Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Engagement, Essay Example

Analyze the Effects of leadership styles on individuals and teams

Next, the behavioral leadership approach concentrates on a leader’s behavior. The theory argues that leadership is made up of two types of behaviors: relationship behaviors and task behaviors. Task behaviors have a positive effect on the team by facilitating goal attainment. Relationship behaviors, on the other hand, ensure greater understanding and communication with a team. Hence, the behavioral approach helps determine whether leaders require followers to cooperate while working on various department projects, or when teams are required to take part in decision-making on certain projects in order to motivate them to have shared ownership of the projects  and to improve their creativity (Uslu, 2019). Whenever there is a problem in task completion on a marketing project, the theory could help determine why there is a lag and how the marketing manager could be held responsible for not engaging task behaviors.

The contingency approach is primarily focused on the context of leadership, as it attempts to explain how particular situations within an organizational setting affect a leader’s capacity to adapt his leadership style. It can facilitate the motivation of followers and greater flexibility of the team, as they can adjust to any work situations (Uslu, 2019). An example could include a project manager called Peter. Peter finds it convenient to communicate using emails instead of using face-to-face communication. So, he tends to motivate his team using insightful emails each Friday. However, a new member of staff is recruited who does not prefer written communication. To engage him, Peter adapts to the new scenario by engaging the new employee in verbal communication.

Democratic leadership is a type of leadership that is participative, as each member of the team is allowed to provide some input on how leadership should be undertaken, problems solved or decisions made. However, the leader is the definitive decision-maker (Uslu, 2019). This leadership style contributes to the higher productivity of the team. It also encourages participation, engagement, and involvement of the team leading to employee commitment. Such team environments influence followers to develop high morale and to be creative problem-solvers. For instance, before launching a product, the sales manager may solicit input from the sales team on the right marketing strategies that should be pursued, and the tasks they may handle. Democratic leadership is directly in contrast to autocratic leadership. In autocratic leadership, a leader has overall control over all decisions made and does not allow for the input of team members. As this leadership styles demands that a leader closely supervises the team members, it gives them little room for autonomy and may reduce their motivation (Gadirajurrett et al., 2018).

In laissez-faire leadership, a leader delegates all decisions to team members and basically uses a hands-off approach, whereby he does not directly supervise the team members or even provide them with feedback. It can be effective for highly experienced team members, as it provides them with autonomy. In turn, it is this sense of freedom or autonomy that motivated the team members as they feel they are provided with trust and respect (Gadirajurrett et al., 2018). It differs from Tannenbaum and Schmidt Continuum, which refers to a leadership model whereby a manager delineates a considerable level of freedom to the team. In this way, the manager is allowed to have some form of authority. In practice, an increased level of freedom has to correspond to an increase in the level of authority that a leader has. In the end, the high level of autonomy and a sense of direction that the manager provides to the team increases the engagement of the team, and overall commitment to the team.

Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational theory posits that there is a need to combine two key components of leadership appropriately. These include the maturity level of the followers and the leadership style (Uslu, 2019). Situational leadership can lead to greater flexibility and productivity of the team. For instance, for a research and development manager to turn around a failing innovative project, he would need to assess how his team is adequately prepared for the project by examining past performance records on related projects. The team manager would then determine the most pertinent skills in his team that could be applied in the project. Followers with low maturity could then be coached to develop their skills and to motivate them to engage in a project.

In charismatic leadership, leaders are viewed as highly persuasive communicators capable of articulating a meaningful vision to the followers. They are also formidable role models that followers get to communicate and to be ultimately motivated (motivation) to make personal sacrifices to enable a realization of a shared vision (Uslu, 2019). Charismatic leadership can facilitate motivation and commitment to the team. In a hypothetical organizational setting, Chris Matt, who is the CEO of White Cereals, tends to stimulate innovation across the organization by providing his management team with clearly stated visions. Matt tends to have coffee with his departmental heads once a week to address concerns regarding a product that seeks to be launched. The objective is to clear confusions that may arise to help customers to receive a product that addressed all their needs [customer needs].

Explain the benefits of flexible working practices to individuals and organizations

Flexible working arrangements require that employees are provided with greater autonomy to select when they should work, where they should undertake their tasks, or how they should perform their assignments. While flexible working could be seen as intended to benefit the employees, this is not always the case as it is the organization that ultimately becomes the primary beneficiary (Nart & Batur, 2013).

Flexible work arrangements lead to increased employee productivity, which essentially translates to improved organizational output. In addition to providing employees with greater control over work schedules, they are provided with a work setting that facilitates autonomy. When employees enjoy autonomy, they become more satisfied and motivated in their work environment. They also become more productive. For instance, one of the reasons that motivated Twitter to allow employees to work from home in May 2020 was motivated by the desire to allow them to concentrate their time on working, and less on commuting to the workplace. The company seeks to provide employees with greater autonomy by placing emphasis on decentralizing and facilitating a distributed workforce (Paul, 2020).

Flexible work arrangements also improve employees’ quality of life within and outside the organization. This is attributed to the fact that flexible work arrangements have been associated with reduced work stress and work-burnouts. Stress has been blamed for being the most predominant contributor to poor employee satisfaction at the workplace. In effect, flexible work schedules provide employees with an environment to improve how they manage their demands at home and work. Employees who are less stressed in turn become more productive. They also trust their employers, as they are led to believe that the management trusts their judgement and sense of autonomy (Nart & Batur, 2013).

Flexible work arrangements boost employees’ motivation. Research evidence supports the idea that such work arrangements that provide employees with greater control over how they work improve their health statuses, as employees can take care of their health, get more sleep, and reduce work-life conflicts (Nart & Batur, 2013). This in turn leads to improved quality of life.

Using Motivational theories assess how working environment impacts on people performance

The Hawthorne studies suggest that employees’ performance at the workplace is shaped by job satisfaction and social concerns. Providing employees with fair working conditions and better salaries are less effective in improving the motivation and productivity of employees compared to providing them with a socially supportive environment that provides them with an identity and autonomy in decision-making. Hence, employees become more motivated and productive when managerial strategies focus on the social and psychological dimensions of human behaviors in the workplace (Jeganathan, 2018).

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, on the other hand, argues that employees are more likely to be motivated when their varied needs are fulfilled. The needs include “basic needs, security needs, social needs, self-esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. Typically, an organization that provides employees with all these categories of needs is likely to be motivated. Yet, the fulfillment of these needs should begin with the basic ones, which are at the bottom of the pyramid, to the self-actualization ones, which are at the top of the pyramid (Jeganathan, 2018).

Next, Herzberg’s two-factor theory reasons that the two primary factors that contribute to either “job satisfaction” or “job dissatisfaction” include  “hygiene factors,” and “motivation factors.”  Hygiene factors are, in essence, tangible or extrinsic factors that vary from providing employees with good salaries and assuring them of job security. For instance, when the management determines that providing employees with low salaries and providing them with short-term contracts does not guarantee improved work productivity, it could consider adjusting the hygiene factors to provide them with better salaries and fringe benefits and to provide them with a better sense of job security to motivate them. On the other hand, motivation factors are intangible motivational factors. They require that the management should respond to employees’ emotional needs in order to motivate them and to improve their productivity (Jeganathan, 2018). They include improving employees’ work relationships, recognition at the workplace, and tasks that they could consider as being relevant to their skills and challenging. In a typical organizational setting, when a departmental manager realizes that employees have fairly high salaries but are still unproductive, he may evaluate the types of assignments allocated to employees. If the employees consider the assignment to be unrelated to their skills or less challenging, the manager should consider reassigning the employees’ assignments that they could consider to be challenging.

Lastly, Reiss’ Theory posits that motives are the reasons behind each employee’s behavior. They also shape employee’s cognition, perceptions, and emotions (Reiss, 2004). For instance, an employee who is keen to improve his financial and social status may be intrinsically motivated to perform work to high standards. For this reason, improving the employees’ salary would serve as a key motivator in improving his productivity.

Assess how an organization’s ethical practices impact on motivation levels

Ethics is a crucial factor in business efficiency and success. When a business is perceived to behave in a way that adds value to itself and all stakeholders without being associated with unethical business practices, both internal and external stakeholders are likely to be motivated to associate with the business. In essence, ethical values affect the success of customer relationship management. It influences customers’ morale to associate with the business, and customer’s motivation to support the company by staying loyal to it (CIPS. (2007). At the start of the twenty-first century, a number of companies engaged in unethical behaviors that led them into long legal battles and eventual dissolution. An example includes an American company called Enron Corporation, whose managers colluded with auditors to cheat investors using intricate accounting techniques. This led to a loss of customer confidence in the company (Thomas, 2002).

Ethical practices also contribute to staff development. A production worker who made mistakes on the assembly line leading to an accidental production of batches of defective products may decide to keep quiet to avoid punishment when he perceives the organization to be unethical and to lack transparency (CIPS., 2007). On the other hand, an employee is likely to become motivated to take responsibility when he perceives the organization to be ethical and to even reward employees who voluntarily engage in whistle-blowing.

Assessing the ethical standards of suppliers is also critical (scrutiny of suppliers). This is crucial as many organizations depend on supplies for raw materials. For instance, technology firms that procure parts from suppliers should make sure that the parts have satisfactorily been inspected and manufactured to high standards. This motivates employees to associate with the company. For instance, HP suffered significant reputational damage internally and externally when its batteries were found to overheat and catch fire. While HP mainly blamed the supplier for supplying the faulty batteries, employees, customers, and regulators lost confidence in the company (CIPS, 2007). The company’s distribution techniques should also be ethical. For instance, use of distribution and pricing techniques that embody the values of fairness, honestly, transparency, and integrity could substantially contribute to a positive reputation internally and externally. For instance, companies that have invested in more warehouses to reduce their contribution to pollution through carbon emission by means of long-distance transportation may be viewed as caring by employees,

Ethics in sales practices is also important for organizational success. In fact, it could be argued that marketing influences perceptions of outsiders on the company. In turn, it influences how employees interact with outsiders, given that the public would have positive attitudes towards the organization and its members (CIPS, 2007). In turn, employees who are perceived well in the public eye are likely to be motivated to work in the company.

Evaluate how organizations use their corporate social responsibility agenda to motivate employees

CSR leads to development of the workforce, as it leads to employee engagement, which in turn motivates employees to apply themselves fully to the demands of the workplace (Glavas, 2016). While research on CSR and employee motivation, satisfaction, and engagement is fairly new, the few studies that have looked at the association have shown that there is indeed a positive relationship between these variables. In effect, employee engagement and motivation happens when they are made to understand the significance of CSR (Glavas, 2016; Kweyama et al., 2015).

To be specific, when employment practices go beyond stressing organizational values to emphasizing employee welfare, work experience placement, and career development, this would send a signal to employees that the company cares about them. In turn, they are likely to be motivated at the workplace (Glavas, 2016).

In addition, when CSR practices elaborate to employees the significance of supporting the community, they find more meaning in their work. In this way, CSR practices would serve as a conduit through which the workforce is influenced to find meaning, as they are made to feel that they are an active contributor to the greater good. In effect, when employees understand that they contribute to the greater good, they are likely to be satisfied with themselves. This, in turn, improves their self-concept leading to a greater capacity to identify with self (Kweyama et al., 2015).

In addition, when an organization’s environmental policy enables it to take part in environmentally and socially responsible practices, employees would be made to understand that their employers care about the communities where they live. In such instances, employees are likely to be motivated to work in the organization. For instance, Johnson & Johnson often informs its employees that it supports their communities, their career development goals, their career progression, and their work experience placement to motivate them to engage in CSR projects (Kweyama et al., 2015).

Assess the effects of incentives and rewards on the development of individuals and teams

The impact of incentives and rewards on the team and individual development cannot be understated. These two compensation strategies serve as a critical mechanism for shaping employees’ attitudes and motivation and to direct them [the employees] to attain organizational goals. In effect, incentives and rewards may serve as instruments for influencing individual and team behaviors. For instance, the manner in which rewards are structured and allocated may fundamentally affect the motivation levels of members of a team (DeMatteo et al., 1998).

Indeed, in the face of an increased emphasis on team development, organizations are increasingly using team rewards and incentives as mechanisms for shaping employees’ behaviors. An example of “team-based incentives and rewards” includes a structured compensation strategy whereby members of a team are provided with a variable award depending on their performance levels, or whether their team has reached a preset target after performance review. For instance, a sales manager may set up a small group bonus systems targeted at rewarding autonomous teams (DeMatteo et al., 1998). Having a number of such teams may improve their dynamisms to receive the rewards, as they would become more motivated to attain their sales targets ahead of other teams within the sales department (DeMatteo et al., 1998). Creating such an environment of competition, where the most productive teams are rewarded, would ultimately be beneficial to an organization as all the teams would increase their productivity. Essentially, this implies that increased use of teams translates to fostering a cooperative environment in individual teams. In turn, this presents a mechanism for influencing team members’ collective motivation (DeMatteo et al., 1998).

The basis of using this mechanism as a tool for improving employee motivational levels is that reward contingencies potentially stimulate employee competition and cooperation. It is also based on the premise that team rewards and incentives would be more efficient than individual rewards, whereby specific outstanding employees are rewarded (DeMatteo et al., 1998).

Assess the contribution of the application of motivational theories on the development of individuals and teams

Motivational theories could practically be applied to develop teams and individuals. Some of the theories that could be applied effectively to this end include the Hawthorne studies approach and Herzberg’s two-factor theory.

Hawthorne studies would posit that employees’ performance at the workplace would be shaped by providing them training and development opportunities that expand their social capital. Examples include providing employees with opportunities to join a professional body, training workshops, and conferences, as well as mentoring and coaching with the view of addressing their social needs and job satisfaction needs. On the other hand, Herzberg’s two-factor theory suggests the use of “hygiene factors,” and “motivation factors.” Essentially, the theory would recommend that the management should keep the employees motivated by providing them with the “motivation factor” to enable them to learn new concepts that provide them with greater skills and improvement meaningful of the work.

For this reason, consideration could be given to integrating employees’ technical training or professional training with [supporting] career progression opportunities. For instance, if after assessing employees’ skills it emerges that their writing skills are low, such skills could be enhanced by developing a relevant training session. When employees ultimately realize that their correspondence to customers – such as apologies for later shipments – has improved in quality they are likely to become motivated.

The Hawthorne studies approach and Herzberg’s two-factor theory are, therefore, vital approaches for enabling organizations to develop high performing teams through training and development. Providing employees with hygiene factors like effective leadership, continuous improvement opportunities, recognition at the workplace, and accountability could also lead to the development of high performing teams. Characteristically, a “high-performance work team” is a team consisting of members with supplementary and expert knowledge and skills, and who are capable of efficiently collaborating to attain improved results. However, for this group to perform effectively there has to be an open communication system, effective leadership, shared goals, a great sense of accountability, trust, sense of identity and meaning, and conflict-resolution mechanisms. In other words, it substantially depends on the extent to which they could access hygiene factors and motivation factors.

References

CIPS. (2007). Ethical Business Practices in Purchasing and Supply Management. Retrieved from https://www.cips.org/documents/about%20cips/ethical_bus_prac%20printed.pdf

DeMatteo, J., Eby, L. & Sundstrom, E. (1998). Team-based rewards: current empirical evidence and directions for future research. Research in Organizational Behavior, 20(1), 141-183.

Gadirajurrett, H., Srinivasan, R., Stevens, J. & Jeena, N. (2018). “Impact of Leadership on Team’s Performance.” Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects. 1912. Retrieved from: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2911&context=etm_studentprojects

Glavas, A. (2016). Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Engagement: Enabling Employees to Employ More of Their Whole Selves at Work. Frontiers in Pyschology. Retrieved from: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00796/full

Jeganathan, G. (2018). A Comparative Study on Motivation Theory with Maslow’s Hierarchy theory and Two factor theory in Organization. Indo-Iranian Journal of Scientific Researc, 1(1), 204-208.

Kweyama, F., Cassim, S., Munapo. E. & Mutambara, E. (2015). Impact Of Corporate Social Responsibility On Employee Engagement: A Case Of Eskom In South Africa. Corporate Board: Role, Duties & Composition, 11(2), 80-98.

Nart, S & Batur, O. (2013). The relation between work-family conflict, job stress, organizational commitment and job performance: A study on Turkish primary teachers,” European Journal of Research on Education, 2(2), 72-81

Paul, K. (2020). Twitter announces employees will be allowed to work from home ‘forever’. The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/12/twitter-coronavirus-covid19-work-from-home

Reiss, S. (2004). Multifaceted nature of intrinsic motivation: The theory of 16 basic desires. Review of General Psychology, 8(3), 179-193.

Thomas, W. (2002). The rise and fall of Enron. Journal of Accountancy. https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2002/apr/theriseandfallofenron.html

Uslu, O. (2019). A general overview to leadership theories from a critical perspective. Marketing and Management of Innovations, 1(1), 161-172.