#CrazyPrints
CrazyPrints is a new company which has only been in existence for 5 years. It is a one-stop service for printing needs. Even though it is only 5 years old it has captured a large slice of the market as a result of its cheap price, combined with high quality delivery. CrazyPrints are located in three different cities. Interestingly, business has increased significantly as a result of Covid-19 as so many organisations need to have Covid-19 safety and physical distancing signage.
You are the owner of the company and have been alerted to an issue by a cousin of yours who works in the largest of the three stores. This store has been open for 12 months and employs 15 people; it has an experienced assistant manager and a manager who was recently promoted to the position of the store manager. There is a diverse mix of people working in the store in terms of gender, age and ethnicity. The store has been performing well but the growth levels have been lower than that of the other two stores. You put that down to the store being relatively new.
The issue your cousin has raised with you is that staff who work in the store are unhappy and many of them are talking about leaving. You are very concerned about this and have to make a decision about what to do next.
You ask the store manager for a meeting to discuss the performance of the store in general without saying you have heard about the issue with the staff in the store. During the meeting he tells you that he is well organised and plans out the work for each day for all staff. He prides himself on order and efficiency.
What do you do?
[[You praise him for his good work and ask him to meet with you again in one month so you can check up on progress. ->Option 1]]
[[You hear what he is saying and realise he has not created a team approach to working in the store. You talk to him about the importance of teamwork and suggest he talk to one of the managers from another store to find out how she creates a successful team. ->Option 2]]
#What happens next
When you talk to your cousin again he tells you that 6 staff have now left the store. Nothing changed after your meeting with the store manager.
He continued to manage staff in a rigid way not providing them with the opportunity to use autonomy during their working day. You now have to decide what to do.
What do you do now?
[[You bring in a consultant to advise on how to address this issue before the problem escalates any more.->Option 1.1]]
[[You decide to talk with the store manager again. -> Talk with store manager again]]#What happens next
When you talk to your cousin again he tells you that 3 staff have now left the store. Apparently, staff are still very unhappy. The store manager did meet a few times with the manager from another store, but he did not implement anything new or attempt to create a team-centred approach.
What do you do?
[[You talk with the store manager and explain how concerned you are about staff leaving. ->Option 2.1]]
[[You do nothing and give the store manager time to put in place some of what he has learned from the other manager around using the principles of group development to create a team approach.->Option 2.2]]#A manager rather than a leader
After talking with all the employees, the consultant identifies that the store manager is acting like a manager rather than a leader and that this is the source of the problem.
The store has experienced a period of rapid growth in unpredictable times. The impact of Covid-19 has made staff anxious, and this anxiousness, coupled with the manger’s style, is causing low levels of job satisfaction.
The consultant suggests the following two options. What do you do?
[[Talk with the store manager again. -> Talk with store manager again]]
[[Spend money on leadership development for the store manager which will likely develop his capacity to be effective in a leadership role. The consultant recommends that that the development programme be closely aligned with the strategy and culture of the organisation. ->Option 1.1.1]]
#Problem solved
After 6 months his approach to managing people has improved significantly and the staff are much happier. Problem solved.
[[Return to the first decision to explore the other options.->Teamwork in CrazyPrints]]#The forming stage
The store manager contacts the other store manager again and asks her to talk him through the ways to create a team in the store. She explains the principles of group development to him and suggests that he needs to go back to stage one, the forming stage.
The outcome of the forming stage involves achieving an understanding of the group's purpose, determining how the team is going to be organised, including who will be responsible for what, as well as outlining general group rules. The outcome of this discussion is that 6 months later no more employees have left and they are much happier.
[[Return to the first decision to explore the other options.->Teamwork in CrazyPrints]]#Disillusionment
The store manager works with the other store manager to try to create a teamwork approach in the store. However, after 2 months nothing has changed and staff are still leaving. The store manager is completely disillusioned and he hands in his notice.
[[Return to the first decision to explore the other options.->Teamwork in CrazyPrints]]#Talk with the store manager again
This time, you spend longer talking with the store manager and ask him about the 6 staff who just left. He says they all left because they found other jobs, which you find highly unlikely given the lack of new jobs being created during the pandemic. You ask the store manager if he has had any training on being a manager and he says no. He was hired directly into the manager role from a team leader role in a call centre. You assign an experienced manager from another store to work alongside him for 6 months in a shadowing role. The staff are much happier at the end of the 6 months and turnover is down to zero.
[[Return to the first decision to explore the other options.->Teamwork in CrazyPrints]]