"Rewarding Volunteers” is not "Compensation Plan"

"Rewarding Volunteers” is not "Compensation Plan"

Introduction

The aim of this paper is to discuss the case of the broadcasting station at Online University. The paper analyses and discusses different aspects underlying the scenario. The paper initially describes the causes of the problem faced at the online university. It then highlights the importance of a compatible leadership styles in such organizations. Latter the paper proposes an appropriate rewards structure that can maintain enthusiasm for work in the volunteers. In the end, the paper provides a communication and training program that could have been eased the problem in the case at hand.

Causes of the Problem with Understaffing at the Online University

Understaffing is a problem that occurs when an organization has lower number of employees than the one that is actually required by the organization. It is one issue which is of increasing concern for a large number of organizations these days in pursue of cutting down the expenses (Furnham, 2005). The same problem of understaffing was faced at the Online University. There may be several causes associated with this problem. The financial position of the university as not good, it therefore hired employees to work as volunteers. Online University because of the financial constraints was not in a position to offer monetary compensation to its employees. People usually work in order to receive monetary rewards. The inability of the organization to grant such awards may be a cause of understaffing at the Online University.

Ineffective and inadequate leadership is another cause (Adeniyi, 2007) that might have lead to the problem of understaffing at the Online University. Effective leadership provides proper guidance and direction to the employees, which help them to work smoothly and effectively (Adeniyi, 2007). However, in the case of Online University, the people who were meant to provide this guidance and direction were themselves incompetent of doing so. This made the volunteers to be confused regarding their work. This confusion might have turned out to be a source of lack of motivation. With no motivation, workers are unenthusiastic to perform and possibly leave the job (Adeniyi, 2007), as happened in the case of the Online Station.

Miscommunication is a source that may lead to problems in an organization. Effective and adequate communication gives the workers in the organization the capability to correspond in the organizational arrangement (Pauley & Pauley, 2009). There was a communication breakdown in the Online University which was portrayed by the lack of concern between the employees and the managerial staff. In such circumstances, it is not possible for the leaders and the workers to coordinate and communicate with each other. This might have been a cause of the misapprehension eventually heading to the resignation of the volunteers at online station. This contributed to the inefficiency of the service delivery and low motivation of the workforce. Thus, lack of proper communication among the leaders and employees (Pauley & Pauley, 2009) can be a source of understaffing at the Online ...