When he graduated with his honours undergraduate degree in business, Jordan was

Question

When he graduated with his honours undergraduate degree in business, Jordan was hired as a marketing representative for a large consumer products firm. Within 18 months, he was transferred to another group and promoted to the position of supervisor. About a third of Jordan’s direct reports were 10 or more years older than he was, and they seemed less than pleased when he was introduced as their new supervisor. While he was able to build respectful and supportive relationships with many of the younger employees, the older group remained aloof.

Four months into his new job, Jordan was informed that his group would be upgraded to a new computer software system and was asked to send all his employees to training. Jordan took the training himself first, and then asked his employees to sign up for the time slots that would be the most convenient for them. Members of the older group of employees were the last to sign up, saying they were in the middle of a busy season for their clients, and couldn’t take the time. Then, the trainer complained to Jordan that his employees had not paid much attention during the training, instead responding to e-mails on their smartphones or stepping out to take client calls. After the training, the older group of workers complained that the new system was ineffective and inferior to the old one. One person, David, spoke the loudest and made the most complaints, explaining that he was speaking for the entire group of “seasoned veterans who really know what makes this business run.”

What should Jordan do? (Please choose your preferred solution and briefly explain from a leadership standpoint)

1.Speak to David privately about his obstructiveness, and warn him that if he doesn’t co-operate by learning and using the new system, he will receive a written warning.

2.Do nothing about David’s complaints; over time, he and the other veterans will have to learn the system if they want to get good appraisals, raises and bonuses.

3.Call a meeting of the entire group and ask for feedback on the new system. Identify those individuals who are most technologically savvy and develop a plan together for getting everyone up to speed on all of the features and functions of the new system.

4.Speak to David in front of the group of seasoned veterans. Explain that he appreciates David’s views and would like the entire group to get together regularly to exchange information and knowledge across all of the employees in the work group.

5.Get advice from his own supervisor regarding how to proceed with managing the different personalities and perspectives among his employees and how to best implement the changeover.

Explanation / Answer

Jordan must choose option 3.

He must call the entire group for meeting and take their feedback on the new system and get appraised about the problems that they are facing along with the proposed solutions from the group. Also he must identify people who are tech savvy and ask them to help others who are facing challenges with the new system. Also he must develop a plan where everyone is able to learn the features of the new system and use them.

This is the most important and apt step from leadership standpoint view since it creates a collaborative environment and individual employees feel good if their feedback is taken in a positive way and their problems are heard along with the logical solutions to their problems.

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