Question

Case 13 ✍ It Was Really So Simple Background Information Brenda Galway leaned back in her chair, sighed heavily, and slowly rubbed her eyes in big circular motions. “I don’t need all this aggravation,” she thought to herself. She had just finished reviewing the report she had requested from her new employee, Bill Stanley. The entire report was incorrect and would have to be redone. Brenda supervised Unit B of the Audit Department. The Unit B team had earned the nickname of the “Mod Squad” because the team was given unusual, special audit assignments that cropped up. Unit B also had ongoing audit duties over certain operations departments within the company. The five auditing specialists in Unit B had to complete certain reports every month on those operational units. Normally, this workload was manageable enough. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times. About three weeks ago, Brenda’s manager, John Rockland, gave her a major project to complete in three weeks. The “rush priority” nature of the project stemmed from the decision of the company’s Executive Management Committee to implement a new type of auditing procedure and install a program. In large part, this meant adapting to an automated information system. Currently, most of the infor mation the company needed and used was being collected and processed manually. In effect, the new system required the auditors to switch from being high-priced clerks to being information system managers. The auditors would be able to examine, “test,” and display information more quickly, easily, and clearly—so, at least, was the thinking of Executive Management when it authorized the new procedures. Brenda’s assignment was to complete an implementation plan for this new system in three weeks. At the meeting during which he gave her the assignment, John told Brenda: “Look Brenda, I know it’s short notice and that you’ve got those operations reports due out soon, but you need to get your staff working on this project now. You know I’ll do whatever I can to help.” John had paused a minute, leaning against the doorway. “Why not let that new guy, what’s his name. . . Bill Stanley? Let Bill Stanley start working on it.” Brenda could see no alternative. “I guess you’re right,” she said. “I’ll get him on it today.” John had been referring to the new employee Brenda had hired just last month. Bill Stanley graduated two years ago with a degree in accounting and had worked as a junior auditor at a competitor since then. During the interview process, Brenda told him that he would have to be a self-starter and that she expected him to pick up on the work fairly quickly. She now thought back to her words during the interview: “Look, we’re very busy here, and we get the plum assignments. I can’t babysit you. I’ll show you your desk and introduce you to the team members. You’re going to have to take care of yourself. Of course, I’m here to help and my door’s always open. But you’ll have to The Management Training Tool Kit: 35 Exercises to Prepare Managers for the Challenges They Face Every Day, ©2012 HRD Press. Published by AMACOM Books, American Management Association, www.amanet.org. 66 ✍ Case 13: It Was Really So Simple Handout (page 2) pin me down and get me when you need my help. After that, you’re on your own.” Brenda had prided herself on her direct, no-nonsense, up-front communication style. Bill Stanley seemed to agree with her philosophy. He replied, “Sure, that’s great. I like to work on my own anyways.” In fact, Bill Stanley had not been Brenda’s first choice for the open position in her department. She was looking for someone who had both auditing and computer experience in addition to a strong background in accounting. Unfortunately, she was unable to pay the salary that the few applicants with that background wanted. Bill Stanley was the best remaining choice, even though he had very limited auditing and computer experience. Bill had accepted the job and had been doing as well as could be expected. During his first week on the job, he was placed on an existing audit project and had managed to perform effectively according to the project leader. He seemed to get along well with the other “Mod Squad” team members and was fairly eager to work on the project, although Brenda seldom saw him stay after quitting time. Brenda had called Bill into her office shortly after receiving the new assignment from her boss. She told him about the project and gave him the deadline. She repeated that her door was always open if he needed help. Bill seemed honored that she had selected him. He tried to ask her for some details about the kinds of plans he needed to work out. Brenda repeated that it was a simple project plan. After Bill’s third question along these lines, Brenda said, with a little irritation in her voice, “Look, you can fi gure this out. Unless you have any other big questions, I’ve got to get ready for a meeting.” Bill answered that he had no other questions. Brenda had drawn the meeting to a close with the remark, “Keep in touch.” In the two weeks that followed, Brenda continued to be as busy as usual. She occasionally saw Bill in the office. While passing through, she would sometimes stop, put her head through the door, and ask how things were coming. Bill would always say, “Fine.” On two occasions, Bill asked to see her. In the first meeting, about two days after receiving the assignment, he tried to get her to explain what exactly she was looking for in the report. He produced a detailed outline. Brenda looked it over and made a broad, vague response. Her irritation at having to tell him exactly what to do showed after about 15 minutes. In the second meeting, he asked for some general guidance and help on many of the specifics of the project. She wondered, at one point, why he didn’t look up the answers to some of these questions himself. She had to cut their meeting short in order to attend another meeting. After the second meeting, she had no further contact with Bill. It was now three weeks since she gave Bill the assignment. The deadline had arrived, and Bill had submitted the report on time, dropping it off on her desk at 5 o’clock, on his way home. Looking it over, she had easily seen that it was incorrect. Oh, it was all there, alright; it was just wrong. For a long time, she continued to rub her eyes, as if doing so would change the contents of the report and it would be correct when she looked at it again. The Management Training Tool Kit: 35 Exercises to Prepare Managers for the Challenges They Face Every Day, ©2012 HRD Press. Published by AMACOM Books, American Management Association, www.amanet.org. 67 Handout (page 3) Case 13: It Was Really So Simple ✍ Brenda thought to herself, “Why didn’t he come in and check it out with me to make sure that he was doing it right, especially after he completed this first part? It was really so simple and I took so long to explain it.”

CASE QUESTIONS

1. What is the problem?

2. What should Brenda do about the faulty report?

3. How should she have supervised Bill on this project?

Answer 1

1. There are multiple problems in this case. The instant problem which is evident is lack of supervision of Bill by her manager Brenda due to which a faulty project report was submitted by Bill.

Recruitment flaws The larger problem is about faulty hiring procedure. During hiring process, although Brenda was not keen on hiring Bill, he was still hired. Bill did not have adequate auditing experience but had a mix of auditing and computer, due to which he was preferred among others. Also he assured Brenda that he would pick up the work at the earliest. Brenda should not have trusted him entirely during the hiring process and should have put him to a practical test to test his actual skills before taking a final decision of hiring. Hence the problem lies in the faulty recruiting process. Bill should have been technically tested for his aptitude in auditing.

Leadership/Managerial Flaws As Brenda was not confident on the skills of Bill, she should have handholded him for atleast 3 months before entrusting him a project entirely. If we apply principles of situational leadership, type of leadership attribute depends on the maturity/skill level of a subordinate. If the subordinate is a beginner, the leadership style to be applied should be directive style. If the same subordinate has moderate skills, leadership style to be applied should be supportive or coaching stlye. Only if the subordinate is highly skilled, delegatory leadership style is required to be applied. Here in this case, Bill had moderate skills and should have been supported or coached by his manager. Instead Brenda adopted a delegatory style, where-in he ended up submitting a faulty project due to lack of adequate supervision.

2. Brenda should attempt to correct the faulty report. Accordingly she should speak to her manager John and ask him to extend the deadline by a day or two. As Bill has takein a considerable time to prepare the project report, its assumed that he would have done a lot of background analysis. Also he being good at computers, he could make changes quickly on the directions of Brenda. Brenda should quickly jot down the deviations and intimate bill to correct it . This will not only enable to complete the project, but most importantly train Bill on this project. This will give confidence to Bill to take up a similar project without any assistance. Brenda also will learn from this experience on how to handle moderately experienced employees.

3. As Bill is a fresher, Brenda should properly induct him to the department. As plum projects comes her way, she should have a laid down policy on hiring and induction. Hiring should have 3 rounds with HR doing the first round followed by technical round and finally the discussion round. If Brenda is unable to get skilled candidates, she should hire Bill on probation for 3 months before absorbing him on the rolls of the company. On completion of 3 months of probation,  Bill could be assessed for his skills and other parameters. He should be hired only on satisfactory completion of probation.