When a New Manager Stumbles, Who's at Fault?

Case Analysis Number 2

Is it too late for Goldstone?

Executive Summary

Bulwark is a company in the midst of changing the direction of the organization to be more customer service focused. By changing the focus, other organizational problems are amplified. Bulwark employee selection process appears unstructured with no consideration given to the prospective employee's skill set, personality or fit within the organization. When considering losing more employees, Bulwark should take the initiative in giving the proper training and organization it lacks as a respected business. With this done everyone can keep their job and be more productive for the company. Employees should be provided with the resources they need to improve their job performance whether it is through seminars, formal and informal education. Most importantly, and not enough companies do this, is giving employees formal feedback about their actual job performance through performance appraisals. Ultimately these weaknesses will need to be addressed in order to make the organization successful. The lack of an adequate selection process, management skills, clear expectations and collaboration of goals, and employee development are only compounded by the lack of a structure that the company needs in order to succeed and retain the knowledge and skills of their current employees.

Introduction

The March - April, 1996 Harvard Business Review article entitled, "When a New Manager Stumbles, Who's at Fault?" by Gordon Adler. Former Sales Rep, Rafferty Goldstone explained his dilemma of attaining his dream job of having "Manager" on his door. Goldstone had a M. B. A. from Kellogg, eight years experience as a sales rep, and member of the task force for improving sales calls. His supervisor's father once said that leaders are born, not made. A few months after his managing position started, he realized his dream job had become a nightmare. With his employees leaving and supervisor threatening him, he was faced with a big decision. This paper is based on the information provided by the article and will be discussed in several sections.

Reasons for lack of organizational direction and development

* Inadequate Selection Process

* Lack of Management

* Lack of Clear Expectations and Collaboration of Goals

* Lack of Employee Development

Inadequate selection process

Bulwark selection process of Goldstone consisted of a two minutes conversation between Paul MacKinley and Rafferty Goldstone. During this conversation, Mackinley focused on Goldstone's performance as a sales representative and not on his ability to manage. MacKinley is interested in the bottom line and sees Goldstone as a top performer in sales who desires a management position but is naive enough not to know how demanding and stressful that position is in Bulwark. The information in the case leads someone to believe that MacKinley did not review other possible candidates for the position but simply offered it to Goldstone based on his skills as a sales representative. Placing a top performer in a management position that they are not qualified for can have serious consequences not only for the individual but for the company as well. Allyn Cutts, founder of the Cutts Group, agrees that hiring mistakes can be expensive, "yet most companies have more specific strategies and techniques in place for buying computers and software than for hiring the right person"(2001).1 In this case, Goldstone not only has sales been removed from Bulwark's bottom line, he has unknowingly been placed in a position which he is not prepared to perform. Goldstone's inability to perform in this position will also affect Bulwark's bottom line.

Lack of Management

Rafferty Goldstone has 8 years of sales experience, has been one of the top three sales reps averaging $300,000 a year, and has an M.B.A. from Kellogg. Rafferty Goldstone had dreamt of having "Manager" on his door and took a managers position in a Framingham, Massachusetts, branch after being offered the position. He was excited to try out his own management philosophy: "Do unto the reps as you would have done unto you." Rafferty Goldstone had no experience in management and believed management was nothing more than being lead sales rep with more sway and liability. Goldstone lacked to realize that as a sales rep he was responsible only for his own performance, but as a manger he was now responsible for supervising all of the reps and would be held accountable for his entire department goals. Goldstone needed to be properly trained by his company, Bulwark Securities, on how to be an effective leader and what the company's expectations of a leader are.

Goldstone attended a new manager orientation seminar where he was given several reference manuals. At this seminar Bulwark's CEO, Christopher Woodbone, made an appearance and said to Goldstone, "Apply it scrupulously, follow the Bulwark Commandments, and you won't be kicking off from the end zone." Bulwark Securities is lacking organizational development. Woodbone is responsible for getting employee's buy in and to develop employees' commitment to and ownership of the company's performance. Little or no communication on overall direction of the organization has been given to employees. Push for new products are left up to the branch managers to engage their reps on buy in on these new products. Gloria Ludlow, regional director, explained to Goldstone that he would not be evaluated on how well he did but on how well his reps did. Gloria never took the time to reinforce the importance of promoting company goals and visions. When Goldstone made a comment on what employees comments were on promoting the Plus Service Account her reply was, "You sell Woodbone's policy, you hit quota." At her level of management she needed to review company objectives and what strategies would need to be implemented to achieve them. Due to Woodbone's lack of communicating the company's overall direction, Gloria Ludlow may not be able to set objectives consistent with Woodbone's, leaving