My article on Terracotta published in Kurukshetra (Publications Division, Govt. of India),October,2015. Same is available in Hindi as well.

The Smiling Face of Management (Copy right protected)

-Hena Naqvi Haider-

     Ken Robinson (an international author on human resources issues) opines,  “...human resources are like natural resources; they're often buried deep. You have to go looking for them, they're not just lying around on the surface. You have to create the circumstances where they show themselves.” Truly said! Human potentials are unlimited and a majority of this unlimited potential remains idle and untapped because of different reasons. A good management can tap this unlimited potential up to an optimum level and bring out amazing results.This ideal should guide all the organisations dealing with human resources.  

        Our country has been witnessing various types of changes in the management style in public and private sectors.  There was a time when the management used to be very strict and wanted only results without considering the soft aspects of  human resources. The rigidity and tendency to consider the human resources as just employees gave birth to several negative trends in the concerned  organisations. These were- de-motivation, lack of loyalty, lack of team spirit, deviation from results, groupism,  etc. As a result of the negative trends; the conventional model of management failed and so did the concerned organisations.   

            Therefore, a need was felt  to modify the  ideology and functioning  style of management.  There were various factors facilitating and demanding this change. The most important among them was the highly qualified  and competent human resources who had a wide choice of employment. The second important reason was the rising competition among organisations leading to the need  of hiring self-motivated and result-oriented human resources contributing significantly to the growth of the employer.

     Gradually there came a time when a result-oriented and  friendly /participatory style of management appeared on the scene. It became the most popular and common style of management . It showed an altogether different type of  ideals, strategies and action.  Highlights of the alternative or new style of management can be summarised as the following ‘7 Fs’:

 •Focus on results

Flow of communication

•Faith

•Fine tuning

•Fair (impartial)

Friendly attitude and behaviour

•Flexibility

          Just like conventional management; the new model of management also focuses results but with a difference.  As we can see; the results form the focus point or the nerve-centre of the management model. An enhancement in results (in terms of quantity and quality) contributes to the growth of the organisation. This is an ideal and most desired situation for any organisation because it ultimately benefits both-the employers and the employees. But a deviation from the focus prepares the ground for the downfall of the organisation. Unnecessary concentration on discipline or monitoring of the employess creates dissatisfaction and resentment among the employees and no organisation can prosper with dissatisfied employees.

        There are certain employees for whom there can be no replacement because of their distinct qualities.  Their exit can create trouble for the organisation. That is why; the new style of management gives an emphasis on providing flexibility to the team members  in order to retain them. This can be in terms of working hours, division of work, liberty to work from anywhere (this is the age of internet and physical presence does not matter much). An advertising agency of USA is known for a very unique style of working. It  has handed over the  office keys to its staff members. There are no fixed office hours. Working on advertising requires high level of creativity and creative ideas can strike anytime, not necessarily during the office hours. That is why; the  employees of this agency can visit the organisation anytime and can work as per their convenience. The agency is amazingly one of the top advertising agencies of America just because of the flexibility given to its employees.

          A mutual understanding leading to flexibility compels the employees to think for the results and this is obviously reflected in his/her performance.  The contemporary corporate houses  provide special privileges to their women-employees especially in the cases of maternity. Extended maternity leave, liberty to work from home and  provision of  facilities like creche’, etc. help women-employees to maintain a balance between their jobs and their little ones. The flexibility supports such employees to come out of their turbulent time at personal level. This helps in retaining them which is good for both employer and employees.

                There was a time when there existed wide gaps between the management and the employees. Lack of smooth communication further widened this gap. The working environment became suffocating and burdensome. This affected the results adversely and thus the organisation. But the new style of management adopted smooth flow of communication as one of its effective strategies. It adopted top-down and bottom–up (two way) approaches of  communication  which flowed  from management to employees and from employees to management. It helped in creating mutual understanding and consensus; the situation which is beneficial for the growth and development. This model of communication is also known for removing misconceptions, hard feelings, prejudices, etc.  and thereby strengthening relationship.  

         The element of faith implies mutual trust and respect. From employer's view point, it is faith/trust in employees' competence, action and loyalty. From employees' angle; it indicates faith in the ideology and decisions taken by employers. Various organisations come to the ground only because the management lacks trust in employees. This is a universal fact that human resources are the pillars of any organisation.  Lack of trust weakens this pillar. As a result; the organisation is weakened and falls to the ground. The new style of management gives due importance to the human resources as strong pillars and tries to strengthen the foundations through regular meetings, seminars, capacity building programs, retreats, and exposure visits. These programmes are helpful for staff renewal and also help in creating better relationship between management and staff. Provisions like felicitation for good performance, perks, incentives etc. are instrumental for raising employees’ motivation level and also for enhancing  their loyalty for the organisation. This strengthens   mutual faith  and trust.

          The element of fine tuning is the next pillar of the new management. It implies  coordination or 'moving together in same direction'. This considers management and the human resources as a team and not two conflicting parties.  The management of course, needs to take a lead role to show the new path to the co-travelers i.e. the employees. The employees on the other hand; are expected to make this journey smooth and comfortable with their actions (this suggests different roles played by different employees in an organisation).  The destination of this journey is same for both the management and the employees and that is-further progress of the organisation. Smooth coordination or fine tuning makes this journey smooth and the destination reachable.

           Absence of partiality on any ground  makes the  management fair and impartial. This  ideal  guides the management to rise above regionalism, favouritism, racism, casteism  and all those 'isms' that weaken the foundation of an organisation. In other words; being fair or impartial implies an equal opportunity to all irrespective of caste, creed, language, relations, gender etc.  Some special privileges like maternity benefits may be questioned here. But we need to understand the basic differences between special privileges and partiality /discrimination. Certain groups like women, persons with disabilities (PwDs), children etc. are considered to be the weaker sections of the society and hence need extra care. Every country including ours makes special provisions for its weaker section.   That is why; we can see ramps or special toilets for PwDs.  As we discussed under the head of 'flexibility';   there are extended maternity leave or facility to work from home for women-emploees. These  are in fact, the special opportunities to them in special situations like pregnancy or post-pregnancy time. But apart from these special privileges, an impartial organisation does not compromise on the point of results or quality of works.

            The Hitler style of management has become a part of history. This is because the dictatorship or authoritarian style of management style is  not liked and thus  overthrown sooner or later. Emergence of participatory or collaborative management advocates a friendly attitude of the management with the employees. In  the corporate world, it is very common to see employees calling their bosses by names or spending off-time together as friends. A cordial or friendly relationship of the team members  makes the working environment comfortable and helps in relieving tension and work pressure. Lively work-environment yields  lovely results.

      If we compare the features of new style of management with those of conventional style of management; we find a marked difference. Some  are:

Two different models of management and corresponding results
Conventional style	New/alternative style
Rigidity                             Resentment	Less rigidity                                More results
(Excess) Discipline                         Deviation from results and growth	Focus on results                      Growth of organisation
Bossism                            Lack of  team spirit	Team spirit                         Better  coordination
Lack of liberty                             Lack of   ownership  of the work/target	Liberty                         Innovation/quality in work
Lack of trust                       Lack of loyalty	Faith/trust                            Loyalty
Monitoring                                Deviation	Mentoring                                Motivation

In other words, this alternative or smiling style of management marked a departure from the ideology and working style of conventional management.   

                Any management needs very careful handing of its human resources. It is said that it is easy to handle the machines as the machines do not have emotions. But human beings have hearts; so they have emotions. No management on the world can bring out the best of its employees unless and until the human resources are self-motivated. This self-motivation comes as a result of an efficient management which understands the significance of human resources and gives due importance to the human angles. After all, human resources are the most dignified resources and Almighty’s most wonderful creations. 

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