The potential for conflict is extremely high and because of the ore intimate setting, extremely challenging. The potential for hurt feelings, misunderstandings, and outright interference due to an unwillingness to relinquish a role or include a new hire into the fold is more readily observable when an organization is smaller. In fact, a smaller organization can be said to operate and behave much like a family-unit, with all the pathos and joys of that kind of that intimate grouping. When new employees are brought into the organization, they need to receive a comprehensive introduction into the proper ways to communicate throughout the organization. Companies that do not include communication training in their new-hire orientation programs will be forced to struggle with new hires who are forced to learn proper communication procedures by a process of hit and miss. ” ( http://smelliness’s. Chronic. Com/ examples-communication-problems-workplace-11243. HTML). Overview of the Organization and Case Study Wallace Design Group owned by Kevin Wallace is an architectural services company.
The location is in Farmers Branch, Texas. Kent Wallace, the marketing director, resides in California and remotely operates in the office. The organization is very small, yet group communication is very poor. Wallace Design Group is in the process of increasing staff and preparing for the office manager to retire. The former administrative assistant, Shells is preparing to replace the out-going office manager, Jack and Andrea is the new administrative assistant hired to replace Shells. They have recently hired a new architect, Koala.
She was hired to replace, Diane, who was fired because of performance issues. Identify and Describe the Situation or Problem Knowledge The major problems involve the hand-off job responsibilities. All of the staff that have been with Wallace Design Group have been with company for years. They eave developed a pattern of communicating with one another and the new-hires are viewed as threats instead of team members. The “organizational culture formation” theory (Shockley-Callback, P. , 1999, pigs. 8-89) best applies to this situation. Organizational culture formation, as defined by Edgar Scheme, defines the organizational culture as “a pattern of basic assumptions – invented, discovered, or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration – that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct ay to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems. ” (Shockley-Callback, P. , 1999, pigs. 88-89).
The actions of the employees that have been with company the longest, support Chine’s premise that their shared history has created a consensus of how the company and its employees should relate, hence their unwillingness to embrace new people and new ideas. The important information missing is whether their reactions are based on gender, age, or race. To what extent do these external factors influence their willingness to accept the new hires. Sensitivity Jack and Shells have developed an understanding of working with each other ND have a long work history.
Shell’s husband at one time was the project manager for Wallace Design Group and still has investments within the company. A lot of Shell’s behavior is often ignored because of her family’s investment. Jack does not agree with a new employee using the company as a reference. He feels that one should wait out the probationary period before even listing the company as a place of work. His views can be pedantic and very controlling. Both Jack and Shells are creating the difficulty at this point.
The shared realities of these individuals are that they both possess a great deal of power within the organization. Jack has power with the owner, because he has also worked for the owners father. He is a trusted and highly valued employee. Shells has power within the company due to her financial investment; she is not only an employee, she is also an owner. They are each very good communicators. Their communication is deliberately selective with the new hires because they are having difficulty relinquishing their power they hold in their respective roles.
Jack would like the new assistant to show more deference to him and Shells wants to monitor the progress of the new assistant. Jack and Shells both resent the new architect because she is very young. Secretly, they were hoping Kevin would hire a male for the position because the last female architect caused so problems because of her emotional state. Skills Jack is a business manager with over forty year’s experience. He is easygoing and very dependable. Shells is a trained teacher, but she has worked as an administrative assistant for the last fifteen years to have flexibility in her schedule while parenting.
She also wanted the opportunity to support her husband in his new venture when he started working for Kevin Wallace. Jack and Shells are very good in their respective positions. Once Jack completes the remover process with Shells, she will make a good office manager. In the meantime, they both need training in diversity and tolerance. Although Jack is retiring, it would not hurt him to learn that some people are in different financial circumstances when they are hired.
They might need to use the current working situation as a reference immediately; this does not make an employee presumptuous. Values Wallace Design Group is concerned about an individual fitting into their company structure. Because the company is so small, the turnover rate is very low. Every employee is given the opportunity to become vested within the many after three years of employment. The company sees themselves as fair, just employees who are concerned about their people, the environment, and their impact on the community around them.
Develop Alternatives and Test Possible Solutions (l do not have any as of yet, this area will have flush out as I write the paper). Propose Solutions and Suggest Implementation Plans Kevin and Kent Wallace would need to have the office manager create a new hire packet. The office manager could draft detailed job descriptions, this could help individuals develop more autonomy within this type of setting lessening the interaction and allowing an individual to become settled within their position.
