HUMAN RESOURCES PRACTICE, LEADERSHIP AND MANAGING PEOPLE

Name Richard Paintsil

Course Unit
Qualifi/07/03/L7DEM.
Reference
F/507/8099.
Number
Word count 8740
Date 25th September, 2020.

HUMAN RESOURCES PRACTICE, LEADERSHIP AND MANAGING PEOPLE.

CONTENTS

S/N DESCRIPTION PAGE

O

1.1 Critique contemporary approaches human resource management and 3

development.
1.2 Identify research evidence on employment and effective approaches to 6
human resource management, learning and development practice and
critically evaluate how the research evidence has affected management
thinking and practice.

1.3 Identify people management practices that have changed as a result of 8

research evidence and led to positive organizational outcomes, citing real
examples

2.1 8
Critically evaluate the main theories on motivation, commitment and
employee engagement and their relevance in contemporary
organizations.

2.2 Illustrate how management practice has used, adapted or developed 11

theoretical models using examples in real organizations
2.3 13
Justify how employee engagement is a positive factor in organizational
health terms and provide real examples of this for a range of different
organizations.  

3.1 Evaluate contemporary thinking about what makes a leader. 14

Your Name: Richard Paintsil 1

Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
 3.2 16
Critically evaluate the role of leadership in organizations and
characteristics of effective leaders.

3.3 Identify relevant and suitable leadership development activities and 18

experiences.

4.1 20
Critique the role of HR management and development in organizations
and how HR and other managers can productively work together.

4.2 Discuss the need for professional and qualified HR practitioners in 22

organizations
4.3 24
Critically evaluate how ethics and organizational culture can be influenced
by HR practices.

References 26

1.0 INTRODUCTION

In the working world, every business operates using resources; be it land, labor capital and
entrepreneurship. The human resources being the life of a company plays a very crucial role in the
success of a business and therefore needs to be managed. The workforce of a company needs to work
following laid down rules, regulations and procedures for smoother business operations.

The management of the employees of a firm is more than what meets the eyes, talk about managing
conflicts, working with people from different backgrounds, making sure work goes on in the absence of
an employee, working out payment plan, retirement plan, health plan, government policies on
employee relations and a whole lot more. In this write up, we talk about leadership, contemporary
approaches to human resource, theories on motivation and others.

Definition of Terms

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
Human resources: they are the people that make up the workforce of a firm, business center or
economy.

Human resource management: is the strategic approach to the effective management in an

organization in order to help the business gain competitive advantage.

Theory: a thought or an opinion of supported by facts or with an academic background.

Leader: from its foundation word “to lead”, which means to move ahead and inspire following even
unto a set destination. Those who lead are mostly seen by those who follow and not necessarily the
leader. My personal decomposition of the word is one who stays ahead and inspire other to follow by
paving the way through a particular direction.

1.1 Critique contemporary approaches human resource management and

development.

The customary human resource design was altered considerably by the expert Armstrong in the year
2001 into a more elaborate approach. He stated the reasons of the changes to be to;

 To recruit and retain the required number of people with the right knowledge and skills.
 To anticipate issues of possible turnovers or otherwise deficits of people.
 To establish a developed and versatile workforce, thereby creating an organizational resilience
to flow with the constant and emergent environmental dynamism.
 To create value of individual employees through the introduction of modern systems of work
and tools.
 To formulate retention and development strategies to ensure the scaling back of reliance, on
outsourcing in times of short supply of key skills.

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
Contemporary Approach to Human Resource Management

Business strategy

The first key element of this model is business strategy, which can be emergent or deliberate. In simple
terms, deliberate business strategies are the defined strategic positions an organization has proposed
to run a whole or an entire business unit. It predefines the structure and posture in a business
environment and usually formulated before the commencement of core activities of an institution.
Emergent business strategies, on the other hand, are products of environment. These surface as the
various business units interact or conflict with the various internal (deliberate strategy) and external
environmental factors (the market) thus, the strategies which are used to leverage survival against
weaker performers and entrench the competitive advantage an organization has over the market.

Resourcing strategy

In this model the resourcing strategy derives from the business strategy and also feeds into it. For
example, the identification of particular strengths and capabilities might lead to new business goals,
especially if strategy formation is emergent rather than deliberate. The basis supporting Armstrong’s
opinion of this strategy is related to the resource based view of an organization. This strategy is used to

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
secure the competitive advantage of an institution over its peers by recruiting and retaining a more
versatile and intelligent workforce above all other competitors.

Therefore, the general assumption is that the upward relationship between resourcing strategy and
business strategy involves programs and schemes designed to attract and retain an outstanding
workforce, through the availability rewards and opportunities which put peers on the edges of their
seats.

Scenario planning

This element is not common in traditional HR Practices models and reflects a development in planning
models designed to cope with increased uncertainty and dynamism in the environment. Scenario
planning can be used to replace more traditional demand and supply forecasting. This approach is
premised on the idea that if one cannot predict the future, then by speculating on a number of them,
one might make the right choice.
It is also a bit of trouble to determine the number of scenarios to be considered in scenario planning,
resulting in a fair chance of settling on the right one. However the situation is not one to get out of hand.
Scenario planning in modern times have been made easy through the use of computer modelling and
simulations in making calculated predictions of all possible scenarios. Another subject matter expert
Porter in 1985 suggested five key options to look at in scenario planning:

Bet on the foremost probable one.

• Bet on the most effective one for the organization.

• Hedge bets thus on get satisfactory results regardless of that one results.
• Preserve flexibility.
• Exert influence to form the foremost fascinating state of affairs a reality.

Forecasting and labor turnover

Demand and supply forecasting in the model includes all the objective and subjective techniques
described in the traditional model. The key difference lies in the emphasis given to labor turnover
analysis; in the traditional model this is seen as an element of supply forecasting but here it is deemed
worthy of its own category.

Human resource plans

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
Human resource plans are derived from the resourcing strategy and take into account data from a
combination of scenario planning, demand and supply forecasting and labour turnover analysis. The
model again reflects the lack of certainty and predictability: “the plans often have to be short term and
flexible because of the difficulty of making firm predictions about human resource requirements in times
of rapid change” - Armstrong, 2001, p.375. The plans are divided into four broad areas: resourcing,
flexibility, retention and downsizing.

ANALYSES

This approach differs from traditional HRP, it emphasizes on the admirable features of HRP however
there is some presence of the unpleasant concepts in practice, for instance the balance between
demand and supply forecasting. In addition it differs from the customary HR approach in that, it places
emphasis on the internal labor supply. A major difference between this model and the customary HR
practice concept is the underlying assumption that, majority of the process might be rather ambiguous:

Let’s not assume there is always a well laid down business plan as a basis for the HR plans. The business
strategy may be emergent, not always deliberate; it may be part of the pieces of a larger puzzle and may
have some gradual additions. Resourcing decisions may be based on scenarios that are riddled with
assumptions that may or may not be correct and cannot be tested. Resourcing strategy may be
imprecise or the future thought based on unverified. In accurate statements in the content can always
lead to a wrong progression should posterity adhere strictly to this model.

1.2 Identify research evidence on employment and effective approaches to human

resource management, learning and development practice and critically evaluate
how the research evidence has affected management thinking and practice.

Introduction.

I believe employees remain the first stakeholders and core fiber to the success of business operations
around the globe. Globalization is progressive and still undergoing major developments, it is
characterized with diverse avenues, coming down unfolding their knowledge. Academic researchers and
practitioners in times past have urged organizations to effect changes in the modalities to human
resource management and the execution of these plans. However, so few of these corporations have
submitted to these calls, thereby paying attention the behavioral traits of prospective employees during
the recruitment and selection processes.

Research based evidences on HR practices has revealed that recruitment goes through two channels,
that is internally, where senior and fellow employees nominate and recommend potential employee

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
and externally, where candidates apply for vacant positions through the various media of
advertisement. Thebe and Waldt highlighted that the human resource management processes consist of
series of steps that need to be followed. A selection is made after prospective applicants have gone
through interview(s). The selected applicants are then taken through training and orientation before
work commences officially.

Based on an observational module of research of employment and effective approaches to human

resource management, the diagram below (briefly elaborates a sequential process of effective
approaches to human resource management. It starts with the human resource manager making known
to top management company’s management of the staffing needs, the management forwards the
information to the board of directors and it flows back in the same order.

Human Employee
Management Resource Recruitment
Manager process

FORECASTING
(Demand/ Supply)

Employee Demand Employee Supply

Internal External
supply supply

MEDIA
social/ print Recruitment
media agency Submission of
Submission of CV
CV/Interview/promotion

INTERVIEW → SELECTION → TRAINING

From the above research evidence various development practice have critically affected management
thinking and practice. The introduction of social media such as LinkedIn has changed the face of
employment and elevated the human resources practices. Advances in technologies have had a
profound impact on the business practices of many organizational functions including financial systems,
sales, marketing, and production Customer’s assessment of service quality is a critical information for

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
service providers whose aim is to improve business performance, strengthen core competencies and
position themselves more strategically in the market place. Cronin & Taylor 1992, Jain & Gupta 2004;
Omar et al., 2016.

1.3 Identify people management practices that have changed as a result of

research evidence and led to positive organizational outcomes, citing real
examples.

Introduction.
Since the development of Human Resource Management (HRM) as a field of scientific research in the
1980s, many changes have taken place in this area. An integration of HRM into the strategic
management process is been a major breakthrough in the field.
People management practice have immensely grown with the introduction of new technological devices
to that improves the management practices and positively proves organizational outcomes. Only
recently have we seen an increased interest in the use of information technologies (IT) in Human
Resource (HR) practices such as personnel screening and selection. The following are some examples of
organizations benefitting from research led management practices the increases productivity. For
example, Nike uses Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology to screen applicants over the
telephone, followed by computer-assisted interviews with selected applicants, and finally performs face-
to-face interviews. - Thornburg, 1998; Derek & Jane 2013. Other organizations, such as Home Depot,
BI-LO, JC Penny, and the US Department of Defense, Coca Cola use a variety of technologies for
screening and selection, such as the telephone, IVR, and computer adaptive testing. Computer
programmes and softwares designed to screen resumes for keywords are also widely available to
organizations. Although the potential for technology use is vast, researchers and practitioners know
surprisingly little about the array of technologies being used in organizations or the extent to which
these technologies are being used to recruit, screen and select employees.

2.1 Critically evaluate the main theories on motivation, commitment and

employee engagement and their relevance in contemporary organizations.

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
Personally the question of the century in the field of human resources management has been the one of
motivation, “what motivates a man?” Before every act or decision is made, the underlying concept of
motivation must be considered. Should a fraction of this concept of motivation be true, then it is
essential every HR practitioner understands and have the ability to cunningly leverage and strike the
balance between the interests of employees, stakeholders and corporations.

Well motivated employees take pride in their jobs, which is translated into increased productivity and
passionate association with the institution in question. For instance if an employee with bad conditions
of service or bad compensation on a larger scale lack commitment and have negative attitude towards
work. Therefore the motivation needed could be enough pay, fringe benefits, good working
environment, great relationship with bosses and a whole lot more. There are some theories on
motivation and some of the important ones are Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory, Herzberg’s Motivation
Hygiene Theory, McClelland’s Need Theory, McGregor’s Participation Theory, Urwick’s Theory Z,
Argyris’s Theory, Vroom’s Expectancy Theory, Porter and Lawler’s Expectancy Theory but we shall talk
about a few;

Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory

This is probably the most popular theory of motivation. In this theory, Maslow classified human needs
and arranged them in a hierarchical order from lower to higher. The hierarchy moved from physiological
needs to safety needs, social needs, self-esteem needs and finally to self-actualization needs. He
believed that as humans obtain what they need at one stage, they proceed to want more things leading
to the following stages.

The figure below shows the needs at every stage. It explains that once a person is able to get the
physiological needs thus; air, water, food, shelter, sleep, clothing and reproduction, he is motivated to
acquire the next important need which would be the safety need comprising of personal security,
employment, resources, health and property and it goes on and on till he reaches the self-actualization
stage.

According to the psychologist Abraham Maslow, the human needs follow a predefined structure of
domination. The second need does not arise until the first is reasonably satisfied, and the third need
does not emerge until the first two needs have been reasonably satisfied and it goes on. The other side
of the need hierarchy is that human needs are unlimited.

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
One critic of this theory is that the insistence on the fact that one stage is satisfied before the next stage
emerges might not be true for everybody. It could be different for different people.

Herzberg’s Motivation Hygiene Theory:

The next popular motivation theory was birthed by the psychologist Frederick Herzberg, who in his work
expanded the work of Maslow. His theory known as Herzberg’s Motivation Hygiene, the Two-Factor
theory or the Dual-factor theory.

Herzberg’s motivational and hygiene factors have been shown in the Table 17.1

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
In 1950, Herzberg carefully analyzed the nature of a job in order to ascertain the factors which increases
or decreases employee’s satisfaction. He uncovered two factors leading to job satisfaction, “hygiene and
motivational factors”. Hygiene factors are those ones which concerns itself more with an employee’s
working environment and must be maintained in adequacy. Examples of hygiene factors are working
conditions, quality of supervision, operation’s policies, working relations with peer and superiors, salary,
job security etc. The maintenance of these factors at normal levels is required to prevent dissatisfaction,
however increasing these factors above the normal levels does not necessarily end up in job satisfaction.
Motivational factors however are directly linked with increasing job satisfaction. These include but are
not limited to personal development, achievement, the job designation, recognition, responsibility and
to mention but a few. The hygiene theory must be dissected closely on the lines of cultural and
individual to rightly determine levels described to be adequate or normal. Apparently one’s hygiene can
be the motivator of another and the also the motivators of today maybe the hygiene of tomorrow, in
that second has no influence on a person behavior once it is achieved.

However, Herzberg’s model is labeled with the following criticism also:

 Majority of people take credit themselves after a successful ending and blame failure on any other
factor.
 The theory basically explains job satisfaction, not motivation.
 Even job satisfaction is not measured on an overall basis. It is not unlikely that a person may dislike
part of his/ her job, still thinks the job acceptable.

Expectancy Theory:

This theory as developed by Victor Vroom works on the premise that the quality of an employee’s work
is directly influenced by the manner by which his efforts are appreciated. The theory explains that most
employees are motivated to height by which their efforts are held as acceptable, and that their efforts
will be well compensated, and that that such performance compensation is of high value. It is important
that corporate leaders communicate and carry the message of the expected behavior in order to
effectively adopt this theory in shaping an organizational position. Management will now consider an
acceptable forms of rewards for every level of performance, taking into account the different values to
the individuals in the organization. Employees must then be informed of the various threshold of
performance required to match the various associated forms of compensations.

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
 2.2 Illustrate how management practice has used, adapted or developed
theoretical models using examples in real organizations.

Introduction

The impact of Management Practice or HR practices on a company performance has received much
attention in prior literature. In this tradition management practices are viewed as an integral part of the
organizational 'architecture' thus having an impact on organizational effectiveness - Cuthrie et al. 2004.
Concepts of management practice and performance, are problematic to define and measure.

1. The Standard Causal Model of HR management Practice.

The best-known management practice of HR model is the Standard Causal Model of HRM. The model
comes several other models which were published between the 1990’s to the 2000’s. It also depicts a
partial relations of strategy to HR processes and improved financial performance. HR practices and
models are more efficient when HR strategy is aligned with the total business strategy of the same
organizational setup.

Practices as hiring, training, appraisal, and compensation when done in accordance with human
resources strategy results in definite results including commitment, quality output, and engagement.
These outcomes lead in turn to improved internal performance as productivity, innovation, and quality.
These outcomes lead to financial performance (e.g. profits, financial turnover and ROI).

Two interesting relationships are the immediate human resource management strategy impact, which
shows that some HR practices will visibly cause improved internal performances. The reversed causality
in the model shows that sometimes a stronger financial performance leads to more investments in
management practices and better management outcomes. When performance is strong, employees are
often more engaged - the relationships is not always one-way traffic thing, in this model. In general,
however, this Human Resources model shows how Human Resource strategy is formulated and what
the impact is on internal processes and financial outcomes of the business.

FedEx Corporation is global household name in the courier, logistic and transport business, from
delivery to customer service. In the early 1970s, the FedEx developed a philosophy which has shaped
the company until now – People-Service-Profit. FedEx believe that taking care of people (employees and
consumers) results in offering of excellent service. To track employee relations, FedEx offers an annual
survey and feedback action program. Employees provide valuable feedback and management meets to
discuss results. The program allows problem assessment and resolution opportunities. FedEx
Corporation provides an efficient way to address problems in order to keep the community balanced. -
www.humanresourcesmba.net/worlds-30.

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
2. The value chain

The human resource management value chain as introduced by Paauwe and Richardson in 1997 is one
of the best-known models in human resources field. Value Chain model is the continuum of
improvement or growth in an organization, born out of the initial creation of value or improvement.
According to the HR value chain, everything we do (and measure) in HR can be divided into two
categories: HRM activities and HRM outcomes.

 HRM activities are the tangible or visible inputs activities which can be measure using the HR
metrics or the Efficiency metrics. They include the daily HR activities as recruitment,
compensation, training, and succession planning.

 HRM outcomes are the goals or outputs achieved after the Inputs have gone through the
processes, the results are usually the intangible outcomes as employee satisfaction, motivation,
retention, and commitment.

It is off essence to focus on HRM outcomes as it presents a true picture of the results of the investment -
which a maximized efficiency, however considering the HRM activities will make us conscious of the cost
involved, resulting in the temptation to reduce cost.

Vodafone the Ghanaian Telecommunication company is a company which presents the Value Based
model in real life situations. Vodafone spends some more days in recruiting a new employee, invests
more in quality products and services, and are known for their excellent customer services. New
employees undergo rigorous trainings in a centralized location for months and all employees are also
required to go through the some trainings upon introduction of a new product. Also all employees are
required to complete a number of personal development programs through the completion of modules
and to demonstrate your competency in a controlled environment. This geared at making all of their
people better and strategically positioned towards achievement of objectives.

2.3 Justify how employee engagement is a positive factor in organizational

health terms and provide real examples of this for a range of different
organizations.

In recent years employee engagement has become a household concept among several organizations.
Employee engagement refers to the total or partial inclusion and commitment of employees in relevant
decisions or proposed critical business positions or policies which directly affects the employee. Macey
et al defined employee engagement as an individual’s purpose and focused energy, evident to others

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
in the display of personal initiative, adaptability, effort and persistence directed towards
organizational goals. – (Macey et al, 2009, p7)
In larger organizations where large numbers are involved, representatives voice their thoughts on
behalf of the entire community of employees. Employee engagement may not necessarily mean going
strictly by the dictates of employees, however a higher percentage of the solicited thoughts or opinions
are considered so as to create a mutually beneficial business position necessary for the survival of the
organization. Employee engagement may be seen delegations, participative management, work teams,
target setting and to mention but a few.
It is proven that the first stakeholders of every organization is its people (employees), in that, they
represent the face of the organization. They are the constant group of people who interact with
consumers and other vital stakeholders. Also, they are the first group to be impacted during any positive
and negative developments or crises. It is also fair to say that every successful institution has always
relied on the efforts of its employees to cement its growth and developments thus far. One major
challenge of most organizations has been to have their employees being the main guardians, carriers
and custodians of their visions and missions into the larger corporate and business communities. The
gradual commencement of employee engagement in the smaller units and departments of an
organization, and consequently migrating to the highest levels for consideration promotes excitement
and a sense of belonging among staffs. It creates an environment of concern and ownership for
corporate programs, policies, positions and even the protection of assets. Employees see themselves as
the source of these programs and will want to see them succeed at all cost, not giving any room for
failure; because failure will be translated as more of their (employees) own failure, rather than that of
the institution. They will prefer to device or introduce strategies to fix a system than allowing it to fail.
Undoubtedly, businesses with a high level of employee engagement are evidence by these attributes;
•A highly motivated and committed staffs.
•A harmonious and healthy working relationships and environment.
•Also a high level of discipline and compliance with state legislations and institutions.
•Protection and promotion of business integrity and industrial standards which results in growth and
business sustenance.
•Also a high Return on Investment, value for money.

A perfect example of this is demonstrated in the company known as Center for Business Development,
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology - KNUST. In this company, the head seeks for
ideas from his subordinates including interns as to how a programme should be run, what to do to make
a programme a success and works together, sometimes even delegates the entire organization of the
seminars to all the employees because he trusts that everything will go as planned. The company is into
organizing and hosting international seminars and it also allows its employees to attend the seminars to
also improve on themselves which is a great way to motivate employees to give off their best when it
comes to carrying out tasks because they feel the company as their best interest at heart.

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
 3.1 Evaluate contemporary thinking about what makes a leader

Leadership has been an all-time interesting subject of discussion, the function of leadership cuts across
all walks of life. Leadership has been seen and required in the jungle among the animal kingdom, in the
human community, desert places, icy and chilly corners even unto the dry and wet lands of the earth, in
families, academia as well as businesses. The subject of leadership has metamorphosed in attributes,
nature and virtues with time, however, migrating with the same basic concepts to render the subject
relevant for its purposes even in this time. The universe and its current form has become so, as a result
of leadership. Everything animate and inanimate has been influenced by leadership.
I start by exploring some thoughts about “what leadership is not".
1. Leadership is not about titles and qualifications, the acquisition of academic qualifications and
titles are good and decorative but does not necessarily make one a leader.
2. Leadership is not the same with rulership; rulership be it traditional, monarchical, religious,
political or organizational. One can rule or have command over a big nation, people or a
business empire, getting things done and yet never a leader. Modern businesses see leaders to
be more associated with using influence as opposed to the use of force.
3. Leadership is not management, however, it is possible for these two topics to be intertwined or
related in several ways. Leaders may be managers, but not all managers are leaders. Usually
managers have their path or roles carved out for them already thereby they lean towards
maintaining the system, whereas leaders have their eyes on both the subjective and objective
factors of what an organization seeks to achieve. This results in a continuous desire to
challenging the status quo and innovating or creating new ways of achieving same objectives.
Peter F Drucker has this to say about this distinction between leadership and management,
“management is doing the right thing, leadership is doing things right".
Who is a leader?
Using word study of the noun leader – “with lead as it derivative word”, to lead is characterized
by getting ahead of someone or a group of people, must have the same destination or path,
must have some relationship and so on. A personal view of leader is one who encourages or
inspires fellowship with a common destination or interest, in view.
“Leadership is a process of social influence, concerned with traits, styles and behaviours of
individuals that cause others to follow them” – Birkinshaw 2010, p.23.
There are several known leadership styles such as Autocratic, Laissez-fair, Democratic and Bureaucratic
leadership styles. Rapid advancements of our times, have exposed the need for the right kind of leaders
required to lead businesses. This has necessitated the birth of contemporary theories, which categorizes
leaders into arenas as transformational, transactional, charismatic, shared, relational, quantum and to
mention but a few.
 Transformational leaders as first coined by J.V Downtown describes a leader with the
ability of leveraging his vision and also developing the potential of his team to arrive at
their destination. These leaders usually become inspiration or role models to their team
members.

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
  Transactional Leaders are the kind of leaders who use the powers offered to them by
the positions they occupy. They control the end results and work towards behavioral
compliance among team members. Employees under transactional leaders are
motivated by the leader’s ability to use the various reward tools as recognition,
promotion or punishing. This approach is more managerial in nature.
 Charismatic Leaders is linked with leaders with influence, charms or special qualities as
high intelligence and exceptionally high confidence. Their main virtue for soliciting
support or followership is the aura and influence and not power. These leaders are seen
to communicate a clear vision and take calculated risks.
 Contingency Leaders theory is pinned on the unknown or external variables of an
organization. These leaders are saviors of situations like disaster, pandemic, economic
meltdowns or an unplanned or undesirable situation requiring very different kind of
leadership. The effectiveness of contingency leaders is closely linked to his motivational
disposition – the level to which a leader is task oriented or relationship oriented.

Leadership requires some personal traits that are essential for the survival and wellbeing of the group as
well as the leader. Common qualities from the world leading CEOs and scholars unearthed the seven
qualities mentioned below as the preferred leadership traits for contemporary businesses.
 Enthusiasm: this virtue can be defined as the demonstration of love and readiness for the
position of leadership. There is a thin line between enthusiasm and passion, however, they work
hand in hand in this wise. Leaders perform best when they function out of their liberal hearts
than when it is forced. Enthusiasm demonstrates good attitudes and ensures the derivation of
satisfaction.
 Integrity: this is a deliberate alignment of one’s beliefs and values with his action and words to
the world, such that the leader says and does what he means and vice versa. Integrity breeds
trust among the group and support for every leadership preposition.
 Toughness: also tenacious, and demanding on the set or agreed principles or targets to be
achieved. This is usually geared toward establishing respect and not social populism.
 Fairness: this trait is more affiliated to the power of leaders to rewards. Rewarding systems are
instituted in businesses to ensure compliance and to promote good behaviors. In the bid to
exercise reward or penalizing, a leader must be impartial and devoid of favoritism. This must be
done with a high level of emotional intelligence and communicate well the reasons for the
outcomes.
 Empathy: personal warmth appeals to the human-side of leadership, coming out of lovingness,
tenderness, affections; the ability to connect with people or to express emotions in decision
making and also maintaining the right balance of these emotions.
 Humility: the temptation for every leader to be arrogant is higher, this is born out of the
misinterpretation of the leadership to think they are more important than the rest of the group.
This traits ensures a leader becomes more of a listener and draws more ideas from the group.
 Confidence: this is the assurance produced out of certainty of one’s competencies or skills. Self-
confidence as a leadership quality is required to keep the leader and the team member from

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
 second guessing their efforts at achieving their goals. It is the drive which ensures that right
choices or policies are formulated to successfully reach set targets.

3.2 Critically evaluate the role of leadership in organizations and

characteristics of effective leaders.

Role or function of leadership can be interpreted as “what leaders do” as opposed to leadership
qualities which means “the personal traits or makeup” of the leader. Complexities of today’s world
requires current leaders to identify and understand the roles of their statuses, so as to create an
enabling environment for effective leadership. Failure to understand these factors role and qualities
means a sure prediction of doom for the leader and the organization or group they are meant to lead.

In 1973, John Adair in his work, undoubtedly made the superior arguments or points about leadership
and their roles. Adair identified three constants or variables peculiar to leadership: the leader, the task
and the group. These elements make up the entire life cycle of leadership. With these elements in mind,
he created a mix and concluded that the essential role of every leader is;

 Define the task: the task here refers to what is supposed to be done or defines the
purpose which underlines the reason behind the formation of the group being lead.
 Achieve the task: it is a basic role of the leader to achieve the objectives or task
deliverables. The leader pulls together the resources available and directs them for the
achievement of the task.
 Maintain effective relationship: also a leader has the role of keeping the relationship
between the group and himself, as well as the relationship between group members.
This is in recognition that, a good human or working relationship among the group is a
necessity for the survival and also accomplishing anything.

Adair further went on to consider the roles of leader with the needs of working groups in
view. The resulting conclusion drawn unveiled 3 overlapping needs: the task needs, the
group’s need and individual’s need. These needs are dependent on each other and do not
work in isolation. To get the task done, you need to consider the needs of the individuals
and the group. Some leaders get entangled in the drive of achieving the task needs and
forgo the other two, in the end the efforts and energies invested become futile. It is equally
a dangerous venture to be over people–oriented, a leader must always find the balance in
these needs and apply them properly to make ends.

 Task needs: these refers to things needed to get the job done. Work plans, tools and durations
for completion.

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
  Group Maintenance needs: these are the needs which facilitates the team's cohesion and
encourages retention. Examples are promotion, team spirit and professional development.
 Individual needs: these needs refer to the physical; as salary or tangible forms rewards and the
psychological needs; as the recognition, appreciation and fulfillment.
Leadership roles can be spread throughout these needs in a work group environment.
Leadership roles can also be looked at under the spectrum of action-centered leadership, which
looks at some of the functions performed by the interactions of the 3 leadership variables
mentioned above. Some of the routine roles of a leader are briefly described below.
 Defines the task
 Planning
 Briefing
 Controlling
 Evaluating
 Motivating
 Organizing
 Providing examples

Effective leadership does not really have a cleared path, as leadership is largely dependent on the
situation and the followers (group being led). The various points raised above so far shows the
complexities of contemporary leadership, different leadership styles, different situations, lots of roles ,
different individual expectancies to satisfy in the same group in the shortest possible time. These
complexities makes the subject of today’s leader gruesome and somewhat ambiguous, however, it is not
impossible to achieve. An effective leader is one who switches flexibly or intelligently to the leadership
styles available to fit all the situations that may be encountered.

 Good communicator to subordinates, investors, partners and clients to foster good relationship
with all the listed stakeholders.
 Being accountable of his actions when and where needed.
 Delegation and Empowerment
 Creativity and Innovation

3.3 Identify relevant and suitable leadership development activities and

experiences.

In the natural sense, some people exhibit more leadership capabilities than their peers, they have more
in-built charisma, well-articulated visons and innate aura about more influence over most men in their
circles. This observation has led to the conclusion that leaders are born, the statement relegates the
others with little of these qualities from the fore-front. However this is true even of the former, both

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
classes of men require some form of leadership development to hone these potentials towards the right
course. The desire to lead is inherent, but the performance or the exercise of leadership is learnt.
“Leadership development in the widest sense involves the acquisition, development and utilization of
leadership capability or the potential for it”, - (Borgoyne, 2010, p.43.)

Leadership development bear some peculiar elements, which include but not limited to, self-awareness,
personal practice, corporate support systems and opportunity to replicate the relevant learning to work.
Leadership Development activities
 Development or a redesign of work or job to geared towards leadership development. As
mentioned above, management should create an environment to identify employees with
leadership potentials and desires and also further to include them in a program with the sole
purpose of identify and recruiting tomorrow’s leaders.
 Formal education of training and development courses, for individuals with leadership
capabilities is a vital activity here. Most corporations have in-house or customized study
programs, where potential leaders or employees are put through to unveil their leadership
abilities. In the mining and construction industries, equipment manufacturing giants as SANDVIK
and CATERPILLAR have established corporate universities with an array of courses and leadership
programs to train and develop leaders. Also MONTORSHIP, SECONDMENT and COACHING
programs where potential leaders are placed and engaged with corporate leaders in performing
special exercise or projects for a specific period of time. There is also an avenue of measure to
help score and encourage leadership development.

Also tailoring the soft spots of organizational development process to support leadership development.
This is a more employer or corporate focused activity to reflect the pledge towards leadership
development. Leadership development is greatly influenced by culture, corporate ethics, working teams
and the working environment. The success of the programs in place are highly depended on these
factors. An appropriate response from the management point of view to effect some changes into these
processes to foster leadership growth is a necessity. “If we wish to increase organizational and group
effectiveness we must learn not only to train leaders more effectively but also to build an
organizational environment in which the leaders can perform well” – (Fiedler, 1967, p.276)
Leadership development activities or exercises in order to be successful, should be evidenced by the
following features
 clear learning objectives
 meaningful and sequencing of content
 better mixture of training methods
 opportunity for relevant practice
 timely feedback
 An appropriate follow-up activities and performance metrics.

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
 4.1 Critique the role of HR management and development in organizations
and how HR and other managers can productively work together

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
The role of the Human Resources Management and Development (HRMD) is not a homogenous one, but
varies even with the same HR generalist from institution to institutions. The difference is can be
attribute to the contingencies (environmental, social, cultural or political) of the institutions or not a
well-defined function or roles of HR department and its members. The roles of the HR personnel cannot
be underrated; in that, they are required from the start of a business to the end of the business. An
HRMD roles will have to welcome the commencement of a career and see it off to the retirement of the
same career.

The figure above shows the highlights of the common roles of HRMD, these roles I will further group
into an elaborated 6-group roles of modern HRMD and the manner by which HR management can work
together with other line manages in the same organization. The

 The Mediator Role: always expect friction and some disputes in every human institution. One
major roles of the HRMD is to act as the mediator for dispute settlement or problem solving

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 between management and workforce, individuals and groups or among employees. He is also a
peacemaker, liaison and a link of communication.

 Problem Solver Role: the HR also assumes the problem solving role with regards to issues
concerning human resources and the entire institutional systems, culture and setup. Of course
some challenges do not present immediate solutions however the HR together with the right
line managers must develop measures to mitigate the situations and incorporate long term
solution into the organizational setup.

 Counselor Role: this is another important role the HR plays in an organization, he meets and
counsels employees on the best forms of career move, personal development, training, personal
problems and even family problems. This calls for a high level of professionalism, to hold such
information confidential. The HR also advises line managers on the best course of action to be
taken in the interest of the law and the interest of the institution, this in more evident in
multinational corporations.

 The Conscience Role: the HRMD also act the conscience role bring into existence the Humanism
aspect of the business. They are there to remind top management of their duties – moral and
ethical responsibilities towards their employees. There are tendencies for some company to be
stiff-necked in matters requiring empathy towards certain groups of employees. For instance, a
bereaved employee ought to have some flexible work schedules to enable an excellent
recovery.

 The Change Agent Role: one of the key roles of the HRMD is to act as the agent of change in the
organization. Ultimately change is inevitable and change, whether influenced by internal or
external forces will always affect the conduct of business. The HR act an agent to the
introduction and implementation of organizational reforms.

 The Voice Role: this is a vital yet overlooked, and usually biased in its execution. The HRMD acts
as a voice for the talent pool of the organization and also at the base becomes a representation
of the cultural identity, visions and the policies for which an organization exist. This is performed
through the daily attendance to organizational activities and the maintenance of intimate
dealership with key personnel of the organization.

The IRS 2012 survey of HR roles and responsibilities established that the main measures used by
respondents to assess HR effectiveness were:

 absence management data – 79 per cent

 staff turnover data – 75 per cent

 exit interview feedback – 66 per cent

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
  discipline and grievance data – 60 per cent

 results of employee surveys – 60 per cent

 anecdotal/informal feedback – 59 per cent

 number of tribunal cases – 50 per cent

 benchmarking – 47 per cent

 spending against budget – 46 per cent

 time-to-fill vacancies data – 34 per cent

 cost per hire – 30 per cent

The Business Partner Role is remains a marvel of the HR discipline, the concept of the Business Partner
role is to share in the responsibilities of the Line Manager, and to be directly involved in the
implementation of business strategy and running of the business to ensure the success of the business.
HR specialist with the business knowledge and skills have the ability to subject decisions to critical
analysis and advise line managers on the threats and opportunities available to them in each case. The
HR Business Partner Model ensures that the HR and the Line managers work together to ensure the
business continuity and success.

4.2 Discuss the need for professional and qualified HR practitioners in

organizations

Professionalism is generally described as the attitude or the manner of conduct of a person in a specific
field of work, which impacts service delivery or job performance. Therefore HR professionalism can be
said to be the performance of the HR roles or functions under the guidance of an accepted framework
or ethics as authored by CIPD, AHRD, GHR-SHRM and to mention but a few. “Work done by a
professional is usually distinguished by its reference to a framework of fundamental concepts that
reflect the skillful application of specialized education, training and experience. It is accompanied by a
sense of responsibility and an acceptance of recognized standards” – Armstrong 2014, p47.

The CIPD HR professional map – 2013, suggested that for HR professionals to carry out their activities
properly, they ought to have certain behaviors as curious, decisive thinker, skilled influencer, supportive,
results oriented, role model, personal integrity and courage to speak the truth. The significance of
having HR professionals in any organization can be viewed in 3 different fields.

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  Social Benefits: the significance that is concerned with the well-being of the employee and his
immediate environment, family, friends and community.

 Business Benefits: these significance are concerned the growth and sustainability of the
enterprise which results from the achievement of targets, increased productivity and a high fiscal
returns.

 Professional Benefits: these benefits are concerned with relationship which among the employees
in the workplace, which brings dignity, in the performance of the job, also the promotion of the
right working environment for everyone.

Suffice us to say that, hiring HR professional may result in are slightly higher wages or compensation
packages than business with anybody at all. The benefits of HR management is mostly intangible, but
always measureable. The major evidence of HR management significance is resident in effective
business development and the impact on the personnel conduct rising out of commitment to the
enterprise. Below are the highlights of a few points raised to support this stance.

 Change Management: ultimately a major challenge and a big factor to business failure is keeping
up with change. Change can be as a result of internal or external forces, which have the tendencies
of changing a business outlook or the manner by which a business is conducted. Today’s business is
familiar with the terms or programs as “Change Agents, Learning Organization and Managing
Organizational Change” because of the constant changes in the business environment which
dictates the flow of business. Business survival and sustainability is highly dependent on the
versatility of a change management plan and its implementation, as a critical role of HR
professionals. These management of change can be in the form of Incremental Change,
Transactional Change, Strategic Change or Transformational Change. Good HR professional
manage these changes perfectly.

 Strategic Management: the various HR specialists are involved in corporate strategy at various
levels of the business. Strategy is the foundational map which dictates the manner by which an
institution is perceived or the position it assumes, leading to the achievement of organizational
goals and objectives. Corporate Strategy affect all aspects of the business and employee therein.
The complexities of strategy requires HR specialists as director, Advisor, Business Partner, Officers,
to formulate, manage and implement strategic decisions at all levels. Failure to spearhead this
subject leads to throwing the business off balance resulting in the loss of competitive advantage in
the market. Strategic management will create a unified pools of ideas or objectives and shape them
all towards an onward march in one direction, bringing the whole team aboard to achieve the same
results.

 Ethical Business delivery: Business ethics is the morally or socially accepted business practices. In
times past, a number of companies have been in the spotlight for bad ethical practices. Most
business ethical are practices form part of legal frameworks of statutory bodies, geographic or
national laws or industrial standards, in most cases, non-conformance to these practices have some
legal repercussions. HR professional have always been known for strictly adhering to some form of
professional ethos, which consolidates business ethics and its delivery. The CIPD HR professionals

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
 map demands the HR Specialist to uphold secrecy where it relates to employees and some
sensitive institutional information. Ethical Business conduct means market acceptance and
patronage, which definitely results in some more returns, customer loyalty and employee
commitment.

 Value for Money: a major aim of all business is to be profitable, the argument may still continue,
however, financial health of any enterprise is a major contributor of business growth. Corporate
leaders and investors expect that investments made are worth the price and will yield acceptable
returns in the future. HR professionals are involved in all stages of the business, (from
organizational development, hiring and employment, training and development, reward
management to employee relations), and stand in a better position to make much more savings
and effective investment decisions on behalf of the company.

The importance of HR professional in an organization remains immeasurable, the points raised above so
far establishes this fact. In my line of work most HR professional belong to several recognized bodies and
abide by their codes of conducts. These bodies include but not limited to CIPD, Ghana Institute of
Human Resources Practitioners, Chartered Institute of HR Professionals and the ISHRM.

4.3 Critically evaluate how ethics and organizational culture can be

influenced by HR practices.

Corporate giants as WorldCom and Enron have suffered in years past have been adversely dealt with
the topic under review. In recent times, corporations as JP Morgan had to pay over USD15 billion in
settlements, owing to bad ethical practices statutory bodies of the state or individual. Matters of ethics
have been in the spotlight, making issues of misconducts more public through global media platforms.
What then is ethics? Ethics are the moral standards used as a form of measurement between rights
and wrongs, therefore business ethics can be said to be the moral values which underpins
organizational decisions and business conducts, whereas organizational culture describes the set of
beliefs and goals which defines the position or posture by which an organization does business. The HR
leadership are well positioned to influence ethics and organizational cultures because they are directly
involved with the employees, from recruitment through to retirement. Ethical issues when not dealt
with properly, affect the company’s image and causes financial to slump drastically. HR leaders and
department can influence corporate culture and ethics through several programs and interventions
which form the core duties of the HR practice.
 Compensation/Pay Equity: pay structure as usually drawn by the HR department is a key driver
in influencing ethics and organizational structure. A poorly designed salary structure which does

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
 not reflect the skills and qualifications of the employee, does not rally support from the
employee base from doing their jobs with enthusiasm. Also lower-than-average pay structure as
compared to other industrial competitors, does not sensitize workers to fall in line, to behavior
or follow a desired pattern of behavior. Institution with satisfactorily good pay scale tend to be
more supportive towards upholding corporate values.

 Training and Development: HR can positively influence corporate culture and business ethics
through the series of training and development packages available. Infusing desired behaviors,
pattern of business conduct and communicating the objective into training sessions and
development programs. These trainings can be internal or external, one tailored by an in-house
expert or delivered by an external consultant, they may take the form of seminars, inductions,
workshops or recognized self-development programs.

 Leadership: the practice of leadership by HR leaders is another avenue to impact positively on

company culture and ethics. Leadership requires setting of good examples by frontline
managers for subordinates to follow suit. HR managers, supervisors and officers are not left out
of this, spearheading and taking the lead in policies and exercising directed at improving culture
and promoting ethics in the workplace. Positive criticism and performance reward, dispute
resolution and demonstration of empathy, causes workers to rally behind leadership for the
purpose of corporate culture and business ethics.

 Diversity: the purpose of upholding diversity in institutions in to promote equal employment

opportunities for the masses on the hunt for jobs in the accordance with the law. Diversity
offers an opportunity to demonstration “the performance of ethics” or “ethics in action” in that
it brings the masses together irrespective of their races, religion, nationality, origin or sex. Ethics
is promoted through company policies and HR activities as mentoring and coaching, providing
training and counselling in a diversified institution.

 Communication: Arguably HR has the sole voice in which all employees and leaders give
audience to, more than any department. This is so because HR is a bridge between the base
workforce and the business leadership. This advantage can be used as an advocate in
downwards communication to the base employees in ethical and cultural campaigns, and also in
upwards communication to business leaders by influencing all policies and decisions to reflect
workplace ethics and a desired company culture.

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.
References

1. Steve Stralser – MBA in a Day.

2. Michael Armstrong – Handbook of Human Resources Management Practice.
3. John Adair – Handbook of Leadership and Management.
4. Julie Beardwell & Tim Claydon – Human Resources Management, a Contemporary Approach.

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Assignment: Human Resources Management, Leadership and Managing People.