Leadership Influence On Work Results Aroldo Martins 15584552 Managing People (MNGPEO) 26 March 2010 MBA University of Liverpool

Dr. Joachim Bauer

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary Introduction The Research Case A Case B Case C Case D Case E Case F Case G Conclusion

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY One of the purposes of this case study is to show the result of correct motivational coaching influence in employees working career. Motivation is based on perception (Hellriegel, Slocum, 2003) and managers can influence the outcome by using their leadership, thus improving the career ascension of their staff. The research methodology to this study is a group chosen to go through personal interviews and also the answer of a questionnaire, where their working careers were analyzed carefully and if whether the company leadership and motivational work implemented contributed in their career satisfaction and results. The idea will be justified by their opinion and inputs produced by informal interviews and questions. The group voluntarily participated to be the base for the topic developed. Most employees were hired through a selection and for their skills sake. The skills sought for a job position are practical not intellectual. According to Menkes (2005): IQ tests do not assess the practical, on your feet thinking skills needed in business. In the company point of view, the skills sought for a job position should be practical not intellectual. The efficiency of work is improved by providing a good working environment (Maude, 1974). The primary objective here is to discuss that the influence of others in the working environment can contribute to assignments success outcome. Even though skills enhance the results of assignments, a right working environment produces improvement in the results.

INTRODUCTION Record TV Network's head office environment is located in Lisbon, Portugal. The company will be the focus for this study project. The employees are elevating expectancies for the past six years in their career development in this company. This study will produce means to conclude if they are being positively influenced by a motivational work, which has been enabling them to be more creative and to dedicate more of themselves to their work. They have seen the company growing from a team of thirty to over a hundred people. At the beginning of the companys activities the employees started working in four hundred square meters and now to a one thousand square meter space. They are soon to be moving to a four thousand square meters building. Record TV Network has developed, throughout the years, an environment where employees can feel free to express the way they think, about their duties and the way they can be better developed. The company holds weekly meetings with each department, when the weeks activities are discussed openly. There are boxes in different locations inside the company where all employees can freely and anonymously write to the heads of the company. The dining area and the cafeteria belong to the employees; they can decorate and change the rooms, the way they want as if they were at home. When an employee is promoted, the head of the company sends a group email, communicating the promotion, congratulating the promoted, and wishing success.

The company promotes workshops, field trips to other countries in order to exchange experience with sister companies. All employees vote yearly for the best of the year for some chosen categories, they want. Twice a year all employees have a fellowship lunch and dinner at a place they choose. TV Record is the longest running Brazilian television network (Sennitt 2008). The company is from the broadcast television industry. Its headquarters is in Sao Paulo, Brazil and contract over thirty thousand direct and outsourced. The Corporation is divided worldwide in around three hundred companies. The activities of the group in the international field are headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal. The international activities of the company are divided into sixteen companies in nine countries, with a total of five hundred employees. In the head office in Lisbon there are one hundred employees, divided in several departments. Like all larger organisations, the downside of human resources comes from the fact that different cultures cause misunderstanding among employees, collaborators and outsourcing workers. Some workers after start working demonstrated lack of confidence in fulfilling their duties and difficulties in adapting themselves to duties changes and to new fellow workers. One problem frequently assessed is different nationality, cultures and languages that may cause misunderstanding and some extent conflicts.

THE RESEARCH As stated before much of the information brought in this study case is the result of interviews of a workers group of Record TV, by talking to them and working with them some for about five years, somehow it was easier to understand their thoughts. One of the criteria for their choice was their skills and working productivity response and also affinity. It is the authors opinion that this criteria should not be observed, it would be harder to defend the thesis of how the influence of leadership can contribute in working results. If an employee is for any reason unpleased with his/her work and has an adaptation issue with management, then the approach would be more explanatory of the reason for the dissatisfaction and a psychological approach would be needed, which was not the intention. Therefore the group in discussion for this piece is composed of workers who are well established, good fellow workers, high skilled, satisfied, happy, with good relationship with fellow employees, one of the interview has a hard mood character characteristic, even though the subject holds a position of director. One of the main points defended as motivation in the working environment depends on type of worker, background and job position. According to Sirbasku (2008) in working places, especially the large ones different types of workers are found including: Fair and Square Traditionalists, Accomplished Contributors, Stalled Survivors, Demanding Disconnects, Maverick Morphers and Self-Empowered.

Each of these types is motivated in different ways. Traditional workers are usually motivated by having more discussions and when are asked for feedbacks, they are usually older in age and the description of their mission and role at the workplace need to be accessed in order for better response. Traditional workers are expected to be more disciplined and more conscious of their duties. Verbal recognitions are of good result and group praise also show that they have stability and better future carrier. Other kind of motivation for different employees may range from being specific about their duty roll, follow up in what they want to do as their next step. Some workers who see their job only as a mean of profit, not necessarily as a carrier accomplishment and satisfaction, need to be placed in-group work and to be more supervised and receive support. One other characteristic of the group interviewed is that they are proactive, independent and self-empowered. When an employee is the selfempowered kind of person, you can expect more innovation. They feel motivated when new responsibilities are given and they can grow and learn with new working experiences. CASE A Case A is one of the members of the group; she has a degree in Communication. She is a journalist, speaks English, Spanish and German. When she is asked about what she likes to do at work; she says that she has been working in company for nearly three and a half years. She is a Multimedia Producer in Chief. She likes to prepare different types of strategies and content for the TV programs she coordinates, where she can think and

carefully prepare each theme. When a worker is pro-active and strategist, he/she likes to see the result of each strategic decision. Case A says: I like to think, prepare and analyse carefully each theme I use as if it was a chess game, where I have to move the right piece at the right time. I like to see the results of each of my strategies by seeing the number of calls at the end of each program. Moreover, I enjoy the exhilarating feeling of working in a live program, where we cannot make any mistakes and think on our feet when problems occur. An important issue to be considered in management position of a company is the hiring policies the company applies for new workers. Recruitment is gathering people who apply for a position or a job where a selection is made. The process of selecting a person for a job position starts from the fact that the most qualified candidates are chosen respecting previous established rules, which may vary from company to company, if it is the case. Hoeck (2010) states that some strategies more appropriate for small businesses in hiring a person. These tactics are just a guideline, when making a interview in hiring a person: Do not talk about the job at first; ask them what they do in their spare time; ask them why they want the job; get references and check them; have multiple interviews; have team members interview prospective employees; test prospective employees and hire always on trial periods. Other aspects to consider in hiring a person are levels of education, previous experience, appropriate age, level of commitment, skills,

appearance, training and etc.

When you start a conversation with a fellow employee where the main subject is related to your work, you can hardly swift to another subject if this was the intent, especially when you needed a better approach to the subject of the conversation. People usually do not open their heart to those they do not know well. Workers who are not of many words at work feel motivated when they feel their job is being done well. CASE B She is a program host and news producer, she is passionate about her job position. She is the kind of person that you do not need to be worry about here. If you see that she is handling her job well, she will give the best of herself and does not need to be carefully or closely controlled, so just let her do her job. She says: I do not need great encouragement if my work coincides with the companys objectives. If I have a responsibility in hands, I should do the best way I know. If I was given that responsibility it is because management trusts in my work. Whenever I have new duties my confidence and self-esteem grows. I like the power of decision and sense of freedom, when finishing a job, the simple smile of a co-worker gives me confidence to take all the stress which I eventually loaded to finish it. Motivation can be defined as the development of a desire within an employee to perform a task to his/her greatest ability based on that individuals own initiative (Rudolf, Kleiner, 1989). It is up to management sensibility to understand exactly the right connotation of motivation and right understand how to apply it in the business in a way that employees do not feel used or to some extent bought by some kind of price.

The definition of motivation is directly linked to the level in which a worker can fulfil his duties to the best of his knowledge, which becomes the trigger for the success, depending on what motivates a person in the workplace. Motivation is vital to good productivity at work. It is managements job to approach each individual as a person and understand the right way of motivating each one. Good managers helps subordinates feel strong and responsible, rewards them properly for good performance and sees that things are organized in such a way that subordinates feel they know what they should be doing (McClelland, Burnham, 2003). CASE C He is a graphic designer coordinator; he is very passionate about his job. He is creative, responsible, reliable and dependable. When he was asked about what motivated him at work his answer was: One of the reasons that motivates me is the freedom I have inside the company and to have a voice in certain matters. One very important factor to me is the opportunity to grow as professional, which is something that does not apply for everyone. In the financial point of view, bonuses I have and the car given to me clearly are something that also have great motivational weight. One of the most valuable sources of an organization is the worker. Knowing how to motivate them correctly is very relevant for the organization results. If management underestimates the value of their workers, something is wrong in the company starting from the management. Britton (2007) asks

what can be individually or in group, done to turn employees works into satisfaction and commitment. It can be considered a challenge to assess motivation because it involves people as individuals. Analysing the right motivating factor is necessary for the outcome. Lusthaus, Adrien and Anderson (2002) say: The crucial consideration in assessing motivation is to understand the types of issues and corresponding data that stakeholders understand. Asking employees for their impressions of the organization often captures the essence of motivation. Some opinions were: We are the best, I feel I give the best of myself or This is the best company I ever worked. When having the interview with the group, it was possible to see that there is satisfaction, much more coming from those who are usually of a better mood. Motivation has much to do with the mood of the worker. It is important to consider in motivation the type of people involved in the scheme. Good quality approach, appropriate comments, good illustrations in giving examples, praises without diminishing any counter workers. CASE D One of the workers, which were part of the survey, is from a department that is highly motivated - Marketing, but his opinion is negative in noticing result of motivation in his own work. She says: I think everybody, especially some directors, should put a little more in practice the theories of motivation. The leader influences the outcome a hundred percent of any project. Our results in all areas could be a thousand times more successful if people were

more motivated. And again, it is not only financial incentive that people need to feel motivated. One thing to consider here is that she is one of the directors. She needs to motivate others. Her area is highly motivated and the results of her department are one of the best in the company, but even though she influences other positively, she does not feel satisfied with herself. She is a hard person to motivate, but she knows how to motivate others. She is very skilful, does her job very well, but either does not feel the effect of motivation in herself. The company gave her a car, she has a mobile phone provided by the company, and she has one of the highest salaries of the company and even percentage commissions of sales at the end of the year. When leading a small team, you must have some special attention, think what to say, act naturally. For me there is no "I am who commands here", but "we are a team, we discuss ideas together." It is very important that the leader is accessible and has team spirit. And it is important to keep everything under control. Their leader is confident and absolutely sure of himself. Having charisma is an important quality too! Motivation in the workplace has to be carefully assessed, if a manager does not have the sensibility to understand the method used he can provoke his staff, and the intent can backfire. Workers need to be motivated on an individual level. Motivation cannot use unfair criticism and third party examples, because it can cause negative results.

To accomplish this work the idea was to ask employees their opinion on the organization structure and how to capture the best result of motivation in their point of view. In a study brought about by Klopp and Mealey (1998) the experimental study on eighty people manipulating four different moods, such as anger, anxiety, sadness and joy. They made a correlation between mood and preferences and utilized nature portraits to perceive results. When different landscapes were presented to the participants they were asked to choose seven out of fourteen. The result was that those with anger, sadness or anxiety mood preferred landscapes rich in refuge features, but those with positive joyful moods chose landscapes rich in prospect features. With those employees that by nature have a mood of anger, sadness, intriguing the best results in the company is to work in turning their mood, through a pleasant working place, flowers and a good anecdote, even provoking a good laugh, can do the job well. The Internet is always offering books about motivation, leadership, and business. Some miraculous forms of achieving goals, as If it was easy. Editors emphasise authors in writing these themes, because the market shows that the consumption of these kind of book is very extent and sell by the millions worldwide. Those who have responsibility over other people know very well how hard it is to manage and motivate fellow workers. It was noted on the interviews and analysis of those involved in this study that some of them fear when freedom is giving at the workplace. Insecurity arises even for those who have managerial position. People want to have

others involved in the decision process; to share decisions and opinions is a way to feel more comfortable in the outcome. It has been said that one of Freud saying is: Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility. CASE E Why two heads are better than one and people want to share responsibilities with others. Is it because two or more people may think and decide better than one? Or is it because people fear responsibility. Case E is working in the company for the past four years, he is the Financial Director of the company, he graduated in Economy, he is very clever in offering good strategies in business, but he lacks confidence, he needs to be supported all the time and he is a kind of faith squire like Sancho Panza to Don Quixote. Case E is a technical guy; he has very good contacts in business, his knowhow extents to GDS added value technology program games. When dealing with people the right approach depends on the subject and the way the response is needed. There are some characteristics to mention in leadership that subordinate seek in those who can motivate them. Leaders need to have definite objective, they know what they want. They are motivators in establishing goals. They can organize well, are good decision makers, they are disciplined, persistent and have good attitude towards the others.

CASE F Case F is the CEO of the Travel Company belonging to the group; he is Banking Manager, Company Director. He has degree in Law and a MBA; he is university professor of Law and Management. His activities are developed in the areas of Tourism and Banking. One of the things that motivates him is to overcome objectives. In order to improve his performance he likes to see in this duties task dimension and achievement. He demands much of himself. He does not need to be pushed and sometimes needs to be called into attention to centralize his efforts in less assignments, his tendency is to be hyper active in the business and is able to do many things at the same time. According to his own words, Case F says: With no azimuth there is no way to walk and without a way there is no sense to act. Good leaders are also motivated easily, they know well to motivate others and they know themselves. Parker (2005) says that in a good leader motivator there is authenticity, desire to serve others, empowering people, guided by heart, passion and compassion, recognize their shortcomings, lead with purposes, build enduring relationships, clear where they stand, refuse to compromise, and develop themselves. Authenticity is the trademark of leaders. Authenticity is the foundation of leadership. Authentic leaders have pleasure to serve others empowering them to be independent. They are passionate about their work and have values. Good leaders have long relationship with subordinates. Authentic leaders are followed. Parker (2005) concludes: Authentic leaders are dedicated to

developing themselves because they know that becoming a leader takes a lifetime of personal growth. CASE G Case G has degree in Communications, with focus in Television, Marketing and Public Relations; she is a Journalist, Reporter and Sports Commentator. She has worked for ESPN, SBT, Globo, Alan Taylor Communication all in USA, prior working on Record TV. Since 2007 she is working in Lisbon as a reporter and on-air talent. She says she has passion for what she does and that her main motivation. I have always known I wanted to become a TV reporter and on-air talent, she says. Her motivation is to look back and realize that she has accomplished a lot of her goals and to know that she still has a lot of challenges ahead. She fells motivated when she is recognized for what she does as well as motivation comes from financial reward and Professional recognition. She describes also some of her motto in life such as: self-motivation is the key to success, it opens all doors. She says: In truth, there is no limit to what one can accomplish once the leadership skill unleashes the Power of your own motivations. She finalizes saying: Leadership is a key for better result in life. Case G is an optimistic fellow worker, very clever and friendly, everybody loves her, and she has always a good input in what she does and does not need to be followed all the time in order to fulfil her duties. She is always ahead of time.

CONCLUSION We come to the conclusion that there are different ways to motivate employees in the work place. Each employee is to be motivated differently. There are some aspects to consider when motivating someone. The motivation that fits one person may be negative for somebody else. It has been said before on this study that when dealing with people the right approach depends on the subject and the way the response is needed. It is necessary to keep in mind that motivation in the workplace has to be very carefully assessed. It is imperative for Managers to have the sensibility to understand the method used he can provoke his staff, and the intent can backfire. It is the opinion of the author that motivation affects positively the results of their work. Their duties are better accomplished, when they are happy, when they feel they are appreciated, when you praise them. When you give them freedom to work. Even though this method of freedom to work does not fit for everyone. Others produce better when they are under more supervision and they feel more secure when that takes place. Some share the opinion that to use money reward is not always appropriate as a way of motivation. Even though the company has a money reward scheme. The philosophy of motivation and more of charisma, support and a feeling of well being that in general we see among workers.

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