50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

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Case 23 (continued)

Case Discussion:

Don’t Let an Old Flame Die

Summary

Both Bill Abbott and Brenda Dawson moved into the Training Department at American Products,

Inc., about the same time two years ago. American Products was a state-wide retail service

organization of about 90 branch offices. One of the main activities of the Training Department

was to train the customer service associates (CSAs) that staffed the branch offices. Bill headed

the department, while Brenda was the senior CSA trainer.

Brenda started working at American Products as a CSA herself several years earlier. During

that time, she proved to be a strong employee and had been promoted into a supervisory role

within the branch. She was a natural choice for the CSA trainer’s job when it opened. Once there,

she worked very hard to keep up with the demand for training. Bill recognized that Brenda had

some natural skills as a trainer and felt that she also had significant potential for further promo-

tion. Recently, however, Bill had noticed that she was becoming “burned out,” and he was quite

concerned about what to do.

Bill surveyed some other characteristics of the situation. There was now a second CSA trainer

in the department. This person needed more coaching and attention than Bill could provide.

Brenda was already acting in a senior mentoring capacity with that person. There were also a

variety of new training programs that were also in need of development. The rate of CSA turn-

over was subsiding; as a result, the demand for CSA classes had been cut in half. Bill handled all

administrative matters for CSA training, such as budget preparation and review, program plan-

ning, and the like. He had started an Advisory Committee on the CSA training program, but

Brenda said she had no knowledge or time to become involved with it.

Answers to Case Questions

1. Is job enrichment an appropriate solution to this situation? If so, why?

Yes. There are several reasons. First, Brenda is beginning to show signs of “demotivation” in the

form of burnout; without some kind of response, Brenda may move on. Second, Brenda shows

clear promise of development: learning new skills will help nurture those talents. Finally, Bill’s

ability to manage the department could improve by delegating more responsibility to Brenda.

2. Identify how you would redesign Brenda’s job to enrich it. Write both a job description

and a mission statement for Brenda’s new job.

Under a job enrichment program, Brenda would move into a new job with higher levels o

f

duties and responsibilities. The following duties are all candidates for her new jo

b

; these duties

would be the core of any new job description.

Duties:

• Assuming full supervisory responsibility for the CSA trainer (Chris)

• Preparing and monitoring the budget for CSA training

• Designing and implementing additional CSA training programs as needed