Name:
School:
Course/Number:
November 10, 2011
Instructor’s Name:
Post Office
While taking my course in management, I pondered how my new knowledge would help me as well as others in my career considering my mission statement that I hold quite dear. In life, from the much help I have received from other people who have made be what I am, I swore that I would live to return the favor to others deserving it. My mission statement has always been to motivate, inspire and help other people to achieve their full potential and learn from them. I have learnt from many people in life and I value the work of others as well as their efforts. I realized that every person likes it when his or her efforts are appreciated. From my experience in a post office, I have realized that having a code of ethics, values and a mission statement for the organization without having personal ones does not create value in me, others or the company. The mission and vision statement acts as an inspiration to the employees (mindtools.com, 2011). Hence, I always advocate for people to have their own values and ethics, as well as missions and vision statements that create a direction for their lives along which they shall pursue their dreams, and seek to help others by inspiring them to achieve their potential.
Not only the academic work learnt in class is used in management, the personal values, ethics and principles that a person hold, which acts as an example for others to follow are also used. My values have always been to appreciate others and see them as team mates in achieving certain goals. In a team, there are leaders and team players, who are all crucial in achieving any goal, and whom without, there can be no achievement. Management is not just about making rules and decision or directing people towards a certain desirable way. Rather, it is a position that is supposed to inspire, and set a good example to influence others towards the goal. My ethics are honesty and devotion, which I have always held in order to gain trust from people and honor, which does not just come easily. In addition, I seek to provide services to people with devotion to perfection and abiding to set rules and principles that are right and add value to not only my life, but to others.
My personal vision has always been to grow and develop from almost nothing, and rise to big achievement. As I was learning in college, I always wondered how I would be in a position to make such an achievement if I were employed in an already established organization such as the post office, which I work for today. However, I realized that even big organizations that are already established have a lot to grow and achieve. It is not only in terms of size of the organization or revenue generation growth, but achieving a good climate and relationship within the organization for a harmonious working environment. When I entered the organization, one of the issues that needed urgent intervention was departmental interaction. However, I only realized this after several attempts to restore the organization’s glory to prosperity through laying down strategy after strategy, a mission that failed at its implementation stage. My vision could not have been achieved without having people, an asset that was lacking. I realized that to achieve my vision, I had to have people working as a team. I then sought to know where the problem arose from and found it to be lack of smooth departmental flow where every department did their work without considering others.
However, for my vision, mission and values as well as ethics to have any meaning, they have to be in harmony with the organization’s mission and goals. Without a connection between the organizational mission statement, values and ethics with personal ones, a gap is left (NationalDefenseUniversity, n.d.). My organization, being a postal service delivery one, has its mission statement as one to bring the nation together with postal services, to be prompt, efficient and reliable in provision of its services to all people and communities (Historian, 1999). However, despite this being the mission statement, it has other values and cultures as well as ethics. The organization holds a high value to its customers and accords them first priority. Customers are regarded as the sole purpose why the organization exists, and their requests are given first priority. We seek to provide the best services to our customers. From my college, I learnt that a service providing business exists for the people, and the people should be its most valued possession. I have experienced this idea practically where I now realize that providing good services to the people is the only way the post office can exist. The organization also values its employees who are the most crucial asset of the organization.
In an organization, there has to be a code of ethics that ensures all workers and employees practice the best virtues within the organization, or act as good agents of the organization. In the post office, to ensure good service to the people and honesty, no employee is allowed to take any bribe or any form of reward from a customer without going through the office. This is to avoid any kind of exploitation of the customers. More so, employees are prohibited in engaging in other businesses under the name of the organization. This is to avoid liability to the organization. There are many codes of ethics. However, to reflect on the importance of these two, this experience shows it all. In one circumstance, a customer offered an employee at our organization a token in terms of money, and she accepted. Later, the customer did it again, and it became a routine whenever the customers visited. The employee did not mention this to the administration. It went further and a friendship was built within a month. As is usual, such tokens are usually granted with an ulterior motive and do not come freely. It turned out that the particular person was involved in drugs, and wanted conduct his trade through the post office, and intended to use the friend he had made in the post office. The employee, feeling obliged, agreed to help but fortunately, she was caught. This cost her her job, and landed her in jail while the drug owner was never caught. Abiding to set ethics protects the employee and customers as well as the public. More so, they ensure employee have the right morals guiding them in the operations of the organization (Trevino, Weaver & Reynolds, 2006).
For one to work in an organization and avoid any problems there has to be a good climate and culture that allows interactions among employees and the administration as well as the organization itself. When I joined the post office, the culture of interaction within all departments had subsided, and people worked towards achieving their departmental goals. This had cost the organization a serious problem due to lack of harmony within the organization. For instance, when I asked for a favor from one department and expected to get information concerning a matter that affected the whole department, I had to go to the department that was issued with that duty. It was clear that no department cared what the other did, and despite that, all departments would affect each other in one way or the other. This created quite a bad climate that raised rivalry among the departments with those at the top being viewed as the enemy to the lower department. As I learnt in college, a good climate and culture in an organization is important for a healthy business.
Social responsibilities are important to remind the people the purpose of the existence of an organization. Social interaction is one way that people are able to remember information rather than when they are, just told. In order to demonstrate the social responsibilities of the post office, which are providing the community with development and communication services, the organization offers training and education to its employers who are able to contribute to the society. More so, the organization offers employment to the local people around the community, which ensures that people have a means of living. The company has managed to achieve its social responsibility by developing its employees. The company also ensures the health of its employees through insuring them and their families medically. From my experience, when an employee is not worried about his or her family, they are more productive. Ensuring to take care of their medical expenses is a social responsibility extended to the community as well. More so, through services such as helping people find their missing children, the organization makes it clear to the society that they are there for them. During my course in college, before learning the importance of social responsibility, I thought organizations did not have any obligation to the society. This was until I became a manager and learnt its importance. Through this, I learnt that organizations are there for the people and not the other way round. I learned that the importance of social responsibility is to enhance development of the community (The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2005)
Societies are defined by the morals they hold, and organizations are no exemption. Companies and organizations with a ruined moral philosophy get a cold treatment from people and regaining it is quite hard. This is from the experience of an organization within the community my organization is. Their moral philosophy did not comply with the community and therefore they lost their business opportunity. Our moral philosophy is in the pursuit of honesty by providing the society with honest services despite the circumstances. This moral philosophy ensures that workers devote their services under all circumstances, and maintain honesty. Honesty is the most affirmed ethic in our organization, while output is valued least if no quality is achieved.
Considering myself a future leader of the whole organization, I would love to change some few things concerning the culture and climate of the organization. Through my studies, I have learnt that change does not start from the top, but from the lowest level. To achieve a change, I have learnt it has to start from within me, and extend to people, who will make the change in the organization. My first plan would be to find out what my employees need in order to achieve their goals. Therefore, I would ask them to put down goals and objectives they wish to achieve in life. This way I would know which goals are congruent with the organization’s goals. More still, I would require them to put down what they would do for the organization in turn, and what changes they would love to see. People are the change; hence, they need to be involved in making any changes that affect them. Then, I would like to find out the problem behind the lack of good communication within the different departments. With all this information, planning a change will be easier, and it will be a change people can appreciate considering they will have contributed. Through out my experience, I have learnt that what makes up organizations is the people within the organization, considering nothing can go on without human intervention. I would like the organizational culture and climate to be one that welcomes any body and provides a peaceful and comfortable place for operations to take place. I would love to change the climate and culture to achieve one that allows interaction among all members of the organization, regardless of the position held, in order to create a sense of belonging and a strong united team.
References
Historian. (1999). Postal Service Mission and “Motto”.United States Postal Service.
mindtools.com. (2011). Mission Statements and Vision Statements. Retrieved from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_90.htm#
NationalDefenseUniversity. (n.d). Strategic Leadership and Decision Making: Values and Ethics. Retrieved from http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ndu/strat-ldr-dm/pt4ch15.html
The Economist Intelligence Unit. (2005). The Importance of Corporate Responsibility. New York: The Economist Intelligence Unit.
Trevino, L.K., Weaver, G.R., & Reynolds, S.J. (2006). Behavioral Ethics in Organizations: A Review. Journal of Management, 32 (6): 951-990.
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