Hilton Park Lane Leadership Style - Book Report/Review Example

Hilton Park Lane Leadership Style Introduction In many hospitability businesses, the middle-level management handles most of the intermediary functions of the organization. The middle-level managers serve to provide a linkage between the executives and the junior staff. It is a semi-executive position that whose primary duty is to implement the company’s strategies in the most efficient and effective way possible. Some of the tasks performed by the middle-level management in the hospitality industry include the following set of responsibilities. Reporting to the top administration on how the junior staffs are performing duties. The management is tasked with the role of ensuring that there are an efficient working environment and administration of the work process. In case of any failure in the linkage between the junior staff and the executive management, the middle-level management may be blamed. The lack of connection may be by the varying leadership styles that are used by the management. In the hospitality industry, the various methods that may be applied include laissez-faire, autocratic and democratic leadership. There is a big correlation between the success of the management and the type of leadership used (Tannenbaum and Schmidt, 2013). The role of any manager is to supervise any unit that produces output. Through the adjustment of tactics, the management can improve the input of the organization and maximize the output at the same time. The established procedures and process in which an institution handles its work is in the organization structure. The business structure refers to the hierarchy of group in terms of communication, authority, rights and duties of the corporation. It may be by the objectives of the organization and the strategies that are put in place. Most of the businesses have a hierarchy that is structured according to the different functionalities. There may be a separate department for marketing, operational and finance departments. The hierarchies will the dictate the reporting level and the status of the members of the organization. The middle-level management falls in the intermediary position of the organization structure making them a crucial element in the performance of the organization (Yukl, 2008). Middle-Level Management The middle-level managers in any organization give a sense of direction and motivation to the employees. They are in the creation of a conducive internal environment that will see the success of the business. The implementation of sound principles by the leaders is essential for the fulfilment of the following objectives. The consideration of the interested parties especially through meeting of their needs and demands and requirements. The middle managers also meet the vision and the goals of the top management so that targets for future growth of the business are. The managers through proper procedures establish a level of trust between the various entities in the organization. They also ensure that the relevant staffs are with the needed resources for the fulfilment of the different roles that are given to them. Through recognition and encouragement of contribution, the middle-level managers can contribute to the growth of the organization (Greenberg and Baron, 2008). In management, control is exercised to ensure that everything is in conformity with the goals of the organization. The management must meet the issues and principles that are adopted to provide a basis of examination. The management measures the deviation of the performance from the unexpected performance. The causes are, and the corrective mechanisms are in place for the success of the organization. Control is a systematic process that records the experience as it is gained these acts as a contribution to possible future needs. The primary purpose of control is to help in the facilitation of coordination and the planning of the organizational goals. Power is dynamic and requires taking of review methods that making changes where necessary it is to planning. Control may be into concurrent and feedback control mechanisms that have different strategies in their usage. Simultaneous control is the type that takes place while an activity is in progress while the feedback control is one that is after an implementation of a policy. Both types give information to the management that is suitable for improving the management (Stanislaw et al, 2015). Communication management is the review of all the channels of sharing the information in an organization. In this aspect, the management is concerned with the planning, implementing and monitoring of communication channels within the organization. Communication is very crucial in giving valuable feedback to the management it promotes motivation of individuals in the organization and source of information. Communication is the most time-consuming activity with a manager engaging in communication with employees ninety percent of the time. Engagement of workers is also imperative and can only be through active communication channels. For any successful hospitality, given time management is very crucial. In any typical; business day, schedules and structures are important aspects. Hotels might differ in aspects such as size, level, and type of services offered. Keeping of schedules is paramount and helps to keep up with changing customer demands (Smith, 2015). Organization management structure differs depending on the functionality and purpose of the organization. The structures of management may be flat, functional, and geographical, or product oriented (Bureaucracy, Matrix, and Boudaryless Structures). The different levels depend on the size of the organization and its complexity. A flat organizational structure is where a small organization has management levels that are divided by job functionality. The functional management structure is where the management is structured according to their functionality on the other had. A good organizational structure ensures the proper monitoring and evaluation of the organizational goals. It is easier to evaluate employee performance when the structure is thoroughly defined. Besides this advantage, there is also more straightforward means of solving problems when they occur (Greenberg and Baron, 2008). A discussion of the three forms of leadership styles in Hospitality Management These forms of leadership style involve a situation where the manager makes decisions alone without the regard for the subordinates. Because of this characteristic, the opinions will reflect the views and personality of the manager in charge. The decisions made will reflect whether the business is well managed. However, with this leadership style firm employees may not want to work under the autocratic manager (Chen and Silverthorne, 2005). It is because of the limits on decision-making freedom, the organization only gets its initiatives from those in the front lines. Therefore, the turnover among the most efficient subordinates will be high. The reasons for this are because they might not always agree with the manager’s decisions that are a must for them to implement. There are only two types of these types of leadership. 1. Autocratic leadership The leadership models are directive autocrat that makes decisions unilaterally and supervises the subordinates carefully. Permissive autocrat defers from the later in that it gives subordinates latitude in carrying out their work. It means that the management will allow the employees to have their way when carrying out the directives given. A consultative form of autocracy is also dictatorial in nature. However, it is in the best interest of the management to take into account the employees interest and that of the business. In this form of autocracy, the flow of information is downward but management encourages feedback from the workers so that they can maintain high morale. The style is very advantageous especially when it engenders the loyalty of the employees. Management at this point experiences a lower labour turnover because of the emphasis on the social needs of the employees. This sort of mechanism is highly encouraged because there is typically no loyal connection between the manager and the people who are. The style is disadvantageous just like other autocracies because it favours a condition where employees become dependent on the leader (Chen and Silverthorne, 2005). Persuasive management style involves the sharing of similar characteristics to those of autocratic management. The most important aspect of the influential manager is that they maintain control over the whole of the decision-making process. The manager spends more time working with the subordinate staff to convince them of the benefits of the decisions that the management has made. The manager in this form of leadership is very aware of the employee. However, the only catch is that the manager is not inclusive of the employee. Because by working with the employees the only aim that the manager seeks to achieve is the approval of decisions that he has already done on his, own. For example, if a task is to be completed, but it is highly complicated it may be necessary to rely on the input of an expert. In these situations, the expert may take the time to explain to others why events occur in the order in which they are taking place. However, ultimately how things are carried out becomes the responsibility of that person. It becomes very difficult for delegation of duties of making decisions that affect the people lower down in the hierarchy. Despite the many obvious disadvantages of the system of the method of leadership, there are advantages to this kind of leadership (Sadler, 1970). 2. Democratic leadership Theses form of leadership is the most open and collegial leadership style of running a team of employees and middle-level managers. In this method, ideas flow freely from the group and are discussed openly. All the members’ seat at the table and discussion relatively free flowing. Adoption of this approach is necessary for any dynamic and free flowing environment where very little can be as remaining constant (Berger, 2014). In the types of organizations where movement is very fast and rapid all, the options for improvement have to be considered to keep the group from falling out of date. The use of this type of leadership style will mean the facilitating of conversations and encouraging employees to share their ideas (Tannenbaum and Warren, 2008). The leadership style also involves the synthesizing of all available information into the best possible decision. The Democratic managers are tasked with the role of ensuring that they communicate back to the group to bring about unity in the plans that are chosen. In the hospitability and catering industry, there are several situations that call for the use of theses sort of leadership style. Creative groups will find themselves using this type of leadership style. It is because of the need for a creative flow of ideas in the original environment. For the creative team to find and create new concepts in the hospitality management there has to be facilitated an exchange of ideas. The free flow of these ideas makes it highly possible that better concepts will be formed. Democratic leadership style may be in consulting where employees and middle-level managers are supposed to explore problems and find solutions. The role of consultation is to explore the possibilities in an in-depth manner. Given the purpose of consultation there has to be a lot of explorations and open discussions (Goleman, 2000). The service industry requires that leadership should be very flexible in the acceptance of new ideas. The acceptance of new ideas would not be very easy in other sorts of leadership styles such autocracy where the leader is the final say. To allow for the flexibility of changing customer demands democratic type of leadership has to be present for the purpose of the growth and smooth running of the organization. Education of managers and employees is also very crucial in the management of any organization. Therefore, this situation calls for instances where managers are open to ideas because of the dynamic nature of the industry and work related problem. A Democratic leader usually builds consensus through the participation of the employees. A summation of the style of leadership would yield the use of the term ‘what do you think’. The democratic style of leadership will be most effective when the leader needs the team to buy into or have ownership of the goal decision or plan of action. It may also be put in place when there is need of new and fresh ideas from the teammates. However, the method may not be the best choice for emergencies where there is a limited time. In instances where time is very crucial for one or more reasons, it might not be fit to use it. When teammates are not enough to give sufficient guidance to the leader it might not be (Lippitt, 2006). 3. Laissez-Faire Leadership style The form of leadership is where all the rights and power to make decisions are to the worker (Skogstad et al, 2007). Management describes it as a handoff form of leadership because the management usually delegates the task among the subordinates. There is complete freedom to make a decision concerning the completion of work. There is a high degree of liberty in the working environment with leaders allowing for self-rule. However, the leaders will always allow for consultation and offering of guidance when requested by employees. The leadership style allows for the non-direct participation of the management unless the workers require such involvement or assistance. There are two key features of laissez-faire form of leadership (Skogstad et al, 2007). One main feature is that it allows the middle-level management and the employees to have absolute freedom in the making of decisions concerning the completion of their tasks and even ask questions of the leader. The second main feature is that the type of leadership provides the followers with the materials that they need to accomplish their objectives and answers the follower’s questions. Over the years the laissez-faire leadership has been termed as destructive, there was an assumption that the leadership style is not a type of zero leadership. Studies show that there might be a direct relationship between workplace stresses, bullying of employees at work and psychological distress of the middle level management (Skogstad et al, 2007). Surveys conducted in other hospitality offering institutions yielded some disturbing results. There is a high correlation between the decline in productivity and the use of Laissez-faire. Situations of the ambiguity of roles and role conflicts were experienced in areas where the method was applied. The brand of management can lead to chaos, anarchy and inefficiency that can be dismissed out on hand as useless. There is a view that laissez-faire seems to be a very ineffective method of leadership since most of the effects are ineffective. However, there might be aspects of this administration that appear to be very effective (Judge et al, 2004). According to management practices, leaders do not have to apply the same leadership style but rather the use of different techniques is appropriate. Of course, this is accordance with the situation at hand. In cases where the employees are incompetent and lack job skills, it might be useful to apply autocratic models of leadership. The reason being that workers do not know much on how the job is supposed to be handled and cannot make their decisions. Once the employees are trained and ready to work, they can be managed by use of laissez-faire. At this level, they can handle the tasks on their own (Chaudhry and Javed, 2012). However, there is a transition point where democracy may become the order before they are allowed to handle tasks on their own. It is because democracy allows learning for the employees through interaction with the employees. The goal of interaction between the autocratic and democratic leader is to give the employees a chance to learn. Team members are essentially on their own to complete the tasks that are easy to them. The form of leadership might be highly advantageous for highly motivated and skilled workers. Application of such leadership with less qualified workers will mostly lead to lower productivity and giving off a poor quality of workmanship. There is also a difficulty in the crediting of the appropriate worker for a job well done. It is because of difficulty in figuring out who handles what in the organization (Alan, 2011). Despite having some disadvantages, the leadership style may be useful in the following situations. Where the employees are highly skilled with great experience and educated, it is appropriate to allow them to work on their own and make decisions. Employees who have pride in driving the company may want to do it on their own. In situations where outside experts, such as consultants or staff specialists are being used it might be advisable to use this sort of leadership. There might be employees who are trustworthy and experienced hence the management should use laissez-faire (Skogstad, 2007). Certain situations call for the avoidance of this method at the employee and middle-level management. The situations include where followers feel insecure at the unavailability of the leader. They should also not be in instances where the manager cannot provide regular feedback to their members (Sosik, 2000). Findings on the various forms of leadership Benefits of Autocracy i). Quick decision-making It is very effective to work within environments that call for rapid decision-making. The sole responsibility of making the decision rests with the manager and, therefore, makes decisions without having to consult the others. For businesses that face challenges regularly, the autocratic leader can respond by making decisions that prevent the company from falling behind. The companies can compete with rivals and keep up with the demands of the industry (Kushell and Rae, 2006). ii). Close oversight In an autocratic workplace, the manager usually keeps a close watch on the activities of the employees. It eliminates the tendency for employees to stop putting an effort into work that may occur with management that is more lenient and leadership methods. The result can be an increase in productivity and speed, as employees who fall behind are hastily identified, and corrective mechanism applied to correct such. Quality is bound to improve, as the workers are in decision-making. The wasting of time and the need to waste resources is on (Kushell and Rae, 2006). iii). Complete Control The autocratic form of leadership will work efficiently for managers who prefer having complete control to an operation. It is because the outcome is wholly their hands. The manager does not have of having to depend on assistance from outside his area of work to complete the task. For this type of person, having full authority can result in low levels of stress since there is complete control over his fate (Kushell and Rae, 2006). iv). Streamlined Work Process It is because one individual has complete control over a work activity there is less of a need for a hierarchy of management or bureaucracy. It can make for a more effective and efficient operations, as fewer people are in the decision-making process. The management team can quickly identify areas of malfunction before they turn into major disasters for the workplace. A good example is if too many resources are being given to the marketing aspect of a task. The manager can spot this immediately, so a less resource consuming marketing technique can be implemented (Kushell and Rae, 2006). Disadvantages of the autocracy form of leadership The autocratic form of leadership has borne various critics throughout the last few decades. Perception of autocracy such as centralize command have been viewed as negative and quite undesirable characteristics. Lack of the involvement of workers in the decision-making process leads to the following adverse effects in the workplace. Employees are not accepting and assuming ownership of their work, contributing to low morale, manifesting in high turnover, and lack of commitment absenteeism, and even work stoppage (Sorenson, 2000). Contrary to claims that autocracy will offer close supervision with detailed instructions to reduce stress and improve productivity study suggests that the actions result in unmotivated workers and cause them to become tense resentful and fearful. Massive centralization of the leadership commands in an autocracy is also a concern (Sorenson, 2000). The leadership style has ensured that decision-making solely depends on one leader. In case the leader is strong and competent, the organization will run smoothly while for a weak leader who is incompetent the organization will suffer for the sake of a single individual. There is the risk that leaders that have little moral fiber will exploit employees indulging in discrimination, favouritism, and the rest. There are also weak autocratic managers who tend to make decisions based on their ego rather than on sound management principles and punish employees who have disagreed with such decisions. When a leader reserves all the rights to make a decision he weakens the subordinates making them heavily dependent on him. The auxiliary team becomes utterly useless in running the organization and absence of the leader might lead to the collapse of the structure (Tannenbaum and Warren, 2008). Because autocracy is a one-sided communication flow type of leadership, it restricts creativity and prevents the development of employees. A lot of harms perpetrated by the organization, as workers remain incapable of assuming responsibilities and cannot take on something beyond their routine. There is also a huge probability that the autocratic leadership and management will continue to be unpopular and will damage his working relationship with colleagues (Berger, 2014). Democracy suggested forms of improvement. i). Communication There should be accurate and timely communications that are two important aspects of the democratic leadership style. The management team needs to get crucial information out to all employees in an appropriate manner and then be able to collect workers opinions to make a decision. Improving communication networks in the Democratic leadership structure, the manager can allow an effective and efficient exchange of information that will enhance employee-manager relations (Jensen, 2003). ii). Organized Structure The Democratic leadership must be very organized to help carry out his responsibilities and the responsibilities of the employee team. The Democratic leader needs to have a clear understanding of the hierarchy of his team and its strengths and weaknesses. There is a need for subgroups that handle the carrying out important duties. The Democratic leader usually improves productivity by effectively and efficiently utilizing team resources. A good administrative and leadership structure is effective at working under a democratic style (Jensen, 2003). iii). Deadlines There is evidence that staff members gain confidence in the managerial style when the manager shows the efficiency at the processing employee input. The management has the task of improving the efficiency of collecting and processing information from employees; the manager needs to use deadlines. When an idea or concept is new to employees for a vote, there need to be strict deadlines for the submission of votes. Consequently, there should be a deadline on the manager for processing the information (Jensen, 2003). Benefits of the democratic style of leadership Because of the dynamic nature of democracy there exist some advantages of these forms of administration. There are consultation and participation of subordinates in the decision-making process creating satisfaction among employees and middle-level management. The workers and middle-level managers are more aware of what is happening in the organization making them take an interest in producing more over time. Because of the involvement of the team for management, subordinates also get the opportunity to utilize their capabilities (Spillane, 2005). The disadvantage of democratic leadership style Despite being valued in some areas of administration the method of leadership also has a set of problems to be considered. The power of the leadership is not centralized and in case, the leader suffers from drawbacks. Decision-making and implementation are usually delayed compared to the autocratic leadership. The reason for the delay is due to consultation requirements among all people who are in the decision-making process. Because of the decentralization of the authority, less competent executives cannot be used. It might also prove difficult for those who are inexperienced to participate in the decision-making process (Spillane, 2005). HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY The industry occupies a large section in the service sector. The industry includes services such as transportation, lodging services, and other fields that are within the tourism industry. Restaurants and hotels make up a significant portion of the hospitality industry. The hospitality Industry can be divided into three main categories food, beverage, accommodation, travel, and tourism (Jensen, 2003). Food and beverage is perhaps the most significant segment of the industry. It takes the form of high-end restaurants and catering establishments that attend to the need of customers. The accommodations department is made up of hotels that give bed and breakfast. The lodging services are imperative in the travel world and form a large part of the hospitality market. Travel and Tourism are also indispensable in hospitality management. Provision of transportation is considered an essential aspect of the functioning of the sector (Tannenbaum and Warren, 2008). As discussed above the hospitality industry constitute an enormous part of the economy. The leadership in this area is considered critical, and lack of the proper style will hinder its profitability. The service sector has caterers who form the lower level employees. The middle-level management is also present and provides a means of communication to the top management. Proper policy formulation is crucial for the growth of the sector. In a bid to try and expose the leadership styles that can be used the essay has discussed them in detail (Spillane, 2005). Conclusion The Hilton Park Lane hotel has had success for a very long period. Both financially and management wise the hospitality industry is competitive. The lack of proper management will end up being because the failure of the organization. It is for this reasons that the Hotel has decided to implement the most appropriate strategy for the leadership of the employees through the middle level management. The company combines the use of the three methods all at the right time depending on the experience standards of the employees and their willingness to perform in the workplace. The organization usually starts with the use of autocratic leadership methods that are very appropriate in the laying of employment terms. Employees who are not conversant with the workplace must be led through autocracy as it allows for supervision of the employee. At a later date when they have learned more about the operations of the workplace the company will allow the employee and middle management to interact democratically giving more chance for the employee to learn from the management. As the progress is, there might be a need for the company to adopt laissez-faire form of leadership. It is solely because the employees require less supervision at this time. Reference List Skogstad, Anders, Ståle Einarsen, Torbjørn Torsheim, Merethe Schanke Aasland, and Hilde Hetland. "The destructiveness of laissez-faire leadership behaviour." Journal of occupational health psychology 12, no. 1 (2007): 80. Sosik, John J., and Veronica M. Godshalk. 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