Most organizations fail because the central office is unable to communicate either the existing or revised policies to its employees. Failing to effectively communicate policies to personnel in various departments results in confusion and resistance, ultimately leading to poor performance. There are a lot of operations going on at 2M Company because the company is a wholesale supplier of turf irrigation and other water-related services across the country. As a result, efficient communication of specific policies to the various divisions is critical to the organization's performance. The separate branches rely completely on the procedures established by the company. Although the company is centralized, most of its activities are out-door; hence communicating the updated guidelines from the central office is always met with resistance as some departments such as the delivery section do not understand the outlined policies due to poor orientation and preparedness (Miller, 2015). Therefore, poor communication of any new policy to the workers through the various departments derail the progress of the firm as people will not be able to follow the stipulated regulations and procedures introduced.
The existing problem of poor communication of the updated policies which in return makes certain departments in 2M Company not to follow the adjusted guidelines is solely based on the poor choice of the decision-making model. Every company must be involved in making certain decisions in order to remedy a particular problem that is derailing its performance. The decision has to be made whether in large or small scale. Since the issue of poor communication of certain policies within the various departments in 2M Company is as a result of the outdoor activities of most of the staff, the best decision-making model that applies to this situation is the phase model of decision making. As noted before, most of the employees at 2M Company are always complaining about particular policies, and they end up disregarding certain guidelines. Therefore, the application of phase model of decision making by the management of this firm will play a significant role in enhancing the take of the staff towards the outlined guidelines. It is clear that most of the outdoor workers are not orientated on the importance of being updated on the new policies and the need to keep in touch with the various departments in order to articulate the new regulations and follow them to the latter. Informing the staff from the various departments at the start of any project ensures that they are given an opportunity to raise any issue that they may feel is working for their best interest and that of the firm (Zhang, 2016).
Although policies are set for everyone within the organization to follow, it is obvious that the regulations may not favor everyone. Hence, there is the need for the management to call all the members of the different departments and ensure that the policies are communicated and understood by everyone and an agreement is reached. Therefore, with this in mind, the application of phase model of decision making by the management of 2M Company will be an ideal solution to the problem being witnessed when communicating certain policies to the different departments.
The model provides the workers with an opportunity to form groups that will be primarily relied upon in resolving certain conflicts such the dissatisfaction being experienced by the staff in 2M Company. The members are presented with a chance to debate the required solutions rather than posting the policies without taking the views of each worker (Swanson & Bhadwal, 2009). The approach forms the ground for conflict resolution of the organization through debate sessions. The human resource manager of 2M Company should advise all its employees and particularly the out-door staff that may have difficulty in interpreting the written policies and the purpose of its creation. Moreover, to avoid any further misinterpretation and conflict as a result of poor or inadequate explanation of the policies to the employees, the management of 2M should indicate how and when the document will be used in the organization. It is vital to note that this procedure applies to either new or updated policy (Zhang, 2016). Therefore, following this step of resolving the conflict as indicated in the phase model of decision making will alleviate the problem of communicating the policies within the various departments of the organization. The phase model of decision making indicate the need for the management to ensure that the different departments and groups have fully supported the solution to their problem and make any suggestions if needed; thus this provides the firm with reinforcement required to practice the outlined policies.
In conclusion, since the policy manual/ handbook is a "breathing" document that needs to be reviewed and updated regularly, all the departments and the employees should be incorporated and be given the freedom to provide their suggestions of improving the document. For this reason, the communicated policies will be clear to all the departments and the workers. Since all the departments and the staff will be involved in the formulation of the policies before they are being communicated to them, they will be able to follow and adhere to the stipulated guidelines (Rice, 2015).
References
Miller, K. (2015). Organizational communication: Approaches and processes. Stamford: Cengage Learning.
Zhang, G. U. (2016). Multi-Level Decision Making: Models, Methods And Applications. S.L.: Springer-Verlag Berlin An.
Swanson, D., & Bhadwal, S. (2009). Creating adaptive policies: A guide for policymaking in an uncertain world. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications Ltd
Rice, R. E. (2015). Organizational communication. London: SAGE Publications Ltd
