Phoenix Advertising Agency Brief Background

The corporation is an advertisement firm with many divisions. One of these branches is the Roanoke Branch in Virginia.
Banks, insurance agencies, and supermarket chains are among the company's customers.
Gregory S. Forest (Company Director) and Malinda Gordish are the top management for this task (Vice President of the Human Resource Management).
The Roanoke Branch has 30 staff. Recently, three graphic designers and four copywriters have confirmed that they are considering leaving their employment. They state that they were not contacted until their work was rejected or revised. Furthermore, the rest of the employees have also raised complaints with regards to being overworked. They are working late without any extra pay.

It is upon this background that Mr. Malinda Gordish launches an investigation with the intention of discernig the root causes of the challenge faced by the Roanoke branch. He also wishes to assure the clients that processes are ongoing without any hitches to avoid losing them.



























Step 1: Methods

The questions which I will use to conduct the investigation on the matters raised include:-

Questionnaires – this will entail a list of questions that will be given to employees to respond to. They will be about 10 questions with issues relating to employee satisfaction, compensation, and motivation.

Surveys – the surveys will be conducted through email or text messaging. It will be a means by which customers will give their feedback about the advertisement services which they have received for the past 12 months.

Suggestion Boxes – It will give shy employees a chance to cmmunicate. Those with concerns, comments, and question will be encouraged to write them down. Then they can drop them into the suggestion boxes which will be all around the office working spaces.

Step 2A: Surveys

Employees

The five questions that the employees will answer will include the following

Are you enjoying working for Phoenix advertising?

This question will help me ascertain the number of employees who are disgruntled. It would help me confirm whether it is true that some employees would like to leave the company. Furthermore, the question will help understand which employees are motivated enough to continue working with the company.

Does the pay cover the value of work which you do for Phoenix Advertising?

The question will help me understand whether the employees feel they are not being compensated well for their work. It should also bring out any concerns with regards to the overtime hours which they are working supposedly.

Is there something amiss currently at the work place?

This question will outline all the underlying issues at Roanoke Branch and Phoenix Branch as a whole in the employees’ perspective. It will be important to get the employees to be as honest as possible in their responses.

In the past 12 months, would you consider your motivation as having increased or decreased? Kindly mark your average percentage motivation for the 12 months.

The question will help me compare the motivation status of the employees before and after the complaints made by the 4 clients. Maybe even before the complaints, they were already demotivated; it will be interesting to find out.

In your opinion, is there anything that Phoenix Advertising could do to improve the working environment?

This question is geared towards getting appropriate solutions for the matters that arise in the employees’ responses. It will help in drafting the recommendations in the investigation report that will be forwarded to the company’s President: George S. Forest.

Clients

Have you been consuming Phoenix Advertising’s services for the past 12 months?

This will help sample a few customers in the stated period who would answer the relevant questions.

How do you find Phoenix Advertising’s services? With 1 being best and 5 being worst, could you rate their services?

This will help in getting reviews for Roanoke Branch’s customer services and use it to measure performance of the organization. Consequently, it will be a basis for improvement.

Do you have any concerns with regards to their services?

The question will enable the customers to outline their specific concerns which will help in determining the underlying issues that the company needs to resolve.

Could you recommend any way that these issues could be resolved?

This is an opportunity for customers to give solutions to outlined concerns. It is the first time that Phoenix Advertising will be asking for feedback from customers. The customers are likely to feel valued and that their feedback is appreciated.



















Step 2B: Official Letter to CEO

To,

CEO Roanoke Branch

Phoenix Advertising Agency

Mailing Address



From,

Malinda Gordish

Vice President of Human Resource Management

Mailing Address

Date



Dear Sir/ Madam



RE: OFFICIAL VISIT TO ROANOKE BRANCH

I hope that this letter finds you well.

I write this letter to inform you about my planned visit to the branch on Monday September 4, 2017. So much has happened recently and the company is specifically concerned about the following;

The customer satisfaction rate of Roanoke Branch

This is especially because some of our best customers are served by you. We desire that the services offered to them is appropriate and the best.

The employee satisfaction rate

Two of our top executive members have left us: the art director and the accounts executive. The management is concerned about the flow of work in their departments. As we seek replacements for these positions, is it possible to get other managers who can carry on their responsibilities to avoid having vacancies in those positions? Furthermore, there are rumors that 4 copywriters and 3 graphic designers are threatening to take their leave. These employees work in these departments where the managers left. Could there be an underlying issue which has not yet been detected. I intend to seek more information about these matters, get the facts, and draft solutions where possible.

The low productivity levels.

In as much as we have heard of the increased time that the employees put in their work, there has not been any proof that the productivity levels have increased. In fact, the sales volumes have decreased. I understand that the management was driven by the possibility of increasing sales to receive more clients. What is the explanation, then, for the low sales volumes.

Complaint by the 4 key clients

The complaints are a conern to us since we value our customers and we would not want to lose those who have been loyal to us such as these four customers. I intend to determine facts around these claims.

Consequently, I will be working at the branch for three days. During that period, I will perform several employee interviews, customer surveys, and an open session where employees can suggest ways of improving the Phoenix Advertising Agency. In preparation to these duties, I would like to request that you inform the employees of my visit. Besides that, kindly request them to try and be available for the planned sessions. Encourage them to use the suggestion boxes which were set up recently to give their feedback and raise any concerns which they have.

In addition to the communication, kindly gather for me the following information, procedures, and plans which I will need. They include Pay for Performance Plans, Quarterly Premium Evaluation sheets, Guidelines for the Collaborative Work Policy, Books of Accounts, and the Payroll System. I request that you also prepare for me a report on the brainstorming session which you had with the employees last week. It will enable me to have a follow up brainstorming session which will focus on the solutions rather than causes of the problems.

Otherwise, it is a pleasure to visit Roanoke Branch after my last visit. I am therefore looking forward to the visit and will appreciate your support in making it successful.

Thank You

Yours sincerely

Sign: ………………………………..

Malinda Gordish















PROBLEMS

The challenges that the Roanoke Branch faces includes the following

Poor communication channels between the employees and the management/ Roanoke Branch and the clients

Lack of team work

Training gaps and poor interpersonal skills

Lack of following the company and branch’s policies and procedures.

Facts and Causes

Poor communication channels between the employees and the management/ Roanoke branch and the clients.



Fact

The employees were not informed in advanced that they would be working extra hours. They learnt about it so late that they had to cancel important schedules which they had after work. In fact one of the employees who had a doctor’s appointment was forced to cancel it. The next time she would be able to schedule another appointment was after one month.



Cause

The management assumed that the employees would refuse to heed their request to work over time with no pay. They felt pressed to deliver good services to the new clients who would in turn increase the sales revenues of the branch. The revenue had decreased in the last few months.



Impact and effects

The results of forcing the employees to stay on after work hours led to:-

Lack of motivation low productivity

Failure to deliver the company’s promise to its customers hence dissatisfied customers

Low sales revenues

Disgruntled employees

Compromising the brand of the company

Solution

Create a company’s common email account for ease in communication

Transparent communication between employees and employer

Communication of any anticipated changes allows the employees to prepare psychologically for the changes. This prevents resistance to change.

Communication should also be timely. If it is too late, then it becomes a cause of conflict and misunderstanding

There also needs to be training on how to handle conflicts at work.



Illustration

The graph below indicates the impact that poor communication has had on three employees who were interviewed. Clearly, their motivation has decreased in the past 12 months.



Figure 1: Decrease in employee motivation



Lack of Team Work

Fact

The Phoenix Advertising has a work policy known as Collaborative Work which is handled by the Sally Jone, the Creative Director Vice President. It seems that she is not encouraging team work. Furthermore, if the employees of the branch were working as a team, they would have discussed the issue of adding new client accounts. Increase of revenue is a positive thing for the branch, howver, if not discussed with the relevant persons it looks like a selfish thing. This is because the employees were bound to suffer by working extra hours.

Cause

As a result of undermining creative works of some employees by scraping off their work without consulting them, 3 graphic designers and 4 copywriters feel they are excluded from important decisions. They wished that they would be consulted more for their views since creative works is their area of specialization.

Addition of new clients could have been caused by pressure from investors and shareholders for the company of branch to increase its sales revenue.

Impact and Effect

The 7 employees are threatening to leave the company. The effect of this would be detrimental since it will take time to replace 7 employees. In case they leave, the branch’s advertising services will be plunged into confusion since there would be too much work and less employees t handle the work.

Solutions

The organization should plan for periodic team building sessions. The sessions teach cohesion among teams and give employees time to know one another.

Appreciate individual contribution to the organization. This can be done through setting up a reward system for excellent performers.

Another way of encouraging team work is through groupwork assignments.

There also needs to be coaching and mentorship programs.

Illustration

The following pie chart illustrates the response of the employees to the question on whether they enjoy working with Phoenix Advertising Agency. The question would have three answers for the employees to choose from: Yes, No, and Not sure. Most respondents were not motivated to work for the agency. They did not enjoy their work there and felt there was still much to be done to ensure they are comfortable. Employees who responded with a “No” were 5/10, those who said “Yes” were 3/10 and those who said “Not sure” were 2/10.



Training gaps and poor interpersonal skills



Fact

The reason as to why the employees who were threatening to leave were not consulted may have been that part of the management, especially the supervisors, does not have good interpersonal skills. Methinks that it would have been appropriate to consult the graphic designers and copywriters before writing off their work. It would have not only shown respect, but also value for their ideas. Moreover, seeking the opinion of the experts would have allowed the company to design even better averts for their clients. In case there was a problem with the designers’ work, it was possible to correct it and make it better.

Besides interpersonal skills, it is also important for the organization to organize for trainings periodically. This enables the management to communicate their expectations with regards to productivity. Then the trainers can engage the employees on the same and guide them on how to meet the organization goals. Such a program enables the employers and managers to be at par with regards to fulfiling the organization’s objectives. It is possible that the work of the graphic designers and copywriters did not meet the company’s standards.



Cause

Lack of training on how to handle employees or how to communicate better with them.

Not trusting the capabilities of employees



Impact and effect

The Phoenix Advertising Agency may lose their best graphic designers and copywriters to other companies. This will lead to increase in competition in the market.

It is also possible that some of the clients may want to follow these employees to their new work stations in order to keep benefiting from their work.



Solutions

Assess the training needs of the employees and organize for relevant trainings

Let people works on rotational basis to enable each one in the department have a grasp of what their colleagues do. This makes it easy for employees to go for their leaves and have a work –life balance. It also makes it easy for managers and supervisers to delegate work.



Ilustration

Most workers felt that there was something which was amiss in the organization. They outlined 4 areas which needed improvement and rated them on scale of 5 where 5 was excellent and 1 was poor as follows;



Area of Concern

Excellent (5)

Very Good (4)

Good (3)

Average (2)

Poor (1)

Leadership











Communication











Training Opportunities











Team Work













Most employees marked the different parameters good, average, and poor. There’s need for a lot of improvement in these areas of concern. Otherwise the company is on the verge of a downward trend on its performance.



Lack of following the company and branch’s policies and procedures.



Fact

Some of the branch policies and procedures were not followed. For instance there was a challenge with the Contractual agreements policy. This policy ensures that the company has capacity to handle a new client. Therefore, it was not in order for the company to take on more clients when they did not have enough manpower to do the extra work.



Cause

Lack of adequate financial resources to pay for the extra work time

Business facing financial problems

Collaborative review procedures overlooked



Impact and effect

Overworking the employees

Employees not having social life and work balance

Fatigue among employees

Increase in absenteeism due to poor health claims



Solutions

Work out a schedule for overtime work such that employee can work on rotation

Assess whether the company is in a position to pay for the extra time worked by employees. If not, they should politely refer the customers to another company for assistance.

Come up with consequences for not adhering to company policies or procedures.



Ilustration

The question on whether the employees were satisfied with their pay had more negative answers (No) than positive responses (Yes). Some employees, however, noted that that they were glad to have at lease some pay at the end of the month. Rather than have no pay at all. (Better than no pay).









Recommendations

Good communication channels such as group mail access. This makes it easier to commucnicate to members of the whole branch, or all Phoenix Advertising Agency. As such everyone gets communication in time.

Team Building Sessions – such sessions encourage team work, understanding of each other’s personalities, successfully performing group tasks, and appreciating individual differences as being the strength of the team, granting opportunities for growth.

Budgeting – budgeting is important because it enables a company to plan with the available financial resources. Furthermore, the company is able to notice the deficits in its budget and plan on ways of meeting the anticipated costs. Hence, the employees are not burdened by working overtime. Neither do the clients accepted without following the company policy in order to try and meet the budget. The budgets are reviewed from time to time to assess progress of the organization. During bugeting, resourcessuch as money, human resource, and equipment are allocated for use by each department according to their needs.

Monthly assessment of progress in attaining the organization’s goals

Managers prepare monthly reports which help in assessing whether the company is meeting its goals or not. In case of any challenges, they are corrected early to prevent last minute rushes.

Relationship Management

In order to ensure that the customer’s needs are satisfied, a manager is appointed to manage an individual customer’s account. This creates a relationship and enhances trust such that the customer is able to negotiate their prices. They can also give feedback easily.

Adherence to policies and procedures

Non-adherence to company and branch policies leads to irreversible consequences. However, employees will not adhere to policies which they are not aware of. For that matter, there needs to be proper guidance so that all employees are well versed with the company’s goals.

Rewards system

It is normal for employees to have a desire to be appreciated for their good work. This can be done by have a rewards system. For most companies, the reward system is based on performance appraissal of the employees. The appraissals are often done quarterly, half yearly, and annually.