As a manager of a project based group for XYZ Corporation you have 7 direct repo

Question

As a manager of a project based group for XYZ Corporation you have 7 direct reports and it's time for Performance Reviews. At least 3 or 4 team members are involved in each project. Last year after performance reviews, you allowed two of your employees to go on the "work at home" program for personal reasons. This year, two more are requesting to be able to work from home. You are supportive of the work at home program and in your opinion, the two employees that work from home are the most productive on your team. The two members of your team who want to be placed on the work at home program are the least productive team members. Your boss does not support the work at home program and this has created conflict in your relationship with her. All 7 employees have the same $80,000.00 annual salary and you have $23,000.00 in your budget for annual raises to be divided any way you deem fit. The other 3 very good employees work from the office and while they do not wish to work at home, they would like the opportunity to work flex hours. The two employees that are requesting to work from home are also expressing that it is unfair for anyone to work at home unless all employees are allowed to work from home. This is causing significant conflict between team members. Unfortunately, the two employees that are doing very well from home would need to resign if you required them to work from the office.

Question:

Your goal is to continue to develop your team, motivate them and resolve conflict. Using what you have learned together with your own experience, please explain how you will handle this situation.

Explanation / Answer

In order to motivate the employees I need to ensure that each employee needs are met and are motivated according to the individual motivating factors. The two employees who utilize work at home program have no other option due to personal reasons and they cannot be satisfied or motivated by any means other than permit them to continue using work at home program. Though my boss does not support work at home program, I can convince her by showing the productivity of these two members and take permission to continue the same. The other two members who demand for work at home option can be motivated by using other factors as work at home is not mandatory for them to continue the job. It will be risky too to provide work at home option for them as they are already least productive. But I need to motivate them and ensure their job satisfaction to resolve conflict in the work place. I have $23,000.00 in my budget for annual raises and I can divide them equally among the seven employees by giving $3000 increment for each. Still $2000 is left and I can utilize them to motivate the two problematic employees. I would offer them extra $1000 each to continue working from office. As their productivity is less compared to others, the offer would be appealing for them and would feel valued and motivated to perform well in the next cycle. Other three employees require flexible shifts and I can discuss with the boss and make the arrangements to introduce flexi hours in our project. This way I can satisfy the needs and motivate each employee by using the motivators that would suit each individual.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse A
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.