It is true that any organization would need different people for its performance to be optimized and effectiveness to be evoked. It is only with a mixture of expertise that the unique contributions of an individual be brought out and the organization will be able to fulfill its maximum potential. “We used to think that the manager's job was to know all the answers. But the new manager ought to know the questions, to be concerned about them and involve others in finding answers. Today's manager needs to be more of a facilitator - someone skilled in eliciting answers from others -sometimes from people who do not even know what they know.” (J. Naisbitt & P.Aburden).
Diversity is unavoidable and a fact of life in any organization. Without different personalities and skills varying from managers to employees, it would be almost impossible for an organization to optimize performance.
There are many factors which determine how performance can be optimized. However, the most significant factor would be the different types of skills that different managers and employees possess. The different types of skills that one can possess would be technical, interpersonal, conceptual and motivational skills which are inter related to the four organizational levels which are the non-managerial employees, first-line managers, middle managers and top managers (Robbins, Berman, Stagg and Coulter 2006, p. 11).
Generally the non managerial employees and first line managers are heavily involved in planning and the technical aspects of the organizations’ operations. Technical skills include knowledge and specialization in a particular field, such as engineering, finance, manufacturing (Robbins et al. 2006 p. 14). First-line managers must be proficient in their field of ex ...