Skills Are Important For the Smooth Functioning Of the Organization

Question: Discuss About Skills Are Important For The Smooth Functioning Of The Organization? Answer: Introduction The leadership skills are important for the smooth functioning of the organization. The leadership is considered as the action by which one person directs a group of people or directs an organization as a whole (Johansen 2012). It is a practical skill who strives to create a compelling vision for the future. It fosters motivation as well as inspiration among the people to engage with the vision. The leaders know how to deliver a vision and hence engages in the coaching of his team members (Johansen 2012). The leaders are instrumental in setting the right direction for his team and they are considered as exciting, dynamic and inspiring individuals. It is important for the organizations to engage in greater collaboration so that the organization processes can remain flexible (Smith et al. 2012). The leaders should know how to handle the forces of change in the organization. Change management is a constant process which needs to be handled by adequate leadership competencies (Jeston and Nelis 2014). This case study revolves around transforming PepsiCo into more flexible kind of organization by utilizing the best leadership competencies and leadership skills. This report would outline the most important leadership competencies that would be required in this situation and critically evaluate the same. Leadership Skills and Competencies The leadership is an important attribute which is evident in all the organization. The leadership skills of the senior members decide the success or the failure of the organizations (Johansen 2012). The modern-day organizations are constantly incorporating changes in the organizations and a great amount of leadership is required for this purpose. A change management process would be successful only if there is adequate amount of leadership skills displayed by the senior management (Johansen 2012). The change management process in Pepsi should be done in a creative manner so that the organizational goals are achieved. According to the transformational leadership style, the leaders of Pepsi should work smoothly with the employees so that the necessary change spots can be identified well. One of the most important skills that the leader should possess is effective communication skills (Northouse 2012). He should be able to share information among his team members easily. A free flow of critical business information is required for bringing in adequate change in the organization. An effective communication process comprises of several layers such as encoding, decoding, message, communication channel and the management of noise (Northouse 2012). A leader should know how to leverage the correct communication channel so that it becomes most effective to communicate with the employees (Lussier and Achua 2015). He should also pay attention to minimizing the noise in the surrounding whi le communicating. He should choose an appropriate medium so that there are less disturbances and the receiver would be able to decode the message easily (Northouse 2012). The leader should convey his message in a clear and lucid manner so that it can be absorbed by the employees. In the case scenario of Pepsi, the communication can be regarding the change in the former structure of the Marketing Research Department (MRD), which needs to be properly communicated among the team members so that they are aware of the initiative (Northouse 2012). The top management wanted to change the business offerings, which should be communicated to the team members, otherwise, this objective would not be accomplished. The goal setting theory of leadership would help the leaders of Pepsi to undergo transformational change in the organization (Northouse 2012). This theory is helpful in the assessment of the commitment and the performance of the employees by providing them giving constructive feedbacks . It is also one of the tools by which the leaders motivate his followers for giving optimum performances. The followers would be motivated if they are aware of the goals of the change management process, that the senior leadership wants to undertake (Northouse 2012). The leaders should not only engage in communicating their ideas but should also try to understand the viewpoints of the team members (Arnold and Boggs 2015). It is important to take feedback from the team regarding any potential suggestions or any improvements, which can be suggested by them. The leaders should possess active listening skills that would help him to listen to his employees carefully (Goleman Boyatzis and McKee 2013). The employees require support and attention from their leaders in order to give their best performance. They also want their issues would be listened and addressed by their leader (Northouse 2012). It is important for the leaders to understand the facial expressions, body language and the natural behavioral tendencies of his team members (Daft 2014). The leaders should take care of the individual professional needs of the employees so that there is the creation of a trustworthy relationship needed for their overall development in the performance (Goleman Boyatzis and McKee 2013). The leaders must have essential skills of an effective listener (Hargreaves and Fink 2012). He should act in a responsible manner, listen for new ideas, judge the existing content, find common areas of interest, exercise his own mind, engage in creativity and engage in active listening (Aaker and Joachimsthaler 2012). The leader should focus on two-way communication process instead of concentrating on one-sided talk. The listening skills is considered as a core leadership responsibility that is inherent in a diverse workforce (Goleman Boyatzis and McKee 2013). This would help in effective team work, which would be easier to implement the change process. The leaders of Pepsi should engage in transactional leadership, which emphasizes on organization, supervision and the performance of employees (Spillane 2012). This form of leaders usually promotes compliance in the team through the implementation of punishments or rewards. The leaders should have the skills of constantly monitoring the work of the team so that any necessary performance deviation can be focused at. The change management process requires optimum performance from all the team members and hence it is important to have leaders with transactional leaders characteristics (Goleman Boyatzis and McKee 2013). The Pepsi leaders should aim for increasing the operational efficiency by adhering to the pre-determined rules. The leaders should have influencing skills. It is important for the leaders to be able to motivate his team so that they are able to meet their performance standards (Goleman Boyatzis and McKee 2013). It is important for the leaders to empower his team so that they feel enthusiastic about their work. The act of empowerment can be described as the ability of sharing power and the act of delegating power among the tea members (Clarke 2013). The empowerment is very essential for a team since it would enhance the productivity of the employees. This would make the employees focus on their work and give their maximum performance. The empowerment is considered as value orientation for the employees and the corresponding influence over others life which would lead to positive outcomes (Green 2012). The act of empowerment would ensure that aims, objectives and the organizing framework for knowledge are fulfilled. The empowerment is synonymous with the delegation function of the leaders (Golem an Boyatzis and McKee 2013). The leaders of PepsiCo should understand that the work load should be segregated into smaller components and given to the subordinates so that they can perform the task in a perfect manner. The delegation and empowerment goes hand in hand since the leaders would delegate crucial tasks to members who they trust, which is one of the core parameters of empowerment (Goleman Boyatzis and McKee 2013). The empowerment can be achieved by the leaders by following seven crucial steps. It starts with the periodic briefing of the leaders to the employees so that they are aware of the important updates about the change management process (Cheng et al. 2012). The next step comprises of the suggestion system that encourages the followers to share things which are important for the change management process. In this step, the leaders also can contribute to the discussion or listen carefully to the suggestions made by the followers. The third step in the process of empowerment lies with the participation of the groups (Goleman Boyatzis and McKee 2013). The empowerment sessions should be attended by the maximum number of participants so that there is maximum impact in the group. The next step comprises of the forming quality circles for the delivery of the empowerment sessions (Rubin and Babbie 2016). The quality circles are the workers group who perform similar kind of work in the organizati on. This group is headed by the leaders, who are instrumental in delivery of the best quality of work. The next step of empowerment comprises of the utilization of the cross functional teams (Goleman Boyatzis and McKee 2013). Pepsi should not only try to empower the employees working in marketing teams, but should also try to focus on the employees working in other departments also. This would lead to productive and happy workplaces which would increase the overall motivation level of the employees. The leaders should also concentrate on the empowerment of the self-directed teams as well as self-managed teams (Kauffeld and Lehmann-Willenbrock 2012). These kind of teams works independently without the constant support and supervision of the leaders. These two groups of employees have the highest outcomes out of the empowerment process, since the leaders have to deal with these groups in a minimal level, as they work as a team with minimum requirement of an external person (Goleman Bo yatzis and McKee 2013). The leaders of Pepsi need sufficient creativity skills in order to sustain the change management process. He should know how to do the common things in a different manner that is new in the workplace and which would provide maximum productivity (Strazdas et al. 2013). They are also supposed to implement innovation and they should have the capability to think out of the box. This would help the company to do successful restructuring of the company and that would lead to higher competitive advantage (Goleman Boyatzis and McKee 2013). This can be done by brainstorming activities in the organization in which there is participation from the maximum number of members in the organization (Goleman Boyatzis and McKee 2013). The organizational leaders should be flexible, fast and efficient enough so that they are able to guide the team members in an appropriate manner. Conclusion The leaders of the organization are the pioneers who bring in successful changes in the system, which are good for organizational well-being. The senior managers of PepsiCo have decided that there would be change management program in the organization, which would need essential leadership traits. Some of the most important skills of the leaders are good communication skills, ability to influence, empower, adopt creative approach and set goals for their team members. This report discussed some of the most important traits that are required for the leaders in this particular case scenario. The transactional and the transformational theories are discussed to gain an in-depth understanding of the context. The leaders should pay attention to the diversity of the workforce by addressing to the individual needs of the employees. It is also important to formulate suitable policies for the motivation of the employees working under the leaders so that they would willingly take part in the cha nge management process. There can be financial or non-financial modes of motivating people that should be adopted by the senior management. These skills as well as competencies of the senior leadership of Pepsi would help them to accomplish the objectives of the change management process. 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