Introduction: Managing People & Organizations
In current times, increasing the engagement of employees is important because it helps in increase productivity, improve better work culture, and reduce staff turnover as well as higher profits. It is considered as one of the biggest and common challenges in the company that directly impacts the organizational culture and performance. This assignment will be based on the HRM challenges of one of leading e-commerce company i.e. Amazon. It is of leading American multinational technology company that is engaged in e-commerce, online advertising etc. This organization founded in 1994 and also operating the business operation in the UK (Amazon UK, 2024). The report will confer influence of challenge i.e. employee engagement on organisational environment. This report will also depict the recommendations relevant to mitigate employee engagement challenge and strategic management action (SMA) relevant to it. This assignment will also include annotated bibliography of most significant references.
Reference materials and samples are provided to clarify assignment structure, key HRM concepts, and expected learning outcomes. Through our Assignment Help UK, guidance is offered while maintaining originality and ethical academic practice. The Managing People & Organizations Assignment with Questions and Answers illustrates analysis of employee engagement, organisational culture, and performance frameworks.
Q1a - Critically analyse the one emergent challenge faced by your chosen organisation, within the context of managing people at work (leadership or HRM issue),
Managing the people at work is challenging for the companies because all the employees are belong from diverse culture, background and belief. During managing the people, companies are facing various challenges such as employee motivation, poor work environment, employee engagement and inclusivity as well as diversity (Rasool et al, 2021). From all employee engagement is considered as one of the common challenge that can face by Amazon at the time of managing the people. This challenge is face by the organizations because of poor communications, lack of growth and opportunities and difficulty in sharing data. This challenge has negative impact on the organizational environment because it directly impacts the culture and performance of the company which leads to reduce profitability and productivity. As per the view of Alshaabani, Hamza and Rudnák (2021), high level of employee engagement can results in increase the chances of revealing the confidential information and policies to the other employees. If the employees feel disengaged then they are less committed and motivated which create negative organizational culture and leads to reduce productivity and performance.
In addition, employee engagement is the biggest HRM challenge for Amazon because the less motivated and influence people are not able to put all the efforts to give better performance which leads to poor organization culture and performance. However, on the critical note Saleem, Shenbei and Hanif (2020), low engaged people are likely to leave the organization and switch toward the other companies to enhance the performance which eventually increase turnover rates. The less engaged workforces are not feel responsible and sense of ownership towards the goals and objectives of the organization. Furthermore, low employee engagement negatively impacts the organizational culture of Amazon because it decreases workplace morale, employee retention, customer satisfaction and productivity.
Q1b - Which theory will you use for the one challenge of managing people at work
Competing value framework, organizational learning theory, Edgar Schein’s model etc.
Q1c - How this challenge impacts the organisational environment (such as organisational culture and organisational performance
Employee engagement is challenge for the companies because it adversely influences the organizational performance which leads to reduce productivity, profitability and competitive advantage over competitors. If the employers are not communicate and informed about significant changes, decisions and updates then they feel disengaged and disconnected (Saleem, Shenbei and Hanif, 2020). If the organizations have inadequate managerial support then they face the issue related to low level of employee engagement which negatively influence on overall performance and efficiency. The mangers who lack the essential skills then they are fail to lead and provide support to their team members which can create negative environment and decrease morale and engagement of employees.
The employee who feel disengaged and demotivated then they are incompetent to think innovative and unique ideas to provide better services to the customers which leads to reduce profitability and productivity. In addition, high level of employee engagement also impacts organizational performance negatively. In general, highly engaged employees are more enthusiastic and responsible towards their work from which they compromise with their personal lives and manage work-life balance which adversely influences in overall performance. To minimize the negative influence of employee engagement on organizational culture, companies are using competitive value framework (Alshaabani, Hamza and Rudnák, 2021). According to this theory, every organization has four cultural dimensions such as bureaucratic, adhocracy, market and clan. To increase the employee engagement and improve organizational culture, Amazon can need to focus developing adhocracy culture which helps in creating innovative, flexible and experimental environment. On the other hand, to enhance the organizational performance by increasing engagement of employees, selected business will need to adopt neo-classical theory by adopting this model, selected organization can emphasis on emotional and psychological aspects of behaviour. This theory helps in increase the sense of belonging and social acceptance of employees which helps in enhance organizational performance.
Q1d - Which culture theory will this be linked to
Edgar Schein’s model
Q1e - Which organisational performance and effectiveness theory will this be linked to
Organizational learning theory
Q2a - Critically identify the rationale behind your recommended intervention and how this will enhance the organisational performance and effectiveness.
For mitigating negative influence of challenges it is important for the companies to enhance the organizational performance and effectiveness. Due to low employee engagement, companies are facing the several issues which negatively impact on their overall efficiency and performance. Enhancing employee attitude is considered as one of the critical way that can be adopt by Amazon in order to enhance its organizational performance and effectiveness. Good attitude of employees positively influence on efficiency, output, work environment and other several variable that directly impacts the performance. To improve the attitude of employees, selected organization will need to implement corporate well-being programs, provide offering activities and use employee survey (Chen et al, 2020). Along with this, improving the attitude of employees is not an easy task for the companies for enhancing their performance because they are require to encourage communication, provide feedback, poster healthy work-life balance and celebrate the success. On the other hand, there are several resistance to change that can face by Amazon during enhancing the attitude of employees such as communication, lack of motivation, overwhelming workload, training methods and lack of career advancement opportunities.
Improving the organizational culture is another significant method to enhance the effectiveness and performance of Amazon. Adoption of this method can be beneficial for selected organization because it helps in increase engagement and morale of employees from which they feel valued and encourage to put all the efforts to give their best performance. Positive organizational culture helps in fostering the environment of empowerment, motivation and recognition from which workforces feel encourage and motivated (Chaudhuri et al, 2024). Additionally, to build the positive culture of organization to enhance performance and effectiveness, Amazon can adopt Edgar Schein’s model. According to this model, the culture of organization is based on three levels such as espoused value, artefacts and underlying assumption. This model aids in enhancing organizational culture by determining strengths and weaknesses, improve employee engagement, drive cultural change and make informed decisions.
With the help of this model, Amazon can understand the motivations behind the employee’s behaviour from which the leaders can develop the positive work environment and increase engagement of employees. However, implementation of this cultural theory can be disadvantageous for the companies due to imposition of culture, underestimation of other elements and insecurity of monoculture.
In addition to this, to enhance the culture of operation to increase the efficiency, Amazon can require to assess the current culture, establish core values, recognizing employees, improve on-boarding and encourage innovation. After encouraging innovation, it can be important for companies to communicate effectively to the employees and increase their engagement (Al Aina and Atan, 2020). Along with this, at the time of improving organizational culture Amazon can face resistance to change such as fear of unknown, lack of communication, cultural or social factors and lack of confidence as well as skills.
To enhance performance and effectiveness of its operation, Amazon can adopt the organizational learning theory. This theory majorly emphasis on how organization is using and acquiring knowledge and skills to enhance the performance. With the help of this theory, Amazon can conduct training sessions for workforces from which they feel engaged and valued to give their best performance. As critically contended by Putra et al, (2020), adoption of this theory is beneficial for the companies because it helps them to adopt the change, increase efficiency and improve productivity. Emphasis on organizational learning will be beneficial for Amazon because it helps them to adopting change environment and stay competitive in front of competitors. Additionally, with the help of this theory, companies can modernize the process and determine bottlenecks which eventually positively influence on the overall performance. As critically argued by Abbas et al, (2020), implementation of organizational learning theory can be disadvantageous for companies because it is slow process, high costs and lack of clear goals as well as incentives. Moreover, for adoption of learning theory to enhance the organizational performance, Amazon can need to emphasis on creating, retaining and transferring of knowledge in successful manner. However, at the time of executing organizational learning theory Amazon can face resistance to change due to fear of job security by its employees.
To improve the performance and effectiveness, Amazon can develop key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the progress. KPIs are measurable values that represent the ways of accomplishing the goals and objectives in effective and successful manner. As critically said by- Bassen and Kovács (2020), adoption of KPIs are beneficial for the companies to enhance the effectiveness and performance because it helps in creating the sense of responsibility among the workers from which they feel encourage and value to give performance. Clear KPIs are serve as motivators because they provide workforces with the tangible sense of progress and achievements when goals are met which helps in promoting performance driven culture (Saks, 2022). For developing the KPIs to enhance the organizational performance and mitigate the employee engagement issue Amazon can need to implement all the steps. For implementing KPIs in successful manner, selected organization can require to define objectives, selecting KPIs, setting targets, establishing methods, evaluating data, communicating outcomes, monitoring progress and including employees (Anwar and Abdullah, 2021). At the time of implementing KPIs, Amazon can face resistance to change due to loss of control, company culture, lack of support and awareness.
On the other hand, Amazon is operating the business operation in the highly competitive market and it has various competitors such as Walmart, Flipkart, eBay etc. Employee training and development is considered as one of the best practice of Walmart that can ne adopt by Amazon to mitigate the issue of employee engagement and improve the performance and effectiveness. Adoption of this approach can be beneficial for business because it helps in enhancing skills and improve skills of the employees from which they feel engaged to put all the efforts to give best approach. Adoption of Walmart’s best practice can be beneficial for company to enhance performance and increase effectiveness as well as employee engagement.
Q2b – Strategic Management Action Plan
0-3 Months (Short Term Goals)
Improving employee attitude
3-6 Months (Medium Term Goals)
Improve organizational culture
Conduct employee training and development
6-12 Months (Long Term Goals)
Adopt organizational learning theory
Develop KPIs
For mitigating the employee engagement issue, it is important for the companies to take the corrective actions to increase efficiency and improve operations. Employee attitude is considered as one of the best way to increase the high level of engagement. Improving the employee attitude is short term goal that will be accomplishing by Amazon within 3 months. Adoption of this method will be beneficial for the organization because it helps in increase motivation and encouragement of employees. Additionally, enhancing organizational culture and conducting training and development are other effective methods that help in increasing the engagement of employees. These are medium term goals that will be accomplish between 3-6 months. Additionally, to mitigate the challenge of employee engagement, Amazon can accomplish the long term goals such as adopt organizational learning theory and develop key performance indictors within 6-12 months. Adoption of all goals can be beneficial for the selected organization because it helps in mitigating the issue of employee engagement which ultimately positively influence on the overall productivity, efficiency and profitability.
Conclusion
In the end it has been concluded that, employee engagement is considered as one of the common and biggest challenge for the companies. This challenge directly impacts the operation and efficiency of Amazon and restricts it to gain competitive advantage over competitors. Low level of engagement directly impacts organizational environment of Amazon which results in decrease productivity, increase employee turnover and reduce profitability. To mitigate this issue, selected organization can need to adopt improve employee attitude and organizational culture as well as conduct employee training and development and adopt organizational learning theory.
References
- Abbas, J., Zhang, Q., Hussain, I., Akram, S., Afaq, A. and Shad, M.A., 2020. Sustainable innovation in small medium enterprises: the impact of knowledge management on organizational innovation through a mediation analysis by using SEM approach. Sustainability, 12(6), p.2407.
- Al Aina, R. and Atan, T., 2020. The impact of implementing talent management practices on sustainable organizational performance. Sustainability, 12(20), p.8372.
- Alshaabani, A., Hamza, K.A. and Rudnák, I., 2021. Impact of diversity management on employees’ engagement: the role of organizational trust and job insecurity. Sustainability, 14(1), p.420.
- Anwar, G. and Abdullah, N.N., 2021. The impact of Human resource management practice on Organizational performance. International journal of Engineering, Business and Management (IJEBM), 5.
- Bassen, A. and Kovács, A.M., 2020. Environmental, social and governance key performance indicators from a capital market perspective (pp. 809-820). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.
- Chaudhuri, R., Chatterjee, S., Vrontis, D. and Thrassou, A., 2024. Adoption of robust business analytics for product innovation and organizational performance: the mediating role of organizational data-driven culture. Annals of Operations Research, 339(3), pp.1757-1791.
- Chen, T., Hao, S., Ding, K., Feng, X., Li, G. and Liang, X., 2020. The impact of organizational support on employee performance. Employee Relations: The International Journal, 42(1), pp.166-179.
- Putra, A.S., Novitasari, D., Asbari, M., Purwanto, A., Iskandar, J., Hutagalung, D. and Cahyono, Y., 2020. Examine relationship of soft skills, hard skills, innovation and performance: The mediation effect of organizational learning. International Journal of Science and Management Studies (IJSMS), 3(3), pp.27-43.
- Rasool, S.F., Wang, M., Tang, M., Saeed, A. and Iqbal, J., 2021. How toxic workplace environment effects the employee engagement: The mediating role of organizational support and employee wellbeing. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(5), p.2294.
- Saks, A.M., 2022. Caring human resources management and employee engagement. Human resource management review, 32(3), p.100835.
- Saleem, Z., Shenbei, Z. and Hanif, A.M., 2020. Workplace violence and employee engagement: The mediating role of work environment and organizational culture. Sage Open, 10(2), p.2158244020935885.
