Reference no: EM133187868

(1) Use the Six-Source Model of Influence to diagnose sources of influence and make recommendations to change his behavior. You must incorporate the Six-Source Model of Influence into your plan of action. 

Scenario: 

You are the GM of a full-service, conference hotel in a large metropolitan city. You have held this position for 3 years. You are currently facing a dilemma. Over the last three months, you have been receiving multiple complaints about the director of your sales department. The majority of the complaints are from the sales team members, although you also received a complaint from the revenue management director and the rooms director. All of the complaints are about Michael, the director of your sales department.

The most senior sales team member--Jennifer--approached you and said she wanted to discuss Michael. She informed you that Michael gives unreasonable assignments, values sales quotas over people, and gives harsh and abrupt treatment to his sales team. Jennifer and her coworkers feel like they have no voice. They have tried giving Michael feedback about the sales quotas being too unreasonable, but he quickly gets defensive and shuts them down.  Jennifer said that she is thinking about moving to another hotel and that she wasn't the only one. In fact, two sales team associates already sent their 2-weeks notice to Michael after he called them lazy for not reaching the sales goals he set for them. 

The Director of Sales:

Michael is the director of your sales department who started 6 months ago in this position. He has worked for this hotel company for 8 years. Michael started at the front desk and was promoted into a supervisor position before moving to the sales department 2 years later. For the last 6 years he has worked in sales. Whether dealing with large conferences or small wedding parties, Michael excelled in sales. For several years he received the highest customer evaluations. One year ago he was promoted to the assistant director of sales at his property. In this position, Michael maintained his excellent sales performance. His director, Janet, knew Michael from the time he started in the front desk to the time he moved into sales. Janet mentored Michael from the time he started in sales to the time he was hired by you. 

When your previous sales director retired, Janet called you and told you all about Michael and how he would be perfect for your hotel. You recognized Michael's name and face because he was awarded a corporate award for sales the previous year at the corporate annual awards dinner. Michael came from a smaller property, but based on Janet's recommendation, his great interviews, and top assessment scores, you offered him the job. This is why you are so shocked. Michael was perfect on paper and in person, so you feel confused. 

However, you know you must have a serious crucial conversation with Michael. Before you have this crucial conversation you start thinking about a plan to figure out how you can you influence Michael to improve his treatment of employees. You first ask yourself: Why would a top sales performer be such a bad manager of people? What are the sources of his bad management? 

The Director of Sales Performance Evaluation:

While thinking about this question, you take a look at your company's performance evaluation for the director of sales position. 

The director of sales is evaluated on how much revenue is generated from three areas: 

Meetings: Conferences, Conventions, and Exhibits. 

Wedding: Ceremony, Reception, and Celebrations. 

Special Event: Birthday, Anniversary, and Family Gatherings.

For this specific hotel, the "Meetings" sales number is weighted the highest because your hotel has the largest and most flexible meeting space and is directly connected to the city's convention center. In fact, the pay-for-promotion is specifically tied to this number. If the director doesn't meet this sales goal for this area, then the director doesn't receive a pay promotion. Small bonuses are tied to the "wedding" and "special event" sales, so there pressure to not ignore these sales areas while capitalizing on your meetings space and location. 

The company procedure for this sales director performance evaluation is to review the sales numbers with the director, rank the numbers under "below goals" "meets goals" or "exceeds goals," and set new goals for the next term.

Training & Orientation for the Director of Sales:

You also review what the training and orientation Michael received when before and after transferred to your property. His training for the director position was based on an apprenticeship which consisted of mentoring from Janet during his last 30 days. For the last 15 days at his previous property, Michael essentially did all of Janet's work. When he arrived at your property, Michael completed a 14-day orientation while shadowing the previous director.  After the two weeks you had a long meeting with Michael where he informed you that he felt ready, comfortable, and excited to start his new position.