Management Skills Case Study

1. Explain which of the personal management skills you have learned in the ‘Management Skills' subject are important to the person in this case study. Explain why each skill is important.

Access Free Samples Prepared by our Expert Subject Matter Experts, known for offering the Best Online Assignment Help Services in Australia.

Paternity leave is a time whereby a father chooses to be granted a leave for spending some time with his partner for welcoming the new-born baby. This time period is supposed to be incredibly valuable but signifies some challenges along with happiness. Personal skill management during a paternity leave helps the father in ensuring valuable and precious time with family (Petts et al. 2020). One of the most important skills that need to be managed during paternity leave is time management. There will be many demands on the father's time including feeding, diaper changes, doctor appointments and playtime. This implies that the father needs to prioritise tasks, delegate responsibilities with his partner and make most of the time available to the family (Lévesque et al. 2020).

Another important skill that needs to be indulged in a father during paternity leave is the increase of communication with the partner in order to recognise her needs and preferences. The communication can furthermore proceed with the employers and family members also in order to set the expectations that need to be fulfilled at the time of need. Apart from this self-care is another measure that needs to be considered during paternity leave (Frantál and Klapka, 2020). This is essential mostly for the newly made fathers as they used to spend most of the time caring for their babies without caring for their personal needs. However taking excess rest, healthy food and being available for the family is not enough for reducing stress as there is a responsibility towards the workplace also.

This implies that fathers need to learn to keep a work-life balance so that their stress levels can be reduced. In addition, the fathers on parental leave should learn parental skills that include different ways of soothing the baby, changing diapers and understanding the developing milestones of the child. This will help in building a strong bond between the child and the family. Thus, it can be said that these management skills have significant importance during paternity leave. Maintaining all these skills will help in generating a positive response in life and hence the work can be re-joined in a fresh mind. It can be said that the work done with a free mind poses stress relief measures and boosts the morale to face different challenges in the workplace. Though, the company is providing all the information to the person it is necessary to recheck the information in order to reduce the chances of mismanagement being a senior manager of the company.

2. Some people may think that the young, educated and successful person in this case study is very lucky. How might this perception cause work colleagues to behave towards you? How should you behave to ensure a good working relationship with your colleagues?

Being a senior manager in the company Lindy Law it is my responsibility to handle all the tasks with efficiency in order to meet the needs of the target market. The person on the paternal leaves has acquired the position of senior manager at the early age of 35 by qualifying the graduation and master's degree. This implies that at an early age, there are several responsibilities that the person needs to take care of. As per the case study, it can be said that the person is efficient enough in dealing with the operations of the company and hence on his demand for a 12-month paternal leave, he has been granted 24 weeks of parenting leave.

This implies that he has a decent nature towards his work and the other staff members and colleagues as well (Xiao et al. 2021). Thus, the parental leave he has got does not impact the overall performance of the workplace as he has all the efficient members under him whom he has been trained in a way that in his absence they can handle all the relevant work of the organisation. Hence, on his parental leave, the total work structure has been handed over to the staff members, employees and colleagues (Bloom et al. 2022). However, he has maintained a work environment that poses delegation and authority of work. This has been followed during his paternal leave and the work has been handled by every person in the company under delegation of authority. Moreover, all the reports at the end of the day are handed over to the manager being on paternal leave. He used to guide them, with the areas that require improvisation. This has signified a collaborative work environment as the person is giving equal importance to his family and office staff by maintaining a work-life balance. As opined by (Tejero et al. 2021), maintaining a healthy work-life balance results in increasing efficiency in work thereby increasing productivity and profitability. Side-by-side working with a delegation of authority generates a sense of belongingness among the workers and boosts their morale so that they can work at their full ability. This can be advantageous over other companies to sustain in the target market by implementing innovative measures in running the operations of the business with the full support of the manager. Thus, it can be said that a good working relationship with colleagues can be established.

3. If your application is successful and you get the partner role, you will be extremely busy at home and at work. What problems do you expect to face? What theories and personal skills have you learned in the ‘Management Skills' subject that will help you with those problems?

The issues that can generate due to improper work-life balance are an increase in stress levels, an increase in employee turnover rates, a waste of resources and so on (Rathore and Rathore, 2022). These issues can have serious consequences on the working module of a business. There is a need to mitigate all these to maintain sustainability in the workplace and in the market as wee. As employee turnover and waste of resources can lead to an overburden of work on the rest of the employees. This will lead to a situation whereby the employees will have to exercise stress and they may have burnout in this situation that will affect the efficiency of work. There is a need to mitigate these issues by implementing theories of mitigation in this regard. There are several theories that can be implemented in order to mitigate the issue that is related to work-life balance. The theory of mitigation consists of the Conservation of Resource theory (COR), which states individuals, should protect and promote well-being (Hollebeek et al. 2023). This implies that employers can take initiative to mitigate the issues that are related to the efficient use of resources by providing employees with flexible schedules for conducting work. Apart from this, they can provide active participation of workers in wellness programs in order to reduce their stress levels. Another theory that can be taken into consideration is the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R), which states job demands can increase stress levels whereby job resources can reduce the stress level (Bakker and de Vries, 2021). This can be mitigated if the employers take an initiative to reduce the long work hours and urgent deadlines in order to reduce stress by providing job resources to the employees. These job resources might include autonomy, social support and regular feedback so that the efficiency of the job can be maintained without any wastage of resources. Another theory that can be considered is the Self-Determination theory (SDT) that states there is a need to satisfy the innate psychological needs of the employees that comprise autonomy, competence and relatedness. These needs should be satisfied for engaging the employees in the work with a stress-free mind so that the goals of the company can be achieved efficiently. This can be done by offering the opportunities to work from home in order to increase autonomy and by providing training and development to the employees in order to increase competence in the target market.

4. "No man is an island" b, c. You can't succeed alone; you will need the contributions of all of your colleagues to succeed in the partner role. What theories and personal skills have you learned in the 'Management Skills' subject that will help you create the collaborative environment that you need?

As observed in the case study, it can be stated that there is a need for collaboration in any kind of work that needs to be accomplished for maintaining sustainability in the workplace. However, maintaining collaboration in the workplace requires different skills and techniques to be implemented that include communication. Effective communication is required to exercise collaboration in the workplace (Dwivedi et al. 2020). Communication helps in better understanding the work module and clearing all the doubts in order to reduce the chance of mismanagement. Active communication with the team members will help in building a strong bond inside the organisation and hence, there will be a strategy of problem-solving will be introduced. This problem-solving strategy is being generated due to effective communication and collaboration measures. Apart from this, active listening is a technique that will also be beneficial in framing collaboration in the workplace. This can be exercised by the company to build trust and understanding between the employer and employees in order to promote collaboration in the workplace. Furthermore, this will also help in clarifying the concepts of doing the work in a smooth flow for increased efficiency and proper utilisation of resources. Active listening will also be helpful in conflict resolution measures as everyone is aware of the measures that are in need to be implemented in the work module (Jones et al. 2019). This will promote conflict resolution skills among the workers so that there will be less chance of getting disagreed with any situation rather than this, all will have active participation in conflict resolution strategies. This will help in promoting cultural competence as it is necessary to have collaborative measures in the workplace. This will enhance the understanding related to cultural differences in terms of cultural backgrounds, beliefs, and values. In addition, this will lead to the upbringing of an inclusive work environment whereby everyone should poses an equal and similar understanding of the cultural norms and practices in order to reduce misunderstandings and conflict emergence. moreover, effective leadership is required to have a smooth flow of work with collaboration measures along with all the above effective techniques. Leaders will be liable for encouraging open communication in order to rectify the errors that have been submerged in the minds of the employees in order to direct them towards the single organisational goal (Javed et al. 2021). There should be setting of clear and precise goals so that the employees can understand the benefit of the objectives and in order to meet them they will take active participation along with the manager.

5. Contemporary debate has turned to the concepts of ‘working from home' and the ‘four-day work week' as practices that may improve work-life balance, productivity and employee commitment. What recent theories can help us understand these ideas? What personal skills have you learned in the ‘Management Skills' subject that will help you, and others, perform effectively with these new approaches to work?

The concepts of working from home and a four-day workweek have gathered a significant hike as a possible solution in maintaining work-life balance, productivity and employee commitment. Sustaining this statement will be clearer with the implementation of the theoretical concepts in the study. The Self-Determination Theory (SDT) can be implemented in this regard as there is a need to address the innate psychological requirements of the employees in order to sustain their interests in the working module for having efficient work done (Vasconcellos et al. 2020). This can be implemented in the case of work-from-home jobs or working-from-office jobs as well. This will increase the level of work engagement of the employees which will be beneficial for the employees in developing their skills and for the organisation in increasing productivity. Apart from this Social-Exchange Theory (SET) can also be considered in order to have a work-life balance basing work-from-home opportunities with a four-day workweek measure (Cortez and Johnston, 2020). Social exchange theory states that the relationship between the employer and the employees should be so strong that the employees should indulge a feeling that their work and contributions are being valued by the organisation. This will help in sustaining skilled labour in the organisation in order to sustain in the target market. As the employees will feel that their work and contributions are appreciated in the workplace there will be the emergence of a sense of belongingness and prioritisation. This will boost the morale of the employees and they will be able to contribute their best possible work to the organisation in order to achieve the desired goals and objectives that have been framed by the organisation (Lazim et al. 2020). This implies that work-from-home opportunities will not create any hindrance in the work performance of the workers. Rather they will be able to have access to the changing market demands with close research while staying at home that will be beneficial for the organisation as a whole.

References

• Bakker, A.B. and de Vries, J.D., 2021. Job Demands–Resources theory and self-regulation: New explanations and remedies for job burnout. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping, 34(1), pp.1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2020.1797695
• Bloom, N., Han, R. and Liang, J., 2022. How hybrid working from home works out (No. w30292). National Bureau of Economic Research. 10.3386/w30292
• Cortez, R.M. and Johnston, W.J., 2020. The Coronavirus crisis in B2B settings: Crisis uniqueness and managerial implications based on social exchange theory. Industrial Marketing Management, 88, pp.125-135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.05.004
• Dwivedi, Y.K., Hughes, D.L., Coombs, C., Constantiou, I., Duan, Y., Edwards, J.S., Gupta, B., Lal, B., Misra, S., Prashant, P. and Raman, R., 2020. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on information management research and practice: Transforming education, work and life. International journal of information management, 55, p.102211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102211
• Frantál, B. and Klapka, P., 2020. Exploring the nexus between place of residence, daily activity patterns, and the socio?spatial isolation of mothers on parental leave. Area, 52(2), pp.401-410. https://doi.org/10.1111/area.12585
• Hollebeek, L.D., Hammedi, W. and Sprott, D.E., 2023. Consumer engagement, stress, and conservation of resources theory: A review, conceptual development, and future research agenda. Psychology & Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21807
• Javed, B., Fatima, T., Khan, A.K. and Bashir, S., 2021. Impact of inclusive leadership on innovative work behavior: the role of creative self?efficacy. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 55(3), pp.769-782. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.487
• Jones, S.M., Bodie, G.D. and Hughes, S.D., 2019. The impact of mindfulness on empathy, active listening, and perceived provisions of emotional support. Communication Research, 46(6), pp.838-865. https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650215626983
• Lazim, N.L., Salim, N.A.M. and Wahab, S., 2020. Low morality among employee due to pandemic covid-19 and leadership challenge: a literature survey. Asian Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 2(4), pp.26-37. https://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/ajbs/article/view/11677
• Lévesque, S., Bisson, V., Charton, L. and Fernet, M., 2020. Parenting and relational well-being during the transition to parenthood: Challenges for first-time parents. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 29, pp.1938-1956. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-020-01727-z
• Petts, R.J., Knoester, C. and Waldfogel, J., 2020. Fathers' paternity leave-taking and children's perceptions of father-child relationships in the United States. Sex Roles, 82, pp.173-188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-019-01050-y
• Rathore, S.S. and Rathore, K., 2022. Work Life Balance-Major Challenges and Possible Resolutions. International Journal of Early Childhood Special Education, 14(5). https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=13085581&AN=162695497&h=7dnoncNxjdqfjedodl25%2BC6UFe4o6BT2xOx15XB9%2FK7Pd05qfoWG0GMcJO%2BnV9e7zkgHApNWmykn%2BaNGeJOgzg%3D%3D&crl=c
• Tejero, L.M.S., Seva, R.R. and Fadrilan-Camacho, V.F.F., 2021. Factors associated with work-life balance and productivity before and during work from home. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 63(12), p.1065. https://doi.org/10.1097%2FJOM.0000000000002377
• Vasconcellos, D., Parker, P.D., Hilland, T., Cinelli, R., Owen, K.B., Kapsal, N., Lee, J., Antczak, D., Ntoumanis, N., Ryan, R.M. and Lonsdale, C., 2020. Self-determination theory applied to physical education: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of educational psychology, 112(7), p.1444. https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/edu0000420
• Xiao, Y., Becerik-Gerber, B., Lucas, G. and Roll, S.C., 2021. Impacts of working from home during COVID-19 pandemic on physical and mental well-being of office workstation users. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 63(3), p.181. https://doi.org/10.1097%2FJOM.0000000000002097