At the very same time Volvo also adopted the Herzberg two-factor theory, which is the Motivational-Hygiene theory, which states “Motivator are factors which will improve employees performance i.e. achievement, recognition, responsibility, etc where as Hygiene factors are factors which will sustain employees performance but not improve them i.e. working condition, interpersonal skills, company policies”.
The organisation also adopted the Maslow’s Hierarchy theory, which stated, “ Every single person had five needs, which can be shown in a pyramid, which are Physical need, Safety need, Social need, Esteem need and Self actualisation.” This theory helps the organisation because it could classify and provide staffs with all the essential needs. Therefore reason why they Maslows Hierarchy theory is because they could relate it to Herzberg two-factor theory. Please see appendix 1
The management style also plays key part in the organisation as Volvo used Autocratic Management style it affected the performance of all the staff in the organisation, because staff felt like they were under supervised all the time and didn’t have any say in the management of the business but since Volvo changed the management style to Democratic Management Style, staff started to sense that they have a bit of say as well as felt valued to the organisation and their views were considered in mind, which is a good technique to retain staff as well staff loyalty towards the organisation.
The other issues, which Volvo faced, were the how the job description was lied out. The job description stated that, staff could only carry out fewer tasks, which means that staffs were caring out a lot of reparative job, which lead to boredom and high staff turnover. In order to make the job more interesting Volvo decided to redesign the job description and applying some of the motivational techniques, which are as follows:
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Job rotation so staff can do all different jobs so they don’t get bored and encase of any absentees they could not fall back on the production line because everyone has been train to do different tasks in the team or group.
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Job enlargement so staff can carry out other tasks, while they are caring out their normal tasks. Basically it makes the job more challenging and interesting and makes the job structure bigger. For staffs are given more than one task i.e. fixing the wind scream as well other duties like fixing the sits, etc.
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Job enrichment so staff can be challenged and give a greater sense of achievement from their job. Staff can get more feedback from their jobs; tasks will be more varied, more freedom in planning tasks and have more of an involvement in the changes to the working environment. For example staff are given a chance to plan goals for the day and while caring on with their day-to-day duties.
The other key issues Iwould like to address is the interpersonal skill of the Mid Management. The reason why this was one of the key issues was because the Mid Management is responsible of the day-to-day running of the business i.e. passing the information to junior staff, if the mid management haven’t got he desirer to achieve a target than the staff under their management won’t be bothered. Therefore if Volvo employee staff with good interpersonal skill they will motivate staff, pass appropriate and necessary information to the lower management, communicate with Senior and junior management properly, etc and one of the most important interpersonal skill is the communication.
The flow of communication in the organisation was only downwards, therefore this means the information was only passed from the senior management to the junior management and this was disadvantage because there wasn’t any upward communication, which means feedback wasn’t given back to the senior management, which lead to passing of unnecessary and overloaded of information been provided to the lower management although horizontal communication was appropriate.
Section B
There are number changes I have identified, which has help Volvo to be successful and some of the changes are as follows:
Introduction of team working and other benefits i.e. changing room etc
This is one of they key ways which has help the organisation to resolve its problems, especially through the help of the Human relation Theory by Elton Mayo, which stated that “Working in groups can increase productivity as well job satisfaction” and Theory X and Y by McGregor, which stated that “ there are two different type of people, those who hate to work and need supervision are classified as Theory X and those who love work and don’t need supervision are classified as Theory Y”.
Since Volvo adopted these theories, the staff left more valued and as we can see from the report provided by Michelle stated, “Today Kalmar, …than the others.” which meant that they are recognised and also everyone in the team will receive the same amount of reward as stated in the report “Everyone from … pay packet”, which meant that all the staff felt like an asset to the organisation and equally treated.
The teams also felt recognised because each team had its own facilities in their area and the competition between the teams increased in order to manufacture fewer faulty as well as the quality control on the car increase, where by less time was spent checking every single part of the car.
Herzberg two-factor theory, Motivational-Hygiene factor theory was also applied at Kalmar plantation too, the theory stated, “There are hygiene factors such as job security, interpersonal relation, working conditions etc, which are dissatisfies and there are Motivators factors such as sense of achievement, responsibility, recognition etc which are satisfier”. This theory had help the company to achieve it aim by providing training, appraisal scheme and other as it was said in the report “ Instead of … of his section” and it help to identify the staff requirements like good working conditions, job security, etc and improve the environment and the facilities been provide to the staff. Herzberg two-factor theory also stated that “Money is not the only motivator but also personal needs are one of the key issues.”
Maslows Hierarchy theory was also one of the importation theories because it classified the employee needs and the reason why this was successful at Kalmar was because all the employees had already achieved the first two needs which are Physical needs; Safety needs and social needs because the pay was better and also the used to work in a team, which gave them a change to build up a relationship with the other staffs and also losing a member of the team was just like losing a key player in the team weather their job role is small are big.
All the theories help the Volvo to build up a psychological working relationship between all the different teams as well as all the different managerial levels.
Change in working conditions, pay and other benefits
This is another key issue, which helped Volvo to become successful because after the Kalmar project started the cost of running the automobile plant had decline, as stated in the report “…” and so there was a surplus, which was given to staff in terms of wages or salary and also a bit of that surplus was invested in the plantation to improve the working condition and even the junior staff didn’t mind paying 40% tax which was as stated in the report “…”. And also Herzberg two-factor theory was applied in this situation with good working condition in order to make full use of the labour.
Change in management style
Democratic Management style is one of most frequent style exercised today in all the organisations, because it give a chance to the organisation to get different view from people and the organisation might find some talented staff who might be appropriate for the job i.e. manager, although the senior management still have the last say in the organisation. This management style might also be a disadvantage because the decision might not be in favour of staff and staffs might sense that their views are not considered in mind and end up going on a strike or retiring from the job. Therefore this management style can be a benefit as well as unbeneficial.
Changes in Communication flow
Volvo used to communicate in a circle pattern in the organisation but the form of communication used was not appropriate i.e. excess information was passed on to the junior staff, which led to unnecessary provided top the junior staffs. In order to tackle this issue Volvo introduces new ways of communication at Kalmar’s, and also provide staff with training on how to operate the new system for example.
This is another changes made by Volvo, is the way they communicate. For instant each team has their own VDU at Kalmar’s, which displays the quality and deliveries level and also managers can communicate with each teams with the VDU. For example all the staffs could check their bonus pay on the VDU at anytime.
Another way Volvo communicate with staffs is through emails, whereby staff received emails from the team leaders about the performance of the Kalmar’s plantation and if the organisation is meeting its target or not. The information provided to the staff was in brief and not too detailed which means the team leaders are using their interpersonal skills efficiently.
Volvo also decided to use different approaches to tackle the problem and they are as follows:
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Appraisal interview so the manager can discuss with sub coordination about the job performance and career prospects and provide them with individual feedback.
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Regular Staff meetings in order to discuss how the team has progressed and what the team has achieved and provide the team with feedback the overall performance and what else is required to achieve the team target.
Good communication is essential in a company like Volvo to achieve the company’s objectives. The communication needed to be upwards and downwards. By Volvo changing their communication channels, enabled information to be passed effectively.
Introduction of temporary jobs of the School leavers
Volvo used very good techniques by introducing temporary jobs for the school leaver because the population of the working was on the edge to declining as well as to attract more school leavers to join the manufacturing industry in the future prospects. This technique also benefits the local community around because it created more job opportunities for the people around the local area.
Section C
Conclusion
It is difficult to come to a firm conclusion, not only does Volvo working practices/job design cancel each other out but also implies that Dickson and Sons should adopt Volvo approach to job design because Volvo techniques has benefit staffs and has also brought in different techniques in treating their staff and motivating them as well.
Also with the use of different motivational theories, this will help Dickens and Sons in adopting this approach and using it with their own staff as well. Based on my report Dickens and Sons should also adopt Volvo approach and put it into practices especially job rotation and job enrichment, this will help staff to get more interested in their job and more valued, recognised and feel as part of the teams.
Recommendation
I will recommend Dickson and Sons to adopt the system for various reason and they are as follows:
- For a start it will improve the communication between all different levels of management and also communication will much more efficiently and much more easily as well as frequently.
- Working in teams or groups will also improve staff performance; increase productivity and also the relation between the colleagues. Working in teams will also help to improve the communication between different management levels.
- Autocratic management style also plays a major part in the developing the Kalmar plantation because it has given a chance to the staff to have a say, it also help Volvo to find out what the staff think about and what training is required by the staff.
- Change in the job description also helped the organisation to use the staff employed more efficient and make the tasks more interesting by the help of the motivation techniques. It also help to keep the cost at the minimum levels.
Section D
Winfield, P (2000), Core Management for HR Students & Practitioners, Financail Times, Oxford.
Beardwell, I & Holden, L, Human resource Management a Contemporary approach, Longman Group Ltd, Essex.
Mullins, L, Management and organisational behaviour, Financial Times, Essex.
Hollinshead, G & Leat, M, Human resource Management, Pitman Publisher, London
Marchington, M & Wilkinson, A, People Management and Development, Cipd, London
Appendix 1
