UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND
Administrative Leadership – Special Study
Administrative Experience Report
Title:
Name
Supervisor
Abstract
The increase in the change of lifestyle of many employees nowadays has increased the number of stress-related illnesses that contributes to the malfunction and dysfunction of many individuals. Stress-related illnesses contribute much to the change in lifestyles, which somehow affects the productivity and empowerment of employees in the workplace setting. In this regard, the importance of having recreational activities in the organization is important, being an outlet and diversion from the stress and problems associated with work and personal life.
This paper aims to provide information on the importance and relation of recreational activities to motivation in the workplace environment. The different problems associated with non-participation of employees in recreational activities were identified, along with the number of strategies and concepts related to such cause. The data relevant to the objectives of the study were obtained using a survey that was done during visits and coordination with the organization concerned. The collected data were analyzed and evaluated, thus, producing sufficient information for recommendation and conclusion.
Table of Contents
Title Page 1
Abstract 2
Table of Contents 3
Acknowledgement 5
1. Introduction 6
1.1 Background of the Organization 6
1.2 Situation Confronted 7
1.3 Objective of the Project 8
1.4 Alternative Strategies 8
1.5 Critique of Alternative Strategies 9
1.6 Implementation Summary 14
2. Literature Review 16
2.1 Need for Recreational Activities 16
2.2 Types of Recreational Activities 16
2.3 Communicating the Benefits of Recreational Activities 18
2.4 Role of Recreational Activities in Motivation 20
3. Description and Implementation 22
3.1 Diary of Events 22
3.2 Analysis 27
4. Evaluation 28
4.1 Success of the Project 28
4.2 Changes in the Organization 29
4.3 Leadership Role 32
5. Conclusion 33
5.1 Success of the Project 33
5.2 Implications of the Project 33
5.3 Recommendations 34
References 36
Appendices
Appendix 1: Log Book (Consultation Visit 1) 38
Appendix 2: Log Book (Consultation Visit 2) 39
Appendix 3: Log Book (Consultation Visit 3) 40
Appendix 4: Log Book (Consultation Visit 4) 41
Appendix 5: Personal Information Questionnaire 42
Appendix 6: Survey 43
Acknowledgement
The development of this project would not be possible without the help and support of a number of individuals. First of all, I would like to thank the organization, the ABC Company, for supporting this project. I would also like to thank the time and effort of all concerned individuals, who participated in the project, including the department heads, and their employees or subordinates for taking their time to answer the questionnaires and for interviews.
I also would like to thank the presence and the help of the individuals who made this project possible, including the support of the organization and the support of the school. This project would not be possible without the help of the technical staffs, who helped me through suggestions and comments of my work and the development of my project.
Most of all, I would like to thank my project supervisor, Dr. , my unit coordinator, Mr. , and my tutor, Mr. . Without the help of these people, I would not be able to present this project and be able to have the courage to make this possible.
1. Introduction
1.1 Background of the Organization
My organization is ABC Ltd, which is the leading independent IT services and solutions company in the Asia Pacific. The company specializes in customized business solutions, including helping clients with their business plan, and building and supporting their IT infrastructures. ABC Ltd combines an expertise in networking, security IP Convergence, data center storage, Microsoft business applications and contact center technologies. These functions are done with advanced skills in consulting, integration and managed services, in its aim to generate IT solutions for businesses. In addition, being a member of the XYZ Group, the company is listed on the main board of the Singapore Exchange, and is a component company of the Straits Times Index. Its headquarters is located in Singapore, including a span of more than 50 major offices with over 1,200 employees across 13 Asia Pacific markets.
I work for ABC Ltd as an Executive Secretary to senior executives, or I am commonly called as the Office Administrator. The general aspects of my job cover all areas of the secretarial and administrative function, and include scheduling of appointments, coordinating meetings, conferences and business travel arrangements, and organizing functions for the regional office internally and externally. In addition, my duties also include organizing staff recreation activities. The aim of such activities is to give employees a break from daily work and help them try to relax.
1.2 Situation Confronted
Lately, most of the employees of ABC Company shows lack of interest and motivation when it comes to their jobs. Many employees show low morale and exhibit a poor quality of work. Although they finish their tasks on time, their work seems to have many mistakes. In addition, many employees seem to have a lot of complaints in terms of their job, saying that their work is too difficult or tedious. Many employees also complain of having similar and tiring jobs.
In line with my tasks as an Executive Secretary, I am responsible for organizing recreation events to employees of the company. However, the problem currently experienced in organizing staff recreation is the conflict when the staffs do not show interest in participating with the organized recreation activities. Recreation is important for employees because this is a means for motivation and in keeping them in good shape. Some of the perceived reasons include the lack of time, lack of interest of the theme of the activity, and the lack of budget for additional expenses for the activity. The employees also have complained with the schedule of recreational events. In addition, with the aging workforce that exhibits a sedentary lifestyle, it would be better to persuade them to participate in recreation activities in order to help them with their health status. However, those reasons are not sufficient enough to make employees not to participate in recreation activities. In this regard, such reasons would be explored in order to implement effective strategies that would help the company with the situation presented.
1.3 Objective of the Project
The objective of this project is to be able to work out the best strategy to identify the recreation activities that mostly appeal to the employees. This project should be done in collaboration with the human resource department to be able to survey employees on what their opinion regarding the previous recreational activities they participated in. Through this project, the creation of a recreational activity that will boost employee motivation will also be possible.
1.4 Alternative Strategies
In order to tackle the problems mentioned above, six strategies have been submitted for consideration. They are as follows:
- Holding informal staff meetings to deliberate on the best recreational activity that will not only appeal to employees but will also boost their working motivation.
- Offering benefits to recreational activity participation, to maximize the budget allotted for the activity without undermining its purpose and objectives.
- Conduct survey on employees to identify the recreational activities they mostly prefer.
- Consult the head office regarding the appropriate budget for the recreational activities.
- Create a more organized way of organizing recreational activities. The employees should be well informed about the objectives of the activities and should be motivated to participate.
- Organize recreational activities that would not conflict with the time of the employees.
1.5 Critique of Alternative Strategies
Alternative 1: Holding informal staff meetings to deliberate on the best recreational activity that will not only appeal to employees but will also boost their working motivation.
A meeting should be held once every time an organization recreation event is drawing near. The meeting should be able to produce a possible recreational event that would not only help relax and entertain employees, but would also boost their working motivation. For this matter, the attendants of the meeting should deliberate on which recreational event should be used, present options and choose the best one from those options. Motivational theories could be explored. The recreational activities should have a motivational theme that is derived from existing motivational theories. It should take the three assumptions in motivation into consideration. The first assumption assumes that motivation is inferred from a systematic analysis of how personal, task and environmental characteristics influence behavior and job performance (, 1997). The second assumption states that motivation is not a fixed trait, but rather refers to a dynamic internal state resulting from the influence of personal and situational factors. This means that motivation may change with changes in personal, social or other factors (, 1997). Finally, the third assumption states that motivation affects behavior, rather than performance (, 1995; , 1997). Wiley explained that, initiatives designed to enhance job performance by increasing employee motivation may not be successful if there is a weak link between job performance and an employee’s efforts ().
Alternative 2: Offering benefits to recreational activity participation, to maximize the budget allotted for the activity without undermining its purpose and objectives.
In the motivation of employees to participate in recreational activities, it is very important to always inform them that such activities would provide them with a variety of benefits. Benefits would include the maintenance of a healthy body, having a healthy diet, maintaining a sound mind, sustaining a healthy metabolic function, and the decrease in the risk of having cardiovascular diseases. In addition, being physically active would also help employees to become more motivated and active in terms of their work in the organization. In this regard, participating in recreational activities would increase both the mental and physical activities of employees, which would help increase the interest and vigor of employees, including their performance in the organization. If the management would be able to emphasize on these benefits, then employees would realize the importance of having recreational activities as part of the working life.
Alternative 3: Conduct survey on employees to identify the recreational activities they mostly prefer.
A structured questionnaire will be constructed. The questionnaire should contain items that would identify which type of recreational activities the employees prefer and on what schedule the activities are convenient. This survey-questionnaire will have two sections. The first part will intend to acquire the demographic profile of the respondents, while the second part will contain a set of attitude statements. The purpose of the set of attitude statements is to determine the level of agreement or disagreement using a five-point Likert scale. In the Likert technique, the degree of agreement or disagreement is given a numerical value ranging from one to five, thus a total numerical value can be calculated from all the responses (, 2004). The survey method may also be the best possible method among other methods. The weighted mean and percentage for each item will be analyzed using statistical software such as the SPSS. This will greatly help in identifying the preferences of employees in recreational activities. By knowing these, the company can design more effective recreational activities, which can be both fun and motivating.
Alternative 4: Consult the head office regarding the appropriate budget for the recreational activities.
To be able to come up with appropriate recreational activities for the employees, it would be helpful to consult first the head office to make sure that the budget allotted for such activities would be enough to accommodate all the employees of the organization. Sufficient budget is needed for such activities because recreational activities involve a variety of events that would require the support of individuals outside the organization. The company can opt to organize events, including ballroom dancing, which would require dance instructors; aerobics, which would require aerobics instructors, and many more activities. Aside from such activities, the organization can also opt for out-of-town activities that would require enough budgets. As such, financial resources are needed for organizing recreational activities.
Alternative 5: Create a more organized way of organizing recreational activities. The employees should be well informed about the objectives of the activities and should be motivated to participate.
To be able to do effectively organize recreational activities, it would be best to inform the employees regarding the upcoming activities. This can be done through memos or through meeting or forums with the employees. Informing the employees of the activities would respect their right to information, thus, providing them with enough time to clear their schedules and attend the activities. Aside from forums, meetings, and memos, the organization can also inform their employees regarding the upcoming recreational activities through emails, through notes in bulletin boards, and through word-of-mouth. In such means of information, the exact event and the persons involved must be written to ensure that all the employees would have relevant information regarding the events.
Alternative 6: Organize recreational activities that would not conflict with the time of the employees.
In organizing recreational activities, the organization must be able to organize all the schedules of employees to be able to allow them to participate effectively in the activities. The primary reason of employees is the lack of time or the conflict of the activities with their schedules, thus, in this regard; they have the reason not to attend such activities. For this reason, the organization can come up with activities twice in a definite period to make sure that the employees would have an option to attend either the first schedule of the activity or the second one. Aside from this, the organization can also opt to coordinate with the team leaders or department heads of the organization to determine the schedules of the employees. The department heads know the schedule of their employees, including their workloads. As an Executive Secretary, coordination with department heads would enable me to know their vacant and available time, even the nature of their work, which would be relevant information for designing appropriate recreational activities for the employees.
From the list of alternatives, the chosen strategy would be to conduct a survey, which would identify the preferred recreational activities of employees.
1.6 Implementation Summary
The following actions will be taken in order to obtain relevant and credible information in support of the survey that will be done:
- Preparation before implementation;
- Determining the need for recreational activities in organization;
- Determining the types of recreational activities suitable for the organization;
- Communicating the benefits of having recreational activities;
- Developing strategies for motivating participation in recreational activities;
- Creating and designing recreational activities;
- Implementation of the chosen recreational activities;
- Monitoring and redesigning of recreational activities
2. Literature Review
2.1 Need for Recreational Activities
It has been determined that physical activity including participation in recreational activities has been considered to be valuable tools in preventing a variety of problems in the workplace. The underlying presumption that social outcomes were influenced by recreation, and that recreational activities could be used as a control mechanism for behavior was evident in many of the early theories of recreation activities in countries, such as Canada and the United States. In addition, physical activity and recreation have also been shown to influence behavioral patterns and in preventing or reducing risk of diseases and malfunction (“”, 2007). As such, the need for the participation of employees in a number of recreational activities must be supported in order to lessen the negative impact of a number of problems, such as low productivity, low morale, low motivation, and lack of interest in work.
2.2 Types of Recreational Activities
A survey was conducted to be able to have relevant information on the different recreational activities preferred by the employees of the ABC Ltd. The survey aimed at determining what kind of recreational activities are preferred by the employees, which will become the basis of my plan or strategy as an Executive Secretary. From the survey, ten types of recreational activities are commonly preferred by employees, namely, walking, going to the gym or attending aerobics classes, playing golf, camping, swimming, jogging or running, bicycling, dancing, reading, and gardening. However, some of these activities cannot be done inside the premises of the organization and cannot be done while at work. In this regard, the organization may have a number of problems in terms of implementing a common recreational activity that would coordinate even the wants and the needs of its employees. Considering such reasons, it would be hard to come up with a common activity that would induce coordination and cooperation among the employees.
It has been reported that people have many reasons for taking part in recreational activities, and among them, five most common reasons have been considered. The primary reason is for physical health or exercise. The second reason is for pleasure or simply just for enjoyment. The third reason is to enjoy nature. The fourth reason is to relax and to have ample rest, and the last reason is to enjoy the company of one’s family (“”, 2007). In this regard, these reasons have to be taken note of and put in mind in order to create a particular recreational activity or activities that would suit the reasons given by the employees of the organization. Given these reasons, the types of recreational activities that must be implemented in the organization must involve cardiovascular exercises, such as aerobics, jogging, dancing, and sports activities like badminton, volleyball, table tennis, and marathon. In addition, before participation in such activities, the employees must be able to know first the benefits and the importance of having recreational activities in the organization.
2.3 Communicating the Benefits of Recreational Activities
It has been emphasized in the previous discussion that effective communication is an important factor in any business organization, especially with regards to implementing new projects and policies. In relation to developing effective communication are the key principles in communication, which can be taken note of by the employees and management of ABC Company in order to function effectively and efficiently. (2005) reports of five principles of effective communication, namely, obtaining appropriate feedback, connecting with the audience, listening and understanding, putting in mind that communication is more than the surface meaning of words, and respect. Primarily, the first principle emphasizes the need for getting appropriate feedback from a listener, as this will confirm that the person is listening with what the other person is saying, and not only hearing his or her words. Obtaining feedback not only involves listening but a thorough conversation that would involve confirming the message or information conveyed or disagreeing from the speaker.
The second principle of effective communication emphasizes the connection between the speaker and the listener, and involves addressing all the needs of the listeners. This emphasizes the fact that the speaker and the listener treat each other as partners, thus, equally treating each other with respect. Establishing a connection between the speaker and the listener is a process, as one obtains relevant information from the other. This principle is needed as it would help both the employees and the manager of ABC Company to easily work out on their relationship to be able to develop and implement the suitable leadership or management style, which would help them meet the demands of their employees. The third principle involves listening and understanding. Effectively listening to the needs of the employees would involve obtaining feedback from employees and establishing a connection with them, thus, this is only time the manager would be able to understand their needs. The manager can base his or her decisions after listening and understanding them, their situation, and their needs. Thus, proper implementation of the suitable leadership style to govern the employees of ABC Company would only be possible if its manager or owner would be able to effectively understand the needs of its employees. The fourth principle of communication is also related to the first three principles, as it emphasizes that communication is more than the surface or literal meaning of words. This involves not only listening and understanding what the speaker is saying but also becoming sensitive to his or her actions based on his actions, tone of voice, facial expressions, and gestures. The fifth principle of communication emphasizes the need for respect. The lack of respect for other individuals leads to problems not only in business organizations, but in other aspects of communications as well. Respect involves recognizing the differences, uniqueness and similarities of individuals forming the business organization, and thus, necessary in terms of building and establishing effective interrelationships. In this regard, respect for one another in the company is important, as this will provide each employee in the company the opportunity to build teamwork and establish effective communication.
2.4 Role of Recreational Activities in Motivation
Motivation is an internal state or condition that activates behavior and gives it direction or mainly the influence of needs and desires on the intensity and direction of behavior (cited in 2001). Different factors affect or influence the motivation of employees, including emotions and feelings, the visualization of a long-term goal, its reinforcements, and the obstacles that have to be overcome to reach a goal ( 2004). In addition to such factors are responsibility, achievement, recognition, advancement, and the work itself, which leads to job satisfaction ( and 2006). Thus, the achievement of such motivators becomes the core to obtain satisfaction in the working environment. One way to achieve satisfaction of employees is to improve on strategies that promote employee motivation. In this regard, the implementation of recreational activities in the workplace would effectively help employees with their motivation and job performance. Along with recreational activities, the organization can also include job rotation, job enlargement, and job enrichment. and (1997) states that with job rotation or the periodic shifting of a worker from one job to another, can put more variety and more knowledge to the job of the employees, and is very helpful in improving their performance and reducing turnover if the new job fits with their life interests. In addition, with job enlargement or increasing the number of tasks a worker performs but keeping all of the tasks at the same level of difficulty and responsibility, also adds variety to the worker’s job, and increases motivation. With job enrichment, employees would be able to have more control over their work, while planning their own work schedules, deciding how the work should be performed, setting key production and defect goals, checking their own work, and learning new skills ( and 1997). The implementation of these three strategies will be effective for each employee to have a change in perspective in doing new roles and having new responsibilities in the team. In this regard, the employees would have the freedom to choose the right job for them, along with providing themselves with new opportunities and knowledge for growth and development.
3. Description and Implementation
3.1 Diary of Events
Consultation Day 1: February 2007
During the HR interview, the HR Director pointed out that the motivation and under-performance problem of employees in the company has developed a serious crisis in terms of the productivity of employees. As such, the HR Director demanded an urgent and determined course of action to be implemented to improve the situation.
I was also able to have an interview with the company’s HR Manager, who similarly diagnosed the problem, which is related to having a number of recreational activities in the company. The HR Manager initiated a change program, which involves the addition of recreational activities for the employees. The HR Manager teamed with two HR Associates to form a task force with the responsibilities for understanding the negative effects of the problem, which would allow them to formulate a comprehensive strategy in reducing or eliminating the problem.
Consultation Day 2: March 2007
The formed task force had a meeting last May 20, 2007 in order to discuss the purpose of the group, which would address the issue of the lack of recreational activities. The HR Manager, along with the two supervisors attended the meeting.
Initially, at the meeting, the officers agreed of their observation of less motivated staffs and employees, becoming more stressed and with the lack of interest in their work, as time passes. They also informed one another that they have tried a number of interventions such as offering a good attendance bonus and allowing time for breaks and vacations, but they all found to be having very limited impact to the improvement of their performance.
As such, this led to the decision that a relevant questionnaire-survey and interview must be done with major purposes of understanding and quantifying the problem. The group also anticipated that the findings from the survey could be used effectively, as it can make significant contributions to the formation of an effective coping strategy in dealing with the problem. However, before the survey can be done, the officers agreed that meetings must be held with their teams or departments first for explanation and for information.
Consultation Day 3: April 2007
The task force pushed through with the survey, and with reference to careful reviews on the entire record, we have discovered a number of problems, which hinders the employees to participate recreational activities. The results are as follows:
Consultation Day 4: May 2007
. (1996) states that diagnostic activity is an important aspect that should not be neglected in any problem-solving process because it helps to identify the specific organizational problems, to guide the intervention strategy, and to provide baseline data by which to evaluate its effectiveness. As such, the company was able to do so through the survey, which was able to determine and recognize such problems in the organization.
On May 15 to 18, 2007, an anonymous questionnaire was distributed to all the employees in selected departments, namely, the operations, the technical, and the Human Resources division. This was done by means of a letter posting to the employee’s email address through the company’s information systems. Participants were invited to give their comments and suggestions on a voluntary basis on or before May 25.
In addition, a selected group of individuals, coming from all three divisions was selected for a face-to-face interview. After careful interviews of the individuals, the task force was able to collect data and wrote a complete report on all of the issues that have been identified. Based on the results, several issues of concern have been determined:
From the results of the survey and the interviews, the management has found out that recreational activities are necessary for the employees, as part of their stress management activities, and to be able to provide them time and diversion from the nature of their work.
Consultation Day 5: May 2007
As a result of the findings of the survey, the task force identified the following areas of improvement:
The task force has recognized that there have been no formal activities that have been organized in order to increase awareness and information of employees regarding the need for recreational activities. As such, the HR Manager of the organization collected the results of the survey, and promised to forward the results to the management and Human Resource team. After a week of deliberation, the Human Resource Management team came up with possible solutions to the problems of the organization, and as follows:
3.2 Analysis
As such, the organization has put on the firm’s attitude of caring for the health and the job of its employees, thus, supporting them in maintaining a healthier work-life. In practice, any policy or intervention that is implemented will be done in order to support and encourage the employees, which are valuable assets of the company. Along with this, the HR team decided to involve the help and participation of the medical team in the organization, which would also be crucial in terms of the increase of knowledge of the employees with regards to the importance of recreational activities. This was done through the arrangement of an event, sponsored by both the medical and the HR team of the organization, and focuses on the relationship of stress, job, and recreation to the overall performance of employees in the workplace setting. The event, which is a three-day convention, discussed the importance of having recreational activities in the organization, which is related to the overall job performance and motivation of employees. The talks and forums were followed by a workshop for demonstration of exercise therapy, including an open forum that provided the employees with a chance to raise their questions to speakers.
After the event, the organization decided to push through with the policy on recreational activities for job motivation, based on the interest and the participation of employees in the hosted event. As such, the company decided to incorporate recreational activities monthly, thus, fostering interaction, coordination, communication, and healthy living among the employees.
4. Evaluation
4.1 Success of the Project
Success of the strategy used lies on the fact that primarily, the company was able to utilize its in-house resources in order to increase the awareness of its employees in terms of the benefits and importance of having recreational activities in the workplace. The HR team was able to coordinate with the medical team of the organization, who became the important source of relevant information in the promotion of having a healthy lifestyle. Second, the organization did not waste its time in responding to the needs of its employees. After the determination of the problems and the needs of the employees, the organization was able to immediately come up with solutions that would be of help to the whole organization. In this regard, the organization was efficient enough to utilize its resources first, in order not to add to its operational expenses. Third, the task force managed to complete the project successfully within the time given. The development of the project was a team effort, along with the strong bond and statement of partnership and cooperation among the different personnel in different departments of the organization.
Fourth positive effect of the project that brought it success is the willingness on the part of the management to derive solutions to specific problems of the organization. The solutions helped generate and promote the corporate culture of caring for its employees as they are valued and given importance in the management of the organization. Lastly, the implementation of policies in relation to the incorporation of recreational activities in the monthly activities of employees has been successful in relation to the promotion of motivation of employees in the organization. In this regard, the employees felt more productive, satisfied, and comfortable with themselves and with their jobs. In addition, the employees felt that they are being valued by the management because their welfare and their health are given importance by the Human Resource team. In this regard, their realization would have come to mind that their cooperation and contribution matters to the total operation and productivity of the entire organization.
4.2 Changes in the Organization
The implementation of the policies and the recreational activities in the ABC Company entails a number of changes that could have been refused by its employees. Problems include the adjustments in schedules to accommodate recreational activities, the additional costs and budget for the needed activities, the need for more extensive and effective communication schemes, giving way for educational forums that focus on the importance of recreational activities for constant reminder and update of knowledge, and the different kind of approach in terms of leadership that would foster better motivation of employees. With such changes, it can be perceived that many employees would be able to have a hard time coping up with the change in schedules to accommodate personal schedules and plans. Many employees are afraid of changes, with the lack of intention to deviate from the practices and activities that they have already been used to. With these changes, a number of problems may arise.
Primarily, in conceptualizing the project, the company must be able to assess the amount of money they would be spending or needing to accomplish the project. With this, it is also essential to assess the amount of money that the company holds or possesses. These steps are crucial, for when company resources are limited; the Finance committee can make some adjustments on the budget and can even seek external help from other organizations for additional funding. Another aspect is time, which determines the period in accomplishing the project. This is important to take note of because time is dependent on the amount of money that the company will be spending to accomplish projects. The length of time to complete the project is directly proportional to the amount of money to be spent, so the increase in the timeframe would result to the increase for money spent. Every company wishes to lessen expenditures, so identifying the project’s specific timeframe would enable the company to allocate enough resources for the project. Third, the company must set their priorities, such as investing on people, by training and employee development programs to implement changes in the company. These aspects become constraints to be discussed requirements because if money, time and people become limited, then project conceptualization and implementation will be delayed, and will surely cause dilemma in the company. These constraints are interdependent from one another, and must be given adequate importance and attention when implementing projects. Fourth, the problem or limitation may arise from developing effective communication among the employees. This involves the problems such as dealing with the impetus for change. An organization will only undertake change when it can no longer meet the demands placed on it in its current mode of operation, and these demands come from customers, the problems the organization is attempting to solve, and by the threat of competition from other companies. Several difficulties can also be encountered, such as the management may lack understanding of other ways of managing the information systems function, and dealing with the invisibility of their own culture. Furthermore, errors can also be encountered and can become sources of problems in communication. There are only two reasons for errors that result in poor quality, namely, lack of knowledge and lack of attention ( 2006). In this regard, these problems can be solved through effective communication that must be facilitated by the managers and leaders of the company. Lastly, the company can encounter problems in leadership and motivation. Changes in the activities of the organization involve changes in leadership and management. Thus, in this sense, managers and leaders need new approaches in order to address new problems and new activities.
4.3 Leadership Role
I believe that I was able to adopt and exhibit a good leadership role in this project because I was able to coordinate, commit, and compete with the reality of my becoming a leader. I believe that I was able to display both my intra- and interpersonal skills, which contributed effectively to how I was able to address the problems and crises in the organization. As an Executive Secretary of the ABC Company, I was able to do my job in the office and at the same time conduct the research and evaluation of the problems present in the company, thus, making me effective in balancing both tasks. In addition, I was effective and efficient enough to function in the organization, in both addressing my work and in determining the proper things to do in order to further improve the well-being of employees and the organization as a whole.
5. Conclusion
5.1 Success of the Project
This project took over 5 months to complete. Its major purpose is to identify the recreational activities that would appeal to the employees of the ABC Company. The findings of this project suggest that the improvement and the motivation of employees involve their need to participate in recreational activities that would not only motivate employees but would also contribute to the improvement of the employees’ physical, mental and emotional performance in the workplace setting. Although the duration of this project is limited, the task force is confident that this project will achieve the promised results of improving the well-being and motivation of employees in the entire organization.
5.2 Implication of the Project
As an implication of the project, the task force will propose the same or similar program to be implemented in other divisions of the company to help motivate other employees and to constantly promote the wellness and the health of employees. The company will also promote the project to the whole organization to propel organization-wide changes that would incorporate recreational activities as part of the HR policies in order to address organizational problems in rising medical expenses, higher incidence of sickness, sedentary lifestyle, low motivation, and low productivity of employees.
5.3 Recommendations
As a recommendation, the project and the implementation of other projects would be more effective with the use of effective communication among employees, along with the use of more effective leadership. This can be done through the combination of the different styles of leadership, which would not only improve the whole department, but improve the personality of the concerned employees as well. In addition, the organization can also set goals, for the simple act of setting goals and starting to work toward them brings its own rewards, and when people get motivated, their general life satisfaction increases (as cited in , 2004). Setting goals for the whole team or department is effective, as it gives each member the sense of purpose and importance, and leads to the increase in motivation and productivity. Moreover, the organization can improve and enhance its channels of communication through the use of an advanced information system or through memos and emails, which can help each member of the organization to access relevant information, and even communicate with other members of the organization. In this way, communication is always held constant and simultaneous.
In the continuously changing workplace environment, stress seems to be the major contributor to the dysfunction of many employees in any organization. In this regard, the crucial players in the company, including the top management and its immediate subordinates will continue to refine the project in a way that would further help employees in stress prevention, along with other means of maintaining and improving the well-being and health of employees. In addition, the project will also continue to be implemented with the help of research and development, which would be used to further cater to the needs of the employees and the organization as a whole.
References
Appendices
ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
LOG BOOK
(Consultation Visit 1)
Name: Student No.
Organization Visited: ABC Company, Ltd.
Your Project Supervisor: Dr.
Date: February 16 Length of Visit: 3 hours
Purposes of Visits:
To be able to have an interview with the HR Director of ABC Company, and be able to determine and recognize the causes of the problems of the company in relation to the decrease of motivation and under-performance of employees.
Persons consulted:
HR Director, ABC Company
HR Manager, ABC Company
Experience during visit:
I was able to have private conversations with both the HR Director and HR Manager of the company, who both diagnosed the same problems. Both of them are easy to talk to and relate to, thus, making it easier for me to get on with my research in order to provide relevant and credible results and information from the process.
In addition, I was able to have a tour on the office departments of both the HR Director and the HR Manager. In this regard, I was able to observe the working environment and culture of the employees in their departments.
Outcomes of visit:
The HR Manager coordinated with the HR Director and its associates to form a task force that would help investigate the problems of the company.
Signature of participant:
ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
LOG BOOK
(Consultation Visit 2)
Name: Student No.
Organization Visited: ABC Company, Ltd.
Your Project Supervisor: Dr.
Date: March 20 Length of Visit: 5 hours
Purposes of Visits:
The task force formed held a meeting to talk about the purpose of the task force and their objectives in providing relevant strategies for the problems of the organization. The group also aimed to discuss the things to do in order to effectively produce credible data that would be used for the research.
Persons consulted:
HR Manager, ABC Company
Two supervisors and the task force
Experience during visit:
The meeting lasted for almost 3 hours. The formed task force, along with the supervisors and the HR Manager of the company presented their observations of the employees deemed to have the lack of motivation and seems to be underperforming. I was able to observe the dedication and the perseverance of the members of the task force and the supervisors. In this regard, I believe that the problem helped in the realization of the HR Manager and HR Director of the great importance of recreation as a means of motivation of employees.
Outcomes of visit:
The members of the task force came up with the decision of dissipating questionnaire-surveys and conducting interviews to further understand and quantify the problem with regards to the problems of employees. The consensus of the group stated that the questionnaire-survey would be effective and efficient in gathering relevant data and in contributing to information of coming up with coping strategies in dealing with the problems.
Signature of participant:
ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
LOG BOOK
(Consultation Visit 3)
Name: Student No.
Organization Visited: ABC Company, Ltd.
Your Project Supervisor: Dr.
Date: April 10 Length of Visit: 4 hours
Purposes of Visits:
To obtain updates on the questionnaire-survey conducted by the task force. This visit is also dedicated to obtaining the results and observations from the members of the task force.
Persons consulted:
HR Manager, ABC Company
Task Force
Experience during visit:
I was able to have private conversations with the HR Manager of the company, and the members of the task force who helped organize the task. Members of the task force are easy to talk to and relate to, thus, making it easier for me to obtain relevant information for the research.
Outcomes of visit:
I was able to obtain the initial result of the survey, and these results would be used for the launching of the survey, along with the interviews of the participants.
Signature of participant:
ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
LOG BOOK
(Consultation Visit 4)
Name: Student No.
Organization Visited: ABC Company, Ltd.
Your Project Supervisor: Dr.
Date: May 26 Length of Visit: 6 hours
Purposes of Visits:
To obtain the results of both the surveys and interviews of the participants of the study, and to come up with relevant strategies for the problems of the organization.
Persons consulted:
HR Manager, ABC Company
Task Force
Experience during visit:
I was able to have a meeting with the HR Manager of the company and the task force responsible for obtaining the results for the survey. The group was easy to relate to and dedicated in pushing through with the research. I have observed that the task force was efficient and effective with their decisions and strategies of encouraging the participants to answer the questionnaires and to have the interview sessions.
This is the longest session among all the consultation visits I have done because in this session, the results and the proposed strategies were discussed in order to know if the strategies suit the problems of the employees. In this session, the analysis of the situation was also done, relating it to the results obtained.
Outcomes of visit:
I was able to obtain the raw data from the survey and interviews, including how they computed and processed the data, and the final results. Data suggests that the primary reason why many employees fail to join recreational activities is due to the lack of information, while it is good result to see that gender bias is the last factor to be considered by the employees in terms of their lack of participation in recreational activities. Different needs and strategies were also raised in the meeting, thus, further evaluating the situation.
Signature of participant:
SELF-ADMINISTERED QUESTIONNAIRE
Personal Information of Respondent
Please provide necessary answers on the space provided after each item. On items with choices, please mark the corresponding answer in line with the respondent’s preference.
Name: _______________________________ Date: __________
Gender: ________
Age: ________
Marital Status: _______
Children (if any): _______
Employment
1. Present Employment Situation:
(A) Full time employee
(B) Freelancer
2. Duration in Current Employment:
(A) Less than 6 months – on probation
(B) Less than a year
(C) 1 to 2 years
(D) 3 to 5 years
(E) More than 5 years
3. Team associated in: ________________________
Survey
All items are responded to using a 5-point Likert-type scale with the following points: 1 for Strongly Agree; 2 for Agree; 3 for Uncertain; 4 for Disagree; and 5 for Strongly Disagree. Please mark the corresponding space for the points.
1. Is the type of work you are currently employed in contributes to your stress?
1 Strongly 2 Agree 3 Uncertain 4 Disagree 5 Strongly
Agree Disagree
2. Do you feel that your work contributes largely to your health condition?
1 Strongly 2 Agree 3 Uncertain 4 Disagree 5 Strongly
Agree Disagree
3. If Agree and Strongly Agree, in what way?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Do you feel that your work contributes largely to your social and family life?
1 Strongly 2 Agree 3 Uncertain 4 Disagree 5 Strongly
Agree Disagree
4. If Agree and Strongly Agree, in what way?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. Do you feel the need for recreational activities in the organization?
1 Strongly 2 Agree 3 Uncertain 4 Disagree 5 Strongly
Agree Disagree
6. Do you believe that recreational activities can contribute to your motivation?
1 Strongly 2 Agree 3 Uncertain 4 Disagree 5 Strongly
Agree Disagree
7. What serves to hinder you from joining recreational activities in the organization?
(A) Lack of information
(B) Program structure
(C) Sport focus
(D) Gender bias
(E) Behavior and dress codes
(F) Age
8. Do you believe that certain changes in the organization must be done to further improve your motivation?
1 Strongly 2 Agree 3 Uncertain 4 Disagree 5 Strongly
Agree Disagree
9. Any suggestions you may have:
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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