LEADING PEOPLE An Organizations Greatest Asset

Transcription

1 UNITAR Fellowship for Afghanistan Workshop I LEADING PEOPLE An Organizations Greatest Asset Presented by Alex Mejia Head, UNITAR Asia Pacific Written by Duffie VanBalkom University of Calgary, Canada Monday, 16 May 2011 Kabul, Afghanistan An Overview of Leadership and Managing Human Resources What work needs to be done? Who does the Work? People s Value Why do the Work? People s Motivation How to do the Work well People s Capacities Case Study Practice 1

2 Stakeholders Organization Work People Self 2

3 Career Development Individual Development (Training) HRD Organizational Development (Planning) 3

4 Identifying organizational needs Organizing work WHAT work needs to be done? Routine or Project? Creating job descriptions Hiring: Staff selection Appointing staff Task assignment WHO does the work? Delegation Team Formation 4

5 Types of motivation WHY do people do the work? (Motivation) Reasons for being unmotivated Relationship between personal happiness and job motivation What leaders can do to foster motivation Capacities and capacity development HOW well do people do the work? Knowledge, skills and attitudes Experience Self confidence Team work/individual working skills 5

6 How do we get the right people matched with the right jobs? How do we assign tasks and delegate effectively? 6

7 CASE STUDY I: WHO DOES THE WORK? You have received a promotion to another ministry in Kabul. Your department needs to replace you with a new, highly professional, and capable person. Before you leave, you are asked to help your department to find the right person. As word has leaked out about the upcoming job, your uncle has approached you about his son. You know that he is definitely not the person who is best suited for the job. You have tried to be vague in your conversations with your uncle. Also, your boss has hinted that his niece might be interested in the job. You don t know her, but you worry that pressure may increase to hire her. ACTIVITY I Design a process that will lead to the hiring of the best person, and that would minimize any negative impact on your relationship with your boss or your uncle. Practice what you are going to tell your boss and your uncle... 7

8 ACTIVITY II Design general interview questions that will best help you assess the qualities and abilities of candidates for your particular job. Remember that you will have limited time for the interview, so focus on a few key questions only 8

9 ALL PARTIES MUST BE CLEAR ON: 1) Why the work needs to be done. 2) What they are expected to do. 3) The targets and standards that they have to achieve. 4) The date by which they are expected to do it. 5) The authority they have to make decisions. 6) The problems they must refer back to you. 7) The progress reports they must prepare and submit. 8) The dates of any milestone meetings if this is a project. 9) How you propose to guide, monitor and support them. 10) The resource they will have to help them with the work. 9

10 CASE STUDY II: DELEGATION You want to delegate the logistical planning of a one-day September workshop to Fatima. Although you are asking her to do this task for the first time, you feel she is ready for this new challenge. As you know about effective delegation, you are getting ready to speak with her about this 10

11 ACTIVITY III Drawing on good practices in delegation, plan for your meeting with Fatima. In the interest of Clarity, write out discussion points for each of the 10 steps, outlined earlier. For example: Fatima must prepare a timeline for the entire project including follow-up activities which show all internal and external deadlines. What motivates People to be the best they can be? How can we provide Leadership in Motivation? 11

12 Douglas McGregor of MIT developed two theories of Human Motivation They describe different attitudes about leading people The average person has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it wherever possible Most people must be coerced, controlled, directed, or even threatened to get them to put in any decent level of effort The average person is lazy, prefers to be directed, wants to avoid responsibility, has little ambition, and wants security above all 12

13 People regard work as being normal. People will exercise self direction and self control to reach work goals they are committed to. The average person likes to take responsibility. People are willing to use their imagination and creativity to solve work problems. Theory X Theory Y Control Participatory Task Centered People Centered Telling people what to do and how to do it Giving people a chance to do their best 13

14 Intrinsic Motivation Self-generated Inherent in individual Feels work is important Extrinsic motivation Done for or to people to motivate Rewards, increased pay, praise Challenge People Build Confidence Motivation Give Feedback/ Coach/ Support 14

15 Set high goals and expectations Ask what if? questions Point out and model exemplary performance Make stretching (self-directed development) a part of the culture Recognize good or improved performance Show confidence in the judgment of people and the ability to do work well Build people s knowledge and skills: provide necessary information, and support skill building 15

16 Model the behavior you d like to see from others, e.g. How to run a meeting, write a report, make a presentation, finish tasks on time How to behave towards others Give constructive, specific and supportive feedback Core Job Dimensions People Experience: Personal & Work Outcomes Skill Variety Task Identity Task Significance Autonomy Feedback Meaningfulness Of Work Responsibility For Outcomes Knowledge of Results of Work High internal Motivation High quality Performance High Satisfaction Low Absenteeism & Turnover Adapted from: Whetton & Cameron (2002 p. 321) 16

17 Establish clear performance expectations Remove obstacles to performance Reinforce desired behaviors Foster intrinsic rewards Provide feedback Re-design work Exercise Fairness ACTIVITY IV Remember Fatima and her new task? Using the Designing Motivating Jobs slide, analyze the job you delegated to her. In particular: Will the work be meaningful to Fatima? Will she feel responsible for outcomes? Will she know the results of her work? Is there anything you can do to improve motivation? 17

18 Effectiveness, efficiency, relevance HRD: Leading Capacity Building Feedback for Continuous Improvement Feedback is formal often this takes place once a year and includes adopted forms and procedures. Feedback is also informal, and is often a part of natural, helpful conversations in daily interactions. What can the leader do to make the job better? What gets in the way of accomplishing a task? 18

19 Clarity: be clear about what you want to say Balance: emphasize the positive first Specificity: be specific avoid general comments and clarify Concrete: focus on the specific behavior not the whole person Relevance: refer to behavior that can be changed Help: be descriptive rather than evaluative Own the feedback: Use I statements Avoid generalizations: all, never, always Timing: if an event is emotionally charged wait a day or two Judgment: if it is a big issue that needs serious attention find an appropriate time and place schedule an appointment 19

20 Manage yourself: stay non-defensive monitor what s going on inside you, breathe slowly Watch your body language and tone of voice remain open and neutral Ask questions to find out more about what they are telling you; try to find some truth in what they are saying Acknowledge and appreciate the information so they will know you are open for feedback Request permission to clarify intentions Can I tell you what I was trying to do? Ask the other person for suggestions on how to improve the situation Carefully consider the feedback and whether you might do something differently. If appropriate, make an agreement with the other person and commit to it 20

21 ACTIVITY V Fatima s September workshop was largely (although not completely) a success. This is an HRD opportunity for the supervisor to give feedback. It is also an opportunity for Fatima to receive feedback. Your facilitators will make half of you supervisors and half Fatima s. Independently, prepare for the feedback meeting. Write down points that you think went well, and not so well. ACTIVITY V CONTINUED Sit in groups of 4. In one pair, Fatima and supervisor should face each other for their meeting. The other pair are observers who will only give feedback after the meeting is finished. It is useful for them to sit back, take notes and be silent. Supervisors, start your meetings! Debrief 21

22 is a supportive leader; a developer of others who can form strong relationships and inspire others to work together to accomplish the organization s goals. LEADING PEOPLE An Organizations Greatest Asset Alex MEJIA Head, UNITAR Regional Office for the Asia Pacific Monday 9 May 2011 Kabul, Afghanistan 22