Organization Is the Civilian Human

¶ … organization is the Civilian Human Resource Agency (CHRA). This is a military organization that employs civilians in a variety of occupations from scientists and engineers to administrators and customer service representatives. One of the greatest strengths of the organization is that it has a well structured advancement path that is designed to help employees move from entry level positions through the ranks to reach executive status. CHRA provides a great deal of training in leadership and other important executive functions to help their employees move smoothly up the ladder, without hitting any glass ceilings along the way.

This brings me to another strength of the company which is that it strongly promotes diversity. In simple terms, diversity refers to the manner in which people in organizations differ. These differences can include everything from the traditional elements of race, gender, ethnic groups disabilities and age, to less definable elements such as personality, cognitive style, tenure and organizational function (Bell, 2007). The organizational leaders at CHRA seem to realize that employee diversity is something to be embraced rather than feared because it brings to the table a broader range of ideas. When people are all from the same culture with the same background, their ideas are likely to be relatively homogenous. However when a working environment has people from a variety of different cultural backgrounds, creativity is much more likely to thrive. CHRA leaders are excellent at managing diversity in a positive way.

A third strength is that most of the employees at CHRA tend to feel a strong sense of loyalty, and also seem determined to encourage others to adapt similar attitudes and behaviors. This sense of loyalty and commitment stems primarily from the way employees are treated at CHRA. For example, the organization offers a superior compensation and benefit package, which includes the following:

Comprehensive health and life insurance.

Generous retirement programs.

Paid holidays, sick leave, and vacation time.

Flexible work environment.

Paid employment related training and education.

Possible student loan repayment.

Payment of licenses, certification, and academic degrees as applicable.

Bonuses, incentives, and awards as appropriate for the job.

Competitive salaries.

Annual pay increases and locality pay adjustments (CHRA, "About Us," 2010).

Employees in today's competitive marketplace have come to expect good compensation and benefit packages (Dessler, 2005). Even in an economic recession, these benefits are expected because they are reflective of the organization's integrity and sense of fairness. Therefore it is critical that CHRA continue to provide their employees with these superb benefits no matter what the cost.

The organization also seems to be rather adept at evaluating employee performance regularly and fairly. The organizational leaders have, on the whole, established culture of trust, in which employees feel free to speak their minds and express their ideas without apprehension.

CHRA is not perfect, however. There are definitely some weaknesses in the organization as well. For example, some of the organization's leaders are not as skilled as they could be at handling conflict and negotiation. There is sometimes a lack of effective communication from the top down which results in problems that resonate throughout the company. When this happens, the conflict that ensues is not always handled as diplomatically as it could be. The "blame game" seems to be a popular pastime in the organization, which ultimately just serves to reduce morale.

My suggestion for overcoming this weakness is to send managers to training sessions on effective communication. In every organization, there are certain dynamics that influence the organizational culture in either a productive or a non-productive manner. It is ultimately the leaders' job to assess and understand those dynamics so that they can be channeled in a positive direction. Most experts agree that the manner of communication used between leaders and subordinates has an extremely powerful influence on the organizational culture, the morale of employees and the overall success of the company or department (Gilley, McMillan & Gilley, 2009).