Mg 365 - Organizational Behavior

Chasity Gale

Tori de Dios

Cindy Garza

Malinda Johnson

Professor Everett

Organizational Behavior MG365

September 16 2011

Week 5 Case Study 10

Sally was currently one of my top sales representatives for over year. She was always first in the office and the last to leave. Sally represented the company well by showing she was thorough in her paper work, volunteered to test new products with clients, and received a significant amount of praise from other departments. Lately, her behavior has been unusual, and we will discuss what we think about her behavior, and what leadership style will work effectively to improve her readiness level again.

1. How does this differ from her "usual" performance?

Sally performance for the past year has been R4 level (performance readiness level, text, p.140). She is on time or early and many the first one in the office. Sally is knowledgeable in her field and she will take the time to volunteer to test new products with client. Sally isself-directed employee at Splendor Company.

Recently, Sally has changed her work performance around. Sally seems to be going through a regressive cycle. In a regressive cycle, follower can have problems with the supervisor or with co-worker, suffer burnout or boredom, and have other problems on or off the job (regressive cycle, text, p.197). For this reason, Sally could be moving into an R3 level (performance readiness level, text, p.140). Sally is showing up late to work and staff meetings. She also is also no longer completing the tasked assigned to her. Customer Service sent back two contracts due to missing information, and the Accounting Department also has some complaints about Sally. By trying to "unethically" bend the rules and pushing a new client through who did not have the appropriate credit rating, she is showing some punishing performance. Sally may be feeling overworked because she has left work early, and she is back into the office before the end of the day. Because she is distracted and unfocused, Sally may be having personal problems.

2. What style will you use to start the conversation?

When starting the conversation with Sally about the recent drop in her work I would ensure to not make it personal but to focus it on performance. As a manager it is best to also discuss the behavior in private so that she will know what is expected of her. While remaining unapologetic about confronting her, this would be the time to be honest and direct in my perception of her performance. I would want to be using as much of a supportive and constructive style (positive reinforcement) as possible since I still do not know what exactly is going on in her life that has caused this change. I don't think it could be the job, because she has been doing this job for a long time. I know we did not use the successive approximation approach (text, p.188). I would not want to be aggressive and abrasive at all. This would be me switching from S4 to S3 (leadership style) to adjust to the recent drop in her performance. I will explain to her that she was pervious performing at a R4 readiness level and that she is a valued asset to the company. By letting her know what I expect from her, she would be able to correct her behavior, in a specific time frame set by management. I will also try to find out if there is anything we could do to improve her behavior. Employees sometimes will let their personnel lives interfere with work life.

The constructive discipline style should be used with Sally because, effective managers use constructive discipline when individuals slip in performance readiness. "When working with constructive discipline make sure not to attack personality, but rather focus on the performance (constructive discipline, wk 5 lecture, par 2). "Constructive discipline is designed to be a learning process that provides an opportunity for positive growth." I would let Sally know of the great behavior she had in the past, and try to help her reaching that level of performance again.

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