval from higher authority
of PM Company. The concerned department of organization who needs new employees send
a draft with job description and document that require skills and qualification for the post.
The recruitment and selection process of company will not start until and unless they receive
an approval from the top management (Coombs and Alston, 2016). Job Description: Before giving the advertisement, PM Company is required to describe the
requirements of job for which it going to recruit a new member. Job description includes
duties and responsibilities, work which has to be done and activities involved with it
(Cummings and Holmberg, 2012).
 Advertisement:
POSITION HR ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
Required education Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and Master in Human
Resource Management (Davenport, 2013).
Other Requirements 2 years experience in Human resources or administrative work.
Key skills Able to use Human Resource Management (HRM) software, decision
making, leadership and good communication skills.
Job duties  Preparing staff handbooks
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 Maintaining employees records
 Preparing employment packages (Furtmueller, 2012).
 Prepare plan for delivering training to new staff
 Processing termination paperwork
 Work closely with different departments (Galegher, Kraut and
Egido, 2014).
1.2 Impact of legal and other considerations to recruitment process
There are various laws which must be considered by PM Company during the recruitment
process. As per the UK government, employers will be charged with heavy penalties, if they were
found to be breaching the laws (McNutt and Batho, 2009). The legal framework of recruitment and
selection process includes Employment Equality (Age) Regulation 2006, Sex Discrimination Act
1975, Race Relations act 1965 etc (Johansen, Johansen and Ryan, 2011). The impact of legal,
regulatory and ethical considerations to recruitment and selection procedure of PM Company is
discussed below:
ACTS IMPACT OF ACT ON RECRUITMENT PROCESS
Sex Discriminatory Act,
1975
PM Company will give equal chances to both female and male
candidates during the recruiting and selection process (Liu and
Motoda, 2013).
Race relation Act, 1965 PM Company will avoid the discrimination on the basis of colour,
nationality, ethnic or origins during recruiting and selection
process. If a job description of organization calls for a particular
nationality and the person is eligible for the same then, firm has to
recruit the person (Madera, 2012).
Employment Equality (Age)
Regulation, 2006
The impact of this legislation on PM Company’s recruitment and
selection process is that it will include people of different age
group at the time of recruitment who are completing the
requirements of given job description (Meng and et.al, 2012).
1.3 Take part in selection process
The another role of HR manager of PM Company after advertising is taking part in the
selection process to recruit new applicants (Merién, and et.al, 2010). So, the evidence of my work in
recruiting and selection method is described as below:
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 Prepare recruitment and selection panel: After posting the job description in various source
of information, my next step lies in developing a recruitment and selection panel. It will be
prepared to select the new applicant for HR administrative assistance post (Moran,
Abramson and Moran, 2014). Here, the HR head and other departments will be included for
which new employees will be hired. Short listing: When I receive the applications of the candidates, I will shortlist the applicants
by using different techniques such as IQ- test, Multiple Choice Question (MCQ)
examination, written exam etc (Müller and Turner, 2010). The shortlist of the candidates will
give to recruitment and selection panel as soon as possible. Interviews: I will take the interview of the selected candidates. In the interview, I will ask
questions related to their personal details such as backgrounds, educational qualification,
skills, strengths, knowledge in the subject, etc (Opazo and Choquet, 2011).
 Appointment: Once the interview and other processes will complete, I will give final
appointment letters to selected applicants who will be recommended by recruiting and
selection panel (Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell, 2013).
1.4 Evaluation of own contribution to the selection process
As a HR manager of PM Company, it is my responsibility to hire skilful and knowledgeable
candidates at the right place. During the entire recruiting and selection process, I have given many
efforts (Rodd, 2012). Therefore, there is a need of evaluation of my own contribution in selecting
methods of applicants. From the assessment, it has been found that I have took part in developing
require documents for recruiting the new candidates. Along with this, I have given advertisement of
proper job description in various information sources such PM Company website, newspaper,
different recruitment web portals etc (Puccio, Mance and Murdock, 2010). After this, I have
developed a recruiting and selection panel where I have included the heads of different departments
of PM Company. Besides this, I have short listed the applications of received applicants and took
their general interview. Finally, I have given final appointment letters to selected candidates for HR
administrative post with important documents.
TASK 2
2.1 Skills and attributes needed for Leadership
For PM Company, it is hard to run the business in competitive market of courier without a
proper or right leadership styles. But for this, company has to choose a person who possesses
different skills and attributes to lead the entire workforce (Sanayei, Mousavi and Yazdankhah,
2010 ). So, the most needed skills and attributes for leadership in an employee of PM Company are
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as follows. Passion: PM Company leaders should be very passionate towards their work and should
give major importance to it By sharing that spirit of doing the tasks with employees can help
them to motivate and make them more productive (Skogrand and et.al, 2010). Communication: PM Company leaders should adopt a right communication process with the
staff members because it has minimized the chances of miscommunication between the team
members. Therefore, with the help of good communication skills, organization leaders can
easily inform the changes in any work and make the task more effective (Ulrich, Zenger and
Smallwood, 2013).
 Commitment to Staff: PM Company leaders should understand that the coordination of team
members is very necessary to achieve the objectives and goals. So, it is important to show
some commitments and responsibilities towards the staff members. By giving them training,
involving in decision-making process and other work, leaders of PM Company should
increase the coordination with the employees (Yang, Huang and Wu, 2011).
2.2 Difference between Leadership and Management
Parameters Leadership Management
Definition Activity to lead and motivate a
group of people towards a particular
goal or objective (Yeung and et.al,
2012).
Refers to an organisation and
coordination between those activities
of a company in order to attain the
desired goal.
Decision making Participative Directive
Focus People oriented on the basis of set
values, culture and principles.
Task oriented on the basis of set
procedures and structure.
Approach Vision are long term and strategic. Administration which are short term
and tactical (Sanayei, Mousavi and
Yazdankhah, 2010 ).
Styles Participative, transformational and
consultative (Pedler, Burgoyne and
Boydell, 2013).
Autocratic, transactional, consultative,
and democratic.
Power To influence other by either giving
inspiration or persuasion.
Influence the other people on the basis
of either position or policies.
Risk tolerance Risk seeking by brining innovation,
flexibility and changes.
Risk averse by developing
standardization and stability.
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2.3 Comparison of leadership styles in various situations
PM Company is one of the largest courier firms in UK. Their are various situations where
company can use different leadership styles such as autocratic, democratic, laissez faire,
transactional, transformational. Among all these styles PM Company follows democratic leadership
(Sanayei, Mousavi and Yazdankhah, 2010 ). This is because, under this style all the employees
participate in decision making process. In order to bring change in organisation, following
democratic style of leadership, will help the employees to participate more in organisation this will
help to increase productivity. They will become more committed to changes that may be brought
about by policy changes, since they themselves participate in bringing about these changes
(Galegher, Kraut and Egido, 2014).
The management at PM Company may follow autocratic style when there is workload. This
will help the managers to take quick decisions. Having one leader to make decisions is often more
efficient and more effective (Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell, 2013). It even takes lesser time to take
decision in comparison to democratic where more time is consumed. Under this style more
possibility of building trust between employees and management is possible.
2.4 Ways to motivate staff to achieve objectives
PM Company is a largest courier organization of UK which serves large number of
customers in a single time. Company has various objectives like providing complete customer
satisfaction, increasing profits, providing quality services etc. In order to achieve these objectives,
the company has to constantly motivate its employees. PM Company should follow Herzberg
theory which includes two factors for motivating employees (Branine, 2008). one is motivational
factors and other is hygiene factors. Motivational factors like providing challenging work
environment, recognition of work etc gives inner satisfaction to employees of PM Company which
will help to achieve the objectives (Ulrich, Zenger and Smallwood, 2013).
The other factor is hygiene factor which includes things like giving job security to
employees, providing benefits, incentives, salary hikes, giving promotions, providing secured and
safety working environment, giving training and development to the employees (Pedler, Burgoyne
and Boydell, 2013). If there is presence of both High Hygiene as well as High Motivation then this
will be an ideal situation where employees are highly motivated and have few complaints. But High
Hygiene and Low Motivation will generate few complaints by staff members of PM Company but
are not highly motivated (Sanayei, Mousavi and Yazdankhah, 2010 ).
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TASK 3
3.1 Assessment of benefits of team working for PM Company
The assessment of benefits of team working for PM Company at the workplace are as
follows:
 Building teamwork in PM Company helps to bring develop creativity into ideas.
Brainstorming of the ideas takes place in team which helps to come up with creative
thought. This will help the company to increase its sales of services according to the current
market trend (Galegher, Kraut and Egido, 2014).
 Teamwork helps to improve the performance of employees and they able to focus on what
they do best and do not have to deal with task that is beyond their skills. This results to
improve the quality of the products and increase the production (Team Effectiveness
Assessment. How Good is Your Team?, 2016).
 Teamwork helps to build trust among team members. This will help the workers of PM
Company to bring loyalty in working environment, which will help to achieve the goals of
company. An effective team enjoys working together and shares a strong bond (6 Benefits of
Teamwork in the Workplace, 2015).
 PM Company divides its work into different sections so that it can be more manageable. It
leads to achieve targets within the given limits and manage the work in appropriate manner (
What Are the Benefits of Teamwork in Business, 2016).
 Working in team helps to reduce the stress of workload of employees. Within teams the task
are divided among members which will help to reduce the stress condition so that the PM
Company can focus on customer satisfaction, increase profits and quality products.
3.2 Importance of working in a team as a leader and member towards specific goals, dealing with
any conflicts or situation
PM Company is currently facing different situations such as leadership, management and
administrative issues at the workplace. So, as a leader and a member, there is an importance of team
working. Therefore, dealing with administrative issue, the value of working in a team as a leader
and member is as follows: Coordinator: Being a leader, Ir will try to help everyone in team and will cooperate with my
members. he will coordinate the different task and activities of my team in best effective
way. Shaper: As a team member, I will prepare deadlines, goals and objectives and look that
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either they will be meet or not within given limitations (Ulrich, Zenger and Smallwood,
2013). Monitor / evaluator: I will evaluates the performance of the team. Under monitoring he
carefully monitor judge the things accurately. Team worker: I will be a good listener and solves the problems or issues which arise
between other team members (Sanayei, Mousavi and Yazdankhah, 2010 ). Implementer: I will easily puts the ideas into execution. Resource investigator: I will always explores the opportunities and makes different
contracts. Finisher: I will try to focus on the way to finish the task they are assigned.
 Specialist: I will use my technical skills and other knowledge to assess the deliver services
and ensure that they are meet the objectives of business or not (Galegher, Kraut and Egido,
2014).
3.3 Effectiveness of team in achieving goals
The team of which I was a part at PM Company was very effective. Effectiveness can be
viewed as an ultimate competitive advantage that has delivered excellent results. The team which I
was leading has the members with diversity of knowledge which helped us to overcome the
challenges which occurred at times of selling the PM Company courier services (Sanayei, Mousavi
and Yazdankhah, 2010 ). People working under my team have developed proper coordination
between each other and had a sense of commitment which helped to achieve the sales target. I have
followed the Belbin's team role model which has different aspects to make teams much effective
and helpful. The cooperative nature of members, and achieving of the sales target clearly showed
effectiveness of my team.
TASK 4
4.1 Factors involved in planning the monitoring and assessment of work performance at PM
Company
The important factors which are involving in planning the monitoring and assessment of
work performance the work of PM Company are as follows :11 Performance appraisal: PM Company should make proper work performance appraisals for
staff. It should be evaluate the performance on basis of the standards set and plan the
appraisals accordingly.11 Providing feedback: Feedback from the management of PM Company should be effective
because it will communicates the performance status of individual, based on measurable
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guidelines (Galegher, Kraut and Egido, 2014).11 Setting standards: In PM Company, targets should be set, so on the basis of that, the
performance of employees at workplace of company can be easily measure.11 Motivation: Incentives should be considered during monitoring and assessment of work
performance of employees at working areas of PM because it will leads to increase the
morale of the employees (Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell, 2013).
4.2 Plan and deliver the assessment of development needs of individual at PM Company
PM Company is very famous for its services all over the world. But, in the present time,
company has faced different issues that affected the services of the firm (Ulrich, Zenger and
Smallwood, 2013). To resolve them, organization needed to assess the development needs on
individual basis. In this context, the plan of assessment of improvement needs of employee is
describing below. Identify the areas of need : Under this step those areas of needs of employees are identified
which help them to develop. This can be identified during interview, feedback from
colleagues, observations etc. Suppose area for giving training and development need is
identified for new staff. Need assessment instrument: A need assessment tells the PM Company what learners need
to learn and it forms the basis for selecting the content, instructors, methods, and even
budgets (Sanayei, Mousavi and Yazdankhah, 2010 ).
 Strategies for implementation of need assessment: Last step is to make certain strategies for
providing training and development to the new staff. After forming the strategies, I is a time
to implement them at the workplace of PM Company. There are various methods to train the
employees which method is suitable is decided and finally the training of staff starts (Pedler,
Burgoyne and Boydell, 2013).
4.3 Evaluation the success of the assessment process so that the PM Company is back on track with
high standard of management and leadership performance
Performances can be evaluated on the basis of the standards which are set, evaluator sees to
it that whether the targets of performance criteria are met or not. After providing training to the
employees of PM Company, their whole working has evaluated which helps to give the indication
for successful training process. The success of training of the each and every staff members in a
company can be evaluate by measuring of job performance and productivity (Galegher, Kraut and
Egido, 2014). While evaluation, it is observed that the employees have worked properly. Along with
this, the managers have started to follow different leadership and management styles for various
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situations. The outcome of this is the performance level of working of staff has been improved. The
delays in deliver the services have been overcome. Beside this, the moral and motivation level of
the employees have also raised and the result of this is it has improved the working practices and
productivity (Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell, 2013).
CONCLUSION
Summing up the project report it has been observed that for the success of companies like
PM Company, it has important to have proper recruitment and selection procedures. To improve and
increase the productivity of the company it is observed from the above project that that leader with
perfect skills and attributes are required. The above project also tells about that how effective a team
can be to lead an organisation to heights. Even it comes to know about the fact that company also
makes certain need assessment strategies to train and develop their staffs and also the performances
of the staff are timely evaluated and monitored and timely feedbacks are provided to the employees.
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