Introduction
Owning a business is hard work. There are many issues that go into running a successful business and one of those is learning how to deal with staff. When you employ a large number of employees you are bound to run into problems because everyone has different personalities and it is expected that people will not always get along. That is what happens in this case study and throughout the paper, we will examine the results.
Background
The kitchen staff at the hotel was discontent with the mis-management produced by John Sullivan. They were happy when Ed Ackridge was promoted to their supervisor. They loved Ed’s managing style and the fact that they had permanent schedules and less supervision constantly. Unfortunately, after a period of upheaval, their original supervisor John Sullivan was reinstated. Chaotic schedules and autocratic demands resumed and the staff became unhappy. The employee, Cliff tried to voice his concerns to John but John refused to listen. He then went to Human Resources who said they would try to talk to John but did not promise that anything would be done.
- Lack of communication is one of the main root causes. Although Cliff did try to talk to John his problems come from way before the reinstatement. The author writes “Cliff attempted to talk to John about the situation and to explain how well the dishwashers were performing with permanent schedules” (Levi, 2001). However, John did not take his concerns into consideration. He should have voiced his concerns a long time ago and not waited until John was back. He also should go to his Union. By not going he is not taking this further. Perhaps pressure from both the employees and the Union would help to resolve the issues quicker and get results
- The author of the textbook writes that, “Cliff’s belief that the majority of promotions were seniority based rather than contingent on managerial skills, job knowledge, or organizational skills was confirmed when John was reinstated” (Levi, 2001). If this is the way promotions are granted at the hotel than this method is another root cause for the issues that are arising. Just because you have been working somewhere longer than other does not mean you are the most qualified. Not everyone is meant to be a manager or has the skills to be a good leader.
Potential Solutions
- Have human resources coordinate a meeting between all of the parties. In this meeting everyone can voice their concerns and we can see if there can be a common solution that is found where everyone can be content. In this meeting situations should be discussed such as whether or not Ed Ackridge should be brought back in some managerial capacity since the employees were very happy when he was around. Also, the HR department should keep a close eye on John Sullivan’s job performance and also consider sending him for some training on how to be an effective leader. Also the company could decide to have team building days in which everyone gathers together at a certain time to discuss issues and other things. This should be done because morale in the department is already low and employees feel worn out and under-appreciated which is not good.
Benefits of this solution
This solution would be the most beneficial because:
- Having a meeting does not cost the company any money, what would cost money would be sending John Sullivan for training but the cost of that could be figured out later.
- What could happen is that John Sullivan would not like the fact that Ed Ackridge could be brought back in some managerial capacity, which would undermine his authority, he could then take it out on the employees being even more ruthless with them which would not be good for morale of the company.
References
Levi, D. J. (2001). Group dynamics for teams (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
