Productive and effects of leadership

 

In most cases in a manufacturing-based organization. It is seen that productivity solely relies on the ability of the supervisor to plan, organize and coordinate the tasks assigned to the group of employees effectively to get the highest possible result. Hence, there is a strong relationship between the leader’s ability to motivate the employees and the organization’s productivity. As stated by (Robert & Daniel, 1952) it is evident that high-performing production lines consist of supervisors/leaders who have differentiated their roles from those of other employees. Therefore, focus leadership functions include more time spent on planning and particular skilled tasks, delegating their subordinates to process their assigned task as planned, and monitoring the significant goals without micro-managing every task. The author also states that higher-ranking officers devote more time to micro-managing, and paperwork will consist of low-performing teams. Further, a lack of good leadership may cause low-performing teams due to the compensating for the abdication or misdirected leadership of the employees. It is said that leaders should have good expertise in the field they are heading, which will increase the leader's confidence and the subordinates followed by the leader, which could be seen to be followed by most companies in Sri Lanka as minimum educational qualifications and experience is required as per the job role. The majority of the managerial position requires a minimum educational requirement of a bachelor’s degree or higher and a minimum experience of more than five years, which highlights the fact that leaders should be masters of the given field to be a good leader and, again, the trust of the employees. Is highlighted by (Robert & Daniel, 1952) a good manager or supervisor should be able to play the following roles as they are proven by research conducted in organizations. These factors will affect both productivity and the psychological return of the organization. These are also known as powers exercised by good leaders to make efficient decisions and keep the company's productivity at an optimal level.

·       Legitimate power is automatically given to managers or supervisors by the company according to their position

·       Reward Most leaders use this to improve motivation among subordinates by rewarding high performance which will aid in keeping productivity constant and motivate employees to work harder to increase productivity

·       Coercive power, which is the ability to punish, should be used by leaders. This is important to maintain law and order within an organization

·       Expert power is when a manager has good knowledge of the field. As explained earlier, this will create respect for the manager within the employee.

·       Referent power comes with care and support from the manager to their employee, through a sense of confidence among the employees, who will be there for the manager, and the employees will have the impression that the manager has their back.

 Poor management has single-handedly become the most significant contributor to low productivity in the UK. More detailed statistics show seven out of ten managers fail to keep up with good productivity standards due to a lack of good leadership qualities. Also points out situational leadership is the most effective method to overcome problems faced by organizations. (GBS Corporatee training, 2018) states there are many downfalls an organization can fall into with bad leadership.

·       High Staff turnover: Employees who are not motivated due to lack of suitable motivation and also due to employee burnout will lead to employees leaving the company as they do not fit into the poor culture within the organization.

·       Failure to meet goals: delivering toward goals will be kept low as the employees lack the inspiration to give their best toward the company and meet their highest potential.

·       Reduction In customer satisfaction

·       Overall reduction in productivity

To overcome problems due to bad leadership, managers could be trained to deliver good leadership to their employees. Some types of leadership could be implemented to uphold the quality of productivity in the workspace. (Sherwin, et al., 2020) State the quality of the relationship between a manager and the employees directly reflects how well the employees react to the manager's instructions and how efficiently the instructions are followed. The author further states good leaders will adopt different leadership styles formulated in the right balance to suit the situation. Hence, the manager will have a good relationship with the employees, understanding their needs and wants, therefore delivering the career growth and personal growth of the employee in hand, looking into their well-being, and motivating the employees to keep their performance at a high level, which will result in both employee and organization reaching their goals.

A few of the leadership approaches could be implemented to gain optimal results. (Rudomino, 2023)

·       The corrective style: this involves providing feedback and focusing on identifying and clearing out mistakes and any performance problems faced

·       Authoritative style: the manager with a good vision who makes good decisions independently, followed by supporting and guiding the employees. Such leaders gain the trust of their employees through their in-depth knowledge of the field and strategic thinking.

·       Affiliative style: a team personality who builds a strong bond with the employees and values teamwork.

·       Democratic style: a manager who trusts the employees and lets them work independently. On the other hand, the manager will seek input from all the employees in any decision-making process.

·       Pacesetting style:  a high standard setter who expects high performance for themselves and their employees.

·       Coaching style: a leader who would think of the employee's career and life goals and aid the employees in achieving them while motivating them to achieve the company's objectives.

However, there are many more leadership styles, such as transactional leadership, and transformational leadership, which will be explained in the video below.

References

GBS Corporatee training, 2018. Great Leadership Improves Productivity. [Online]
Available at: https://www.gbscorporate.com/blog/great-leadership-improves-productivity#:~:text=Developing%20leadership%20skills%20can%20not,and%20lower%20levels%20of%20management.
[Accessed 7 December 2023].

Robert, L. & Daniel, K., 1952. LEADERSHIP PRACTICES. IN RELATION TO PRODUCTIVITY AND. MORALE, Michigan : Institut e fo r Social Research University of Michigan .

Rudomino, I., 2023. 6 Leadership Styles in Business and Politics: Real-world Examples. [Online]
Available at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/6-leadership-styles-business-politics-real-world-izidor-rudomino
[Accessed 8 December 2023].

Sherwin, E., John, E., Stanislaus, I. & Maria, M., 2020. Application of Leadership Theories in Analyzing the Effects of Leadership Styles on Productivity in Philippine Higher Education Institutions. Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 8(3), pp. 53-62.