Business Cases

Both Jane in the Communications Taskforce (Case 1) and Samantha in The
Human Resource Strategies Branch (Case 2) were being denied
accommodations in organizational practices that could become very
de-motivating for them. Answer both of the following questions regarding
these two situations.

1. Compare and contrast the de-motivation that they would experience if
they both did not receive the accommodations they were seeking.

Apply this question to the following theories:

Theories of Work Motivation

Two Factor Theory

Value Theory

Consequences of Job Dissatisfaction

Tips for promoting job satisfaction

Motivation at Work

Equity Theory

Expectancy Theory

Goal Setting Theory

 

 

Case 1: The Communication Taskforce

WestCoast Capital is a large corporation that provides full service
investment advice to its clients. It is a subsidiary of the Bank of The
Pacific. In recent years, the chartered banks in Canada have been
allowed to offer many of the same financial services as provided by such
other financial institutions as trust companies' and brokerages. Prior
to that change in the banking act, the banks were limited to the
provision of traditional banking services such as loans and accounts.
After some intense lobbying, the Bank Act was changed to permit the
banks to provide a wider range of financial services. Most banks did
this by buying out or merging with existing financial institutions. The
Bank of The Pacific bought out WestCoast Capital, and made it a
subsidiary of the bank.

The Bank of The Pacific is a large organization with many levels of
management, and operates with a high degree of formality. WestCoast
Capital is not as large as the bank, nor is it quite as rigid in its
structure and policies. However, it is still a financial institution
that is quite conservative in its orientation. WestCoast Capital is now
integrated into The Bank of The Pacific, and WestCoast Capital employees
can be found in most bank branches. Essentially, they sell WestCoast
Capital financial products to the Bank's customers.

One branch of WestCoast Capital is unique. It is called the Personal
Investment Manager Group. There is only one such office in the company
located in Richmond, B.C. It is the only branch that hires Portfolio
Managers to manage people's money. The branch provides a discretionary
portfolio management service where contact with the client is not
necessary to facilitate each trade in their account. Most of the
Portfolio Managers are new employees to WestCoast and the Bank.

In a recent survey the employees rated the working conditions for this
branch of WestCoast Capital as exceptional. The office is on the second
floor of an impressive office building in Richmond, B.c. with easy
access to public transportation. It is comfortable and the office
furnishings are of high quality- almost luxurious. There are kitchen
facilities provided, although there is no specific lunchroom.

Boardrooms can be used by staff for meetings with clients and each
other. The pleasant and prestigious working conditions of that branch
are in some ways complemented by the human resource policies of The Bank
of The Pacific, which are designed to encourage employee loyalty. There
have never been any, layoffs in this branch.

The branch itself has a formal structure, but one that seems to allow
flexibility. There are two Branch Managers, eleven Portfolio Managers, a
Branch Administrator and eight support staff. The two Branch Managers
(who also work as Portfolio Managers) divide their responsibility
geographically, with one looking after British Columbia and the other
the rest of the country. The 11 Portfolio Managers are assigned to one
or the other area Branch Manager. This geographical division is "soft",
as clients will not change Portfolio Managers if they move across
Canada. The Branch Administrator is responsible for the support staff,
but only to the extent of a formal reporting relationship and with
respect to administrative policies. The support staff report to the
Portfolio Managers on a day-to-day basis. People in the branch generally
have good relationships with co-workers, in part a benefit of being a
rather small unit. People are friendly, share the occasional evening out
and arrange seasonal parties, to which employees bring their spouses or
partners.

The Portfolio Managers all have their own clients. The independence that
this might provide is somewhat moderated, however, by the fact that they
work for a corporation with policies and procedures to be followed.
These, in turn, are largely influenced by the regulations of an
Investment Retailers Association, a self-governing body designed to
maintain high levels of integrity in the investment business. Within
these boundaries, the Portfolio Managers can provide services to benefit
their clients according to their own discretion.

The branch has developed a pattern of forming work teams. One such group
consists of Portfolio Managers Bob and Brad along with two support staff
members: Jane, who is designated an Investment Specialist, and Mary, who
is an Administrative Assistant. Bob and Brad attempt to give everyone in
the team a voice. Meetings are held every four days, and everyone's
opinion matters. Changes are discussed and decisions are made at these
meetings. Although the business they do is the responsibility of the
Portfolio Managers, the ideas and knowledge of the Support Staff are
considered valuable. These meetings are where various job tasks are
assigned to an individual, or where discussions occur about things that
are not working within the team.

Although each team member has specific duties to perform on a daily
basis, there is also an overlap of duties. Bob and Brad are
interchangeable in their service capabilities, and Jane can cover for
the managers and the Administrative Assistant. Working together, they
are able to provide seamless client service.

These practices make it seem that the branch is decentralized, but there
are influences from the larger corporation. For example, incentive pay
for the Support Staff is determined by their Portfolio Managers based on
their net commissions. However, head office has recently determined that
these incentive figures must also be signed off by the Branch Manager
and by the Regional Manager. While these higher level managers have
never exercised their authority to deny such payments to Support Staff,
it does add an element of rigidity to the process.

Because the WestCoast business is fairly new to the Bank, there seems to
be latitude for change and innovation. For instance, the group of Bob,
Brad, Jane and Mary decided to add to their investment business by
selling insurance and providing general financial planning. To this end,
Jane completed a financial planning course and acquired her First Level
Insurance Licence. Bob and Brad strongly supported

these efforts by Jane to acquire the extra qualifications, as that
allowed the group to expand its business. Jane took responsibility for
designing, preparing and presenting financial planning summaries for the
clients. In return, they added to Jane's authority by allowing her to
take full responsibility for some clients' needs. In effect, she became
the portfolio manager for some of the smaller clients. The portfolio
managers also increased her incentive pay share.

The Branch Managers and the Portfolio Managers meet every morning to
discuss, among other things, investment strategies, as well as tips and
feelings about the stock market. This is also when they share important
information about specific stocks that need attention. Jane has asked to
attend these meetings. Her position was that since her current work as
an Investment Associate included managing the portfolios of smaller
clients, she needed access to the information that is shared at these
morning meetings. Peter, her Branch Manager, denied her request on the
grounds that if he let her into the meeting, then he would have to let
all of the support staff in as well, and most of them would have little
interest in the discussions that take place. Jane countered that she was
different from other support workers in that she was an Investment
Associate, the only one who managed portfolios, the only one with
training in financial planning, and the only employee in the office with
an insurance licence. She felt she held a unique position.

Peter decided that since Jane wanted the information from the morning
meetings, this was a communication issue. His solution was to create a
Communication Task Force to form an analysis and recommend a solution to
the problem. He assigned Jane to the Task Force along with Brad, a
Portfolio Manager from her group, and Sally, the Branch Administrator.
He also asked Fred, the other Branch Manager, to round out the Task
Force membership. He felt that Fred could be more impartial since he,
Peter, had already taken a position on the matter. Peter was relatively
new to WestCoast Capital, having been hired by the Bank from a previous
position at a large, competitive financial institution. Fred was an
experienced employee who had been with WestCoast since before the
takeover by the Bank. He had served for many years as a financial
advisor, but had never been promoted to management due to mediocre
interpersonal skills. He had usually preferred to work alone. When the
Bank took over WestCoast, all advisors were interviewed, and he was the
surprising choice for a Branch Manager Position.

At the first meeting of the Task Force, Fred began by describing the
structure of the branch, paying special attention to the important role
of the Portfolio Managers. He said that the whole operation hinged on
the skill and knowledge of these people. He then discussed the role of
the support staff, giving special emphasis to the meaning of the word
"support". Fred stated that he agreed with Peter's conclusion that this
was only a communication problem and that, in his view, the solution
would be found by effectively passing on information as to the decisions
made at the managers' morning meetings.

Sally, the Branch Administrator, then stated her agreement with Fred's.
Sally, like Fred, was a survivor of the takeover and who was then
promoted by the Bank. She had no training or expertise in financial
planning, and had recently come from a different branch of WestCoast.
She offered her opinion that the solution would be to establish a clear
channel of communication based on the authority and structure of the
branch. Her view was that communication from management to the support
staff should come through her office. In the course of her remarks she
made it clear that she was not supportive of the idea of teams composed
of Portfolio Managers and support staff working together. It seemed that
she wanted more formality in the branch.

Jane was taken aback by these remarks but pressed ahead with her views
anyway. She reiterated the position she originally took that she needed
to attend the morning meeting to be informed about the stock market
strategy being taken by the branch. She also expressed her view that
management did not seem to realize the importance of the Investment
Associates and, in particular, she did not feel they acknowledged the
effort she had put into improving her qualifications. She revealed that
she and one of her Portfolio Managers wanted to become Certified
Financial Planners, and they planned to study together to prepare for
the exam. She mentioned that she had previously applied to Peter for
branch funding for this program, but was turned down even though the
Bank approved of this form of certification. Peter had replied at the
time that they didn't pay for these courses for other employees; he
didn't want to set a precedent; the course wasn't applicable to her
work; and they didn't have money in the budget. She now revealed that
she had subsequently and inadvertently learned that the Portfolio
Managers had been encouraged to take this program, and had been offered
funding to cover their costs. Brad did not say a word at this first
meeting of the Communication Task Force. He sincerely wished he wasn't
there.

Case 2: The Human Resource Strategies Branch

The Human Resource Program

The Human Resources Program is a division of the Federal Government. Its
mission is to "provide support and advice to the federal employer in
promoting the renewal and revitalization of the federal workforce to
achieve the key outcome of dynamic and innovative people delivering
quality public service." The Division supports ministries through
policies and programs. It establishes a Human Resources (HR) policy
framework and labour relations environment designed to promote
organizational flexibility, which supports the business planning
objectives of the federal public service. The Division is both a
catalyst and a facilitator for change, improvement and learning. The
Division attempts to foster positive working relations among employees,
managers, bargaining agents and the employer, and is committed to
promoting a healthy and safe working environment. However, it is not
involved in processing any specific human resource issues. That is left
to the individual ministry's HR departments to manage.

HR Strategies Branch

The HR Strategies Branch is one of three branches housed in the HR
Program. The Branch leads the development of the human resources
policies to support the business objectives of the government. It
develops policies and programs regarding planning, recruitment, learning
and development, health and safety, and compensation issues for all
non-bargaining employee groups, other than the senior management group,
thus providing the strategic framework and tools to support business
outcomes. The Branch also manages the federal Internship Program, which
hires recent graduates into occupational areas where skill shortages are
anticipated. It develops and implements the HR Plan for Managers, an
ongoing project to address HR issues facing Management level employees.

Situation

The whole Public Service was affected by political change and, over the
last few years, there have been a number of restructuring and downsizing
exercises. As a result, some government bodies have been either
eliminated or amalgamated into remaining ministries or agencies to meet
the political commitments. In addition to streamlining the organization,
the present government mandated that each ministry must provide total
quality service to its customers. Each ministry and program is expected
to provide quality customer service with existing resources. The HR
Strategies Branch has had a history of low morale and a high turnover
rate in comparison to the rest of the Division. Over the last two years,
the branch has been able to hire on additional staff. However, the heavy
workload still required staff to work 12-15-hour days. Regardless of
their position, staff generally felt overworked and underpaid. They also
perceived a double standard within the branch. Although they were the
ones who developed the HR policies, that did not necessarily mean they
were able to follow them. Frequently, new projects with a high profile
would suddenly arrive, and staff would be expected to work on them in
addition to their normal workload, which was already very demanding. It
seemed that the branch had to do any work that did not directly fit into
the mandate of the client ministries or the other Branches.

Staff would be asked by the Director to take on special projects
depending upon whether their knowledge, experience and position enabled
them to handle the assignment. These assignments were usually high
profile and often not part of the yearly operational plan. The Director
used a type of matrix structure when pulling together a team to handle
these high profile issues. This helped to streamline the work, but still
kept the chain of command intact. Staff remained in their functional
roles, reported to the Director (who would serve as the project manager)
to work on special assignments, and reported to their Manager or Team
Leader for their regular duties. This form of matrix led to confusion
for the staff. It encouraged the staff to think that the organization is
flatter and more organic than it really is. By working with the Director
for the special projects, staff tended to have a false sense of direct
access to the Director. Potentially, if staff members are not satisfied
with a response by their manager, they may feel that they have the
option to by-pass the manager and proceed to the Director for a
definitive answer. This caused frustration for both the manager and the
staff member. Some managers would deal very formally or defensively with
a staff member who they felt might have the ear of the director. Staff
also experienced frustration in their work of formulating HR policies
and gaining acceptance for them among the client ministries. They would
hold focus groups, and report their recommendations, sometimes all the
way up to a Deputy Minister. Additional approval would be required if
Cabinet was involved. The process could take months and sometimes years.
On the other hand, political considerations would often create the
"policy of the month" that would have to be formulated very quickly
without due regard for potential problems. Many times, staff would be
directed to discontinue a project that was no longer in favour, only to
return to it years later with the same issues still not resolved. On
other occasions, their carefully crafted policies would be changed
without their input, and what was intended to move in one direction
would veer off in a totally different direction that they had not
intended or contemplated. Despite all these impediments, the Branch had
an official commitment to Total Quality Management (TQM), as did the
entire Human Resources Program.

Issue

Samantha is a professional with university training in HRM, backed up by
the attainment of national certification as a Human Resources
Professional. Samantha reports to Jack, her Manager, in the Youth
Initiative Unit. Since returning from maternity leave, she had requested
many times to be placed on a condensed work week (CWW) schedule. This
would reduce the number of her two-hour commutes to and from work each
day, and give her a weekday to spend with her new baby. It would mean
more work hours during the other work days, so that her total hours
would not change. Before returning from leave, she had spoken to Jack
over the phone about CWW. Jack refused her request because the Youth
Initiative Program dealt with newly hired interns, who called into the
program on a daily basis. Samantha would personally deal with Interns in
several client ministries. He was concerned that if Samantha was not
available to address clients in a timely manner, then the Unit would not
be able to maintain the level of quality service the program has reached
in the past, and this would compromise TQM. At every opportunity,
Samantha spoke to Jack about CWW, and even provided him with options of
others filling in to address his concerns. Jack continued to refuse her
request, finally saying that CWW had not been officially adopted by the
Branch (although the policy had been formulated by the Branch). She then
went to the Director, who said she would look into it on her behalf.
During one of the Director's weekly meetings with Jack, she asked about
Samantha's request. Jack, annoyed with Samantha for going over his head,
explained that given the TQM mandate, the request was impossible to
accommodate. If she were not on the job five day~ each week, it could
compromise the handling of the interns and the advising of the ministry
managers who were hosting the interns during their rotation. Again,
Samantha's request was deniedthis time, by the Director.

One day, as Samantha was taking a break for her daily cup of coffee, she
met Amy. Amy reported to Rose in the Policy and Planning Unit. Amy was
not a HR professional, but had advanced to Administrative Assistant from
previous secretarial positions. Her current job had recently been
converted from part-time to full-time. She provided administrative
support to 11 policy advisors, and did not deal directly with any
ministry clients. Samantha was curious about how Amy was handling the
additional work hours.

Samantha: "So, how is it going being back full-time?"

Amy: "Oh! It's great! Rose has been really wonderful about it."

Samantha: "How so?"

Amy: "Well, I'm on CWW. So, I can still have a day off during the week."

Samantha: "But I thought the Branch didn't take part in the program."

Amy: "It doesn't. I'm on small 'cww', not capital 'CWW'."

Samantha: "What's the difference?"

Amy: "Well, I only report my condensed work week to Rose. Higher-ups and
even the Personnel people don't know about it. That way there's no paper
trail. All I have to do is keep a record of my time during the week.
Whenever I have reached my 36 ј hours, I give Rose my time sheet and
then take the next working day off. So far there have been no problems.
I usually end up taking off Monday."

Samantha: "Yeah, but what about the others in your unit? Don't they need
you around?"

Amy: "Why, so they can ask me to do their photocopying? No way! They
type up their own stuff, and everything is emailed. The time the staff
do need me is when there is mass work to be done, like mail-outs. I'm
never involved on urgent stuff. Plus, they know I'm on 'cww'. So if
there is anything they need, they know to get it to me as soon as they
find out about it."

After this discussion with Amy, Samantha was upset. It seemed unfair
that the higher-rated position she occupied had less perks! She knew
that it was pointless to go back to Jack or the Director with the
information. They still would not allow her CWW. Also, she did not want
to get Amy into trouble or cause her to lose out on her current
situation. She began to resent her situation even more and thought
about applying for other positions.