Strategies for Effective and Productive Managers

In your new position as a manager in a foreign nation, what system s will you want to put in place to make you more effective and enhance productivity?

            As a line manager, I understand well that my success will be based on leadership strategies that I will employ as well as my ability to connect with both junior and senior staff. I have a primary responsibility for ensuring results are delivered through managing employees. Apart from that, I am responsible for ensuring that employees are also retained. With this in mind, I would come up with the following strategies to ensure effectiveness and productivity is achieved:

1. Establish expectations

            The first day is quite significant in establishing first impression which do count in a positive way. To ensure that new workers become productive, it is valuable to ensure that they are welcomed and even supported at their new workplace. Such a welcome exceeds formal induction and that would portray the value placed on my decision to hire them. Setting up expectations by introducing staff to work plans, guidelines, and business plans would be important at making expectations clear and ensuring that the performance agreement can be used to gauge whether they are performing as expected in future (Australian Public Service Commission)

2. Understand and develop skills and knowledge

Another important area to consider is availing time to facilitate staff development and to utilize planning processes in order to make identification where skill needs may be arising. This would help me to encourage staff to develop skills that meet emerging needs and facilitate matching work activities with the right skills (Australian Public Service Commission).

How will you respond when there is a small clash between your personal values and the cultural values of your new home?

            I highly value integrity. Integrity allows us to act truthfully, honestly, and in a straightforward manner while dealing with fellow human beings. The virtue allows us to distinguish between wrong and right. In a situation where my personal values clash with the cultural values of my new home, for instance, unfair promotion of a person who is not qualified. I would not be impressed because this would hurt my personal brand. I would approach this issue constructively by letting my concerns be heard by the recruiters. I would also take this as an important life-changing or career changing opportunity (Marasco, 2008).

            Managers face increased challenges in their effort hire, develop, and even to retain the qualified and skilled staff who can generate the desired results at work. Nevertheless, the strategies employed by managers can enhance or adversely affect workers. For instance, a manager who does recognize and reward diligent and productive workers will have a serious challenge in motivating and retaining staff. On the other hand, if a manager not only rewards hardworking staff, but also motivate them to gain the right skills in order to address emerging needs will win the hearts of the staff.

References

Marasco, J. (2008). Culture and Values. IBM. Retrieved Apr. 13, 2018, from https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/2652.html

Australian Public Service Commission. Leading productive people: a Manager's Seven Steps to Success. Retrieved Apr. 13, 2018, from http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications-and-media/archive/publications-archive/productive-people