esmond has been hired as the new Chief of Staff to the President at Hawkley University
Instruction Details
esmond has been hired as the new Chief of Staff to the President at Hawkley University. Desmond will be focusing on understanding the current culture of leadership in an organization and advising the President on how to lead her VPs. As he observes the Executive team, he noticed that they are all of a similar demographic and seem to easily agree with each other. They all seem very confident their quick ideas and decisions that they seem to think come with experience. As one VP commented on their latest decision “we don’t even need to talk about the problem because we are all so similar and connected that we know what each other is thinking before we even say something. It helps us to make quick decisions and move at a fast pace.”
As part of his work, Desmond conducted an employee engagement survey. The results showed that satisfaction was low. Many employees thought that the company would be a great employer because it promoted itself as a “Top 100 Employer” in its job postings. They learned otherwise once they were surrounded by unmotivated team members who focused on keeping a low profile and doing the bare minimum work. In the survey employees commented on the lack of autonomy, ability to experiment and be challenged by solving complex problems that have a positive impact on society. While the Hawkley University used materials in their hiring that talked about “empowerment” and “creativity”, it seems that many employees are disappointed that those values do not seem to be part of the culture. Desmond is determined to use this data as well as other leader organizational culture research to convince the President that it’s time for change. He knows that it will be difficult with the attitudes around the executive team, including their perceptions that their positions, tenure and group consensus makes them infallible decision makers.
The President agrees that significant change is needed. Hawkley has experienced increasing turnover of employees despite their attractive total rewards program. She is hoping that Desmond can help to coach the leadership to adapt their style to be more motivating, innovative and have a global mindset. In the meantime, she is going to reflect on ways that she can model the leadership behaviour that she wants to see in her VPs to help turn this culture around.
Using the worksheet provided, determine at least three key case details and related symptoms using OB concepts to explain the link.
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