Sigma Pharmaceuticals plc. is the well known wholesaler and distributor in the medical field market. Sigmobility is one of Sigma Pharmaceuticals’ largest divisions and has now been in operation for 4 years. I am managing the Sigmobility division as a General Manager since this division started. This subsidiary division is the largest market – leading mobility wholesaler supplying over 3500 independent chemists, nursing homes and doctor’s surgeries with a range of over 1000 product lines and delivering to them twice daily.
Sigmobility’s product ranges includes wheelchairs, walkers and rollators, electric scooters, home, toilet and kitchen aids as well as a full range of incontinence products. Other unique products include sheepskin fleeces, insulin travel wallets, tens machines, mini folding walking sticks, travel urinals and a huge range of orthopedic pillows and supports. (Plc.)
Job Description: General Manager
Qualification: MBA (King’s College, University of London – 2001)
Skills and Experience:
I have worked as a Human resource Manager in the Sigma pharmaceuticals for 3 years. I hold this position effectively and developed all the employees very well. With the ability of commercial experience, hands on experience in general management, conflict management and human resource management, I got promotion as a general manager in Sigmobility – one of the largest Sigma pharmaceutical’s division.
Job Specification:
Well-built interpersonal skills, with the ability to deal with and develop staff creating superior team work.
Aptitude to develop, apply, manage and administer efficient business and financial systems and actions
Experience of human resources procedures, ethics and legal implications
Previous hands on experience of Health and Safety policies, ethics and practices
Very good ability in computer skills
A capability to communicate at all levels
Target driven nature of the work with the capability to work and timely presentation targets and clear objectives
An intentional thinker and developer
An inspirational and compassionate managing style
An outstanding raconteur
A knowledgeable networker
Strong individualist and decision maker with high determination to succeed.
Recruitment Method for the Sigmobility:
Recruitment and selecting the right people is a key point to the success of the company. Employees are the pillars of the company so it plays an important role while selecting the employees. We recruit new employees for five sub divisions in Sigmobility.
Supervisor
Telesales Marketing
Warehouse picking and packing
Customer service assistant
Driving Force
Every year we recruit more than 100 new employees as our work is going to expand on day to day base.
In Sigmobility, we generally use online recruitment process independently. It gives us somewhat extended paperwork but it also gives us freedom to choose the right employees.
Recruitment Advertisement:
Recruitment advertisement has clear headings that define job title, salary and working hours. Our main target area is the local people around the company. We also give advertisement in the local news papers to attract more people.
To attract potential applicants, we use simple structure of job descriptions with details and add some of the benefits also. We make such type of the adverts that Potential applicants generally attracted by this type of advertisement and they apply for the positions listed on the advertisement.
Recruitment Selection Process:
To make simple human resource structure, we always do recruitment process twice in a year to save recruitment time effectively. After given deadline, supervisors of the Sigmobility asses all the applicants and select some of them take part for the interviews. I as a general manager don’t take part in this process of the selection.
If the applicant doesn’t meet the minimum criteria of the selection process, we don’t call them for interview. After carefully assessed all the shortlisted applications, they are invited for the first interview of the selection process. These interviews are handled under the inspection of the general manager as well as the Sigma Pharmaceutical’s human resource manager. During this interview, some of the criteria are being analyzed by the recruiter and feedbacks are also taken after conducting the interview. The main objective of the first interview is to analyze the applicant on some of the criteria like communication skills, the working environment, job description, pay roll and other benefits. The recruiters ask the controversy questions to know the applicant’s thinking strategy towards the appropriate situations. During the 30 minutes of the interview, the recruitment panel can easily understand the applicant’s interest for the job and his or her dedication towards the work. After finishing the first round of the selection process, we conduct the second round of the personal interview. During this interview, we generally offer a contracted letter of the work and the required general notices to the applicants. We give them chance to ask important questions regarding their career and future opportunities if they give us dedicated work. Generally all the applicants sign the work and join our company. The whole recruitment process is easy compare to the other selection process because of the working nature of the company’s employees. It’s a family run expanded business so no need for the accurate and highly professional selection process.
The recruitment and selection process’s overall flow chart are given as below under the careful deliberation.
Figure 1: Recruitment and Selection Process Flow Chart
Ethical, Regulatory and Legal implications for the selection process:
As a general manager and in charge of the recruitment and selection process, I carefully run this process to get the appropriate applicants. Awareness of the ethical and legal implications creates the positive working environment. Some of those aspects are described below.
The company cover all employees who need respect as people.
Reorganization has direct to downsizing of organisations. Those employees who are left behind often be suspicious of management and feel lacking confidence about their own jobs.
Job anxiety cause result in stress for the employee which increases the probability of mistakes being made or accidents happening.
As company become more multifarious with fewer employees, lawmaking requirements become crucial to maintain the psychological comfort of employees.
Lawmaking requirements include: EEO legislation, Affirmative Action legislation, Worker’s Compensation Acts and Regulations etc.
Discriminatory recruitment practices may slow down the success of women or people from minority backgrounds, but also older applicants.
Basic employment legislation related to contracts of employment, equal opportunity (Sex, Gender, and Disability etc.), health and safety and effective working relationship.
Importance of healthy, safe and productive working environment of the company.
The importance of professional standards and codes of practice for equal opportunity, understanding diversity and ethical behavior.
To develop and maintain comfortable working relationship with candidates, clients and the company based on understandable specification of the job role and the person needed.
Building Winning Teams:
Every organisations in needs for dynamic and excellent teamwork. There are some essential key points to building an effective team for the company’s success. Sigmobility also gives higher attention towards this importance of the employees. To run the flat and flexible means result oriented rather than task oriented organization, team building is important for the company.
As a GM of Sigmobility, I carefully watch the company’s innner going activities to sustain the team building. To meet all the teams of different division and shift are essentials to show care towards employees. Generally we organize meeting of all the different divisions once in a month and one meeting for all divisions together once in a month. It gives an effective resukt from all of the divisions. To boost employee’s power is as important as company’s wealth.
To make a winning team building, we organize seminars and get together party twice in a year. We also organize small event for new arrived employees to introduce the older once. In seminars, we focus on the five essential elements which requires for our company.
Figure 2: Five essential elements for the winning team
Team Goals: Our Company’s teams of all divisions are target driven force to reach the goals. Pharmaceutical industry’s competitiveness gives us boost to show our best and that’s why our all teams are going to be target driven.
Decision Making: each team has a key player who decides the tasks in the team and the key player has been approved by the general manager of the Sigmobility. The key player carefully gives each task to members of the team to finish the day to day work according to target.
Roles: each member of the team plays an important role in the team. The roles are given to the sustainable person after carefully deliberation and training of the conflict management. Each key player decided the roles for other members with agreement of all the teams.
Team Culture: the general manager strategically develop the multi disciplinary team culture to comfort all of the team members ethically and comfortably. It plays vital role for company’s growth as a multi cultural teams and gives benefits in diversity.
Communications: internal and external communications are important to create friendly and competitive team. Communications gives relations between the team members and develop the comfortable environment to work. The general manager gives training to all the staff to develop good communication skills between team members.
Belbin’s Team Role Summary related to Sigmobility:
Belbin’s theory for team building plays vital role in most organizations. In Sigmobility, the key team of the Sigma pharmaceuticals group relies on this principle. In this key team I work as a co coordinator and implementer in the company. All the strategies and long term targets are decided by this team. In Sigmobility, there are no such needs to apply Belbin’s theory to create more complex structure of the employees.
In future, if the company starts the manufacturing division, than Belbin’s team building would be an essential part of the creative key team of the company. But now days, Sigmobility don’t apply the Belbin’s theory for the working environment.
Leadership:
Since the company started, from my personal experience, I have implemented three types of leadership styles i. e. Authoritarian, Participative and Delegatative and I use it according to the situation.
Authoritarian Style: “ I want all of you”
According to Authoritarian style leadership, it is used when the General Manager suggest their employees what they want to do and how they would like it proficient, without taking the suggestion of their supporters. When there is a situation of heavy workload or in any case of emergency, t he authoritarian style should normally be used on occasions. For example, in the night shift of Monday have heavy workloads of the retail orders. In these types of cases, one leader is required to distribute all the workloads on appropriate employees. Though quality with work is also required during heavy workload in nightshift, the General Manager as a leader gives the enthusiasm to all the employees to achieve required target. . If the leader have time and want to expand more assurance and enthusiasm from our employees, than we use the participative style.
Participative Style: “ Let’s work together to solve the problem”
In participative style leadership, it involves the leader as well as one or more employees in the conclusion creation process (decisive what to do and how to do). Though, the leader maintains the essential decision making authority. Using this format of leadership is not a mark of weak point; rather it is a symbol of power that the employees will respect.
This leadership format is normally used when we have part of the information, and our employees have other parts. Make sure that a leader is not predictable to know the whole thing – this is why we employ knowledgeable and clever employees. Using this style is of joint benefit – it allows employees to become part of the team and allows them to make better decisions. For example, sometimes, when authority person is not available cause of workload, some of the senior employees decide what to do and how to do. Then they remind to the leader that they have started to solve that problem and the leader gives the green signal to achieve that task.
Delegate Style: “ Employees take care of the problem while the leader goes”
In this style of leadership, the leader allows the employees to make their own decisions. However, the leader as a General Manager is still liable for the decisions that are prepared. This type of leadership is not generally used in Sigmobility but when employees are able to analyze the circumstances and decide what needs to be done and how to do it. Sometimes Leader cannot able to do everything! He or she should set priorities and hand over certain tasks.
This is not a leadership style to use so that the leader could censure others when things go wrong, slightly this is a style to be used when leader fully trust and confidence in the people below him or her. This leadership style must use wisely so the leader can stop the blaming the employees in between. For Example, in rare circumstances, no authority person is available in the night shift. During this situation, wise employees understand the situation and follow the procedure themselves to finish the tasks. This style comes with clever employment and recruitment system only.
Motivational Technique to empower the employees:
There is an extensive range of positive ways to inspire and stimulate a team but it is more important to remember that these should also be implemented reasonably. In Sigmobility, we offer rewards and incentives but the General Manager to remember in mind that rewards must be deserved and gratitude should be given only to those who have really earned it. Also to encourage the healthy competition, this would be advantageous but also be harmful when pitting staff aligned with each other. Sigmobility has simple motivational techniques. Company gives rewards and incentive when the extra ordinary work is done by any of the employee.
Planning of work and activities:
Let’s have an example on how the work is planned and assignment is negotiated in Sigmobility. Generally we make a planning for the next coming week on Friday to evaluate how much work load is coming towards us. We take suggestions from our supervisor team and put their ideas into actions. New ideas to save the time during workload are always welcome in Sigmobility. Sigmobility’s employee growth depends upon conversations held in an atmosphere of trust and collaboration with the leaders. Create such an environment where employee can find a personal and comfortable spot for the discussions of their opportunity and development. General Manager allows sufficient time because a hasty intellect will not help build relationship between employees and the leader. To develop a trustful bond, the leader makes sure to listen as he establishes a two-way conversation. The leader should know that any goals set are clear and attainable for the employees by that they would not feel like work pressure or create problem in the working environment. The General Manager summarizes the next steps and responsibilities for each step of the progress. My role as a manager is to supply information and support to the supervisor and then supervisors pass it to the employees during this development process. Also the general manager take care and watch the development and negotiation process of the employees to make sure the process is going on the right track.
At the end, the leader should celebrate performance improvement in front of the employees to give them motivation and enthusiasm for next coming challenge in personal and organizational development.
