Improving Organization Performance Through Simulation

A corporate situation; lackluster in employee productivity in a sales department

Simulation is a process of imitating business process and state of affairs. This process entails representing core behaviors of an abstract system. The objective of simulation is to model business process systems, which are mainly under humans to help improver their functionality. Optimizing the performance of the human systems enables corporations to achieve good output from workers. This helps the company to achieve profitability (Cascio, 1993).

This process achieves its desired results through acquisitions of sources of relevant information about how core business processes can be improved. Generally, behaviors, simplification of approximations and validity of incentives related to improving the business process are introduced to the system. This helps initiate a process of replicating the same on the system to acquire improved results.

Virtual workplaces have become essential in modern business process. Productivity in sales department has slumped. The slump is related to the context of attitudes towards management principals. Employees working directly under their bosses and managers have shown lackluster. Their ability to make strategic strides towards making gains in sales and marketing products has significantly failed. While the working environment seems to provide almost everything the employee requires, the management principals elicit emotions that limit employee’s ability to become productive and objective (Cascio, 1993)

Traditional workplace setups have been reputed for their ability to elicit mistrust, cultural clashes, and isolation. Sales and marketing departments are tasked to find methods of attracting customers. It is also their role to sell. However, these processes are hindered considerably by workplace situations as mentioned above. Clashes with superiors, poor supervision and constant checks by superiors have been cited as core causes of employee redundancy especially in sales and marketing departments.

Business models today are investing heavily on customer relationship management to tap in more sales. However, the supervision and the environment the workplace proffers limit sales people from maximizing their output. Their sales techniques might be out of favor with system. Supervisors and managers often clash with these employees in the manner which they represent the company and make sales (Cascio, 1993). This makes it difficult for employee productivity to grow. In most cases, these management principals trim the productivity.

Recommendations to this situation

Employee productivity comes through motivation. However, many modern business models have invested enough on employee productivity through pay packages and incentives that are attractive enough. Unfortunately, this does not pay off as desired. The poor productivity in sales and marketing departments is a problem resulting from workplace processes and environment. To address this, multiple approaches are needed to simulate the human systems and influence positively. Virtual work places provide unique business platforms.

In this scenario, the sales and marketing infrastructure and workplace environment is contributing negatively to sales and marketing executives’ productivity. A virtual workplace will provide a new infrastructure for sales and marketing processes. This will be the new platform for performing real-time sales and marketing. According to Cascio (2000), virtual workplaces in which employee work remotely from each other and managers are sound business processes platforms.

Virtual workplaces are dynamic platforms, which provide the employee with the freedom to implement his marketing incentive. The employee goes about his objective without worrying about company policy and managers attitudes towards a marketing approach. What changes in the management and supervision approaches is that, the managers supervise for results. How the employee makes a sale or approaches consumers is not the supervisors concern.

However, managers have downplayed the need for virtual workplaces. Managers are worrying about how they will manage sales and marketing executives if they cannot see them. This is a management challenge. Nevertheless, the core objective of virtual workplace is to change management focus from supervisory roles, which are time-based to results based management system.

Another challenge on management is that, management positions are viewed skeptically by company heads. Nevertheless, the core objective of the virtual workplace is to maximize sales and achieve profitability. This pits the challenges the management structure of the company as not an issue. Companies like IBM have projected increased sales in growth after putting their employees on virtual workplaces (Cascio, 1993).

The reason why virtual workplaces will provide the concise solution to the sales and marketing department redundancy is that, management and workplace policies will not affect the employee focus on his role as a marketer. Virtual workplaces proffer both infrastructures to perform the business process. It also provides freedom to try new marketing and sales approaches without necessary requesting permission from managers. Clashes with work mates, managers and company policies are removed. This leads to creation of more time to implement more sales and marketing strategies. The employee is aware of the fact that, the management is only measuring his performance through the results.

Employee productivity will be realized through this approach. Improved customer service is realized through this process. The employee works hard to identify new markets and emerging markets. He idealizes the marketing stratagem that will suffice to attract consumers and eventually make a sale. The virtual workplace platform has become a reality in today’s corporate world.

The setup of these dynamic workplaces is unique. In the current situation, the company is a macro-level business. A team of sales and marketing experts are working together to realize a common goal of sales, long-term profitability and consistent business processes that will help the company grow. This objective is the sales and marketing project, which is not performing. The virtual workplace will provide the infrastructure to implement the objectives of this macro-organization. Other business reasons for virtual workplace are to improve customer service. More sales people are implementing customer relationships management concepts to tap in new markets and engage consumers on real-time sales through virtual workplaces and the infrastructure available.

Results of this simulation

The core objective of this simulation was to achieve optimal sales and marketing. The simulation process takes about a month and the results are measured at the second month through results. I regards to employee productivity, more sales have been realized through virtual workplaces. In fact, improvement of some leading sales people went up by up to 45%.

Higher profits have come because of improved employee productivity. The company has realized more profits than ever. On average, the company realized doubled profits per employee after rolling out the virtual workplace arrangement.

Better customer service has been realized. Employees have been able to focus well on their roles as sales people. They are not under pressure to manage time and productivity, but on what they deliver. The results are what are truly profound in virtual workplace schedules.

Reduced cost of operations has been cited as a core advantage and gain. Employees working virtually have reduced expenditure. This helps them save a lot. Companies are saving more through minimal expenditure on office space, and daily maintenance fees.

Workplace stressors are overrun by the new working platform. Employees are not stressed anymore. This ensures that, their physiological well-being improves. The stress coming from the workplace is turned into success. Employees feel comfortable working away from stressors like bad bosses and the workplace tension brought by supervisors and managers.

Summary

Theories

Productive behavior in organizations is important. Organizations simulate their employees with innovation. Innovation provides room for innovative behavior. Creativity and innovative behavior are vital. They are the basis of productivity. According to the Maslow theory of simulation, the significance of human work helps banish boredom, vice and poverty. Theory Z by Abraham Maslow is evident at work. The resolution to the sales and marketing problem is based on this context.

The virtual employee is not bored; he is focused achieving his objective. However, Douglas McGregor’s theory Y is also a core factor. The virtual workplace provides and infrastructure for self-development and motivation (McGregor, 2009). These are key concepts in the Theory ‘X’ of Macgregor. A virtual workplace provides the sales and marketing executive freedom to perform difficult and challenging tasks by him. The role of the manager as the supervisor and mentor of employee productivity through policy is reduced to supervising and managing employees’ productivity and performance through results.

How knowledge on human behavior can help enhance relationships in the workplace

According to Jex and Britt, managers have a role to identify and create an environment that employees will be able to be productive. Employee whose characteristics are indicative of his ability to engage in innovative behavior is important. These along with macro-influences are essential in nurturing innovation processes in the work place. Relationships in workplace are vital in making the organization realize relative innovations (Jex, Britt, 2008) characters of employee’s helps managers forge teams and teamwork environment.

Individual characteristics and attributes influence an organization in the macro-level. At the macro-level, these attributes encourage development and adoption of innovation. This helps employees coexist well with the managers and other employees.

How can organizations reduce stressors in the workplace?

Alternative workplace environment that provides support and motivation to an employee is ideal. This environment promotes employee productiveness. Managers, especially human resource manager have a task to foresee implementation of policies, which can help employees perform their duties without being under duress. To reduce workplace stress, organizations should adopt new technologies to separate employees and workplace regulations. Employees who are working to meet objectives and set goals are doing better than those have to work on the same thing day in day out. Manager’s role is to supervise and foresee employee’s productivity and time management. If employees are left to manage their time, they become productive and develop skills like time management skills. Employees are also able to do self-development.

They work hard to meet targets and get results through innovation. This is because; they are not under stress or pressure. Building teams provides an important platform for improving productivity. Teamwork helps employees share roles and incorporate individual ideas and efforts to solve a problem or meet an objective. Another way stress at workplace can be reduced is to build virtual workplaces. Virtual workplaces provide infrastructure to reach as many clients as possible through innovation and personal efforts. Stressed employees will fail to address their problems and gradually become unproductive. Virtual workplaces reduce workplace stress, limit supervision and at the same time increase employee productivity

References

Cascio, Wayne. (1993). Managing a virtual workplace. The Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 14(No. 3). Web.

Jex, Britt. (2008). Organization Psychology: A scientist-Practitioner Approach. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

McGregor Douglas (2009). Human Relations Contributors. Web.