Delegation, 25 mrks - Business

A business wants to increase the productivity of its workforce. To what extent is the greater use of its delegation likely to be an effective way for a business to achieve this? 25 marks Delegation is the passing down of authority to a subordinate in the business. Productivity is how effective the workforce is in creating their service/product to a high quality. Handing down authority to a subordinate could be an effective way for a business to increase its productivity of its workforce. If a subordinate is given authority using delegation, this will produce motivation within the workforce. This is due to the workforce wanting to be the subordinate who the authority is given to. The workforce work towards being given that empowerment, explaining the increase in productivity within the workforce. This can be linked to several theories, for example one being Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, as the workforce will be working towards the self-actualisation stage of the theory, having completed the other stages of the hierarchy (physiological needs, safety, love/belonging and esteem). The consequence of a higher motivated workforce is the increase of productivity, therefore suggesting that the use of delegation is likely to be an effective way of increasing the productivity of its workforce. Another positive of using delegation to increase a workforce’s productivity within a business is lower levels of absenteeism. This is due to employees being motivated using delegation, and therefore results in them coming into work. Lower levels of absenteeism consequently result in a lower labour turnover, which increases the productivity of the business as more employees are turning up for work and less are absent. This therefore suggests that the use of delegation is likely to be an effective way of increasing the productivity of the workforce. However, the business must be able to trust the employees that they delegate to, otherwise it may result in lower quality products and lower levels of productivity. If the subordinate lacks the skills needed to complete the tasks set by delegation, it can affect the business, productivity being an example. A decreased productivity may be due to lower quality products/services being created the subordinate. This means that the business must be strict and professional in who they choose to delegate to, otherwise may suffer consequences. This therefore suggests that the use of delegation is unlikely to be an effective way of increasing the productivity of the workforce. Finally, the subordinates chosen may lack the authority necessary to undertake a delegated task. If an employee at the bottom of the authority hierarchy is chosen to undertake a delegated task, it is unlikely that other employees will take him seriously, therefore decreasing the levels of productivity. The subordinate may not know that he/she are doing, and may result in completing the delegated task incorrectly, which may result in lower quality products/services. Therefore, depending on the subordinate’s authority within the business, the use of delegation is unlikely to be an effective way of increasing the productivity of its workforce. To conclude, depending on the skills and authority of the subordinate chosen to undertake a delegated task, I believe to a moderate extent that the greater use of delegation will result in higher levels of productivity. Employees will be motivated by the empowerment of delegation and the increase of pay, which therefore increases the levels of productivity within the business. However, if the subordinate lacks skills and the authority necessary to undertake a delegated task it may affect the business and results in a decrease in productivity. However, motivated workforce results in a decreased labour turnover, consequently resulting in higher productivity within the business.