Words: 4591
Background of Westecs®: Westecs® Ltd. is the largest chain clothing store in Bangladesh. This company started its journey since 1987. There are nine branches of Westecs® among which six stores are in Dhaka, two are in Syhlet and one in Chittagong. There is one chairman in Westecs® who regulates all the activities from its head office which is located in Tejgaon. There is one director in each branch who controls the work of the outlets. Each of the stores has 1 or 2 managers motivating their employees in various ways. More than 300 employees are working in the organization.
Their competitors are Eastasy, Rex, and other fashion houses and boutique shops. But their main competitor is Pretex. This company is divided into two portions- one is administrative and another one is sales. The administrative sector controls the overall working process of the branch manager, sales manager, and accountant and finance manager. The sales department totally depends on the accountant’s effort and this portion is controlled by the head office. Westecs® mainly manufacture the brand items such as suits, blazers and official Shirts.
The backup of their brand items are imported from different countries. They also sell casual wears of gents, ladies and children. These readymade garments are collected from various sources such as the garments that could not be exported to the foreign countries due to shipment or time difficulty. All the branches of Westecs® are well festooned and the environment is comfortable and rich. Westecs® provide a special importance to the customer satisfaction. Almost all kinds of wear that the customers need are found here.
They have a future vision to extend their business by exporting their garment products abroad. The hierarchy of management in Westecs® Ltd. can be illustrated as below: Fig: Organogram of westecs® Ltd 1. 0 Problem Assessment The executive development process of a company starts with the assessment of the company’s current problem. This assessment of problem is needed specially when there is a discrepancy between some current state of affairs and some desired state, requiring the consideration of alternative courses of action. Westecs® Ltd. is one of the largest chain clothing stores in Bangladesh.
To get this achievement they have maintained certain management policies and practiced some theories to make it an effective and efficient organization though Westecs® do not have any formal Human Resource department. In spite of all plans and strategies there are some loopholes in every organization. Westecs® is running their business in somewhat successful manner but there are many problems especially with the Human Resource management such as productivity, skills and personal attributes, employee morale, innovations and training and development- in which sectors they have a lot of opportunities to improve.
Here are some problems of Westecs®, which are effecting in different aspects. These problems are related to recruitment and selection process, productivity, motivation, pay for performance, absenteeism, turnover, organizational citizenship behavior, job satisfaction, skills, training and development etc. Development in these sections may lead Westecs® to better productivity and success. 1. Productivity An organization meant to be productive when it achieves its goals and does so by transferring inputs to outputs at the lowest cost. This productivity also implies a concern for both effectiveness and efficiency.
By effective, we mean making the right decision and successfully implementing them. The organizational goals that Westecs® have are- These goals are not specific and difficult rather they are more generalized. Westecs® is somewhat successful in achieving these general goals, so it can be said that Westecs® has the effectiveness from such context but to succeed in long run they should have some specific goals which will lead them to higher performance. A company is efficient when it uses its resources wisely an in a cost effective way.
To measure the efficiency level, there are some other factors needed to take into account, such as absenteeism, turnover, organizational citizenship behavior, job satisfaction etc. 1. 2 Absenteeism Absenteeism is the failure to report to work and it causes a huge cost and disruption for the employers. In Westecs® the absenteeism rate is relatively low. The employees are given altogether 30 days of leave in a year. Though absence have a negative impact on the organization, but Westecs® consider the situation when employees do not come for illness, fatigue or excess stress.
If it is within the allowed 30days leave a year and the employee feels sick Westecs® does not pressurize their employees to come to the job if they feel sick or excess stress. Because the management of Westecs® believes that a sick or stressed person can not put his/her 100% attention to their job rather they perform poorly, which in turn may bring poor service to the customer and increase customer dissatisfaction-that finally will impede the image of the organization as a whole. So Westecs® is efficient enough to manage their absenteeism. 3.
Turnover Turnover is the voluntary or involuntary permanent withdrawal from an organization. Westecs® faces a relatively high turnover rate. This high rate of turnover results in increased recruiting, selection and training cost. In addition, this high rate of turnover also disrupt the efficient running of an organization when knowledge and experienced personnel leave and replacements must be found and prepared to assume positions of responsibility. Westecs® failed to efficiently manage this high turnover rate. 4. Organizational Citizenship Behavior
Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) is a discretionary behavior that is not a part of employee’s formal job requirements, but that nevertheless promotes the effective functioning of the organization. To become a successful organization, it needs employees who will do more then their usual job duties and provides performance that is beyond expectations. But in Westecs®, there is no such employee who performs this Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). So it is important for Westecs® to increase the number of employees who will perform Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) for the betterment of the organization. . Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is the collection of feelings that an individual holds toward his or her job. It represents the attitude of an employee rather than behavior. The satisfied employees are more productive than dissatisfied employees. It is a legitimate objective of an organization. In Westecs® the top level managers and the mid level managers have their job satisfaction but the problem with the lower level employees; they encompass relatively less job satisfaction. 6. Empowering People
In successful organizations, managers are going considerably further by allowing employees full control of their work. By empowering employee managers are putting employees in charge of what they do and in so doing, managers have to learn how to give up control and employees have to learn how to take responsibility for their work and make appropriate decisions. But managers in Westecs® do not empower their employees. Thus the employees are incapable of showing responsibilities and making suitable decisions. 7. Stimulating Innovation and change
Successful organizations must foster innovation and master the art of change. So to exist in comparative business environment organizations should maintain their flexibility, continually improve their quality and beat competitors with a constant stream of innovative products and services. To do so organizations need managers and employees with high conceptual skills and innovative ideas. But there is lack of such managers and employees in Westecs®. The managers of Westecs® also face challenges and unable to stimulate their employees’ creativity and tolerance of change. 8.
Coping with Temporariness Today’s management functions became more versatile than ever before for the fast change in globalization, expand capacity and advances in technology. So for the best benefit managers and employees should work in a climate best characterized as temporary. But there is no evidence of temporariness in Westecs®. Here jobs are not being continually redesigned, tasks are being done by individuals rather than teams, and there is no scope for part time jobs. 9. Pay for Performance Pay for performance is the rewards that are allocated on performance criteria.
Westecs® do not give rewards to their employees on the basis of performance rather they give a general yearly increment to all the employee on the basis of position. Westecs® also provide two bonuses to their employees. If this pay for performance is introduced, individuals should perceive a strong relationship between their performance and the reward they receive if motivation is to be maximized. Pay for performance can be best applied to the operation workers such as factory workers 10. Recruitment and selection The recruitment and selection process of Westecs® is very ordinary and simple.
News paper is the only medium to advertise for the recruitment. In the advertisement thy only mention the job title and age limit and ask for educational qualification, and experience. For the selection purpose the management conducts only face to face interview and no written test. To select potential people Westecs® need to develop their recruitment and selection process. 2. 0 Evaluation of the traditional management function: 2. 1 Instituting plans, policies and procedures Westecs’ decision making regarding plans, policies, and procedures is centralized as it is concentrated at a single point in the organization which is its Head Office.
In Bangladesh, there are nine branches of Westecs and every branch has got about 15 to 20 employees. There is a Director, a Manager and an Assistant Manager in each branch who motivate their employees to carry out their activities efficiently. The measure of organizational efficiency includes return on investment, profit per amount of sales, output per hour of labor etc. Westecs’ planning process, policies and procedures are strong enough that enable their activities to be carried out efficiently. Westecs has a superior sales policy of its own. It follows fixed price policy so that customers do not have to bargain.
The company gives several sorts of sales for the customer’s favor as well as to reduce the stocks such as summer sale, winter sale, and special sale and so on. Westecs also provides good service to maintain good relationships with the customers. The personnel in the showrooms show well behaviour and good manner. It offers changes of clothes and refunds of money within 3 days. Westecs sells branded official shirts of its own and as well as blazers and readymade garments and became most successful in these segments and earned huge revenues on sales.
Westecs have almost 200 factory employees from whom the company gets efficient output in due time. With their plans, policies and procedures, Westecs Ltd. is successful to carry out the activities efficiently. 2. 2 Organizing job description and understanding the responsibilities The job description lists the duties of a job; the job’s working conditions, and the tools, materials and equipment to perform it. Job content is necessary to develop appropriate selection method and job-relevant performance appraisal system. But Westecs Ltd. has no prescribed job description for the subordinates.
After the employees have been selected for the outlets and the factories, they get familiar with the job content through practical experience. The director and manager play a great role to improve the performance of the employees. How the new employees will approach to the customers, how they can help the customers in purchasing things, how they will act when the customers face problems regarding their bought products and the like activities are taught from the observation of the activities of the existing employees and also from the recommendations of the branch director and managers in the outlets.
In the factories also the labors learn their responsibility from the senior labors and the factory manager and the supervisor. Though Westecs have no official job description, the new employees are able to find it out not in an effective manner but through observation and practice. 2. 3 Selecting competent employees Westecs’ selection process is quite straightforward. The company offers job in the newspaper for the job applicants. The advertisement consists of the position the company is offering, educational qualification and the experience of the candidates for the managerial positions.
For example, this company needs at least a degree for the sales manager. For the outlet personnel and factory workers no job requirement is mentioned specifically. No part-time job and temporary system is available in Westecs. Job candidates appear on a physical interview in the selection process. At first, they face supervisor’s interview for the preliminary selection. There is no written test for them. This interview is based on the IQ of the candidates and some sort of situational basis questionnaires.
The company requires those candidates who have good spoken capability in English for the outlets. For the factories, they need experienced or capable workers. After the primary selection, the candidates sit for another interview with the chairman and branch directors for the final selection. Not all the candidates that Westecs selects and recruits are adequately oriented and trained. There is no systems approach to training for developing the performance of the employees. The employees learn from their practical works and the observation of what other employees do.
In the factory, there are machine operators who instruct the new workers in operating the machine. By this way workers are getting trained in Westecs which is not an efficient and adequate way. 2. 4 Fair and equitable pay rates Westecs strictly maintains International Labor Law in terms of paying the wages. They pay the salary to the employees within the month and no dues occur. The outlet staffs and factory workers get a good starting salary which is around tk. 3000 to tk. 4000 and there is a year to year increment. The branch manager, sales manager, finance manager all get a reasonable salary.
In addition, all the employees get yearly tk. 5000 for medical expense. They also obtain incentives which include festival bonus two times a year. Women are given 66 days maternity leave with pay. From these extra benefits and advantages which the employees are getting, they feel that their pay rates are equitable and fair. But Westecs does not increase the salary of the employees on the performance basis. It rather focuses on seniority. 2. 5 Leadership role of managers Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals.
Brach managers, factory managers, supervisors and other associated managers of Westecs serve as a leader towards achieving the goals of the organization. The managers advise many potential and useful instructions that the employees carry out efficiently. The employees have to stay almost all day long in the outlets that becomes no longer challenging for them. It increases boredom and reduces motivation. Thus the job turns into a dull and uninteresting one for the employees as they suffer from overroutinization of their work.
There is no real arrangement of amusement for the employees in the organization. For example, there is no opportunity of job rotation for the employees. The periodic shifting of an employee from one task to another is job rotation. There is also a lack of job enlargement and job sharing in Westecs. Job enlargement is increasing the number and variety of tasks that an individual performs results in jobs with more diversity and job sharing is an arrangement that allows two or more individuals to split a traditional 40-hours-a-week-job.
These handfuls opportunities are ignored in Westecs which would facilitate the employees with great deal. But employees are given tiffin two times a day-a little tiffin in the morning and heavy one in the afternoon. Westecs also assures transportation to facilitate the women employees. 2. 6 Interpersonal relationship among employees Interpersonal relation in organizations can be a primary source of need satisfaction for many people. For people with a strong need for affiliation, high-quality interpersonal relationships can be an important positive element in the workplace.
People who support one another and who work well together can accomplish much more than people who do not support one another and who do not work well together. Another outcome is conflict- people may leave an interpersonal exchange feeling angry or hostile. These all can occur during the communication between people in the organization. Westecs’ decision making is centralized and all the decisions regarding plans, policies, procedures, selection, recruiting and so on that are to be accomplished are decided centrally in the head office.
For that Westecs holds a meeting among its chairman, directors and managers on monthly basis. It lifts up the interpersonal relationship of the top management. Oral communication, which means face to face conversation, telephone calls and other situations in which the spoken word is used, occurs in Westecs in terms of interpersonal communication. The employees state their problems and other things to their boss through telephone or conversation. There is no process of written document for communication. 3. 0 Development Needs Motivation is one of the most frequently researched topics in OB; it leads the employees’ performance.
Though Westecs® established in 1987, but it cannot retain its employees for longer periods of time for its dysfunctional motivational program. ? Motivation through job Design-it is a key determinant of individual motivation and ultimately organizational success. Westecs® have to shift their form of boring, tedious job to the form of an interesting job, so that employees can add zest and meaning to their professional life. To do this, top management has to impose job rotation, which will motivate through diversifying the employee’s activities. Here the employee will rotate to another job, usually at the same level.
It will be benefit for the organization, because a wide range of skills give management more flexibility in scheduling working and adapting to changes. Job enrichment can be another effective way to increase the employee’s freedom and independence, provide feedback so an individual will be able to assess his or her own performance. By establishing direct client relationship with their employees and internal client as well as external, expanding job vertically and last but not least, opening feedback channels will motivate the employees of Westecs®.
Thus the employee’s skill variety, job feed back, autonomy and task significance will be upgraded. ? Motivation through rewards- rewards and benefits are a significant portion for motivating employees. Job performance and satisfaction can be improved by properly administered rewards. Though Westecs® is providing some rewards to its employees that ensure equitable distribution, but it does not foster positive expectations which work as a barrier to its path of the improvement. ? Pay-for-performance- Pay-for-performance is a practical application for motivating employees.
From expectancy theory we know that, an individual will give maximum effort and upgrade performance, if his or her performance appraisals lead to organizational rewards. Thus besides giving annual salary and two yearly bonuses, they can introduce sales commission, skill-based pay, merit pay. Hence the employer has to make sure that those who give a little extra get a little extra. They have to shift their compensation plan on nonperformance factor, such as- seniority or job title to performance factor. These will encourage employees to work harder and smarter that will enrich the company’s productivity. Motivation through Employee participation- If employees participate on the goal setting process, decision making as well as designing and implementing organizational changes, employee turnover will be low and productivity will be high. By implementing quality control circles, open book management (sharing key financial data and profits with employees who are trained and empowered). Though this OBM is a bold break from traditional management, but through this employees will know how company’s action affect its success and bottom line, learn to interpret reports and how to control costs.
In addition, then employees can make changes for success of the firm. In today’s globally competitive industrial environment, employer must focus on their employees’ performance management. To improve Westecs® performance management process, it has to set goals, monitor and feedback ongoing performance. ? Assign specific goals- according to goal setting theory, we know that employees who are given specific goals usually perform better than those who are not. Westecs® have to translate their organizational and departmental goals into specific goals for each employee.
Their goals should include target dates or dead lines and quantitives terms. ? Ongoing performance monitoring- Westecs® can use computer based systems that measure and then email progress and exception reports based on the previous progress towards meeting his or her performance goals. ? Ongoing feedback-employees of Westecs® have to include face to face and computer based feedback regarding progress towards goals. The turnover rate in Westecs® is comparatively high, especially middle and low level employees. Thus firms have to take some initiatives to reduce it. Flexible Work Hours-Flexible work hours can be an effective way to cut of this problem. In this process, employees have to work a specific numbers of hours a week but they are free to vary the hours of work within certain limits. It will allow employees some degree of freedom. By introducing part time facility, firm can increase productivity, eliminate tardiness and reduce over time expense. ? Job Sharing-Job sharing can be another way of reducing turnover. It allows two more individuals to split a traditional 40 hours a week job.
To implement this, Westecs® have to introduce part time facility in its firm. It increases flexibility. Thus employees will motivate to work, their satisfaction will be increase as a result the rate of turnover will be decreased. Empowering: In Westecs® employees have no full control in work – related problems. To improve their empowerment Westecs® has to create some following steps. They are- ? Task significance: In this case Westecs® has to assign more works to the employees and increase the responsibility of the manager. Decision making should be pushed down to the operating level, where the workers are being given the freedom to solve work related problems. They should empower their employee through decentralization and self- managed training. ? Managers should encourage their employees to participate in work- related decisions. Stimulating Innovation: WESTECS® has no stimulating innovation process. But they have to provide these techniques for the flexibility, continually improve their quality and beat their competition to the market place with a constant stream of innovative products and services.
The challenge for the mangers is that they have to stimulate their employees’ creativity and tolerance for change. • Process reengineering will be appropriate to solve this problem, because it requires managers to undergo training to learn new technical skills and redefines job. As result managers of different branches can reconsider how work would be done . they will be able to evaluate every process. As a result, it wills hence creativity, productivity of the employees. Temporariness: In WESTECS® there is no temporariness that means no part time employees are not work here.
For this reason people skills are decrease and no experience people are not get a job. So WESTECS® has to create temporariness that is helpful for the workers that they update their knowledge and skills continually to perform new job requirements. They have to follow the following steps- ? Workers should need to update their knowledge and skills to perform new job. ? Westecs® should employ more part time employees than full time employees. Communication: Communication is the transference and understanding of meeting.
The interpersonal communication of WESTECS® is oral communication. They meet to each other monthly, quarterly or yearly. They have no written communication. In oral communication the message has to be passed through a number of people and it is the distortion of the message. ? So WESTECS® has to create a written communication which includes memos, letters, fax transmissions, electronic mail, instant messaging, organizational periodicals, notices placed on bulletin boards. It is tangible and verifiable. ? In oral communication they should meet each other once in a week.
WESTECS® follows a chain communication network which means that the main decision made by chairperson and then the decision are coming through step by step employees. It is time consuming. WESTECS® has to follow the all channel communication network that save the time and any employee can connect to each other solve the problems. 4. 0 Replacement Needs RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS: Recruitment is the first step to finding the appropriate job candidates. Through newspaper advertisement they recruit people. In every advertisement job description (document outlining role expectations and requirements for a specific job) should be written. While constructing advertisement Westecs® have to specify job description. The employment interview has a central role in the selection process. Then do not follow any specific rule to select the candidates. By following below steps they can increase their efficiency in selection process. ? From unstructured interview they have to shift their interview process in structured form, where the process will based on job duties, requirement critical for job performance.
To find ideal candidates, employer should based four types of questions- situational questions, job knowledge requirements, worker requirements questions and job sample questions. ? For higher level positions, they can include written test and performance. Written tests include tests of intelligence, aptitude, ability, interest and integrity. Behavioral description interview(BDI) is more effective executive for general managers and executive positions ? The two best known performance- simulation tests are work sample tests and assessment centers.
Work sample tests creating a miniature replica job to evaluate the performance abilities of job candidates. An assessment center is a set of performance- simulation tests designed to evaluate a candidate’s managerial potential. Training and Development: WESTECS® does not give any training to the employees. They have to provide a training and development program. Training, which tend to be more narrowly focused and oriented toward short- term performance concerns. Development, which tends to be, oriented more toward broadening an individual’s skills for the future responsibilities.
Training and development is the combination of activities used by organizations to increase the skill base of employees. WESTECS® has to create some training skills that improve their employee’s performance. They are- • Basic literacy skills: They have to provide basic reading and math skills for their employees. • Technical skills: This skill is important for two reasons- new technology and new structural designs. • Interpersonal skills: This includes learning how to be a better listener, how to communicate ideas more clearly and how to be a more effective team player. Problem- solving skills: This would include activities to sharpen their logic, reasoning and problem- defining skills as well as their abilities to assess causation, develop alternatives, analyze alternatives and select solutions. It also introduces self- management teams or implement quality- management program. • Ethics training: It would be effective because it help employees to recognize ethical dilemmas and to become more aware of the ethical issues underlying their actions and it reaffirms an organization’s expectations that members will act ethically.
WESTECS® has also provide some training method which is classified as formal or informal and on- the- job or off- the- job. • Formal training is planned in advance and has a structured format. • Informal training is unstructured, unplanned and easily adapted to situations and individuals for teaching skills and keeping employees. • On- the- job training includes job rotation, apprenticeships, understudy assignments and formal mentoring programs. But it often disrupts the workplace. • So in that case company has to invest in off- the- job training. Another effective formal training should be individualized to reflect the learning style of the employees. It includes reading, watching, listening and participating. [pic] ———————– CHAIRMAN MANAGING DIRECTOR Manager Production div. Manager Marketing div Manager Administrative div Manager Finance & Accounting div. Staff/ Assistance Staff/ Assistance Quality Control Manager Sales Mgr. Sales Mgr. Marketing Mgr. Officer Officer Officer Supervisor Supervisor Staff Staff Staff Staff/ Assistance Staff/ Assistance