Sterling Financial Study - Essay Example

Bill Border's managerial experience has gotten off to a rocky start. Having only three months previous work as an area manager for Sterling was not really enough experience to the thrust in a position without time for adjustment, and with his closest help, Mary Gross-district manager, being 100 kilometers away. Bill has also come into the position at a time when a depressed economy was limiting productivity. Bill is focused on employee performance than job satisfaction, but given the circumstances of the economy's effect, and not researching previous performance levels, he cannot formulate an accurate perception of the work environment.

Bill's lack of networking time, communication, and misconceptions on employee performance, led to the firing of a potentially valuable employee, and has led to other, larger problems such as higher anxiety, lack of positive motivating forces, and even less communication than before. The most pressing problem in Bill's situation is the lack of communication on his part. When Bill Border arrived to the position, he held an introductory meeting and individual reviews to discuss employee goals and the firm's expectations.

Although the meeting and reviews were good ideas as ways to get acquainted with the staff, Bill's method failed because it was too generalized. Bill offered the employees the opportunity to discuss concerns with him, but he never did anything to address and resolve the issues presented. Harper (2006) stated, "Managers often believe that lack of employee ability and motivation are reaons for declining performance but other factors directly within the manager's influence may, in fact, be the real reaon for the decline (pag. 68). A lack of knowledge regarding his subordinates gave Bill a false perception about the real issues, and effected his decision making skills.

Aside from effective communication, it is important for managers to have an accurate perception of the issues at hand. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (n.d.) defined perception as, "A capacity for comprehension" (perception, n. pag.). Bill lacked this because he did not consider any external forces that were affecting worker productivity, believing they were just not motivated enough. Bill did not see the bigger picture of how the economy was stunting business, or any external problems that were affecting his subordinates.

This distorted perception led Bill a decision that would hinder his progress as a manager further when he dismissed Keith Taylor, a 23-year-old management trainee. Keith had been with the Sterling Financial Company for 18 months and was considered by peers to be a well-liked, intelligent employee that gave satisfactory performance. Bill was concerned with Keith's increased absenteeism, but never considered the external factors affecting Keith's attendance. Bill did not communicate these concerns directly to Keith, but made a general and vague reference to the attendance issue during a meeting.

Although Keith deserved a reprimand for his act of no call/no show, termination of his employment was unnecessary. When Bill tacked on the announcement of Keith's departure to the end of an office meeting without giving explanation, job stress skyrocketed with employees. His lack of effectively communicating the reasons