The Two Major Theories Relating To Leadership and Motivation in Organizations - Essay Example

Leadership and Motivation In the modern business world, many changes have been effected to ensure that both the business benefits while the workers are given the best working grounds. This ensures that they are of sound health, which is essential in productivity. The highly motivated employees are the most productive. This productivity is reflected in the productivity of the entire organization, which is boosted. For most businesses, motivation is part and parcel of the organization and is viewed as important as the tasks that the organization is expected to fulfill. The modern world has become competitive requiring organizations to be as creative as possible so as to ensure that their workplaces are motivated as much as possible. When motivation is concerned, the modern workers are not directly motivated through financial increments. Some may prefer other motivational ways most of which can be suggested by the employees themselves. This brings in another issue of communication, which is crucial to the management being practiced and requires the leadership traits of the supervisor to keep up. In this instance, most successful organizations take employees seriously and view them as the most important asset to the functionality and productivity of the organization. In contrast, the organizations that view employees in a similar way to the machinery and the equipment in the workplace encounter resistance when it comes to implementation of changes in the organization and in fulfilling the core tasks that the organization intends to realize. Such organizations are also prone to intense competition since the productivity is wanting from the perspective of employee psychological health. A happy workplace is a highly productive workplace. Analyzing and contrasting two of the best theories related to motivation and organization’s leadership is essential so as to put this into perspective. One of the best theories related to motivation and leadership of the organization and one that is essential to the working of the organization is the participative theory of leadership. This is a contrast theory to the autocratic theory but both can be utilized in a creative manner to ensure smooth operation of the organization and the achievement of the intended objectives and goals. The participative theory can also be referred to as the democratic theory due to its nature. In practice, this is one of the most preferred theories by most organizations and most leaders in the modern world embrace it due to the numerous advantages and benefits as compared to other theories (Dunrin 125). In this theory, teamwork and communication are the key aspects that lead to a better outcome when the productivity of the organization and the employees are concerned. This theory is also said to be the best in cultivating motivation and innovation. This implies that its application in an organization could mean more competitiveness within the organization and the market within which the organization functions. As the name suggests, the participative theory is mainly about participation. This theory requires the leader to be fully equipped with the appropriate skills to support it such as being patient, understanding, and being supportive to the entire workforce. A supportive environment encourages suggestions and a free space where the employees can work without fear of intimidation from the supervisors. In place of the intimidation, the supervisors are there to support and encourage them to be more creative in resolving the common problems that occur in the workplace. This is very important because besides the employees acquiring qualities that are strictly on the side of the follower, they can also acquire some leadership traits that they can utilize when functioning in their own groups. This encourages teamwork. A leader that favors and is keen on the participative style of leadership encourages the employees’ contribution since it could lead to an innovative idea that can in turn improve the competitiveness of the organization. If an employee tries an idea and fails, the participative leader does not punish them. Instead, they are encouraged to discuss these ideas both with the supervisor and with fellow employees so as to improve the probability of its success when it is deployed. This encourages competitiveness in the organization and with other organizations as well as better performance of the organization in the market (Mehrotra 7-11). When an employee’s ideas are successful and the organization is able to use it to compete in the market, the most successful organizations as well as those that acknowledge the importance of employees in success reward the involved individual or individuals. While this may be a way of thanking the involved employees, in a participative organization, it also functions as a way of encouraging competition among the employees themselves. This implies that the employees in the organization begin competing among themselves increasing the possibility of having multiple ideas being developed and being used to resolve problems and challenges that may be facing the organization. The employees would be competing to acquire the reward from the company in the future, which would lead to better performance not only for the employees but also for the overall organization. When communication is concerned with regard to its effect on the participative leadership theory, a large part of this theory is dependent on the communication aspect. Communication allows this theory to thrive and without communication, it would be barely functional. Communication fosters teamwork upon which the participative theory thrives. It is through communication that participative leaders are able to take suggestions from the employees. In such an organization, frequent meetings are a common place and determine the course of action to be undertaken at certain times. In these meetings, ideas are passed between the leader and the follows ensuring that this leadership style remains active. Moreover, a participative workplace ensures that the creation of a reliable communication channel, both upwards and downwards, is done in an effective manner. This ensures that when suggestions are made from the employees to the management, they are considered and replies are made to the employees from the management through downward communication (Rothwell 163-165). This ensures that the management does not make decisions on its own especially the most drastic decisions that affect the working of the employees. At such instances, the input of the employees is crucial because their working is to be affected. In a participative workplace, the communication channel works both ways; both upward and downward. In upward communication, the employees are attempting to pass suggestions and grievances to the management while the downward communication involves the passage of directives from the higher management as well as replies to issues inquired by the employees. In this workplace, the upward communication is as important as the downward communication. The management takes the suggestions very seriously and rewards the creative ones. In addition, implementations are done as per the best suggestions. For instance, the employees may suggest additional training to be undertaken so that they can be in a better position to operate the sophisticated contemporary equipment. When the management reviews its financial status, it determines whether it would be in a position to support a training exercise after which the reply is sent to the employees and the appropriate action is taken. Such follow-ups ensure that the organization remains interactive and the employees remain motivated. This is because they are not being ignored. This brings a feeling of value where the employees feel that the management values them. Such motivation cannot be realized through monetary increments. Organizational change may affect this theory either positively or negatively especially concerning the nature of the change. If the change involves the current supervisor being transferred and a new one who does not support this style is reinstated, motivation and the meaning of the participative style are lost. The productivity of the organization may also be affected adversely. However, if the organization intends to implement changes that are intended to improve the working of the organization, the employees must become involved; otherwise, the process will become tedious and some of the employees would lag behind the change. For this to be avoided, organizational change process should include some form of the participative theory. This is because when the employees are involved in the change process, it becomes easier to realize. When the employees are involved, they are given a platform to contribute ideas that would make their working better. This active involvement is crucial to the change process. The culture of the organization relies on the leadership theory that has been adopted by the leaders in the subsequent organization. In spite of the fact that the leader has the final decision in the organization, they ensure that the employees have an opportunity to suggest what action they would like to see taking place in the organization. Therefore, the employees’ suggestions are considered before any decisions are made. In addition, organization culture is determined by how individuals working in a specific organization behave. In turn, this behavior is determined by the leadership style adopted. For a preferable culture to be established, the beliefs of the employees must be considered. While the culture may determine behaviors, a common understanding is central to the functioning of the culture. This is in turn made possible by the leadership style that has been established in the organization. Participative leadership theory is only able to function appropriately if the pre-established organizational culture supports it. Constructive feedback supports a culture that is conscious of the most important organizational aspects (Borland et al. 159). This feedback is in turn dependent of the downward communication, which is mostly encouraged by the participative leadership. These are connected to motivation of the employees because feedback is one of the non-monetary aspects useful in motivating the employees. The most effective way of modeling behaviors in the organization is encouraging the behaviors that the leader wants to be exhibited by the employees. This is done in a participative manner where the leaders ensure that employees understand the importance of behaving in a specific way while the employees are given a channel to voice their concerns and suggestions. This is a way of improving motivation through participation. The manner through which conflicts are managed in the organization is important in determining the effectiveness of the participative theory of leadership. Conflicts mean that some parties in the organization are having a disagreement on an issue. In such an instance, different organizations judge or perceive conflicts differently. Some of the organizations may condemn the conflict while others may view it from a positive perspective. When the organization takes the conflict negatively, there is bound to be consequences that may include some parties in the organization being punished as a result. On the other hand, the innovative organizations take conflicts as a way of improving and avoiding a similar occurrence in the future. In these organizations, the manager assesses the conflicting issue and offers a solution to it through several conflict resolution methods. This helps the organization in advancing further because if a similar issue occurs in the future, they would know how to deal with it. This would help in eliminating time wastage since the issue would be resolved even without the need to call or involve the management. For such a work environment displaying efficiency to thrive, a participative leadership must be in place. This form of leadership makes it possible to empower the employees to the point that they can act as leaders even in the absence of the supervisor. Empowerment is not encouraged without trust between the employers and the employees. Cultivating trust is in turn done in the presence of a facilitating leadership theory. In addition, such empowerment is closely related to motivation in that the more empowerment the employees get, the more motivation is established. Therefore, the manner in which conflicts are handled in the organization depends on the leadership theory established and the motivation is highly dependent on the same. The other leadership theory to be contrasted is the autocratic theory, which is also related to motivation in the organization. This theory is the reverse of the participative theory. Although it may be applied in certain instances productively, scholars warn of its over-usage, which could not only hurt the motivation of the employees but also the overall productivity of the entire organization. This is because it does not encourage input from the employees. However, it is important when urgency is required (Borland et al. 159). In practice, the autocratic theory relies on the downward communication through which directives are passed down to the employees from the upper management. In such an organization, the employees have slim, if any, chance of suggesting any amendments to be undertaken by the management. Instead, they have directives that they follow without questioning them. Autocratic leadership is also referred to as dictation, which does not encourage any form of partnership in the organization as other theories do. As such, teamwork in these organizations is rarely advocated for. In place of teamwork, individual work is encouraged. This means that the advantages emanating from teamwork such as creativity and innovation are eliminated making the organization vulnerable to competition in the market within which it operates. When creativity is eliminated, problem resolution skills are not acquired or even exercised in the appropriate manner. In the way that the participative theory encourages relationship building for the betterment of the organization, the autocratic theory relies on being ‘bossy’ in a way that communication is primarily one-way. Here, downward communication is the main mode of communication and the upward communication, if it exists, is rarely active. The organization may provide a channel for upward communication but it is usually not active. The supervisors who adopt this mode of leadership have a mentality, which is not encouraged in the contemporary world. This is because they assume that the only way to get people to work is to threaten them with sacking or pay cuts. This does not work well with employee retention strategies, which call for the best ways of behaving with the employees and assisting them in advancing their own careers and not exploiting them. The rewarding systems established by autocratic leaders are not at par with the modern standards. This is because these leaders do not allow different forms of creativity especially anything that may lead to a loss. Here, these leaders presume that the only way of motivating employees is through the use of money. This is why the competiveness for autocratic companies is usually low. These supervisors prefer giving the employees higher payment in place of establishing better workplaces. These are some of the reasons why the idea of motivation in these organizations is rarely advocated and the value of the employees is not showcased. Motivation is affected by the ideas behind the autocratic theory (Hamilton 288). Furthermore, the leaders extend their dictation to the point that they decide the processes and procedures to be used when completing certain tasks. This is one of the issues that affect the morale of the employees since the employees require some extent of empowerment. This is important as it helps the employees in taking the task as their own and having pride when working. This affects motivation negatively. When considering the effect of communication, autocratic leadership requires little communication. This chance is mostly available for the leader who uses it to pass directives on the duties to be done and how they should be done. The time frame of the duties is also dictated. Overall, autocratic leadership leads to the establishment of an unhappy workplace, as there is no room for self-expression especially for the individuals that would require to exercise their ideas (Pathak 40-42). In such organizations, communication is as limited as possible and mostly exercised when the manager wishes to convey certain information. Communication is used especially when the organization wants to foster some of the most important relationship building strategies that include teamwork that would in turn help in better interaction and even establishment of trust between various parties in the organization. Organizational change in an environment that is used to having autocracy is quite easy. The employees only continue following the new directives that are provided. However, if the change involves the introduction of a new manager in the organization, the employees may find it better especially if the new leader uses a different style of leadership. The autocratic organizations are easy to effect changes because the leader does not ask for input from the employees implying that the time taken for making decision is not as much as that required by participative leaders who need to assess the input before making the decisions (Murugan 333). This implies that autocracy is an advantage when organizational changes are concerned. However, it remains a main disadvantage to the psychological and the physical wellbeing of the workers. This is because they are ignored repeatedly and their value is rarely appreciated, as is the case with other leadership styles. Conflicts are common in such organizations because clarity is achieved when there is questioning as the involved parties seek to understand what their duties are in the organization. The organizational culture established is also similar to the style applied. Here, the culture is dictated since the leaders did not ask for input from the employees. In addition, the employees are not encouraged to follow a specific path of behavior but forced to do so. Although the culture of an organization consists of common values that are exhibited by the employees, the meaning that should be attached to these behaviors is often absent. This is because the culture should be agreed upon. It is also a possibility to find that a formal culture has not been established in such an organization. Conflicts are a common place in these organizations. This is because the employees do not have a proper channel that they can use to voice certain concerns, which would help in eliminating these issues. In addition, empowerment which could help in facilitating the abilities for the employees to deal with conflicts by themselves is also rarely allowed to function. This improves the possibility of conflicts taking place. This then affects the overall motivation as the employees require a conflict free workplace so as to work in a productive manner. Therefore, the autocratic theory of leadership causes conflicts and worsens the functioning of the organization since the manager is rarely available to deal with these conflicts. This affects the relationships between the employees, which is crucial to the working of an organization. Works Cited Borland, J. F., Burton, L. J. and Kane, G. 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