Management and Human Resources Development

Read the text and say why proper utilization of people is one of the most important aspects of management.

Managers perform various functions, but one of the most important and least understood aspects of their job is proper utilization of people. Research reveals that worker performance is closely related to motivation; thus keeping employees motivated is an essential component of good management. In a business context, motivation refers to the stimulus that directs the behaviour of workers to achieve company goals, managers must be aware of their needs.

Many managers believe workers will be motivated to achieve organizational goals by satisfying their fundamental needs for material survival. These needs include a good salary, safe working conditions and job security. While absence of these factors results in poor morale and dissatisfaction, studies have shown that their presence results only in maintenance of existing attitudes and work performance. Although important, salary, working conditions, and job security do not provide the primary motivation for many workers in highly industrialized societies, especially at the professional or technical level. Increased motivation is more likely to occur when work meets the needs of individuals for learning, self realization, and personal growth. By responding to personal needs – the desire for responsibility, recognition, growth, promotion, and more interesting work – managers have altered conditions in the workplace and consequently, many employees are motivated to perform more effectively.

In an attempt to meet both fundamental or personal needs of workers, innovative management approaches, such as job enrichment and job enlargement, have been adopted in many organizations. Job enrichment gives workers authority in making decisions related to planning and doing their work. A worker might assume responsibility for scheduling work-flow, checking quality of work produced, or making sure deadlines are met. Job enlargement increases the number of tasks workers perform by allowing them to rotate positions or by giving them responsibility for doing several jobs. Rather than assembling just one component of an automobile, factory workers might be grouped together and given responsibility for assembling the entire fuel system.

By improving the quality of work life through satisfaction of fundamental and personal employee needs, managers attempt to direct the behaviour of workers toward the company goals.

But probably the most powerful and basic of all elements necessary to attract and keep people is happiness.

Employees who are happy in their jobs will work hard and well – and won’t leave. So how do you create happy employees? The first step, and a recurring theme of this summary, is to be happy yourself.

Employees are happier in a workplace run by managers who enjoy themselves, their work, and their employees.