What could mary lee do to create a better sense of teamwork

Assignment Help Business Management

Reference no: EM133334807

Case Study. Recognition Blues

Mary Lee was frustrated and wondered why her team thought so poorly of her. Everything had been going well until just 6 months ago when the company decided to shut down its central office and implement a work from home program. Now the team of 8 people Mary Lee supervised clearly seemed disengaged and disappointed.

Mary Lee ensured that online meetings were held every 2 weeks. She took great care to create and then share a detailed agenda before each session, to ensure that the staff were being kept up to date on key business processes and initiatives. She ended every meeting by saying "thank you" and expressing her appreciation for the great work being accomplished by the team. At the end of each meeting, she also reminded her team members to take advantage of their company-provided memberships at local gyms so they would get out every evening for some exercise. The company used to have an on-site gym that all employees regularly used, but, when the work from home program was implemented, each employee was given $500 annually to spend toward a gym membership at a location close to their home. Receipts had to be provided.

As well, Mary Lee told her staff that she was only an email away and that they should reach out to her if they ever had any questions or concerns about their work. No-one ever contacted her, so she assumed that all was going well and that people continued to enjoy their work, albeit in their various home office locations. Further, at the end of the previous fiscal year Mary Lee had had a bonus fund of $5000 to spend and decided to allocate this evenly amongst her team, thereby giving every employee a payment of $625. This led her to believe that staff would feel valued and part of a successful team.

So, Mary Lee was both surprised and hurt when the recent results of an employee survey were released. One of the statements was "My boss appreciates my work and recognizes my accomplishments" and out of all 20 units in the company, she received the lowest manager's rating of 1.8 on a scale of 1 to 5. Another statement on the survey read "I feel connected to and valued by my team members" and again, Mary Lee's unit rated the lowest in the company with an average score of 2.8. The results of a 3rd statement-"I value and use the gym membership provided by the company"-received the lowest rating in the company of 2.2.

Mary Lee began reviewing the survey results again and wondered what she should do. She held regular meetings, asked employees to reach out to her, said "thanks," and reminded employees to use their gym membership. What else did they want? She knew that something had to change but didn't even know where to begin.

a) Do you agree with the way Mary Lee allocated the bonus payments to team members? Why or why not?

b) Given that all team members work remotely, what should Mary Lee do to ensure that her employees feel recognized and appreciated? If given a budget of $1000, how would you suggest that she spends the money on employee recognition?

c) What could Mary Lee do to create a better sense of teamwork and connection amongst her employees while they all work in different locations?

d) How could Mary Lee find out why her employees put such a low value on their company-paid gym memberships? What are possible reasons why employees do not value the new benefit of payment toward their own annual gym membership

Reference no: EM133334807

Questions Cloud

Describe the 3 fundamental rights available to rebecca : Despite Rebecca's constant plea to have the ladder fixed, it's still cracked and wobbles. What option does Rebecca have according to the Occupational Health

How much income will barnie spend on steak : Barnie's income is $2,400. A steak costs $8.00 and the price of a bag of potatoes is $4.00. How much income will Barnie spend on steak?

How would you use the seven steps to overcome resistance : How would you use the seven steps to overcome resistance to change and get these employees onboard to take ownership of the change?

Discuss the situation of market power for my software : After considering the situation of market power for my software and how it changed after the introduction of competitors.

What could mary lee do to create a better sense of teamwork : Given that all team members work remotely, what should Mary Lee do to ensure that her employees feel recognized and appreciated? If given a budget of $1000

Communication with users to resolve technical issues : Unit 12 IT Technical Support and Management, Pearson BTEC Level 3 Nationals (QCF) specification in Information Technology

How many copies of the software should i attempt to sell : How many copies of the software should I attempt to sell? At what price should I sell it? How much profit would I make?

Generate an appropriate graphical comparison of frequencies : the first step of data analysis is a practical look at the data for each column and, then, "cleaning up" the data to prepare it for analysis.

Do workers always work harder under control : Please explain the question- Do workers always work harder under control? on the basis of the Legitimacy of control article.

User Account

All Pages