Facilitating Engaging Leadership Communication in a Decentralized Organization : Case: Finnish Border Guard
Mäkinen, Johanna (2015)
Mäkinen, Johanna
Haaga-Helia ammattikorkeakoulu
2015
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2015111616504
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2015111616504
Tiivistelmä
Many decades have been spent trying to gain competitive advantage by optimizing performance, lowering costs, and relying on cutting edge technology. Now, the buzzword seems to be employee engagement, placing the needs of the employees in the forefront. What does employee engagement offer to organizations that makes it so valuable?
Employee engagement appears to offer a number of positive organizational outcomes. Among them are increased employee commitment, improved in-role and extra-role behavior, better service climate, enhanced employee performance, and higher financial returns. Thus it seems that employee engagement is something that organizations should strive for. On the other hand, employees themselves also seem to benefit from engagement in that it is described as a positive psychological state. Employee engagement is a win-win game.
The role of leaders in fostering employee engagement is central. This thesis explores that role and delves into how leadership communication can enable engagement. The situation at the case organization is made even more challenging by the decentralized nature of the studied organizational functions. The main purpose of the thesis is to find ways in which the organization can facilitate engaging leadership communication.
To find out what needs and concerns the mid-level managers currently have, semi-structured interviews were used. The responses revealed for example that the managers were worried about the distant team members’ sense of belonging, and experienced difficulty in dealing with challenging issues with their team members. Ability to cater to all these needs is central for creating an engaging atmosphere.
The material gathered from the interviewed managers was utilized to draft a suggestion of an educational event that could help the case organization in supporting its mid-level managers in engaging leadership communication. Very practical topics are suggested to directly target the needs of the case organization.
Employee engagement appears to offer a number of positive organizational outcomes. Among them are increased employee commitment, improved in-role and extra-role behavior, better service climate, enhanced employee performance, and higher financial returns. Thus it seems that employee engagement is something that organizations should strive for. On the other hand, employees themselves also seem to benefit from engagement in that it is described as a positive psychological state. Employee engagement is a win-win game.
The role of leaders in fostering employee engagement is central. This thesis explores that role and delves into how leadership communication can enable engagement. The situation at the case organization is made even more challenging by the decentralized nature of the studied organizational functions. The main purpose of the thesis is to find ways in which the organization can facilitate engaging leadership communication.
To find out what needs and concerns the mid-level managers currently have, semi-structured interviews were used. The responses revealed for example that the managers were worried about the distant team members’ sense of belonging, and experienced difficulty in dealing with challenging issues with their team members. Ability to cater to all these needs is central for creating an engaging atmosphere.
The material gathered from the interviewed managers was utilized to draft a suggestion of an educational event that could help the case organization in supporting its mid-level managers in engaging leadership communication. Very practical topics are suggested to directly target the needs of the case organization.