Introduction
Currently, the business environment is characterized by a high level of dynamism. To succeed in the long term, it is paramount for organizations to have strong human capital. According to Homer and Griffin (2006, p.4), the importance of human resource management as a component of strategic management has increasingly become important in the survival of organizations. As a result, organizations are increasingly evaluating the best human resource practices to incorporate. This paper is aimed at evaluating how celebrating success within an organization can improve its performance. It also analyzes the various ways through which organizational leaders can integrate to improve purposeful celebrations.
Celebrating success
According to Spellman (2011, p.40), an organization that has embraced the celebration of success results becomes successful in creating an environment that is conducive for working. Celebrating success contributes towards the long-term success of a firm (Cassis, 1999, p.102). In its operation as a going concern entity, Lyness Group which is an accountancy firm is committed to ensuring that its employees are motivated. In doing this, it is the firm’s objective is to be associated with winners in the market. To achieve this, the firm has integrated the concept of reward management. One of the ways through which the firm has attained this is by celebrating success.
The firm has adopted different strategies of celebrating success as described below. Lyness Group recognizes employees who portray exemplary performance in their executing their duties. According to Mathis and Jackson (2011, p. 167), recognition is an important component of a firm’s reward system. Mathis and Jackson (2011, p. 167) further assert that recognition can either be tangible or intangible. Lyness Group has a program known as ‘employee of the month’. In this program, employees who have portrayed outstanding performance from the different departments are recognized internally. This is a psychological form of recognition. Recognition contributes towards the development of the employees’ self-esteem in addition to improving their self-esteem (Bowen, 2000, p. 52). The resultant effect is that their productivity and work relationships are improved.
Nelson and Economy (2005, p.169) believe that recognition is a critical component of motivating employee performance. Additionally, the form of recognition that motivates employees to higher performance is the personalized form of recognition. In its operation, Lyness Group’s management teams write to the specific employees acknowledging their effort and performance. The employees’ names are displayed on the organization’s notices boards. Additionally, Lyness Group has also developed formal award schemes where the selected employees are acknowledged in the presence of all the other employees.
Lyness Group has appreciated the fact that it must contribute towards employee development. To achieve this, the firm has incorporated the concept of performance appraisal. The firm uses the results of the appraisal to undertake promotions. Employees who have exemplary performance are identified and promoted. This contributes to improvement in the employee’s level of motivation. A study conducted by Rita F. Maehling and Roger L. Hale in Minnesota revealed that employee recognition plays a vital role in the employee’s level of job satisfaction (Nelson & Economy,2005, p. 169). In addition to the psychological form of recognition, the firm has also integrated monetary benefits. Some of these benefits are in form of bonuses which are added to the employees’ salaries. This plays a significant role in motivating the employees.
Ways of fostering purposeful celebrations within the firm
As a leader, there are a number of ways through which I can foster celebrations within the organization. One of the ways through which I can attain this is by being effective in designing employees’ tasks. I would ensure that the employees are assigned jobs that are challenging and that are in line with their skills. Additionally, I would ensure a certain degree of autonomy is given to the employees. According to London (1999, p.136), giving the employees autonomy will enable them to develop a sense of integrity.
According to Koestenbaum (2002, p.122), integrity contributes towards the employees developing a sense of trust thus improving their control over their job. Autonomy will result in the employees developing their own strategies on how to execute their duties. The resultant effect is that they will be motivated. However, as the leader, I will ensure that the employees act in accordance with the organization’s culture. I will encourage the employees to develop strategies that are in line with the organization’s norms and values. During the performance appraisal process, recognizing the employees who have depicted the best practices will motivate them more to be innovative.
As the leader, I would also encourage collaboration amongst the employees. To attain this, I would incorporate the concept of teamwork. This will contribute towards the creation of a strong relationship with the employees thus eliminating individualism within the firm. According to Kouzes and Posner (2007, p.34.), leadership entails establishing a relationship with the employees. By creating a working environment that encourages employee relationships, the firm will be able to focus on the future (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2002, p. 286). Considering the complexity of the business environment, developing a relationship with the employees contributes towards a firm being able to undertake extraordinary tasks. Developing relationships with the employees will contribute towards the emergence of a strong mutual relationship thus enhancing their performance.
As the leader, I would also encourage the employees to be innovative. I would share my vision of the possibility of making a difference by taking a risk with the employees. By encouraging teamwork, employees will be able to learn from each other. This will result in the exploitation of opportunities within the business environment. The resultant effect is that the concepts learned from each other will contribute towards the attainment of employee development. According to Spellman (2011, p.45), leadership within an organization should ensure that employees attain their career development goals. Through teamwork in the organization, there is a high probability of employees learning new skills. However, if the employees fail, I would encourage them for their risk-taking characteristics.
To attain this, I would ensure that the teams are rotational to maintain the spirit of teamwork. This will be attained by assigning members of the different departments a more challenging task. Upon completion of the task, the team will be disbanded and a new one with different members formed. This will enable the employees to learn new concepts. The resultant effect is that the employees’ productivity will be significantly improved.
Conclusion
The analysis has illustrated how the incorporation of recognition through various mechanisms can contribute towards the effective celebration of success. The tangible and intangible strategies of employee recognition have been evaluated. The resultant effect is that the employees’ level of productivity is enhanced. Additionally, the paper has also illustrated that organizational leaders can contribute towards purposeful celebrations. Some of the ways through which they can attain this are by ensuring collaboration amongst the employees and giving the employees a certain degree of autonomy.
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