Dissatisfaction with Working Conditions in the New York Bank - Essay Example

? Organizational Behavior Human Resource Manager Tracy January 23, Dissatisfaction with Working Conditions in the New York Bank Background Information Since its inception in 2007, the One Wall Street branch of Bank of New York was on an upward trend in both volume and quality until 2009 when global recession was at its worst. As you already know, investors established Bank of New York in the spirit of changing traditional rules of banking and in an attempt to keep up with changing market trends and offer quality service to customers at reasonable cost. The gradual growth experienced in the first two years slowed down due to recession from which the world is currently recovering. After the recession, all stakeholders expected the situation to turn around and growth to be exponential, which has not been the case. The marketing and customer care departments are responsible for retention of old customers and acquisition of new ones, respectively. These departments fall under the human resource management whose work is to find, train, employ and retain the best human resource. Description John Doe is the marketing manager for the New York branch of the bank of New York. He is responsible for organizing his team whose work is to attract new customers into the firm. While the customer care department has improved its services and managed to retain a high percentage of existing customers, the marketing manager has failed to organize his team to bring in new ones. At first, John was remarkably effective in disseminating his duties and organizing his team, a task he is failing these days. John has a master’s degree in management, a degree he acquired after working in the bank for two years. He can successfully organize the marketing team based on his high qualifications and work experience since he has worked in the bank for 4 years. In fact, before the recession, he was doing an admirable job and the bank had new customers flocking it halls resulting in high profits. When the recession hit, it affected John more than any other employee; colleagues suggest that the economic slowdown gave him time to rethink his career path. The management had observed that the marketing department employees were not achieving their set targets, and few of them even cared about it; they seemed to have lost hope in their role at the bank. As observed by all stakeholders, employees in the marketing department always have something to complain about their work, the bank, customers and many other aspects of their jobs. Results revealed that all of them are quite demotivated; they work just to pay their bills. In addition, all employees in a group that should work as a team for maximum productivity work as separate entities, significantly compromise their work due to inefficiency resulting from duplication of efforts. This duplication is because of failure in the set communication channels. The management has to do something about the affairs in the marketing department as the disorganization resulting from John’s inefficiency is jeopardizing the future of the bank. The main proposal is for the management to facilitate changes that will result to improved communication, encourage innovation, increased consultation with employees, and high but sustainable efficiency in use of resources. Little communication, or lack of it, among employees and between employees and management, has caused the situation to reach alarming levels. There should be forums where employees can let the management know about all their concerns on matters affecting them in the workplace, and management should have a way of voicing its concerns while considering employees’ welfare. Members of the group should work together to encourage bonding, ensuring that each of them feels as part of a team rather than work in isolation. Communication of employees with the management should not occur when the former are receiving absolute orders, it should include consultations before the latter makes far-reaching decisions. Diagnosis According to the MARS model of individual behavior, an employee has to be motivated, have the ability, a positive perception of one’s role, and have an enabling environment that allows one to do their job effectively. John lost the motivation to organize his team after many of his efforts failed to bear fruits. For instance, he expected a promotion or at least salary increase on acquiring the Master degree. This did not happen, and the administration did not seem to have appreciated his efforts. Next, the administration has left John to handle the marketing team single-handedly with no advertisement or product modification and improvement in the last 5 years. This has lowered the quality of his work, as employees under him feel neglected, causing a negative attitude towards the job and the company in general. Therefore, though John is more than qualified for his job and knows his role well, he lacks in motivation, and the administration does not create an enabling environment for him to play his part. Prescription The administration is already aware of John’s contribution ever since he joined the bank; he used to be one of the most efficient employees. His experience and training and the prohibitive costs of hiring and training new employees make the suggestion of replacing John unviable. For the company to restore efficiency and effectiveness of the marketing department there is need for the management to make some major changes. First, the administration should offer motivation to the marketing staff in the form of higher benefits and commissions for work well done. In addition, John, as their boss, should have a salary that reflects his advanced education standards, in addition to having more employees working under him to increase his vigor for work. Action Plan The administration decided to adopt the last proposal, and more funds will be available for advertising especially in emerging channels and for use as incentive to motivate the marketing staff. The administration constituted a committee to review John’s pay package and he will receive a salary increase of 50 percent in addition to other allowances. Finally, the human resource department will review salaries of the marketing staff at least once every year to keep up with inflation and other market changes. Rationale The bank has a marketing department to identify, inform, attract and maintain customers. This role should, however, not override employee needs and the company should cater for their welfare. For successful operation of any department, teamwork is crucial and the management should ensure that employees are satisfied enough to work in harmony. The bank should hire professional psychologists who will employ the MARS behavior modification model to improve employee morale. Read More