Idle Rocks Case Study
The conflict between Arnanda and Tony can be attributed to the restaurant manager’s inexperience. Initially, Arnanda was a receptionist. Consequently, her proficiency in management is in doubt among most workers. A good leader should have a wide scope of knowledge and the experience to handle emerging issues and existing disputes while ensuring the best performance amongst his/her staff.
Arnanda’s lack of experience is most likely the cause of the on-going disputes at Idle Rocks, and this inadequacy contributes to departmental conflicts and the ‘insurgency’ against the restaurant manager. Arnanda is unable to handle the situation since she lacks the prerequisite knowledge for conflict resolution in management positions. Ergo, most of her staff members consider her incompetent and, therefore, unable to control the business affairs at Idle Rocks. Consequently, the employees disregard her leadership, and this makes it difficult for Arnanda to manage her staff.
The levels of Arnanda’s management skills are low, thereby corresponding to Hersey-Blanchard’s theory’s maturity level two (M2), where a leader is a novice but enthusiastic (Blanchard, Zigarmi & Nelson 2003). On the other hand, Tony seems to have cultivated his management skills and his maturity level, and they correspond to Hersey-Blanchard theory’s maturity level four (M4). Consequently, Tony is able and willing to manage his sector and take responsibility for it. Arnanda’s maturity level as a receptionist could be higher than M1, but it is lower in management terms.
Another possible cause of Idle Rock’s problems could be a lack of self-motivation on the part of Arnanda’s juniors. Arnanda fails to induce the self-motivation of her staff. A good leader should cultivate proficiency and devotion of his/her people so that they are self-motivated instead of relying on other people for direction and guidance. Tony has a high level of self-motivation, and he can win the approval of his juniors. Tony does not depend heavily on other people for direction and guidance. He appears to have successfully taught the self-motivation of his employees, who receive his orders and work well under his supervision. For effective leadership, a leader needs to motivate followers.
The levels of the management skills of both the general manager and the Restaurant Manager are different. Being new to her job, Arnanda’s skills are transforming from ‘developing’ to ‘developed.’ On the other hand, Tony’s skills could be termed as developed. Individuals taking on a new task for the first time have minimal knowledge or skills but high enthusiasm, devotion, and motivation. Arnanda is very committed to her job, but apparently, she has little knowledge of how some matters are handled. Having stayed longer in the job, Tony has good control over his staff due to the possession of expansive knowledge on the business operations in his area of work.
Low development levels in Arnanda’s management style could make her doubt her ability to manage the business skillfully. The employees doubt the general manager’s ability to make the right decisions and give correct instructions. Therefore, the employees disregard Arnanda’s input altogether. It is possible that people trust experienced persons more than inexperienced ones. Therefore, it is understandable for Idle Rock Hotel’s staff to take instructions from Tony as compared to Arnanda. This could distort the chain of command and deny the general manager the staff’s support, making her less capable of bringing about change.
Another possible cause of the problems that are facing the business could be that the business owner does not raise his level expectation where the business’s performance is concerned. This might be a major contributing factor to the current laxity among his employees. Consequently, this might lead to the poor performance of the hotel business. Constant expectations over a long period of time have the effect of reducing motivation levels among the business’ staff. Without motivation, the excellent performance of workers ends up being hampered. (Yeakey 2012). Raising the level of performance-expectations gives a business a sense of direction and a reason for employees to put a little more effort.
The general manager should adopt new leadership behaviors such as coaching, where her decisions will result from her consultation with other staff members. Consequently, the employees will be able to provide suggestions and ideas, thereby ‘owning’ Arnanda’s ideas. This method will make it easier for the staff and management to work in harmony as roles and tasks are acceptable to almost all of the parties who are involved in the operations of Idle Rocks Hotel. This approach will also restore the employees’ self-esteem as well as their devotion. Arnanda can also delegate duties to her junior managers so that she does not have to monitor the staff closely. On the other hand, Arnanda will involve other staff members in decision-making duties, and this will assist her in ironing out most of the collisions between her and the restaurant manager.
Instead of altogether closing down the business, the owner, together with his management team, should set higher objectives for his business. According to the Hersey-Blanchard theory, a good leader can motivate his people to work harder by raising the existing goals. The impact of this technique would be an increased effort on the part of employees for them to meet their goals in the stipulated timeline if any is set. A common goal for the business will be a chance to bring together the different stakeholders of the business towards one common purpose.
The involvement of staff in the decision-making process is also an important aspect that the management can employ. This strategy gives staff members a sense of responsibility for the business owners and activities. In addition, the strategy raises the workers’ self-esteem and motivates them towards contributing to the success of the business. Collective decision- making harmonizes the business, as decisions that are reached are pleasing to the owner, the management, and the workers. Collective decision-making also enables the business to set realistic goals and tune the efforts of all stakeholders towards meeting these objectives.
The general manager should assess the competence and maturity of her followers in order to determine the best style of management that can be applied to Idle Rocks to achieve maximum productivity among her staff. This approach will assist the management in distinguishing between the productive and non-productive staff members (Graeff 2008). It is easier to do away with the non-productive employees rather than lose the ones who are beneficial to the business.
The management should assess the willingness of the staff to continue serving the interests of the Idle Rocks Hotel. It is also possible that the employees’ willingness to serve could diminish due to certain reasons. An unwilling staff is less productive, and it could be a major cause of the owner’s frustration over lower-than-expected performance.
References
Blanchard, K. H., Zigarmi, D., & Nelson, R. B 2003, “Situational Leadership after 25 years: A retrospective”, Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, vol. 15, no.1, pp. 21-36. Web.
Graeff, C. L 2008, “The situational leadership theory: A critical view”, Academy of Management Review, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 285-291. Web.
Yeakey, G 2012, “Situational leadership”, Military Review, vol. 82, no. 1, pp. 72. Web.