Below is the questions we answered relating to our client case study Fox Relocation Management Corp:
- Strategic Issues
- How did these come about?
- What are the drivers of change?
- What are the objectives?
- Recommendations
- Discuss resistance if any is likely to occur.
- How would you address the problem?
- Discuss measurement and effectiveness
Fox Relocation Management Corp requested that we simply bullet the recommendations and not write up a full proposal of action steps. These are the notes on our thoughts, important stats we took into account, and suggested changes:
- There is no formal hierarchy within the organization, which can lead to role confusion
- There is no close management because project mgrs have considerable autonomy; if the organization grows too big, this method may not work however
- Everyone on the inside is considered to be on the same level; this is a problem because people are driven/motivated by different things; many people like power and status; many like that ability to move up, but there is no where to go in this flat type of organization since there’s no formal hierarchy – the personalities of the people must be monitored so they don’t conflict with the unique culture in place; CEO doesn’t believe that money is a motivator, but it is for some people
- Employee satisfaction surveys to get things they like and want but don’t have, she’ll change it/ add it
- Strong culture of teamwork and flexibility; people have control over their hours and just cant go over 40 too much
- People don’t know how much each other make; most people work on hourly pay; autonomy as long as within budget
- ’97-’98, company doubled in size from 20 employees to 40 to deal with client bank mergers
- Had to hire many people quickly, no time to train, lack of communication, people who have been there don’t know the new people
- No official training program, until ’98 when mentoring program was set up; no limit to how long the mentoring lasts because it depends on the person, but a new person was paired with an experienced person here regardless of the new person’s work experience o/s of FOX
- Shifted teams to allow people to get to know each other, held more meetings and things as things have slowed down a little
- Furniture, tables, desks, offices allocated based on who spent the most time in the office
- Installed computer network, allowing Fox to communicate with employees and them to communicate with each other
- Staff luncheon bi-weekly for 2 hours
- Presentations from outside companies to keep employees abreast of industry issues and new products
- Bigger, more complex clients means more formal process needed; can cause issue because team leader needs to be appointed and there is task delegation when before everyone was equal; can create some tension; talked it out because that type of structure is needed to get the job done
- Coletti began supervising day-to-day activities, while Fox took on marketing and PR (externally focused)
- People began to express uncertainty about who they report to and authority since Coletti was doing what Fox had done in the past; employees would email both people with questions and Coletti and Fox talk it out
Overall, Fox Relocation Management Corp has a strong team of people, but lacks the clear vision and management needed to move forward. We were able to help with that. Have questions? Contact us now.