Reference no: EM133154212

Problems at ABC Toy Shop

Imagine that you work at a very busy toy shop- ABC Toy Shop.  You have seven other team members, plus a boss who work with you. 

Recently, your boss called you and one other team member to his office and gave you both the following information:

• The boss started by saying that the store- room was very messy and needed to be tidied up.  Then, he said that the photocopier was not working and needs attention. 
• The boss then went on to say that he had recently received several complaints from customers regarding poor customer service.  The customer service standards have deteriorated and need to be improved. There was a Customer Service Standards Manual and Anti-Discrimination Policy in place that the staff were not following.  This was terrible as it was impacting on the reputation of the store and may result in a loss in sales.  Specifically, the complaints were as follows:
  • One customer said that he was waiting at the front counter for five minutes and no staff member came to help him. He said that he saw two staff chatting in the back room, but they completely ignored him.
  • Another customer said that one of the staff was very rude to her.  She had asked the staff member if the store had any Pokémon toys. The staff member told the customer rudely to walk around the store and find it herself. 
  • Two other customers said that the store is supposed to close at 5pm. However, they were outside the store at 4:30pm and noticed that the doors had been shut. They knocked at the door but were told by the staff to come back on the following day.  When they pointed to the store hours noted outside the shop window, the employee just walked away and did not respond to them.
  • One male customer heard two staff members laughing and talking loudly about a female customer who had just left the store.  The female customer looked quite upset as she left the store.  The male customer had noticed that the staff had been quite rude to her.  After she left the store, the staff were making inappropriate racist comments about her.
• Overall, approximately 300 of the 6000 customers who have engaged with the business have lodged complaints in the last 12 months.
• Most of the staff are not keen to change their work practices or behaviour.  They have refused to attend free training sessions that have been offered in the past.   While the company policies and procedures have been made available to all staff, hardly anyone has actually read them.  The boss has also been quite laid back in the past. He has not really want to spend too much money on staff training in the past.  The budget allocated to staff training has been very minimal.
• Your boss has asked you to lead a team meeting to develop a creative solution to the most important issue above.    Your boss wants you to use the brainstorming and six thinking hats methods at the meeting.   
• Your team comprises 8 staff, plus your boss (9 people in total, including you).  However, only four out of nine people can participate in the team meeting. The other five team members are not available on the day. 

1. Analyse the existing work practices:

A. Identify the key issues/ limitations.

B. Calculate the percentage of customers who have complained regarding poor customer service over the last 12 months?

2. Write down the workplace problem that needs to be addressed as a priority.

3. Identify organisational and legislative frameworks applicable to the above problem.

4. What can you do to locate additional information on current workplace practices?

5. Develop questions to identify key issues and challenges of selected problem.

6. Who are the key stakeholders you need to consult?  Why?

7. Write at least three questions you can ask to gather information on the problem.

8. Identify and explain any three critical thinking techniques you could use with your team to generate solutions to selected problems.

9. Based on the scenario above, which critical thinking techniques does the boss want you to use?