Research on Workplace Practices
Workplace efficiency is paramount for the success of any business venture. However, not all companies ensure employees perform their duties effortlessly and with the least waste of time and recourses. Furthermore, the absence of effective communication and teamwork practices and support structures for staff can lead to high turnover rates, absenteeism, and, consequently, poor company performance. The following research focuses on the effective practices and support systems that can inform the workplace practices in Century Ltd.
Communication Practices
Strong communication practices, policies, and procedures in the workplace translate into the employees being more efficient due to having a clear understanding of their tasks and day-to-day duties. In addition, communication policies help protect sensitive company information and foster positive relationships in the workplace. For example, Google prohibits its employees from discussing polarizing political topics to avoid division and expects them to treat everyone with respect (Bastone, 2019). Furthermore, company policy forbids the discussion of ongoing projects to prevent their misrepresentation among employees and the public (Bastone, 2019). These policies and practices ensure the company has a high employee retention rate and is one of the most recognizable businesses in the world.
Teamwork Practices and Leadership
Google also achieves retention through careful teamwork practices and effective leadership. Most of the employees in Google work in teams, with the corporation embracing remote working practices. According to Akorede (2018), the company ensures every team communicates and cooperates through a content hub and team collaboration platform to ensure all data is centralized and available to each team member. These hubs and platforms allow for managers to oversee their teams and task completion for each employee. Furthermore, Google managers utilize the transformational leadership style by coaching and supporting their teams in their career development (Mautz, 2020). Overall, Google encourages managers to guide their teams and avoid micromanaging their tasks.
Support Structures
Google staff are supported throughout their tenure with the venture by a variety of policies. Thus, the company’s communication policies ensure that all employees are respected and not discriminated against in day-to-day interactions (Bastone, 2019). The company’s human resources (HR) department provides that employees’ proposals are heard and discussed and offers every person projects interested in and can excel at (Pratap, 2017). Furthermore, all workers are offered different benefits to inspire motivation and innovation (Pratap, 2017). Thus, Google achieves high retention and employee satisfaction rates by offering substantial benefits and a safe and comfortable working environment.
Report for the Managing Director of Century Ltd
Communication Practices
Effective communication in the workplace is vital for the company’s overall success. According to Tamunomiebi and John-Eke (2020), clear communication helps avoid misunderstandings in the workplace and promotes acceptance and productivity, leading to better team cohesion and consequent revenue growth. Policies such as the ban on the discussions of non-work, political, and social events topics and guidelines against harassment and bullying can substantially enhance communication within the company. Furthermore, harassment and discrimination of protected categories of employees is a federal offense under the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2021).
Thus, employers can be held responsible in court for failing to protect their employees from bullying. It should be noted that organizational structure can either impair or enhance communication. For example, centralized, complex, and highly formal structures are associated with ineffective workplace communication (Renani et al., 2017). Meanwhile, fewer managerial layers and informality as embodied by Google foster efficient communication and employee satisfaction. Overall, clear communication guidelines and policies should be established for the company to increase staff productivity.
Teamwork Practices
Teamwork is essential for the development of any business venture. It offers personal and professional growth opportunities for the team members through exposure to different opinions and experiences of colleagues (Tripathy, 2018). According to Bruce Tuckman’s teamwork theory, potential benefits for the company include increased productivity, efficiency, innovation, and, as a result, revenue (Tripathy, 2018).
The discussed advantages are evident in Google, as it is consistently ranked as one the largest and most successful organizations in the United States. Nevertheless, teams may fail to meet their objectives if the working styles of the members are incompatible and due to disputes (Tripathy, 2018). Therefore, it is imperative for team leaders to manage their teams in order to avoid conflicts. Transformational leadership can help managers effectively mediate communication in the team and improve productivity (Suwandana, 2019). For example, transformational leaders create a safe environment for all employees, ensuring their concerns are heard and respected. Overall, this style of leadership contributes to effective teamwork and the success of the organization.
Remote Working
Remote working presents unique opportunities and challenges for business ventures. Technological progress allows employees to work and connect with co-workers from any corner of the world. However, remote work may be challenging for large teams as communication and collaboration may be impaired by different working styles, time zones, and lack of team building. Changes in the working environment can lead to managers introducing additional control measures and employees feeling demotivated (Delfino & Van der Kolk, 2021).
Remote work practices may include online video meetings, chats, and shared workspaces and content hubs. For example, Google actively employs the latter to ensure all team members can access relevant, up-to-date information on their projects. Different leadership styles can be applied to remote work, including transformative and participatory leadership. These leadership styles are appropriate for remote working as they increase productivity, with participatory management style leading to an enhanced affective commitment to the company (Rogiest et al., 2018). Thus, by supporting employees and including them in the decision-making process in remote work, the company is likely to increase their commitment and productivity.
Support Structures
Regardless of the working environment, in-office or remote, managers and the HR department should support the employees and ensure they feel safe in the workplace. The HR department should instill clear policies against harassment, bullying, and discrimination in the workplace and offer communication channels for staff to voice their concerns. All workplace policies, procedures, and practices should be well defined to avoid misinterpretations, afford support for employees, and clearly outline implications of noncompliance.
Effective workplace policies against harassment and bullying should comply with the current legislation and be explained to all employees. According to Zheng (2020), efficient practices and procedures should be individualized as workers may experience different issues both in the workplace and outside. Overall, team leaders and the HR departments should ensure open communication channels for employees and swift follow-through.
Recommendations
In summary, Century Ltd. is recommended to implement several changes to increase workplace productivity, employee retention, and satisfaction. The company is advised to establish open communication channels between staff and the HR department and train HR personnel to process expressed concerns and complaints. The company’s managers should undergo a training seminar and adopt transformational and participatory leadership styles to promote employee productivity and collaboration. Furthermore, staff should be offered support through flexible working arrangements and remote work to avoid absenteeism and boost morale.
References
Akorede, S. (2018). Three things to learn from Google’s workplace culture. Entrepreneur. Web.
Bastone, N. (2019). Google’s new community guidelines tell employees not to talk politics on internal forums or bad mouth projects without ‘good information’. Business Insider. Web.
Delfino, G. F., & Van der Kolk, B. (2021). Remote working, management control changes and employee responses during the COVID-19 crisis. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 34(6), 1–12. Web.
Mautz, S. (2020). Google tried to prove managers don’t matter. Instead, it discovered 10 traits of the very best ones. Business Insider. Web.
Pratap, A. (2017). Human resource management at Google: A case study. notesmatic. Web.
Renani, G. A., Ghaderi, B., & Mahmoudi, O. (2017). The impact of organizational structure on the effectiveness of communication from the perspective of employees in the department of education. International Journal of Management, Accounting and Economics, 4(10), 989–1001.
Rogiest, S., Segers, J., & Van Witteloostuijn, A. (2018). Matchmaking in organizational change: Does every employee value participatory leadership? An empirical study. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 34(1), 1–8. Web.
Suwandana, I. G. (2019). Role of transformational leadership mediation: Effect of emotional and communication intelligence towards teamwork effectiveness. International research journal of management, IT and social sciences, 6(2), 52–62. Web.
Tamunomiebi, M. D., & John-Eke, E. C. (2020). Workplace diversity: Emerging issues in contemporary reviews. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(2), 256–265. Web.
Tripathy, M. (2018). Building quality teamwork to achieve excellence in business organizations. International Research Journal of Management, IT & Social Sciences, 5(3), 1–7.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2021). Laws enforced by EEOC. Web.
Zheng, W. (2020). 5 strategies to support your employees through a crisis. Harvard Business Review. Web.