Concept of Directing

Directing refers to the process of instructing, guiding, counselling, motivating and leading people in
the organisation to achieve its objectives.
Elements of Directing
1. Supervision means instructing, observing, monitoring and guiding the efforts of the subordinates
for the achievement of work targets in the desired manner.
2. Motivation means stimulating people to action to accomplish desired goals.
3. Leadership is the art or process of influencing people so that they strive willingly and
enthusiastically towards the achievement of group goals.
4. Communication is the process of exchange of ideas and information among people to create
common understanding.
Features/Characteristics of Directing
1. Directing initiates action. Directing initiates action by people in the organisation towards
attainment of desired obiective:
2. It takes place at every level of management. Every manager from top executive to the supervisor
performs the directing functior
3. It flows from top to bottom through the organisation hierarchy. Every manager can direct his
immediate subordinates an take instructions from his immediate boss.
4. It is a continuous process as it takes place throughout the life of the organisation irrespective of
the people occupyir managerial positions.

Importance of Directing
1. Directing helps to initiate action by people in the organization towards attainment of desired
objectives.
2. Directing integrates employees' efforts in the organization in such a way that every individual
effort contributes to t organisational performance. Thus, it ensures that the individuals work for
organisational goals.
3. Directing guides employees to fully realise their potential and capabilities by motivating and
providing effective leadersh
4. Directing facilitates introduction of needed changes in the organisation by reducing resistance to
change and developi cooperation.
5. Directing brings stability and balance in the organisation since it fosters cooperation and
commitment among the peo and helps to achieve balance among various groups, activities and the
departments.

Features of Motivation
(i) It is an internal feeling. The urge, drives, desires, aspirations, striving or needs of human being,
which are internal, influence human behaviour. (il) It produces goal directed behaviour. For example,
if the employee is interested in promotion, it helps to produce a behaviour to improve performance.
(ill) It can be positive or negative. Positive motivation provides positive rewards like increase in pay,
promotion, recognition etc. Negative motivation uses negative means like punishment, stopping
increments, threatening etc. which also may induce a person to act in the desired way. (iv) It is a
complex process because any type of motivation may not have a uniform effect on all the members.
Financial incentives to motivate employees
Financial incentives are measurable in terms of money. To satisfy basic physiological needs of lower
level employees, financial incentives are important.
1. Productivity linked wage incentive involves linking payment of wages of employees to the increase
in their productivity at individual or group level.
2. Bonus involves offering an amount of funds over and above the wages/ salary to the employees.
3. Profit Sharing involves providing a share in the profits of the organization to employees. (This
motivates them to improve their performance and contributes to increase in profits of the
organisation.)
4. Co-partnership/Stock option is an incentive under which the employees are offered company
shares at a set price which is lower than market price. (The allotment of shares at lower price creates
a feeling of ownership to the employees and makes them to contribute for the growth of the
organisation.)
5. Retirement Benefits include benefits such as provident fund, pension and gratuity that provide
financial security to employees after their retirement. (This acts as an incentive when they are in
service in the organisation.)

Non-financial Incentives to Motivate Employees

All the needs of individuals are not satisfied by money alone. Psychological, social and emotional
factors also play important role in providing motivation. Non-financial incentives mainly focus on
these needs.
1. Job enrichment: Job Enrichment means designing jobs that include greater variety of work
content, require higher level of knowledge and skill, give workers more autonomy and responsibility
and provide the opportunity for personal growth and a meaningful work experience. • If jobs are
enriched and made more interesting, the job itself becomes a source of motivation to the individual.
2. Employee recognition programme: It means acknowledging and appreciating the work performed
by the employees to motivate them to perform at higher levels. (e.g., rewarding an employee for
giving valuable suggestions, congratulating and giving award for good performance, Displaying on
the notice board or in the company newsletter about the achievement of employee, distributing
mementos, complementaries like T-shirts in recognition of employee services, etc.)
3. Employee participation: It means involving employees in decision-making issues related to them,
for example, making them a part of joint management committees, work committees, canteen
committees, etc.
4. Employee empowerment: It means giving more autonomy and powers to the subordinates to
make them feel that their jobs are important.
5. Job security which refers to providing stability to the employees about future income and work so
that they do not feel worried on these aspects and work with greater zeal. (Negative aspect of job
security: When people feel that they are not likely to lose their jobs, they may become complacent.)
6. Career advancement opportunity/Promotion means providing an opportunity to employees to
improve their skills to be promoted to higher level of jobs. Appropriate skill development
programmes and sound promotion policy provide career advancement opportunity to the
employees.
7. Status: It means ranking of positions in the organisation. The authority, responsibility, rewards,
recognition, etc. of a job indicate the status given to a person. Status given to a job satisfies
psychological, social and esteem needs of an individual.
8. Organisational climate: It indicates the characteristics, like individual autonomy, reward
orientation, consideration to employees, risk taking etc. which describe an organization and
distinguish one organization from the other.
Semantic Barriers to Communication
These are related to process of encoding and decoding of message into words or impressions, use of
wrong words, faulty translations, different interpretations, etc.
1. Badly expressed message: Badly expressed message in which the intended meaning may not be
conveyed on account of inadequate vocabulary, usage of wrong words, omission of needed words
etc.
2. Symbols with different meanings: A word may have several meanings. For example, What is the
value of this ring? I value our friendship. What is the value of learning computer skills? Wrong
perception by the receiver about the word 'value' may lead to communication problems.
3. Faulty translations: If the communication drafted in one language (say, English) is not properly
translated in a language understandable to workers, communication becomes ineffective.
4. Technical jargon: Specialists use technical language, e.g., tariff, quotas, etc. Therefore, workers
may not understand them.
5. Unclarified assumptions create confusion and the loss of goodwill, e.g., instruction of a boss to his
subordinate "Take care of our guest" may mean care of transport, accommodation and food of the
guest, but the subordinate may interpret that guest should be taken to hotel with care.
6. Body language and gesture decoding becomes a barrier when there is no match between what is
said and what is expressed in body movements.

Psychological Barriers to Communication

Psychological barriers are concerned with the state of mind of both the sender and the receiver.
1. Lack of attention: Non-listening of message, say due to the preoccupied mind. (For example, an
employee explains about his problems to the boss who is pre-occupied with an important file before
him.)
2. Distrust: If the sender and the receiver of communication do not believe each other, they cannot
understand each others message.
3. Premature evaluation: Evaluating the meaning of message before the sender completes; due to
pre-conceived notions or prejudices against the communication.
4. Loss by transmission and poor retention: Successive transmissions of oral message results in loss
of information, or transmission of inaccurate information. Poor retention of the information is
another problem.
Measures to improve communication effectiveness/Measures to overcome communication barriers
1. The manager should clarify the ideas before communicating to the subordinates. The entire
problem should be studied in depth, analysed and stated in such a manner that it is clearly conveyed
to the subordinates.
2. The manager should adjust his communication according to the needs and understanding level of
the subordinates.
3. The manager should consult others before developing a plan for communication. Participation and
involvement of subordinates may help to gain ready acceptance and willing co-operation from them.
4. The manager should be aware of the languages, tone and content of the message so that it does
not offend the sentiments of the listeners.
5. The manager should ensure proper feedback by asking questions regarding the message
conveyed.
6. The manager should do a regular follow up and review of the instructions given to the
subordinates.
7. The manager should be a good listener as patient and attentive listening can solve half of the
problems.