MANAGEMENT
Part 1
In today’s world of global challenges and competition, the role of managers and leaders is of critical importance. Managers need to make sure that the right kind of people gets hired for the right positions so that they are able to perform better. Managers also make certain that employees are given access to necessary resources so that they can deliver results precisely. The role of leaders is more pronounced than managers (Zaleznik, 1992). Leaders serve to motivate employees not by force, but through their charismatic persona and timely guidance and feedback. Without leaders, the employee would not feel the spark and interest to fulfill their job responsibilities (Yukl, 2002).
Treviño, Weaver & Reynolds (2006) proposed that ethics is becoming an important issue in the corporate world. Ethics basically serve as a code of conduct for an organizations’ dealings and interactions. If an organization is successful in communicating to its employees what is right and what is not, then it is likely that things will run smoothly which will be reflected by the positive performance of the organization. If an organization does not give weight to ethics, then it gets involved in certain issues which serve to spoil its reputation in the outside world . Since organizations are all going global for the purpose of increasing their market share and expanding customer base, the issue of diversity has gained much importance. Since most companies have operations in several parts of the world, this means that the workforce includes people with diverse backgrounds in terms of religion, culture and identity. Diversity is viewed as a powerful success tool and no more as an approach which leads to differences and prejudices. Alderfer & Sims (2002) suggested that a diverse workforce interacts for achieving common goals and ensures that they get rid of all differences and put their knowledge and skills to the best of their use. Without cherishing the concept of diversity, none of the global organizations can think of leading the competition. There are various kinds of challenges which all organizations have to meet and find solutions in an appropriate manner. The external environment in which the company operates is never stable so organizations have to modify their strategies and decisions in order to stay in the competition. An organization which is flexible in its approach is the one who can gain success in the long run. Communication is essential in an organization so as to ensure that the policies, procedures and new developments are informed to all employees effectively. Moreover, proper communication also allows organizations to be open to the concerns and issues faced by the employees so that corrective and timely actions could be taken (Porter & Roberts, 1972).
Currently, I am working as a tax accountant for Precise Financial Services, a local public accounting and tax agent’s office in Sydney, Australia. A brief SWOT analysis and PESTEL analysis in the light of the issues discussed earlier is presented.
The strengths of Precise Financial services lies in its over twenty years of sound establishment and experienced and knowledgeable founders whose vision serves as motivation for the employees. The services offered by PFS are vast which are equally suitable for small and medium services (Precise Financial Services. (n.d.). The weakness of Precise Financial Services could be its operations in Australia only and not in global parts of the world. The company has a good image in Australia but unknown in the outside world. Opportunities could be availed by Precise Financial Services by expanding its portfolio and getting into long term partnership with many of its international clients. Threats to Precise Financial Services come from other financial services providers in the same region who offer more affordable packages to its clients in the long run.
PESTLE Analysis for Precise Financial Services
The political situation in Australia is usually stable as political parties maintain peace in the country. Although the economic conditions of the country are satisfactory but now that the economy is global so any changes in the currency exchange rate, tax regulations or tariffs could disturb the payment structure for Precise Financial Services. The social situation of the external environment where PFS operates is favorable as the target market is well defined. Technological innovation is being introduced every now and then at the global level so PFS must ensure that its technological processes are up to date and integrated so as to offer improved financial services to clients. Legal requirements mist be kept in view before making new decisions or when signing up with clients as the violation is not acceptable. Like every socially responsible company, PFS must also allocate a certain amount of its profits to invest in projects related to environmental protection.
Part 2
In this task, I will be presenting a personal assessment for which three sources were used. I asked several questions from my colleagues, boss, and friends to get an idea of how people perceive my knowledge and skills, how they relate it to my job and what kind of an employee rating they provide me. I made use of formal and informal conversations, emails and routine based performance. The date I gathered was translated into SWOT analysis. A brief description of my personal SWOT analysis is provided.
Strengths
After conducting informal interviews or simply conversations from my co workers, boss and family members, I learned that they all consider me as a strong person. They see me as an individual with very good communication skills. Communications skills are very important in ensuring that goals and objectives would be attained with a high success rate. When employees are unable to let their managers or peers understand their concerns, they cannot expect to perform better. When issues are sorted out through proper communication, only then the employees exhibit true levels of motivation. Communication is also seen as a great tool for promoting new ideas and innovation. Every employee is talented and has the right to come up with ideas and suggestions to improve the capitalization of the organization. I was also told that I am an exceptional team player. I enjoy working in teams because I believe even the toughest of goals can be met when employee work together by sharing their skills and knowledge open heartedly. The teams usually come up with better solutions and achieve goals in a much effective manner. Ensuring that all team members collaboratively work towards the achievement of personal and professional goals are important (Guzzo & Salas, 1995). Whenever conflict situations seem to arise, I consider it my duty to settle it while focusing on the benefits of team work. I am very dedicated towards my job and the organizational because this organization has provided me several opportunities to groom my personality and enhanced my job-based knowledge and skills. I tend to stay loyal to the organization because I believe that this organization will provide me several opportunities in the future to move up the career ladder. I am also good at managing conflicts which mean that if my coworkers are not pleased with each other and they make use of words and actions to express their anger, I am the first one who comes to take care of the situation and help them reach a common decision. I believe in meeting my targets with efficiency and effectiveness.
Weaknesses
The SWOT analysis helped me identify my weakness which I must overcome in order to prove to be a valuable asset for the organization. I usually panic when tasks are assigned to me because I do not feel confident if I will be able to attain my goals or not. Lack of confidence makes things difficult for me at first which I need to get rid of. Due to this attitude, my colleagues make fun of me at times- Low level of confidence is certainly not the quality of a successful employee. Sometimes, I express fear of taking risks. Risk taking is essential in any business because if one is scared of taking risks and trying out new and innovative moves, then there is no possibility of improvement. Sometimes, I experience a lack of motivation when the supervisor does not appreciate my good performance in front of my peers. This weakness I must overcome by looking at my previous rewards and achievements and think of all the good opportunities I have been provided by my organization.
Opportunities
There are a lot of opportunities which I can certainly avail by staying associated with this organization. There are a special career management and development department which ensures that when a candidate is hired, his career advancement routes are discussed with him in detail so that as he progresses, he has a clear idea of the next designation and responsibilities. Bennis (1969) believed that career development team keeps a check at the performance of employees and keep them updated on their decisions. Performance appraisals are a great way to inform an employee where he stands and how can he improve his efficiency levels (Murphy & Cleveland, 1991). I see performance appraisals as a great way to identify my strengths, weakness, opportunities and likely threats and then I work on improving my weaknesses and getting rid of a threat so as to make the most of my strengths and professional opportunities which come in my way. I am usually known for sharing innovative ideas with my team members and they trust me with these ideas. In order to improve my image in the eyes of the senior executives, I can always present them with my innovative suggestions. The organization offers compensation package which meets my expectations and standards. Appropriate compensation makes the employees feel motivated and drives them from inside to attain goals (Milkovich, Newman & Milkovich, 1999).
There are training and development opportunities which are offered by the organization where I work on a continuous basis. If I avail these opportunities, I will be able to increase my knowledge on business, management and issues which are usually faced by organizations in the global environment- my skills will improve as I will get to learn more about soft and hard skills. My interaction with other trainees will also help me learn more about human psychology and behavior. My increased knowledge, skills and improved social interactions would help me perform my job in an effective and efficient manner. As mentioned, I am a good team player. If provided an opportunity to work on team-based tasks, I will be able to gain more insight into the benefits of teamwork and prove helpful to the team members. This activity might help me attain the qualities a team lead possesses. By becoming a team lead, I will feel esteemed and offer all the guidance I can to my fellows so that we could collectively achieve our targets and impress the senior executives. The organization I work for is considered as global which means employees hired belong to diverse backgrounds. I consider a diverse group of employees as the best learning and interactive opportunity. By being a part of an organization where diversity is appreciated, I could get a better understanding of other culture, rituals and customs which would help me broaden my vision and I would be able to deliver better and superior results (Bell, 2011). My job responsibilities perfectly match my skills and knowledge which can act as a great opportunity for me to attain results in a more refined way.
Threats
There are several threats to my personal and professional side from my coworkers. It is evident that in the corporate world, every person is trying its best to perform better and stay ahead of others in the field. In order to achieve this goal, many people make use of wrong and unethical approach. For instance, they engage themselves in politics against other employees so that they could tarnish the image of others and pose themselves as better performers in the eyes of senior executives or directors. I also face a threat from my managers who are held responsible for conducting performance appraisals. Sometimes, the managers can get biased and give a higher score to those who are actually less deserving. This would prevent the deserving ones from getting a promotion or raise in salary. Upon noticing such unjust attitude, the employees would feel dissatisfied with their job and deliver poor to average results. I also feel at threat from getting appraised from my manager in a biased manner. Ethical issues such as sexual harassment as well as gender inequality are also seen as threats to my progress in upcoming years. I believe that although my job responsibilities are well defined and clear and the organization plays a key role in enhancing my skills and grooming my persona, I must also actively participate in improving any flaws in my performance whenever necessary.
References
Alderfer, C. P., & Sims, A. D. (2002). Diversity in organizations. Handbook of psychology.
Bell, M. (2011). Diversity in organizations. Cengage Learning.
Bennis, W. G. (1969). Organization Development: Its Nature, Origins, and Prospects.
Guzzo, R. A., & Salas, E. (1995). Team effectiveness and decision making in organizations (Vol. 22). Pfeiffer. Communication in Organizations (No. TR-12). CALIFORNIA UNIV IRVINE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ADMINISTRATION.
Kline, T. J., & MacLeod, M. (1997). Predicting organizational team performance. Organization Development Journal.
Milkovich, G. T., Newman, J. M., & Milkovich, C. (1999). Compensation. T. Mirror (Ed.). Burr Ridge, Ill.: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.
Murphy, K. R., & Cleveland, J. N. (1991). Performance appraisal: An organizational perspective. Allyn & Bacon.
Porter, L. W., & Roberts, K. H. (1972). Communication in Organizations (No. TR-12). CALIFORNIA UNIV IRVINE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ADMINISTRATION.
Precise Financial Services. (n.d.). About Us. Available: http://precisefinancial.com.au/about-us/. Last accessed 8th May 2016.
Treviño, L. K., Weaver, G. R., & Reynolds, S. J. (2006). Behavioral ethics in organizations: A review. Journal of management, 32(6), 951-990.
Yukl, G. A. (2002). Leadership in organizations.
Zaleznik, A. (1992). Managers and leaders: are they different?. Harvard Business School Pub.
Appendix
Precise Financial services have a presence on social media that is Facebook where the company keeps on sharing taxation laws and regulations related posts for its members so that they could get rid of any myths and make decisions in the light of enforced laws. For instance, there still exists confusion between the status of permanent employees and contractors. PFS considered its responsibility to educate the clients about the major points of differences. Here is a screenshot
Given below is the logo of Precise Financial Services
In order to carry out my personal SWOT analysis, I had to make use of some online emotional tests. I got precise results which helped me in the analysis. Below is a snapshot of a test I took where there were about 100 questions to answer.
