Releva Relevance nce of Henri Fa Fayol's yol's Princip Principles les of Management Ma nagement theories in modern workplace There is a continued debate as to the relevance in the modern workplace of the views of old management theorists eg, Fayol (1841 – 1!"#$ %ince his theories were produced there have been vast changes in markets, communication systems, automation and technology$ This has led some modern commentators to &uestion whether the theories have any real value and application in the !1st century still$ The management functions, roles les and skill kills s that that wer were outli utline ned d by him him as a neces ecessi sitty with within in management have been described as being the aid to describe the 'ob description of managers$ owever to fully appreciate and form an opinion on whether Fayol)s theories remain important and relevant to part of the modern day manager, one must *rst de*ne what management is and Managemen mentt is iden identi tiffy the the re&ui e&uirremen ements ts of a mode moderrn manag anager er$$ Manage dened dened as "The "The proces process s of coordi coordinat nating ing and and integr integrati ating ng work work activities so that they are completed eciently and eectively with with and and thro thro!g !gh h ot othe her r peop people le" " owe oweve verr what what is re&ui e&uirred of a modern day manger is far less clearly de*ned than a century ago, with wide variations in the si+e and nature of the enterprise as well as a range of internal and eternal factors that will impact on the business$ enri Fayol is considered by many to be the founding father of administrative management theory$ Fayol was employed to develop and implement a management theory within the mining company wher where he worke worked$ d$ Fayol ayol notic noticed ed that that none none of the manag managers ers had received any general or role speci*c training for their positions$ -ith the the incr increa easi sing ng impo import rtan ance ce on the the role role of the the mang manger er and and the the changing nature of the business world, a common set of functions and principles that could be acknowledged by all and universally adopted was a necessity$ This led to the development of Fayol)s 14 principles of management, released in 11"$ .f greater importance wer were the the " func functi tion ons s of mana manage geme ment nt deve develo lope ped d by Fayol ayol that that focussed on the relationship between employees and their superiors planning #foresight #foresight$% $% (man (manag agem emen ent# t#$$ Thes These e " func functi tion ons s wer were/ planning orga organi nisin sing% g% comm comman andin ding% g% co&o co&ord rdin inat atin ing g and and cont contro rolli lling ng$$ Through planning Fayol hoped to combine the 0unity, continuity, eib eibilit ility y and preci precisio sion0 n0 of the organ organisa isatio tion n towar towards ds a common common purpose$ Fayol considered planning to be the most di2cult of the " functions as it re&uired the participation of the entire organisation, on all levels$
3n addition, organisations sought to ensure a more e2cient running of the daytoday activities of the company through structuring resources, both human and material, for more e5ective production within the workplace$ Through commanding, Fayol sought to optimise the return from employees within the enterprise$ 65ective managers would display 0personal integrity and communicate clearly0 with workers, ensuring their thorough knowledge of personnel creates 0unity, energy, initiative and loyalty and eliminates incompetence$0 The coordination of organisations encouraged synergy the harmonising of employees and the organisation as a whole$ Fayol actively promoted weekly meetings for managers and heads of departments to discuss issues of common interest thereby maimising the ow of communication (both upwards and downwards# within organisations$ Finally, by controlling feedback and identifying weaknesses within the organisation Fayol sought continual improvement and constant development of various aspects of the business from both the employees and management$ 7lthough Fayol)s works related to the early part of the !th century, his theories are still of general application but do have their limitations considering the technological advances since his death in 1!"$ -hen deducing whether Fayol)s theories are still relevant to modern day managers, one must *rst establish the traits and skills that a successful modern manager must possess$ 7 worldwide survey conducted by the 9alen :onsulting 9roup in !; concluded that managers should have following 0habits0 to ensure that they would be e5ective with their fellow workers, enabling a harmonious environment that would still remain productive$ 3t is notable that these 0 habits0 can be traced back to Fayol)s theories$ 1$ The results of the survey concluded that the primary skill or habit that is re&uired of a successful modern day manager is to be a )good coach)$ Therefore a contemporary manager •
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must provide feedback, both positive and negative and give guidance for employees, specifying where they have either made a mistake or completed a task to a high standard$ %econdly it is essential to have regular communication with employees, both formal and informal and preferably on a one to one basis to discuss solutions to problems and the employee)s performance over a certain period$ -ith oneon one chats, constructive feedback is essential to ensure the employee isn)t intimidated and feels comfortable to approach the manager with any &ueries or issues in the future$
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The ability to motivate sta5 within the organisation will often promote a harmonious and conducive environment, ensuring greater productivity and a greater chance of retaining sta5$ The ability to )coach) an employee or sta5 member is an integral aspect of command and coordination of Fayol
!$ The second habit that is re&uired of a successful modern manager is the ability to empower the employees working with the manager and to involve all in team eercises$ •
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=y involving all within the workplace and not discriminating from worker to worker a manager is able to achieve a positive, friendly environment, thus ensuring greater productivity$ 6mpowering and giving freedom to employees is the second habit of a successful manager of today$ >ore, speci*cally it describes the role of the leader and liaison, who are responsible for sta2ng and training as well as maintaining communication within the organisation$ This demonstrates the command and delegation of responsibility aspect of Fayol
?$ For a manager to be highly successful they must *rst gain the respect of their employees$ This remains as true today as it was when Fayol was writing$ This can be achieved in a number of ways, e$g$ setting a good eample for fellow workers to follow$ •
=y getting to know employees both on a professional level and becoming familiar with their lives outside of the workplace workers will feel comfortable talking with their superiors$ This
will also ease the transition for new workers who will &uickly become integrated to the group within the workplace$ •
7ttaining the respect of employees is more &uickly obtained by promoting their careers and interests$ This habit of a highly successful manager can be traced back to @subordination of individual interest to general interest and remunerationA aspect of Fayol
4$ Through being productive and resultsorientated managers will optimise results with a higher rate of e2ciency$ =y focusing on attaining speci*c results and prioritising work to employees this goal is more achievable and relates to the fourth habit that is a necessity for contemporary managersB being productive and being results orientated$ •
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This habit can be traced back to Fayol)s functionB co ordinating, sought to 0unify and harmonise0 the team behind a common goal$ This is evident today in organisational mission statements, corporate goals and team targets which are aligned to these higher level ob'ectives$ >odern day team managers focus the team on a speci*c goal$ %imilarly, Fayol)s *fth function, commanding, is also an essential ability of managers who instruct employees and assign tasks under their leadership$ %uccessful modern managers demonstrate focus on achieving results within available resources and thereby reveal the continued importance and relevance of Fayol)s broad theories$
"$ The ability to have a clear vision and strategy for any circumstance the organisation may face is paramount to becoming a successful manager$ •
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Through setting organisational mission statement, corporate strategies and goals and team targets, this ensures synergy throughout the organisation$ 7ll constituent parts of the organisation understand their individual roles, how these feed into achieving ob'ectives and why they are important$ This ensures that the organisation stays on target even in adverse conditions e$g$ The 9lobal Financial :risis and ensures that the team will still remain e5ective and e2cient$ The continued importance of corporate vision has been demonstrated in the recent global economic turmoil$ This
habit or skill of a manager is comparable to both the planning and organising functions of Fayol$ Through drawing up plans of action that that coalesce 0unity, continuity, eibility0 the planning function of Fayol)s )" functions of management) is still important for contemporary managers$ •
%imilarly through the organising function, managers use 0capital, personnel and raw materials0 to guide the organisation as outlined by Fayol$ Thus both the organisation and planning function are shown to remain important to managers of today$
C$ The *nal habit of a successful manager is to have a sound knowledge of technical skills and to be able to give hands on advice to employees by working sidebyside with them$ •
%imilarly it is important to understand the challenges of working and to comprehend the di2culties and the stress of the position, thus being able to relate to employees it times of di2culty$
oncl!sion 7s the world goes through moderni+ation, organi+ations also morph into more comple and competitive contet$ Thus, the situation will become more challenging for managers in maintaining the viability of current organi+ations$ Degarding to those issues, it is important to comprehend in depth on manager)s work and follow basic classical theories of Fayol, which still hold good$
