Introduction
Friendly Bank has recently switched over to a new process and this requires excellent leadership efforts. Especially in a change management situation, it is essential that effective leadership is in place so that employees are motivated to perform. The decision to commence the online banking system of Parkers PLC and the incorporation of Friendly Bank is a change management initiative. Such situations warrant effective transformational leadership style which is based on the four fundamental principles of idealized influence, inspirational motivation, individualized consideration and intellectual stimulation (Gabel, 2013).
The main problem with Friendly Bank was the decision to rope in previous employees by providing them lesser pay. Another issue was that the existing staff of Parkers PLC needed to be well trained on the phone/online banking model as previously they were not working on this model. One of the essential tenets of transformational leadership theory is to ensure that staff is adequately motivated and performs certain objectives to attain the vision of the firm. The essay will discuss problems with respect to the prevailing leadership style and Friendly Bank and the manner in which a change in the leadership style will help to change team performance and organizational culture.
Transformational leadership and team performance
An essential tenet of transformational leadership is to develop an organizational culture which reflects the objectives of the firm. The approach of transformational leadership has been incorporated on the style, contingency and trait theories of leadership (Aarons, 2006). The problem with Friendly Bank is that different people have different opinions and the formation of two groups the Long Stays and Short Stays reflected ineffective leadership in Friendly Bank. Moreover, the customer service manager, Keith Elliot is unable to lead teams effectively. He is well aware that Sheila’s team is demotivated and disillusioned but he evades this problem instead of confronting it. Another problem that has cropped up is the difference in opinion about those who came from Parkers and became a part of Friendly Bank as opposed to the new recruits. This has led to an atmosphere of conflict and power distance between subordinates.
Academic scholars have maintained that collectivism and power distance influence the linkages between excellent teamwork and transformational leadership. Collectivism may be explained as the manner in which all group members recognize the obligations and requirements of the group and the level to which group members maintain harmonious and strong relationships with other group members (Schaubroeck, Lam & Cha, 2007). In this case, the team leader Sheila does not want to recognize the collective need of the group. The skills of an effective transformational leader can help in boosting the confidence of the team especially in situations of high collectivism and power distance. In this case, Sheila is highly incompetent as she is not well trained on the Sales Against Targets (SAT) model. She lacks expert power and is unable to guide her team to attain the target levels. Moreover, Sheila is not focussed on attaining the organizational goals and targets and is most of the times dependent on other members like Paul to guide her team. As a leader she does not spend time with her team and is gossiping with other personnel. Carl’s best efforts to boost the morale of the team has also failed mainly because of the attitudes displayed by Sheila and Paul.
There are several factors which leads to efficient performance of teams. The team members need to successfully integrate activities and tasks as per the requirement of the team. The members of the team should be able to consistently perform in dynamic and complex environment. Effective leadership in teams is another factor which is responsible for the performance of the team. One of the main problems at Friendly Bank is the laissez faire style of leadership displayed by Sheila. This is highly ineffective especially when the firm has been restructured. Teams should have individuals who are accountable for defining the objectives of the team and for structuring and developing the team to attain these objectives. Sheila, on the other hand, relies on Paul to guide her team and is not interested in motivating or structuring the team to perform better. Academic scholars have maintained that efficient teams integrate systems like coordination, affective, motivation and cognitive qualities. Transformation leadership has the main tenet of idealized influence and this helps in effectively developing and stimulating team to have excellent coordination, motivation, affective and cognitive traits. One of the main responsibilities of excellent leadership is to increase the collective effectiveness of the team. Despite the fact that Sheila’s team believes that the team can attain the collective objective of being successful and getting the team bonus, Sheila’s pessimistic attitude is disintegrating the team. Hence, the team is getting demoralized as they know that they will not be able to attain team goals despite working hard and performing their tasks excellently. Effective teams have leaders who persuade their teams to work hard and perform excellently. This is attained by the manner in which the team is empowered by inspirational and transformational leaders. It is the responsibility of the team leader to infuse the personal objectives of every team member with the goals of the firm. The members of the team should recognize their objectives and purposes of the team and hence display increased commitment to attain them. Carl has excellent leadership qualities and tries to drive the team. He has also formed his group of “satbusters” so that the team goals can be achieved but is snubbed due to Sheila’s lack of drive to achieve team goals. As a transformational leader, an individual should be committed to align the motives of the members of the team with the team purpose and increase team efficiency and performance (Dionne et al. 2004).
Transformational leadership, motivation and organizational culture
Maslow’s need theory is one of the leading motivation theories and according to this employees tend to satisfy their higher level needs after the satisfaction of lower level needs. The current case of Friendly Bank displays the lack of motivation on Sheila to satisfy her esteem needs and this is one of the main reasons that has demotivated the team and has led a team member Jennie to opt for a transfer. Motivation and transformational leadership is highly interlinked. A transformational leader motivates the follower to attain team and organizational goals. Academic scholars have determined that inspirational leadership trait is favourably linked with fulfilling higher order needs (Masi, 2000). The same is linked with Herzberg’s two factor motivation model which distinguishes between hygiene and higher order needs. In the case of Friendly Bank, the team members are not able to fulfil their higher order needs by means of getting team bonus which is connected with team performance and achievement due to inefficient leadership displayed by their team leader. Thus, it is necessary for effective functioning of teams to have a transformational leader who can influence the organizational culture by infusing the qualities of motivation and drive in the entire team. Keith, being the customer service manager, should address this issue of lack of drive and take corrective actions to boost the morale and motivation of Sheila’s team.
A transformational leader is one who is aware of the needs of the subordinates and hence it is necessary for both Sheila and Keith to determine the need which strongly motivates Sheila’s team. In this case, Sheila does not try to find out the needs of her team. She does not stress on attaining the team targets which leaves the team to be demoralized. In this case, McClelland’s motivation theory maintains that excellent leaders should be able to determine which of the three needs, the need for achievement, affiliation and power most strongly influence the team (Fisher, 2009). Keith is well aware of the reasons which is causing tension in the team. Moreover, the kind of negative social power displayed by Paul by gossiping and back stabbing is also impacting Sheila’s team. Instead of attaining targets, the team is busy doing other unimportant jobs and not able to meet team targets.
Conclusion
It is necessary to develop an organizational culture which gives the highest priority to attain team and organizational goals. A favourable organizational culture will lead to healthy competition among teams. This is a feeling that must be infused in the leadership displayed by Sheila and Keith. Avoidance to organizational problems does not help in addressing the issue. In fact, Keith should frankly talk to Sheila and point out several deficiencies in her leadership including the importance to achieve team targets. On the other hand, Paul should be reprimanded for gossiping and hampering team performance by instigating team members against Sheila and in disrupting a healthy organizational culture. They should both be given some time to improve their performance to boost team morale and motivation. At the end of their performance time, they should be evaluated by Keith and if needed corrective action needs to be taken. If necessary, the extreme step of promoting and making Carl the team leader should be implemented for achieving team goals and improving the overall performance of the firm.
References
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Fisher, E.A. 2009. Motivation and leadership in social work management: a review of theories and related studies. Administration in Social Work, 33, 347 – 367.
Gabel, S. 2013. Transformational leadership and healthcare. The Journal of the International Association of Medical Science Educators, 23(1), 55 – 60.
Masi, R.J. 2000. Effects of transformational leadership on subordinate motivation, empowering norms and organizational productivity. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 8(1), 16 – 32.
Schaubroeck, J., Lam, S.S.K. & Cha, S.E. (2007). Embracing transformational leadership: team values and the impact of leader behavior on team performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(4), 1020 – 1030.
