Learning Activity 2 - Theme 2 The manager must be able to solve problems, commun

Question

Learning Activity 2 - Theme 2 The manager must be able to solve problems, communicate, and lead teams toward the completion of a task. Scenario: You are the manager of the northern branch of the Laurel City bowling alleys. The owner, Jill Espy, has four other bowling alleys around town. The average employee assigned to the concession stand of all the Laurel City bowling alleys lasts three years. However, in your bowling alley, the average employee lasts only eight months. Jill is concerned about this huge discrepancy and wants to know your ideas about the difference and what you can do to correct the problem. Training new employees is costly to the company and this high turnover is costing her money that could be better spent elsewhere.

You have talked with your current concession staff and have learned that pay and scheduling may have some effect on the turnover rate. However, one worker indicated that many of the workers do not know how to handle difficult customers. It makes them not want to come to work.

Discuss how you would approach these two problems to come to a resolution. Consider motivation techniques, mentoring or other ideas from the readings to effectuate a positive change. Use the readings to support your reasoning.

Instructions

Section 1. Separate paragraph(s) Defining and Explaining the Management Theory under discussion; Citation(s) of Resources from your research. For this LA the management theory is an expanded and inclusive definition of MANAGEMENT.

Section 2. Separate paragraph(s) defining and explaining the Application based on the SCENARIO or personal experience; Citation(s) of Resources from your research,

Section 3. Separate paragraph(s) explaining the Implications/Consequences of the Application of management theory, and

Section 4. Bibliography. List all references referred to in the Comment.

Explanation / Answer

The problem that the manager is facing is high turnover rate in his branch, when compared to other branches of bowling alleys. The high turnover is due to low morale of the employees. The employees are dissatisfied due to two main reasons. Firstly, the employees are not satisfied with their pay as well as with the work scheduling. Secondly, and more importantly, the employees are facing problems when dealing with difficult customers. The employees do not have the skills and knowledge about handling difficult customers in a proper manner and this is leaving many employees highly dissatisfied. Thus the manager will have to manage the employees by guiding them, mentoring them (to deal with difficult customers) and helping them by offering a better pay and schedule.

The manager will have to use the concepts of theories of motivation and training the employees. It is the responsibility of the manager to see to it that the employees are compensated properly and the compensation is commensurate with the work being done by the employees. The manager should also fix a schedule by benchmarking it against the other branched were employee last for an average of three years. Lastly the manager should train the employees on how to deal with difficult customers. Dealing with difficult customers requires use of certain soft skills like listening very carefully, thinking from a customer's perspective, be emphatic. The employees can be trained to develop these skills. Employees should also be taught to apologize to the customer and to present a viable solution. This will help in appeasing the customer on one hand and in keeping the morale of the employee intact on the other hand.

The consequences of the application of the management theory are that the employees will develop a new attitude and mindset. The employees will learn how to stay calm under pressure situations and serve the customers in the best possible way. The application of management theory will also help in optimizing the pay scale and work schedule of the employees, by benchmarking them against the industry standards as well as the standards being followed by other branches of the bowling alley. All these will increase the morale of the employees and increase their satisfaction level.

References:

http://www.inc.com/guides/hr/20776.html

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/unhappy-customers.htm

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