Organizational Communication

Organizational theoretical orientations are perspectives used by employees and other stakeholders to regard work and related organizational processes. Organizational orientation is significant in its ability to achieve and sustain its competitiveness. Some of the organizational theoretical orientations include human relations, human resources, systems, classical management, critical, and cultural. It is important to highlight that a company can have an organizational orientation with integrations of more than one theory. This research paper will be based on a human resources theoretical orientation as it was used at a hotel in Hong Kong where I worked as a waiter. The paper will present a literature review on the orientation, provide work experiences to illustrate its use, and present a literature review on the leadership concept and its examples based on my work experience.

Human Resources Organizational Orientation Theory

The human resources theory is one of the major humanistic organizational orientation theories. According to the theory, an organization’s processes, business, and activities should be based on a high regard for human resources. Besides, the theory holds that an organization is more efficient, competitive, and more successful if respects human resources in its organizational management. Thus, it can be acknowledged that the human resources organizational orientation theory is in line with the modern notion of organizational management where employees are regarded to be some of the key assets to an organization (Tiwari & Saxena, 2012). According to this organizational orientation theory, people provide an organization with immense potential to succeed. Consequently, an organization that cares for its human resources strives to attain the best human capacity from the labor market and, in turn, provide the personnel with a conducive environment that gives them an opportunity to perform optimally.

The human resources theory also emphasizes that decision-making is best when employees who are directly affected by the eminent consequences of the decision are involved in the decision-making process (Eisenberg & Goodall, 2004). Employees perform best when they have control over work processes that they are responsible for. The theory also highlights the importance of their involvement in decision-making processes affecting work. The theory also demonstrates the importance of employee satisfaction with working performance. According to the orientation theory, organizational management should develop strategies aimed at enhancing employee satisfaction that ultimately has an impact on the organizational success (Lengnick-Hall, Beck, & Lengnick-Hall, 2011).

Relationship Between Human Resources Theory and Personal Work Experiences

Relating the human resources organizational orientation theory with my previous work experience, it can be acknowledged that the hotel that I worked at back in Hong Kong had incorporated the key concepts of the theory in its organizational and management structure. The hotel was located close to Hong Kong’s industrial area, and it offered breakfast, lunch, and supper as well as snacks and beverages between meals. Additionally, it served as a marketing and sales center for its subsidiary company that provided hotel and accommodation services. As the hotel belongs to the service industry, it was important that it provided good customer service in order to ensure that it achieved competitiveness and could ultimately sustain it. Thus, it can be argued that the integration of human resources organizational orientation theory in its corporate and business strategy enabled it to make strategic partners out of its human resources (Wright & McMahan, 2011).

The first illustration of human resources organizational orientation at the hotel was illustrated by the hotel’s recruitment and selection strategy. The hotel made use of an e-recruitment portal that was hosted by one of the largest recruitment agencies in Japan to source for talented and competent employees from the labor market. Through the hotel’s human resource management department, suitable candidates that matched the hotel’s human resource needs and also exhibiting zeal, creativity, talents, skills, and experiences. Human resources were perceived to be a pool of vast resources that provided the hotel with the immeasurable organizational capacity to achieve competitiveness. Going through the recruitment and selection exercise was a great experience. The human resources manager emphasized the need for employees who had the capacity to meet the hotel’s different requirements. Subsequent human resources management at the hotel provided a platform for employees to develop and experiment with new ideas on recipes, product development, and management that would further enhance the hotel’s capacity to compete effectively. The great customer relationship management system and the diverse menu that served the workforce of multiethnic employees working in the industrial area were core competencies of the hotel, which can be attributed to its ability to source and exploit talents in the labor market.

The hotel management also gave employees a chance to make decisions related to their respective work stations. On this point, it is important to highlight that the service industry requires that employees and the other relevant stakeholders embrace contingent management approaches that enable them to develop strategies that are best placed to address issues that arise in the dynamic industry. With the need to provide customers with exceptional experiences and challenges associated with meeting the needs of a diverse market, there is always a need for employees to have the ability and opportunity to make quick decisions that are aimed at enhancing the customer experience. With this knowledge, the hotel gave the employees a chance to make decisions within the organization’s service policy to satisfy the customers. For example, I could take orders from regular customers over my official line and book orders (accommodation or special delicacies) in advance. Additionally, employee opinions were sought when the hotel wanted to upgrade some of its facilities and reengineer its business processes as a part of continuous improvement.

The human resources and organizational management at the hotel were also aligned with the human resources organizational orientation theory. The hotel was focused on providing employees with a conducive environment that enhanced their performance and efficiency. This was achieved through the creation of an inclusive work environment that provided all stakeholders with an equal opportunity to succeed in their jobs. The workforce was comprised of employees from a diverse background, a factor that enhanced the hotel’s ability to satisfy the needs of its diverse customers. The hotel also had an employee motivation program, where best performers, according to management and customer feedback, were rewarded every four months. I once received the ‘waiter of the year’ reward, which made me feel appreciated and motivated to work at the hotel. The employee motivation strategy is based on the fact that motivated employees perform better than less motivated employees.

Lastly, the hotel emphasized on the importance of the interrelation between people and tasks as per Blake and Mouton’s managerial grid human resources theory. With an appropriate work design that provided employees with an opportunity to experiment with their ideas in their work, the hotel was able to exploit the human resources capacity by aligning it to the tasks required to make work at the organization a success. The emphasis of a high degree of individual commitment to personal work, accountability based on trust as opposed to obedience, healthy relationships between employees, and high regard for employee self-esteem were key objectives that were achieved by the human resources management. This was in a bid to align the workforce to the diverse work-related tasks at the hotel.

Leadership

Leadership is one of the major determinants of organizational success (Vaccaro, Jansen, Van Den Bosch, & Volberda, 2012). Ideally, an organization that has effective leadership is more successful than an organization that does not have one. Effective leadership is a source of organizational vision and direction. Good leaders provide an organization with the vision that is to be continually achieved in the daily running of an organization. With their knowledge, skills, and understanding of an organization, leaders give direction to their subjects by consulting them on how to cope with the arising issues from time to time. To ensure that an organization is able to exploit the potential of its human capacity, leaders play the critical function of coaching and mentoring their subjects. Coaching and mentoring are aimed at identifying employees’ strengths and developing them as well as identifying weaknesses and empowering workers to overcome them (Garvey, Stokes, & Megginson, 2014). As such, mentoring and coaching is an employee empowerment program aimed at getting strategic partners out of human resources (Wright & McMahan, 2011).

Through the use of various leadership skills, leaders are also able to enhance the performance of their organization by motivating their employees. This is in line with the fact that a motivated workforce is more productive than less motivated. Leaders also play a critical role in shaping, developing, and sustaining organizational culture. With the need for organizational branding in a bid to create customer loyalty and sustainability in a competitive business environment, leaders have the responsibility of providing companies with identity.

Lastly, leaders provide management functions in an organization. The need for planning, control, organizing, and directing necessitate the need for leaders to have good management skills that collectively ensure that their companies achieve their business and corporate objectives (Conkright, 2015). However, leadership is not the only determinant of organizational success. As such, it is not the sole answer to organizational competitiveness hence the need for a holistic approach in developing strategies aimed at enhancing organizational competitiveness.

Leadership and Personal Workplace Experiences

The hotel that I worked at back in Hong Kong was a wonderful place. The hotel’s management appreciated the importance of effective leadership in sustaining competitiveness. Soon after passing a rigorous recruitment and selection exercise, I was introduced into the organization by the hotel manager who later becomes my personal life and career mentor and coach. The manager gave me insight into a typical working day at the hotel and the challenges that I expected to get. Through his guidance, I was able to develop my skills in line with the work-related needs at the hotel. Besides, I was able to receive ‘the waiter of the year’ award.

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My first few days were hectic. I was handling multiple orders, and acquainting myself with the menu and customer requests almost made me discouraged. However, the hotel manager was good at motivating employees. He would call me to his office and tell me about his earlier experiences during his first career days. Through the empathetic approach, the manager could understand my perspective on the working process, and afterward, he recommended how I can overcome all difficulties. Talking to my peers, I realized that the manager had motivated most of them some time in their personal and career lives. As such, it can be acknowledged that the manager was a good leader who had developed good employee motivation skills. Lastly, it is worth noting that the manager also provided a good opportunity for the employees for their personal and career growth. Through his strategic approach aimed at tapping the inherent potential and talents in the workforce, he was able to encourage organizational innovation and creativity. On this point, I can argue that the manager was a good leader who had been able to tap into the inherent powers of organizational leadership in steering organizational success.

Summary

From this paper, it can be concluded that the human resources theory and leadership are effective in enhancing the competitiveness and success of the hotel that I worked at back in Hong Kong. The human resources organizational orientation theory is based on high regard and value for human resources in an organization. The theory enables companies to make strategic partners out of their human resources, which is a key source of organizational competitiveness as human resources are regarded to be some of the key assets to an organization. On the other hand, leadership is a source of organizational vision. It was argued that effective leadership skills enhance an organization’s chances to achieve and surpass their organizational objectives. Through the reflection of the two concepts with respect to the Hong Kong hotel, it can be argued that the human resources organizational orientation theory and leadership concept have been effective in enhancing the hotel’s competitiveness and sustainability.