Leadership and Organizational Change

Introduction

Leadership is a vital element in any organization inasmuch as it determines performance, productivity and organizational workforce. It involves ability to influence behavior of other people towards the accomplishment of organizational goals and objectives. In many cases, organizations fail due to poor leadership, since most managers are not able to exemplify the role of a leader. Thus, making it difficult for them to influence the behaviors of employees towards the attainment of organizational goals.

On the other hand, organizational change is also a vital element in the success of any organization particularly in the current dynamic environment. Changes within an organization are intended to solve a threat or limitation in business. These changes usually affect main areas of business interactions such as leadership, operating processes and hierarchy. Currently, many organizations are focusing on restructuring their practices with the aim of getting an advantage over increased competitors. As a result of increased use of modern technology, many organizations have also endeavored in incorporating modern and advanced technology in their operations. These strategies are not only aimed at countering stiff competition, but also to ease the execution of tasks by employees, which eventually lead to increased productivity.

In addition, organizational change has made many organizations focus on the adoption of modern human resource practices, which are aimed at creating conducive working environment for employees. This has mainly been focused on motivation of workforce through various mechanisms such as reviewed salary packages, as well as administration of other intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. This paper focuses on MetLife Insurance Company approach towards organizational changes and how its leadership theories achieved their objective. In addition, this study focuses on traits, motivation and disposition of these leaders together with their attributes from those that they lead. The paper uses secondary data sources in researching on the insurance company so that the discussion held is credible .

MetLife has undergone several organizational changes; these changes have significantly boosted the organization to greater heights of business dealings in insurance. These changes include the acquisition of Alico and leadership changes which have moved the organization towards better strategies in the business of providing protection products, benefit programs that involve employee’s income services. The changes are purposed for the transformation of their culture which based on performance to a potential and performance culture; it has to cater for both individual and institutional clients.

The organization is venturing into a true comprehension of the capabilities of their talents in the effort of harnessing the talents and acquiring the necessary power. This organization is focused on achieving global strength so as to boost its performance development goals. The firm has implemented a better automated and formalized performance development procedure and a process that aims at talent review.

MetLife’s strategy on talent is made up of partnership with business in evaluating an associate and identifying high potential and key talents by use of a custom talent assessment guide. While identifying development needs and aggregate strengths, the information obtained is reviewed in formal setups. Understanding of the development needs of individuals is vital for creation of programs for the firm. It is this program that builds on the knowledge, competence and skills in both organizational and individual initiatives (Bissell, 2012). The strategic goal of the firm is to create global workforce with the potential of achieving strategic business outcomes as well as the competitive advantages that lead to enhancement of the shareholder value. It is this aspect that grants MetLife the right people, having the right skills for their jobs at the required time. For instance, they show data that depict the problem; it is thereby, presented to the relevant firms, and captures their attention. When the targeted firm is interested in the proposal, the two parties may benefit from the outcome; as it is mutually relevant for realization of their goals.

MetLife Company has undergone structural organizational change. The change was predetermined by the hierarchy of the firm which was manipulated so as to rhyme with the change and the entire process of running the company (Eliassen, 2008). For instance, structural changes include aspects like a new computer policy warning on smoking that is global. These changes are also known as transformational changes.

The principal approach used was the theory strategic changes. This transformation involved adjustments that affected MetLife’s way of operation. For instance, MetLife changed its basic approach in business; these changes were concerned with an in-person environment for the retailers (Eliassen, 2008). In the field of insurance, MetLife had to take up the strategic theory of strategic changes in an organization to accomplish its goals in business.

Contingency theory of leadership talks about leaders’ effectiveness in their position. It states that the contingent achievement of a leader is dependable on the application of a relevant style in a setting (Trichas, 2011). In this theory, the leaders degree of merit between their style and qualities while matching with a particular context.

Charismatic theory proposes that leaders have a vivid vision of their intended destination and means of its achievement . These leaders are capable of a proper articulation of their vision to other parties. The theory suggests that these leaders are sensitive to the environment they are in, and their followers’ needs (Trichas, 2011). They are characterized with a tendency to involve themselves in risky businesses that many find difficult to indulge. On the other hand, they attract a lot of admiration from their followers. Through their interactions with others, charismatic leaders are able to analyze the emotions of others through observation and discernment.

MetLife has several programs that focus on leadership growth, identification and growth of immense potential to replace other leaders’ roles in the corporate world Their approach is aimed at achieving quality leaders who will play crucial roles in development of the strategy of the company (Gallagher, 1997). This procedure took nine months in order to create modular programs that assess, simulate and coach the leaders. The program also assesses and coaches the people proposed to be highly talented. The application of the contingency theory of leadership is evident in MetLife’s transformation, in business strategy.

MetLife used a protocol commitment which has tremendously raised the ability of the firm in implementing the talent strategy. Commitment involves acknowledgement of both the executive group and Chief Executive Officer of the strength in this strategic imperative and case (Gallagher, 1997).

MetLife used this commitment acknowledgement in establishing a proper channel of protocol in the firm which resulted in better management thus better productivity, in insurance. Over time, the effects of these theories have enabled MetLife acquire global recognition and interactions.

In conclusion, Organizational changes are usually directed towards the firm’s performance and management. Leadership is a highly researched and studied area around the world. Study and development of the disaster resilience and humanitarian community is conducted to determine their relation to the leadership. MetLife has undergone several organizational changes; these changes have significantly boosted the organization to greater heights of insurance business. These changes are purposed for the transformation of their culture which is based on a potential performance and performance culture; it has to cater for both individual and institutional clients.

MetLife Company has undergone structural organizational change, as the firm’s hierarchy was manipulated so as to rhyme with the change and the entire process of running the company. The principal approach was the strategic changes theory. This transformation involved adjustments that affected MetLife’s way of operation. MetLife had to take up the strategic theory of strategic changes in an organization to accomplish its business goals.

Charismatic theory proposes that the leaders have a vivid vision of their intended destination and means of achieving this. The theory suggests that these leaders are sensitive to the environment they are in, and their followers’ needs. The approach is aimed towards achieving quality leaders, who would play crucial roles in development of the company strategy. For MetLife this procedure took nine months in order to create modular programs that assess, simulate and coach the leaders. MetLife used a protocol commitment which has tremendously raised the ability of the firm in implementing the talent strategy. The program also assesses and coaches the people proposed as highly talented. The application of the contingency theory of leadership is evident in MetLife’s transformation, in business strategy. The leaders in MetLife are characterized with a tendency to involve themselves with risky business that many find difficult to indulge, thus, attracting a lot of admiration from their followers. This also promotes their business in insurance. Charismatic leaders are able to analyze the emotions of others through observation and discernment; they are noticeable through their interactions with others.

References

Bissell, G. (2012). Organizational behaviour for social work. Bristol, UK: Policy.

Eliassen, K. A., & Sitter, N. (2008). Understanding public management. London, UK: Sage.

Gallagher, K. (1997). People in organizations: An active learning approach. Oxford: Blackwell.

Trichas, S., & University of Portsmouth. (2011). The face of leadership: Perceiving leaders from

facial expression. University of Portsmouth.