Developing and Communicating a Vision

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Developing and Communicating a Vision
Vision gives a description of some future state or achievement that an organization or an individual wants to accomplish. For a vision to accomplish its intended objectives such as focusing, clarifying and inspiring work, it needs to be shared. Besides, communicating a vision matters because it determines the number of people that will support it. However, to develop a vision, a person needs to dream big (Cartwright & Baldwin, 2006). Dreaming big is the first step towards developing and communicating a vision. By dreaming big, individuals can think about what they intend to achieve in future. The second step is designing a personal vision. For instance, a person needs to think about who and what they want to achieve in future, for instance becoming a manager, opening up a company or becoming an influential person in the society.
Setting Goals and Objectives
People, regardless their field of specialization, have goals and objectives that they need to attain. By setting goals and objectives, individuals get both short-term and long-term motivation. Likewise, it helps in knowledge acquisition, time management and effective utilization of resources. Personally, my goals and objectives are to achieve high grades and become a powerful manager in future as well as own my company. Therefore, setting clearly defined as well as sharp goals and objectives help a person to take pride in and measure the realization of those aspirations.

As a process, motivation defines an individual’s persistence of, direction and intensity towards achieving a goal. Intensity is the effort exerted by individuals in their attempt to achieve something whereas persistence measures the time that people endure until they achieve the intended objectives (Nasser & Saadeh, 2013). The direction is where time and effort are invested to realize the set goals and objectives. Hence, organization managers are expected to establish a workplace setting where employees can achieve their professional goals as well as reach their full potential. For instance, they need to be proactive and positive by praising behaviors that enhance performance and acknowledge performance through financial and non-financial rewards (Taylor, 2015).

Leadership and power are inseparable. However, the use of power can positively or negatively influence the outcome of organization processes and communication. Leaders use various tactics to express their power and influence responses and outcomes. For all these reasons, leaders exhibit the opportunity to use the power at their disposal to shape their organization’s ethical climate. According to Luecke (2005), there are five types of power that organization leaders can access, and they include:

Organizations expect their leaders to create values and vision that guide employees in meeting their strategic objectives. Accordingly, leaders through such powers are expected to design processes and structures that support the values and vision. Quinn (2006) also notes that leaders can use their authority to demand employees to behave in a certain way so as to support the stated values and vision. Therefore, to maintain and create an ethical work environment, leaders utilize legitimate power to design various structures for the organization. Some examples of these structures include designing hiring strategies to employ candidates who are aligned with and reflect the values of the organization. Additionally, leaders can utilize the power to plan orientation sessions to showcase the values of the organization. Mentoring and training programs can also be designed to expose new recruits to the values of the organization and reinforce those values. Besides, leaders can develop ethical codes of conduct to help employees differentiate between what is right and wrong. 

According to Williams (2015), reward systems, performance appraisal and measurement must be used to enhance ethical behavior. Leaders can use incentives including compliments, time-off, attractive assignments, salary raises, bonuses, and promotions to promote ethical behaviors. For instance, the use of rewards motivates employees. However, rewards can either support unethical or ethical conduct among staff. For example, if a leader rewards unethical behavior, there is a higher likelihood of other employees acting unethically so that they can also be rewarded and the reverse is true. The major limitation of this power is that some rewards including promotions or salary increment are heavily influenced or controlled by direct supervisors. Therefore, if the supervisors and the top management do not have the same values, the rewarding process will be based on performance metrics outlined by the supervisor.

Leaders are expected to make sure that their followers are aware of their interests in comprehending ethical issues within the firm. As such, organization staff can ask for guidance and direction when caught in a dilemma, in regards to making moral choices. To provide employees with clear guidelines, the leader needs to have experience in ethics as a discipline. Moreover, organization leaders should always avoid the issue of threatening employees’ self-esteem. It is evident that because of time constraints and busy schedules, leaders fail in developing a knowledge base or ethical philosophy about ethical challenges that their employees confront on a daily basis (Quinn et al., 2015). Failure to address ethical issues in the organization might attract government penalties and fines as well as loss of the company image in the eyes of the public.

An influential leader is liked and admired by others. An effective leader develops both his and organization’s values. In fact, leaders’ ethics and values must be in line with the values of the organization. Leaders can use various strategies to highlight their values. These strategies include engaging in storytelling, addressing employee grievances, as well as listening with concern and interest the ethical dilemmas that employees face in their routine activities. Schermerhorn (2011) notes that role modeling plays an essential role in transmitting behaviors, attitudes, and values. Therefore, an ethical leader is characterized by reduced counterproductive behaviors, high pro-social behavior, ethical decision-making process and increased follower commitment, motivation, and satisfaction.

Employees who fail to comply with the ethical code of conduct are liable to punishment in the form of threats, reprimands, demotions, firing, and denied promotion. In fact, negative sanctions often send a warning to employees on the need to act ethically. The use of coercive power extends beyond the staff caught acting unethically. For instance, when other staffs observe their colleagues being punished for behaving unethically, they learn the repercussions of conducting themselves unethically. The major limitation with this type of power is that it instils fear to employees (Hayes, 2014). As a result, employees fear taking part in any act even if they know the act is ethically right.
Implementing and Sustaining Change
Change implementation becomes successful if organization stakeholders sustain and adopt it. Technology and process improvements cannot be executed without transforming behaviors, minds, and hearts of those affected by the change process (Cameron & Quinn, 2011). Therefore, to ensure that change is implemented and sustained in the organization, leaders must adhere to the following six key concepts: designing sustainability plans, training staff, formalizing and standardizing changes, communicating the change process, and engaging others in the change process.
Engaging Others
Front-line employees play a role that is crucial in the implementation of change. Regular evaluation and constant support of those involved in the change process are important in determining the success of the change being implemented in the organization. According to Hayes (2014), people affected by the implemented change are the most crucial risk factor, barrier, support, and resource in change management. The uncertainties that characterize change implementation often trigger strong emotions, especially among those affected directly by the change process.  For instance, change process might result in employees feeling frustrated, angered, and desperate. Therefore, comprehending why some people react differently towards change implementation might help leaders in ensuring that the introduction of change is done in such a way that it responds, acknowledges, and anticipates the concerns of those affected.
Communication
Sustaining and implementing change requires effective communication among those involved in the change process. Through effective communication, leaders can share their values and norms, create emotional connections with organization stakeholders, share knowledge and develop commitment and trust in the change process. Regular communication is paramount because it gives those affected by the project some sense of ownership (Saleem et al., 2015).
Formalizing and Standardizing Change
After implementing a new process or change in the organization, it must be monitored to ensure that it is fulfilling its intended objectives. Moreover, the formalizing and standardizing change ensures that new behaviors are reinforced and encouraged to incorporate the change process in the culture of the organization (Hayes, 2014). For instance, the new changes need to be incorporated into the organization’s policies, job descriptions, and new staff orientation. Failure to connect the vision or strategy of an organization to the improvement project goals may have harmful impacts on the maintenance of the project (Kotter, 2012). Leaders must, therefore, illustrate to their staff how the change process is connected to the organization’s strategic objectives. Failure to do so makes it difficult to transform the culture of the organization or explain why resources are being utilized to enhance the change initiative.
Training
Training is a continuous process that offers support to staffs being affected by the implemented changes. Through the training program, participants are informed on how to accomplish various processes. Additionally, it provides trainers with an opportunity to gauge the new knowledge and skills acquired by the trainees. Training programs always put confidence in operating with the new processes (Westover, 2010).
Sustainability Plans
Sustainability is only realized after the new process of working and the intended outcomes become the culture of the organization. Change implementation and sustainability not only alters the outcomes and processes but also the attitudes and thinking behind these processes and transformations (Hodges & Gill, 2015).
Employee Resistance to Change
Employee resistance to change is attributed to various factors including job loss, poor engagement and communication, poor timing, and lack of trust. Loss of employment is the main reason why employees resist change. However, employees need to understand that change is inevitable and for an organization to enhance its performance, change is mandatory (Dunican & Keaster, 2015). Change may assume various forms including creating new employment or downsizing staff to minimize its operational costs.  Failure to communicate the change process as well as engage employees results in resistance. Therefore, leaders must communicate to their staff why change is necessary and provide them with an opportunity to air their views regarding the change process (Bringselius et al., 2014; García-Cabrera & García-Barba Hernández, 2014). Time also contributes to employee resistance to change. For example, when change is implemented unexpectedly, employees will obviously resist its. Nonetheless, there are various strategies that organizations can utilize to successfully implement change and overcome resistance. Companies need to take into consideration the views of those opposing the change. By taking this initiative, they will be in a position to understand their concerns and address them promptly (Mariana, Daniela & Nadina, 2013). Additionally, employees should be given adequate time to contribute to the change process. Employee engagement eliminates incidents of resistance because they feel valued by the organization. Constant communication between the top management and general employees is also important regarding the changes being initiated by the company (Sasikala & Victor Anthonyraj, 2015). The employees need to understand why change is important for the organization and how it will benefit them. Conclusively, change is inevitable, and employees must be ready to embrace it regardless its consequences.
Self-Evaluation
The strengths of my assessment item are that it provides organization leaders with some of the major reasons why employees resist change. Besides, it provides them with strategies they can utilize to overcome organization resistance to change. My assessment item could be improved by undertaking further research to find out various reasons that cause employees to resist change. Additionally, the assessment item should provide a thorough analysis of the strategies that organization needs to take to curb employee resistance to change. Some of the comments that the marker might make about my assessment item include “good work! However, you could have added more reasons why employees resist change and strategies to overcome resistance”. Based on the assessment criteria, I would have scored a distinction.

I am xx, and I have completed the Integration and Road to Mastery course. By doing Assessment Task 2 activities, I have learned how leaders can successfully implement and sustain change in the organization. I have also learned why employees’ resist change and strategies that leaders can utilize to overcome employee resistance to change in their organizations. Similarly, I have learned various types of power that leaders can utilize to enhance an ethical climate in their organization. For instance, they can make use of coercive power to punish employees who behave unethically.  

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