The Scholarships Office’s Lack of Transparency

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Current situation
Situation analysis
Summary of ideas and thoughts
Conclusion
Reference

Introduction

The Scholarships Office (SCO) was established in 1999 to identify brilliant Emirati students and facilitate their travel to international institutions for advanced studies. The organisation offers scholarships to outstanding students in two major categories, namely the Distinguished Student Scholarship (DSS) and the Study Abroad Scholarship Program (SASP). The firm’s productivity has been adversely affected by a lack of transparency. Resolution of this problem would improve the productivity, performance, and general output of employees significantly. Recent outcomes of events and organisational functions have demonstrated the existence of deep problems within the office. Lack of transparency has led to a breakdown in communication, low-quality services, high rates of absenteeism, poor decision-making, duplicate work, and low morale among employees. It is imperative for the organisation to address these challenges hastily in order to enhance performance and productivity among employees.

Current situation

Currently, there is a lack of transparency between the manager and employees. The issuance of scholarships to students is supposed to be fair and transparent. On the other hand, access to information is supposed to be open, quick, and unlimited. However, the manager does not share all the relevant information with employees regarding scholarship applicants and employee welfare. He only provides information that he is willing to share in order to achieve certain desired results and outcomes. Therefore, employees are unable to do their work effectively. The manager is also not honest about certain actions and decisions that affect the welfare of employees.

For instance, he only informs employees about the decisions made by management and excludes vital information such as their rationale and how they will affect them. Discussions between the manager and employees are characterised by a lack of trust, honesty, and openness. Constant bickering and disagreements are signs of problems that go deep into the core of the organisation. Lack of transparency is evident from a breakdown in communication, duplicate work, bad relationships, and poor-decision making. Many decisions result in poor outcomes because employees are not involved in the decision-making process.

Employees rarely share their problems with the manager because they do not trust him. Therefore, they struggle with challenges that require the provision of organisational resources for effective resolution. The services offered by employees are of poor quality. The process of vetting applicants and offering scholarships takes longer than it used to, and the office has received numerous complaints of poor services and delays from clients. Employees are dissatisfied with their work because of unfair treatment from the manager who is not providing all the resources and opportunities needed for high performance and productivity. Shunning the manager has become part of the organisational culture and interactions are limited to weekly meetings and managerial summons.

Situation analysis

As mentioned earlier, lack of transparency in the organisation has caused several problems including a breakdown in communication, duplicate work, job dissatisfaction, negative attitudes towards the manager, low participation in teamwork, poor decision-making and high rates of absenteeism. The manager does not provide adequate information to enable employees to accomplish their duties effectively. He disseminates information selectively and only provides information that he thinks will lead to certain desired outcomes. For example, the issuance of scholarships is based on a thorough process of participant vetting and analysis of personal information.

The manager conceals some information on certain participants in order to manipulate the process. The propensity to hide certain information in order to favour some applicants has led to the loss of trust and development of negative attitudes. Employees do not have faith in him because of his lack of integrity and honesty. Loss of trust in the manager has led to a breakdown in communication. Employees rarely contact him when facing challenges because they fear that he will try to manipulate them for personal gains. This mistrust has spread among employees. Organisations are highly networked and as a result, depending on cooperation and collaboration for the attainment of goals and objectives (Berman, 2015). Divisions among employees have originated from disagreements regarding the transparency of the manager. A small number of supports the manager and argue that he is transparent while the majority of employees maintain that he is not transparent.

One of the main causes of organisational ineffectiveness is the lack of collaboration and cooperation among employees (Berman, 2015). Mistrust between employees has resulted in a lack of collaboration and cooperation, especially in activities that involve teamwork. Many employees are unwilling to take part in teamwork activities because of negative attitudes toward the manager and their jobs. Lack of teamwork decreases productivity because when employees work individually, information dissemination and sharing of ideas are minimised. Ineffectiveness and low performance have also been caused by a breakdown in communication. Poor communication has caused ineffective dissemination of information and exchange of ideas among employees hence the prevalence of duplicate work.

Communication within the office is ineffective and has resulted in poor coordination and planning. According to Berman (2015), effective communication is an important aspect of coordination in an organisation. Ineffective communication results in an unclear understanding of responsibilities and improper assignment of duties. Cases of duplicate work are on the rise because employees do not have clear guidelines as to what is expected of them or the duties they are required to fulfil. They make assumptions regarding their responsibilities because the manager does not provide clear guidelines about specific roles and how they are connected to others. A clear description of tasks is an important aspect of enhancing cooperation and collaboration.

Access to accurate and adequate information is an important factor in decision-making. The manager is providing inadequate information that is affecting the effectiveness and efficiency of decisions. Employees are making decisions based on vague information that lacks facts. Withholding information in an organisation leads to manipulative leadership that causes loss of trust and job dissatisfaction. Employees are unsatisfied with the work environment in which they work because they cannot trust their manager, who is expected to look after them and take care of their welfare.

The main reason for high cases of absenteeism is job dissatisfaction. Employees are not deriving any joy or happiness from fulfilling their duties because of the many challenges faced at the workplace. Motivation is an important aspect of organisational success because motivated employees are productive, perform well, embrace team work, and love their jobs. However, the situation is different at the SCO. Employees are demotivated and have low morale because their work does not provide any satisfaction or fulfilment.

Summary of ideas and thoughts

Lack of transparency is the main barrier to the enhancement of productivity and performance at the Scholarships Office. Withholding vital information, poor communication, poor decision-making, lack of integrity and honesty, poor management and leadership, and lack of cooperation and collaboration among employees are some of the reasons why employees are exhibiting low productivity. These factors have affected their morale and willingness to work hard to attain organisational goals and objectives. The manager is selfish and does not care much about their welfare. For example, he does not involve employees in the decision making process even if the decisions being made affect their work. Employee motivation, collaboration, cooperation, and satisfaction are beneficial to an organisation. However, they are absent at the SOC. The current situation is an opportunity for the organisation to introduce change and increase productivity as well as performance.

Lack of transparency has affected employees adversely. However, it is also advantageous because it identifies dysfunctional aspects that need improvement and demonstrates the effects of bad leadership. Change improves performance and enhances the ability o an organisation to compete effectively. Another barrier that could hinder efforts to improve the situation is resistance to change. Everyone in the organisation is aware of the problem. However, it is continuing because of resistance to change. Employees usually resist change because of the comfort they derive from the status quo, fear of failure, probability of losing their jobs, loss of control, poor timing, and lack of an effective support system. The manager could resist change for fear of losing his job and control over employees. The leadership and management styles of the manager are sources of low productivity at the organisation. Embracing change could lead to job loss or demotion.

The organisation’s low performance is a problem that is indicative of deeper challenges within the workforce. Nonetheless, it is an opportunity for the firm to conduct a thorough diagnosis in order to improve its operations and overall output. Lack of transparency has created problems that have permeated the processes and operations of the entire firm. It has affected teamwork, collaboration and dissemination of knowledge, exchange of ideas and information, and creation of effective relationships. Trust is the major foundation pillar of good relationships in an organisation. The manager’s lack of transparency has eroded employees’ trust in him and has created rifts that have reduced performance. According to Berman (2015), people are main key to making organisations productive and successful. He notes that signs of people problems in an organisation include absenteeism, staff demotivation, shunning employees or the managers, and increased number of complaints. These challenges are evident at the SCO and signify deep people problems that need to be addressed hastily.

Conclusion

Lack of transparency is the main barrier to improving performance at the Scholarships Office. It has caused a breakdown in communication, duplicate work, absenteeism, low employee morale, job dissatisfaction, lack of cooperation and collaboration, and poor performance. Employees have lost trust in the manager’s manipulative leadership. Employees are demotivated and are shunning the manager. Lack of access to adequate information is resulting in poor decision-making. These challenges are adversely affecting the organisation and need to be addressed quickly. However, they are also opportunities that reveal the firm’s weaknesses and the changes that need to be made in order to improve performance and productivity. The problem is continuing because employees are unwilling to embrace change. Possible loss of jobs, poor timing, ineffective support systems, and additional duties and responsibilities are factors that are contributing toward the perpetuation of the problem.

Reference

Berman, E. (2015). Performance and Productivity in Public and Nonprofit Organizations. New York, NY: Routledge.

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