Bank Revised

Consultative Management Styles
Name
Institution
Consultative Management Styles
Interview
Me: Hello, good morning?
Manager: Good morning to you.
Me: Would you explain to me how you motivate your employees in your organization?
Manager: Well, here we have staff development policy whereby employees are offered opportunity to enhance their knowledge and skills through further training. We do identify the staff of the year and take him/her together with their family to a trip abroad.
Me: Would you talk about staff remuneration in this organization?
Manager: We do pay our employees on time and the package is reasonably better compared to other organization. Additionally, if there is delay in payment, we do communicate in good time
Me: How do you identify staff needs?
Manager: Frequently, I do interact with my staff and consult them on various issues affecting them. We have lines of communicating opened to employees through their departments to the top management.
Me: Am grateful for your time.
Manager: Thank you and feel welcome once again.
Increasing demands of health workers compounded by the challenging environment in which they work in requires a new approach to the management of health services. Managers in charge of such health workers should adopt reasonable management styles that do not make them lose control over the employees or compromise service delivery in the health care facility. There are different types of management styles which can be utilized by healthcare manager depending on the policies enacted in the institution.

Successful managers who adopt better management styles would find it easier to relate with employees under their control. Consequently, this would result to improvement in working environment as well as service delivery in the institution. Management functions like planning and organization, staff motivation, control of services and resources as well as staff development are likely to be achieved if a sober management style which resonates properly with employees is adopted. Therefore in the interview that was conducted with healthcare manager, the most conspicuous management style found being used by the manager to perform management role listed hereafter was consultative style of management (Kenneth, 1985)
Planning
Planning for various projects to be implemented requires that employees be consulted adequately to find out their view concerning the identified project. It would be effective to work on a project that the employees are aware of how and when it should be implemented. This would minimize any kind of resistance that may occur if employees who could be in charge of the implementation process of the planned project are not consulted. Similarly, it would appear very strange to report to the workplace and find new development being implemented. This is likely to make employees feel isolated and tend to believe that their efforts and contributions are not recognized by the management. Rarely would you get employees working in. This, therefore, calls for consultation and sourcing of the employees’ ideas which should be a key ingredient in effective management (Kenneth, 1985)
Organizing
Providing the means to achieve the set goals (organizing) in the healthcare facility would be realized if the healthcare manger consults with the employees in the lower cadre. The manager interviewed was found to provide various resources required by employees after consulting them. The employees were very comfortable to air out their departmental needs which were timely delivered because they had been consulted on the relevance of such resources in the facility.This further eliminated wastage of resources which would otherwise not the case had they been not consulted by their manager.
Leading and Staff Motivation
The level of staff motivation was commendably good in this style of leadership. Consultation is normally done extensively to find out how best employees could be motivated. For instance, before the staff of the year was rewarded all employees were consulted to forward whom they thought should be awarded to the employees of the year. This improves the relationship between the employees and healthcare manager because the process was deemed transparent. Providing the direction in the organization is key in influencing employees’ opinion at the workplace. Employees would follow a leader who uses the consultative style of management since they believe in that leader. Such leader usually communicates their intention clearly and mostly like they inspire workers. During the interview, the heath worker appeared to be very inspiring, thus, he became popular with the employee and, therefore, implementing policies were easier.
Health Care Cost control and Budget
In order to compare the performance of employees with the present requirement and objectives, it is more necessary to approach the employees in consultative perspective. In my interview with the healthcare manager, it was evidenced enough that majority of employees were frequently consulted on how far they were conducting their activities. They were being probed to highlight their progress in various tasks they were assigned to perform. Their challenges were identified through consultative discussing with management and areas which required improvement were handled timely both by employees and healthcare manager. It was also noted that management moderately allowed employees to set their targets that they were capable of achieving and this provided a perfect opportunity for the manager deal with employees who failed to achieve the objectives (Kenneth, 1985).
Concerning budgeting, no blanket budgeting was done without due consideration of the employee feedback. They were consulted on what each department required to carry out their tasks smoothly. Employees were, to an extent, allowed to prepare provisional budget making changes on it by the manager. However, the explanation was given concerning changes which were done by the manager. This did not bring any kind of tension in the institution.
Development of Employees and Skills
Staff development was working well with this style of management. Employees were timely informed on relevant skills which they needed to acquire to better their performance in the health facility. It was observed through the interview that the healthcare manger had an elaborate staff development plan which was made open to the employees. Skills which were required were both identified by the management and employees themselves through consultative forums.
Consultative style of management is characterized by the downward flow of information from the management to employees. This flow of information may appear dictatorial; however it promotes the flow of feedback from the employees. Even though decision making process is a reserved function of the manager in this style of leadership, workers would feel included since their feedback could be used in making of final decision (Tannenbaum & Schmidt, 1973)
This style of management if properly utilize then organization overall performance is likely to improve. Employees’ social needs are catered for in this kind of management and this makes them to become loyal to the manager who in turn would find it easier to control them. Through an open door policy, employees managed through consultative style are likely to stay longer in the organization. The rate of employees’ turnover is considerably reduced and this would make stakeholders to believe in such healthcare facility (Kenneth, 1985).
On the hand consultative style of management may turn out to be very delicate especially if the employees engaged in the healthcare facility do not extend their loyalty to the manager. The trust bestowed on them can be abused especially if the gap between them and the manager is not well checked. Decision making and implementation of the policies might become a challenge especially when employees fully depend on communication from the manager.
Despite these few challenges that could be encountered when consultative management style is used, it is the most ideal style that should be adopted by healthcare manger. Service delivery is very prompt, employees are highly motivated and this will indeed make such a health facility to be highly regarded.
References
Kenneth, H. et al. (1985). Leadership and the One Minute manger: Increasing effectiveness
through Situational Leadership. New York: Morrow.
Tannenbaum, R., &Schmidt, W. (1973). ‘How to choose a leadership pattern.’ Harvard Business
Review, May/June 1973.