Managing People in Organization

It cannot be denied that the world is full of competition and it is essential that every individual should have the ability to compete especially those who are assigned to mange people in organization. Perhaps, it can be considered as the greatest challenge in every organization to have members who will contribute to the growth and development of an organization. Furthermore good management skills are very important in order to achieve the mission and reach the vision of a certain organization. Every organization has work to do in the real world and someway it has responsibility to measure how well that work has been done.

To manage people in organization means to take all the responsibilities on the grasp of the hand just to make sure that the organization is doing well to maintain its competitiveness within its field. Managing people in organization is the most important yet the most difficult task to handle. In managing the people it is important to give consideration to the employees and the motivation of the whole organization. Thus this paper will critically analyze the major influences of managing people in organization among its employees’ attitudes and motivation in the organization.

Managing people is commonly the responsibilities of the human resources management of an organization. It includes a variety of activities, decides on staffing needs such as how to fill needed positions within the budget, recruiting, orienting and training employees and ensuring that these employees will perform well in order to contribute for the growth of the organization. These managing people also are responsible for managing employees’ benefits and compensation, keeping employee records, legal issues and relations with unions.

In addition, the management is the one who sets boundaries, expectations and ensure that the workgroup or the organization per se is on track with its objective and mission and that it meets the organizational needs. In addition, they need to “manage’ a certain relationship, structure and systems which are not in a controlling or manipulating sense but in the sense of nurturing with proper consideration and understanding, intervening, growing, supporting and directing. It cannot be denied that people retain some self-anatomy even in the most rigid of an organizations, thus they interact with their environment through a continual exchange of activity and language. As the people interact, they generate new processes relationships among themselves and the processes by which services and components are produced, managers find themselves losing control (Holloway, 1998).

It is very important to know that the effective management of human resources is increasingly being recognized as a major determinant of success or failure in international organization, in practice many organizations are still coming to terms with the human resources issues associated with international operations. In the international arena, the quality of management seems to be even more critical than in domestic operations. This is primarily because the nature of international business operations involves the complexities of operating in different countries and employing different national categories of workers (Morgan, 1986). Yet, while it is recognized that HRM problems become more complex in the international arena, there is evidence to suggest that many companies underestimate the complexities involved in international operations. The field of international human resource management, however, is only slowly developing as a field of academic study and has been described by one authority as being in the infancy stage (Laurent, 1986).

The chosen organization that will be used in conducting this critical analysis is a culturally diverse organization. Culturally diverse organization has been described roughly as groups of two or more individuals which characteristically denote demographic dissimilarities among group members. Here, the people who are working came from different ethnic backgrounds which possess different attitudes, values, and norms. Thus this paper will critically analyze Avid Technology Inc. Avid Technology Inc. is one of the world largest and leading company in digital and non-linear, media creation, management and distribution solutions enabling film, video, audio, animation, games and broadcast news professionals to work more efficiently, productively and creatively.

The management of the Avid Technology Inc. has continued its responsibility to provide quality entertainment among individual. However, since this company is an international organization, this company could not resist having different employees which came from different countries provided with different cultures and personality. Managing people in a culturally diverse organization is a very difficult responsibility for managers to be able to achieve the mission of Avid Technology Inc. globally, which is to make, manage and move media in the field of entertainment and broadcasting.

Any organization, may it be profit oriented or not-for-profit, the most vital asset is its employees. And for these organizations to maximize their assets, they should manage the employees’ working condition with intelligence and efficiency (Ulrich, 1998). They must be allowed to be involved in making work-related decisions to further enhance the organizational structure (Delaney & Huselid, 1996). Furthermore, the structure of tasks among the employees strengthens the organizational performance (Wilson, 1989). It is therefore necessary to understand the employees for the organization to be effective (Schneider, 1983). The development, building, motivation, enhancement and enrichment of the employees of any organization largely depend on the leadership, mandate and vision of the organization (Rainey & Steinbauer, 1999).

In the case of an international organization such as the Avid Technology Inc., it is very challenging to run its day-to-day operations in a smooth fashion. There is a whole area of human resource management that the organization has to consider especially when it consists of different nationalities. People make or break the organization. Therefore, it is important for any organization to be proactive with regard to their employees’ needs and requirements. According to Barbeschi (2002), the process of making an organization is simultaneously the growth and maintenance of relationships among individuals who are working towards a common goal and the actual accomplishment of tasks, individually and collectively. In any organization, there exist two dimensions (Barbeschi, 2002). The technical dimension includes elements that are generally visible but hard to decipher like the control systems (recruitment mechanisms, administrative rules and procedures, etc.), structures (departments and divisions and physical facilities), and techniques and procedures (performance, working methods).

In managing people in organization with different cultures such as the Avid Technology Inc., the manager must first satisfy the needs of the employees. Motivational theories dealing with the needs of employees fall under the general rubric of Content Theories of Motivation (Ratzburg, 2001). Content theories state that employees' behaviors are a function of the workers' abilities to satisfy their felt needs at the workplace. A basic assumption of all need theories is that, when need deficiencies exist; individuals are motivated into action in order to satisfy them. The best known of the Content Theories of Motivation is Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. This is based on the assumption that people are motivated by physiological, safety, social, ego and esteem, and self-actualization needs. These needs are ranked, according to the order in which they influence human behavior, in hierarchical fashion.

The Avid Technology Inc. can use empowerment as a technique for improving employee satisfaction which is being undertaken by many organizations. It involves responsibility and authority for decisions affecting the workplace, downwards through the organization. In an international organization like the Avid Technology Inc., employees need to be equally empowered. This empowerment results to an increased competence, self-esteem and self-respect, which are very important to one’s well-being.

Moreover, creating an environment in the workplace that results in employees feeling better about themselves when they are in it results in love of their work. A work environment that constantly raises an employee’s self-esteem, above that she/he experiences anywhere else in their life, will be where she/he most desires to spend their time and yields very high employee satisfaction with their job and costs next to nothing. People do more of what they enjoy and less of what they don’t enjoy. The results also show that people who enjoy working are more productive.

Creating such a work environment is the responsibility of all corporate or organizational leadership. There are no schools that teach how to create such an environment and very, very few training programs that result in the behaviors necessary to do so. While a very small number of managers of people have found and refined the skills that produce such a high satisfaction environment, these are skills that anyone can learn and master through conscientious and consistent practice. Empowerment refers to the process of gaining influence over events and outcomes of importance to an individual or group (Fawcett et al. 1994).

This definition of empowerment recognizes the primary purpose for adopting this construct: enhancing people's control over their lives (Rappaport, 1981). It recognizes that empowerment endeavors should consider those domains important to a particular individual or group and facilitate a process that eventually leads to realized control and influence in those domains (Rapapaport, 1981). If Avid Technology Inc. ignored the person-environment interaction and the critical role that both individual and contextual characteristics play in the empowerment process, this will result in risking the implementation of ill-fated empowerment initiatives and might affect the organization.

When assessing the interaction between culture and empowerment, it seems useful that Avid Technology Inc. will be able to identify and understand those subcultures that might engender a work environment more or less empowering than the larger organizational system (Wilkins & Dyer, 1988). By seeking these diverse subcultures, the organization can potentially elicit the unanticipated opportunities for empowerment present within a potentially disempowering, larger organizational context. Aside from motivating and empowering their employees, managers of Avid Technology Inc. should enable them to develop their self-management capabilities. Developmental feedback seeking is the extent to which one seeks feedback on performance and development needs. Individuals need to understand themselves, their strengths and weaknesses, developmental needs, and performance in their current environment.

Moreover, analysis shows that in Avid Technology, there is an existing problem that the employees are facing. Since, they have different cultures; they have difficulty in communicating with other employees, thus result in some conflicts. It cannot be denied that one of the most important factors for an organization to be successful is to have a harmonious relationship between the management and the employees. It is essential that the communication provided by the organization is clear and consistent from within all levels of the organization such as in Avid Technology Inc. It must address both organizational and individual employee concerns. Management behavior will influence employee behavior more than the words included in a communication.

Furthermore, analysis shows that the employees of Avid Technology Inc. assess the communication to see if the change meets their needs. Internal Communication is linked to performance, job satisfaction, job avoidance, market conditions, commitment, culture and turnover. Hence, communication and culture can be considered to be the key for the success of Avid Technology Inc. A positive, strong culture allows the organization to attract and retain the best people, where a negative culture can do the exact opposite. In addition, a clearly articulated mission statement is an essential part of building the image of the organization in the minds of the employees. Therefore, effective internal communication is needed in a culturally-diverse organization. If poor internal communications exist, it could lead to lack of job satisfaction, increased job avoidance, reduced performance and commitment and an increase in turnover.

To be successful and to remain as the largest organization in producing non-linear digital video editing the managers of Avid Technology Inc. should manage the people from an efficiency mind set to one with a higher emphasis on human relations goals. For the management who leads people with different cultures, the level of flexibility, communication skills and hands-on management required often goes above and beyond what they are accustomed to. Regardless of where they are located, managers may find themselves challenge to motivate struggling employees.

Managing people across cultures can present unique challenges and may be unfamiliar territory for many managers. The manager often experiences his most uncomfortable moments when he has to deal with differences among people. Because of these differences, he must often face disagreements, arguments, and even open conflict. The manager's lot is further troubled by the fact that when differences occur, strong feelings are frequently aroused, objectivity flies out of the window, egos are threatened, and personal relationships are placed in jeopardy.

It is true that managing people in organization is a very difficult task to handle especially if this organization is competing globally and the employees that you will handle comes from different nations, provided with different culture, attitudes, values and norms. In managing people, an individual or the management per se, should be able to learn to think more systematically and strategically in using the organization’s most valuable asset and the company’s great resource and that is the people. The management should be able to develop a thriving organizational culture and a stronger organization by good management of the people, providing their needs and the things that they deserve in order for them to be motivated for their sake and for the organization’s sake as well. Moreover, communication is also a very important link in order to have a harmonious and smooth relationship between the management team and the employees that they are handling.

All in all it is very important that an organization should make a way in adjusting their management and styles to complement the culture of the employees and the organization as a whole that may catalyst the motivation among the employees. It is important to know that in managing people the management should utilize the principles of emotional intelligence and underscores the importance of self-awareness in dealing with people, winning their cooperation and trust and ensuring that the people’s values and the organizations objective will meet.

In addition, it can also be concluded that in order to have a high-performing and competitive organization, like Avid Technology Inc., it is critical that the management and the organization as well should effectively align their people, work, structure and organizational behaviors to the purpose of the organization and effectively reward the right performance that supports the objective of the organization.

Elements such as work processes, organization design, career path, performance management and a compensation program are part of human capital management strategy and a plan to ensure continuing success. Also, in managing people, the human capital management should also incorporate a governance process to ensure equality among employees. Hence, even though managing people in organization is the most difficult responsibility to be taken, it is also the most challenging part that if given enough attention, focus and consideration, this would enhance the employees loyalty and hard work that may not only benefit them but as well as the organization may it be a non-profit or a profit oriented organization. In general, people can give more than what is expected if the management were able to provide them extra hand and minds and if the management give them extra time, extra information and extra people in order to do their job properly.

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