Significance of Leadership in today’s Corporates

In today’s swiftly changing business milieu, employees go through more work

pressure, greater frustration, and possess higher job expectations. All such various dimensions

would tend to have impact on the larger workplace behavior. In the recent past, awareness has

dawned upon business enterprises that the workforce, i.e. the human resources is its most

essential asset (Frederiksen, Handbook of Organizational Behavioural Management, 1982).

Human resources can be defined as the sum of the inherent capabilities, gained facts and skills as

epitomized in the skill set and propensities of people working in the organization. Aptitude and

ability of employees can be sharpened by training, motivation, and proviso of prospects for

education and personal development.

Employees vary as individuals, in their requirements, outlooks and behaviour. When

their requirements are not fulfilled or their objectives are not accomplished, the result is

dissatisfaction of employees. It is not a simple task for the organization to keep all the

employees contented and enthused, at all times. Though this fact may not sound very realistic, it

is very true. There can be various reasons for an employee being discontented. A manager

should spend plenty of time in improving interpersonal relations and motivate the employees to

develop their performance quality. It is very imperative for the superior to know the various

dimensions that motivate an employee as the modern day employees are more knowledgeable

and well-informed. Organizations as well have become more multifaceted than what they were

earlier, and hence require greater managerial skills for efficient management.

Leadership is as learnable as any other expertise. Abilities are an expression of the

personality traits possessed by an individual. However, as extensively accepted, human beings

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are remarkably good at familiarizing their personality to suit the circumstance. Therefore,

leadership skills being the yield of personality traits, the traits can accordingly varied to the

necessary skills and abilities.

In the view to Warren G. Bennis who is known to be the Chairman of the Leadership

Institute that was founded at the University of Southern California, “Failing organizations are

usually over-managed and under-led. ((ICMR), Introduction ot Organizational Behaviour,

2003)”. Even if an organization is conferred with ample resources, in the lack of effective

leadership, it will not be able to operate smoothly. Incompetent leadership worsens employee

confidence; encourages dissatisfaction amid employees and impacts organizational productivity

and efficiency negatively.

Quite a few theorists have tried to characterize leaders and leadership. A leader may be

characterized as a person who creates a clear vision, sets objectives, encourages people, and

gains their commitment to accomplish the goals and realize the vision. All theorists have the

same opinion that leaders persuade people and that leadership entails persuading people to strive

towards the desired goals.

Participation directs to development in both the quantity and the quality of the

productivity of the organization. Since participation increases the motivation levels of

employees, it augments their involvement in the task that they undertake. The resultant increase

in self-esteem and job satisfaction of the employees consequently results to better cooperation

with colleagues and managers and therefore an overall improvement of organizational

performance. In order to ensure the true participation of employees, it is necessary that the

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organization creates such an ambiance and impression so that the employees are both

psychologically and emotionally involved in the organizational activities.

Participation also has numerous other advantages in the form of lessening the attrition

rate and absenteeism level amongst the workforce. A few less concrete benefits that may result

from employee participation are reduction in the number of organizational conflicts, lower stress

levels in the minds of the employees, improved commitment of employees to the

accomplishment of goals, and a smaller amount resistance to change.

The support of top management is very crucial for the growth of the organization which

can be further translated to individual growth. It is very important that organizations emphasize

people-oriented values apart from the performance and profitability of the organization.

As already stated in the above paragraphs, innovation is a new idea that is being applied

to initiating or improving a change in existing processes. This fact is true with respects to

individuals also. Innovation is not just making something new and different from the existing

processes or products. It is rather a value addition to the existing processes or products. The

structural variables of an organization, the organization culture, and the support of the

management to its employees are the three important sources of innovation in organizations.

Structural variables form an important source of innovation. The structure of an

organization has got a profound impact on the innovation that is expected to happen sooner or

later in the organization. Secondly, in innovative organizations, the vision, mission, and

strategies of the organization are communicated very clearly to the human resources of the

organization. In such organizations, the employees are never forced to adopt traditional methods

to achieve the goals of the organization. Instead, the management encourages its employees to

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take risks, experiment with innovative ideas, and assume the responsibility for implementing

them. It is only then that the organization would be able to successfully reach higher heights and

progress well (Bennis, 2009).

For instance, 3M fosters a culture of innovation in its organization. It allows its

employees to spend 15% of their working hours on independent projects. In addition to this, the

key elements that foster innovation at 3M are its capability to recruit and retain talent, construct a

challenging atmosphere within the organization, support knowledge sharing and design suitable

systems for rewarding employees who outperform.

Likewise, management in innovative organizations trains and develops its workforce to

update their talent and acquaintance and encourages them to become idea champs. Idea champs

are those people in an organization who are highly enthusiastic in promoting the ideas they have

newly developed, systematize essential support for their ideas within the organization, overcome

confrontation if any, and ensure that the organization implements their ideas or innovations.

Such individuals succeed in obtaining support for their innovation by communicating their vision

pertaining to its potency, to other members of the organization. Furthermore, their confidence

and dedication plays a predominant role in persuading others about the potential of the

innovation.

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Bibliography
(ICMR), I. C. (2003). Introduction ot Organizational Behaviour. Hyderabad: ICFAI Center for
Management Research (ICMR).

Bennis, W. G. (2009). On Becoming a Leader. Random Century.

Frederiksen, L. W. (1982). Handbook of Organizational Behavioural Management. New York:

Interscience - Wiley.

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