The purpose of this document is to develop the summary and coherent outline of the Motivation and Employee Involvement Strategy to be implemented in the organization. While the document will look at the full scope of the challenges, which have to be addressed, the detailed analysis and recommendations will be given for the critical topic of Joint Decision Making in Operations and Representative Participation. Companies apply a variety of programs and projects to address the challenges in this area. This strategic document will expand on the three recommendations, as central to addressing the three subtopics, work life balance, hirge practices and staffing levels. The recommendations presented in this report include a) Talent Management Programs; b) Innovation Culture through work teams; and c) Diversity Management, as divers of intensity, persistence, and direction. This narrow focus of this specific work is determined by the analysis and findings of the major issues and priorities, identified for the short and medium term to close the capability gaps, which can build on the barriers for reaching organizational strategic goals (Walumbwa et al, 2011).
Given the strategic focus of the organization on organic growth and ambitious strategy of market penetration along with the increasing competition and developing substitute market in the internet streaming business, development of human capabilities and competitive advantage through intangible assets, such as knowledge, innovation potential and loyalty is central to the success of the organization (Sadler, 2003).
The areas of focus, translated into to the major objectives of this report, can be formulated as follows:
Explore the potential benefits of the International Talent Management Program (TMP);
Identify the levels in organizational hierarchy at which this TMP should be implemented;
Develop a change management recommendation to build on radical and incremental innovation culture in the organization;
Recommend a course of actions for each of the three focus areas and determine the direction for more specific strategic documents.
This report is structured in a way to demonstrate the internal capability gaps as compared to the strategic objectives. Explore the benefits and the ways in which the three topics in focus can address these issues and, finally, recommend the course of action.
Critical Elements of the Strategy
The three areas, identified as priorities for organizational action and analysis include work-life balance and hiring process within the discussion on the joint decision-making, and staffing levels as part of the representative participation. It is possible to argue that the format in which it is recommended to implement the three projects, including talent Management, building the innovation culture and diversity management will build coherent and effective motivation and employee involvement strategy. First of all, it is evident that the company´s ambition to grow will result in physical expansion and will determine the need for new skills and expertise, which are not currently in place. The market in the sector of internet streaming and DVD services is very segmented, but the competition is based upon the flexibility and adaptability of the organizations to the constantly changing external environment. That said, companies more and more recognize the need to develop human capital from within the core of the companies. Most of the lower level positions can be locally fulfilled with professionals with specific skills and knowledge, such as recent graduates or individuals with just a couple of years experience in the sector. At the same time, change management and growth will demand unique management skills and leadership qualities to be able to lead the company and adopt the corporate culture. This capability gap can be closed by the implementation of the Talent Management program for junior level management (Sims, 2007).
Secondly, the same factors within the external environment will place further pressure on the company in terms of building on differentiating and new approaches to creating a sustainable competitive advantage. The market offers a great variety of options for entertainment, such as DVD-by-mail, Cable TV, internet streaming, and own services from large entertainment networks. That said, internet streaming business can no longer compete on the basis of generic components, such as price and outreach. Innovation is the key for competitive advantage and long-term sustainability of the internet streaming companies on the market. While breakthrough innovation demands high levels of financial inflow, incremental innovation can be built upon the development of innovation culture within the company and employee involvement through work groups. Such work groups should be created from employees with different personal and professional background and comprise the knowledge from various business sectors. By empowering employees and delegating the decision-making authority, the company will be able to motivate them and create the stronger bond between the personal and the corporate (Minor, 2005).
Finally, contemporary business arena and specific environment, in which our company operates demonstrate that internal and external diversity are becoming central for the companies. Poor diversity management strategy can lead not only to demotivation and weakening performance of employees but to the failure of the company as a result of internal competition and the dilution of identity. The truth is that the organization should shift from anti-discrimination compliance to organizational development through enhanced diversity management and Human Resource Management (HRM) Strategies (Bendwick et al, 2001).
Based on the Expectancy Theory, the goal of the employee involvement is to build on the employee expectation that his effort will be appraised and consequently, rewarded. This leads to satisfaction of personal goals (Sims, 2007). The following recommendation is grounded o the theory. Employee Involvement and Motivation strategy is not an organizational tool, but the leadership philosophy, which underpins the values and mission of the company. With that in mind, the implementation of the programs and projects under the three focus areas should aim at transforming the organizational culture and should comprise a unique integrated strategy initiative. It is recommended to formulate and implement the involvement Initiative, grounded on the Employee Involvement Model, centered around five elements: communicate the initiative, sell it to the stakeholder, receive feedback and input, build a coalition of supporters, delegate the responsibilities and tasks. This five-step approach is recommended to transform the philosophy of the organization and raise collective performance through employee involvement (DuBrin, 2008).
The above-outlined implementation strategy concerns all three elements of the strategy. First of all, the company should formulate specific action plan to:
Build a Junior Management Development Program, including its goals, layout, concept and expected outcomes;
Formulate and develop the work group program for the employees in view of the change management initiative to create an Innovation Culture in the organization;
Create and formulate the objectives of the diversity management training, including workshops, team building, and rotation program for entry-level program.
Secondly, it is recommended that the integrated change strategy is communicated to the major stakeholders to be able to receive needed support and buy-in from the management and supervisors. These people will, later on, become the ambassadors of change and initiatives and will be able to delegate it to other employees. Following the Employee Involvement Model, the third step in the recommended course of action is to ensure that proper and honest feedback is received and the individual employee input is taken into consideration for adjustment in TMP, work group structure and the diversity management training format and outline. Naturally, with the first three steps completed successfully, the company will create a coalition of supporters, which will enable setting representatives for the change in a department and prepare the ground for delegation of the authority and responsibility for this change (Walumbwa et al, 2011). Finally, the new work structure in work groups and diversity management training objectives should be incorporated into the performance management system and departmental Balance Scorecard to ensure that the strategic goals are accurately translated into operational targets.
References
Bendick M., Egan Jr., Lou M. Lofhjelm S.(2001). Workforce Diversity Training: From Anti-discrimination Compliance to Organizational Development. Human Resource Planning, 24, (2), 10-25.
DuBrin, A.J. (2008). Essential of Management. (8th Edn). London: South-Western Publishing.
Minor, J. B. (2005). Organizational Behavior: Essential theories of motivation and leadership. New York: M.E. Sharp.
Sadler Ph. (2003). Strategic management. (2nd Edn). London: Kogan Page Limited
Sims, R.R. (2007). Human Resource Management. Contemporary Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities. Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.
Walumbwa, F., Luthans, F., Avey, J. B., & Oke, A. (2011). Authentically leading groups: The mediating role of collective psychological capital and trust. Journal of Organisational Behavior, 32 (1), 4-24.
