Responsibilities in the Company - Essay Example

Work-life balance al Affiliation The management style and management responsibilities in the company. W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc. being a globally recognised company with a wide coverage and presence in many countries has a unique way of managing its affairs. First, the work of all the associates and the workers is not controlled by the executive management. This role is chiefly assumed by the sponsors or the mentors assigned to the associate who provide guidance to the associate in their practice. This significantly decentralise the responsibilities of managers and the associates can, therefore, be in a position to make and confirm decisions without having to contact the executive managers, a process that would be time-consuming. The decentralisation is also important in helping the employees (associates) to develop themselves and acquire an excellent level of autonomy and self-discipline. This makes them become leaders by showing the leadership skills. The company appears to use more of a Laissez-faire type of leadership and management of employees’ activities (Zastrow, 2014). In this style of management, the associates are given freedom to direct their activities and do what they feel is best for the responsibilities bestowed on them. In this manner, there are no procedures and processes in the company and every associate is free to perform those duties that they feel they can perform best. The style is also observable in the fact that the company has no set working hours. The workers are trusted enough to be allowed to choose the number of hours they will commit to their responsibilities in the company. This kind of freedom may be taken by many organisations to pose a risk to the achievement of the organisation’s goals. However, this company appears to be comfortable with the style, having used it for a long time and even claiming it in the principles as stated. The management responsibilities in this company are also unique. Despite having to use a good deal of Laissez-faire style of leadership. The management has been able to use the available employees and their skills in a participatory style of responsibilities management. The responsibilities in the company are not assigned to the associates. Everyone is allowed to choose a field and a responsibility. This then creates a team based environment in which each team has specific opportunities in which they are interested. From the associates in this group, those who demonstrate leadership skills and traits are selected leaders (traits theory). These become a different level of leadership who although still under their mentors, they are important in running and managing the activities of the specific team. The influence of these leaders in the groups and their followership determines their importance to the company and the teams (Kippenberger, 2014). Everyone however has an opportunity to be a leader in one team and a follower in another. This may happen when the individual is interested in the human resource team as a follower associate while still being the leader in the marketing team. The interchangeable roles are strongly in line with the principle of fairness and consultation. It is guided by the need to have each of the associates practice what they are comfortable with and be available to help others achieve their teams goals and by extension those of the company. 2. Elements of this companys approach to work-life balance that could be adopted by other organizations. This company has a management culture that has a very effective balance of work and life. There is none of the employees who can claim that the company does not allow him or her to live a personal and well-organised life. This is ensured by a number of important elements that can be inferred from the companies guiding principles. First, the company emphasises on fairness. This means that all the employees or associates must perform their individual duties in a manner that does not only help the company but also respects and treats fairly other employees. In this way, even the leaders in the company teams are expected to understand that all their followers have needs that are apart from the requirement of their responsibilities at work. It is only fair, therefore, that they have enough time to themselves to deal with their life needs (Cardinal, 2014). This can be adopted by other companies by allowing enough personal time for employees. It would be advisable to encourage employers and managers to discourage overtime and weekend duties. Lacking economic incentives for such duties discourage employees from seeking more time at work. This time is better spent dealing with other issues in life. Secondly, the company encourages self-commitment. This implies that all the associates are committed to personal achievement of objectives. Having a personal course is important as it allows the worker to manage their duties effectively as opposed to having them wait for orders. The autonomy achieved with self-commitment allows the workers to set for themselves enough time for life issues. Further, having no set working hours enhances the autonomy. This element can be applicable in many other organisations and companies. Allowing employees to have personal objectives ant work-plans helps them become more responsible in their time management and they have a healthy balance of work and life ((Klöpping, 2013). In addition, workers will always view rules and regulations as limiting. When subjects to supervision and strict monitoring, the workers become stressed, and their work output reduces. This company, besides having no set hours for work, also has no over-emphasis on job reporting. Despite the safety need for sign-in, the time, at which an employee reports for job, is not put to record. This emphasises the need for autonomy. An employee, who is set free, will have a sense of responsibility and trust and will always be willing to give as much as possible to his or her duties when available. It is, therefore, advisable that employers provide their workers with a considerable level of freedom and autonomy in doing their duties (Klöpping, 2013). This can be done by having departmental timetables that suits everyone and not having to supervise arrivals and departures. References Zastrow, C. (2014). Authoritarian, Democratic & Laissez-Faire Leadership. retrieved from http://www.enotes.com/research-starters/authoritarian-democratic-laissez-faire-leadership. Kippenberger, T. (2014). Leadership Styles: Choosing the Right Approach for the Situation. retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_84.htm Cardinal, R. (2014). Citing Websites.In 6 Management Styles. Retrieved Jan 09, 2015, from http://leadersinheels.com/career/6-management-styles-and-when-best-to-use-them-the-leaders-tool-kit. Klöpping, L. (2013). Work-life Balance. retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/work-life-balance/ Read More