Introduction
The case is about the Clothes & Accessories store in Vitoria city of Brazil, which was given to Daniel Oliveira to manage. Oliveira is a young but talented and experienced man who gained his position through hard work in his previous positions at other branches of Clothes & Accessories. He was sent to Vitoria to improve the store’s performance and increase productivity as it was experiencing a decline. The store has employees who have worked there for many years, for example, Maria Almeida, who is a financial services supervisor who was employed there for almost eighteen years (Cates et al., 2017). During the conversation with an outgoing manager, Sara Carvalho, he was introduced by the store’s employees and operations. He then noticed several issues with the store’s marketing and human resources management and decided to first chat with every employee (Cates et al., 2017). This decision was made based on a recommendation of Prado (the chair of the store) who suggested him to get to know people with whom he is going to work. After chatting with his workers, Oliveira started to implement new regulations and changes in the operations of the store. Yet, new changes were not welcomed by employees, and nothing has been altered.
Oliveira was concerned about the situation and asked his supervisors for help, but it did not help until one told him that employees did not respect him as a manager. This was mainly because of his age, as he was much younger than his workers. As such, the case is about proper human resources management. It shows how the relationship between the highest leadership and other employees may hinder the work and lower productivity.
Problem Statement
The case study provides several problems related to human resources management. The first problem is a lack of communication, as employees do not acknowledge a new manager and do not provide him with relevant support and feedback. The second problem is related to the change management process, as employees do not recognize a need for changes, and a leader cannot explain what he needs from them properly. The third problem is motivating change because Oliveira cannot motivate his workers to work and commit to changes required to process the work. Such problems may impact the store’s productivity and lead to ethical issues like lower quality of service and products. Lack of motivation can make employees leave their positions, as it has already happened with some of them in the case study. Therefore, a manager must implement solutions as soon as possible.
Analysis of Issues
The main cause for the problem above is that Oliveira could not prove his credibility and qualifications to his new employees. Workers did not want to have a young man who was pointing out that their work, which they had done for a decade, was not suitable as their manager. Here, Oliveira failed to explain change management to his workers. Change management is a significant process needed for companies to succeed and grow.
All three problems mentioned above are related to the challenges of the change management process. The first and second problems are generally related to communication occurred due to the issues in active leadership by Oliveira. There was a lack of empowerment from the leadership, thereby, employees felt as if they were neglected and that their voices were not heard. The third problem is associated with motivation, as employees were not motivated to make changes and cooperate with a new manager. It also seems that Oliveira missed the stage of preparing for a change because he started to implement his ideas and vision immediately after his arrival in the leadership position. Moreover, there was no stage of assessing the change due to Oliveira’s confidence in his work. He did not acknowledge whether current workers are willing to accept the new regulations.
Answers to Questions
Prado asked Oliveira to speak with the previous manager, Douglas Fischer, as he had the same experience as Oliveira because they were both young when obtaining a manager position. It seems that this was a part of Clothes & Accessories’ leadership development strategy. By communicating with Fischer and sharing some insights regarding the work, Oliveira learned how to succeed in being a manager. Yet, it did not help Oliveira manage the store because he did not have practical experience. In my opinion, the strategy of Clothes & Accessories is effective as it provides a practical experience for young professionals to show their strengths and lead a project from scratch. Oliveira came to Vitoria as a beginner and learned that gaining the respect of his employees is crucial for maintaining the business. Therefore, the company’s strategy to first theoretically teach Oliveira and then send him to a new place is effective.
After the transition with Sara Carvalho, Oliveira had to implement changes in the store’s marketing. The overall appearance was not attractive for customers as there were dirty shelves and not appropriately dressed mannequins. He asked merchandisers to rearrange everything as he planned. He first chatted with every employee individually and then organized weekly meetings with a team to ensure that the work was done properly.
If I were Oliveira, I would have conducted the meetings differently. I do not think they are necessary for the management of the store as there are people who have worked there for many years, and teaching them how to do their work is indeed inappropriate. I would rather chat with every team member and ask for their vision of the development of the store and its weaknesses. Following that, I would implement what they said with slight changes from my side. Due to the experience of many employees, I will try not to offend them by constant communication.
I think that Oliveira did not do anything wrong as he tried to implement changes, and he indeed established communication with employees. Therefore, Prado did not fire him but gave him a chance to mitigate the issues and gain the respect of his workers. There are no perfect managers who would immediately succeed in the management, and Oliveira is not an exception. He failed to effectively communicate with the personnel, but he did his best, working extra hours and trying to identify the core issue. As such, firing Oliveira would not be a good decision, and Prado understood this.
Kubler Ross Model
The Kubler Ross change curve can explain the turnout journey of Oliveira. It consists of five stages: shock and denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. By looking at the actions of Oliveira, it is seen that Oliveira passed all stages. At first, he did not believe that employees may disrespect him, although he did not see any engagement from their side, and changes were not implemented as he asked (Cates et al., 2017). His anger and bargaining stages were seen when he started to monitor employees’ work and ensure that they did the work right. Following that, he went on vacation as he began to experience depression and dissatisfaction with the overall work in the store. He was upset because workers did not listen to him and even quit their positions. The acceptance stage was when he realized what he did wrong and when a third party stated the perspectives of others.
Evaluation of Alternatives
This section provides three recommendations to solve the problems within the case. First, Oliveira can engage his employees in creating a shared vision for the changes in the store. As we have learned from the course, the Metis strategy can be used to initiate new regulations. It includes empowerment and engagement activities, such as team-buildings and training to cooperate with both a leader and the team. The creation of a vision would make a manager and workers gain an understanding of each other. Yet, the final version of the vision may be distinct from what a manager expected, so the plan may not work well. Second, he can call for the previous manager to make a transparent transition. As employees do not believe in Oliveira, he should ensure that workers acknowledge his qualifications upon proper and official getting the manager’s position. However, this may be a prolonged process delaying the start of the implementation of changes.
Third, Oliveira can call for the help of the highest leadership, showing workers that he was assigned by the support of the founders of the company. This may help engage and motivate workers in the development of the store and rely on Oliveira. Yet, it may be costly as they need to host the administration and spend time hosting them.
Recommended Course of Action
These recommendations are easy to implement as they mostly relate to communication skills. Oliveira has to research his team before implementing any new regulations. To begin with, he may start to ask for help from his employees as they have worked there for many years. After knowing them better and knowing their experiences, it would be useful to communicate with the previous manager and understand how he or she gained the respect of a team. Following that, implementing changes would be easier as he would know his people very well.
Implementation Plan
- Goal: To gain the respect of employees and implement changes to the operations of the store
- What we have: an experienced team, the store, and good funding.
- What to do: first, ensure proper communication with workers individually and listen to their suggestions; second, provide better feedback for every employee regarding their work and try to make a compromise with them; third, make a team-building with the current employees and know them closer in an informal environment; forth, make a plan for changes and implement them per one new regulation per two weeks.
Conclusion
Overall, the case concerns Daniel Oliveira’s management of the Clothing & Accessory store in Vitoria, Brazil. Oliveira is a young, talented, and experienced man who earned his position via hard work in past roles in the Clothes & Accessories industry. He was dispatched to Vitoria to enhance the store’s performance and production, which had been declining. Here, he has experienced the issue of respect from his workers, showing the importance of knowing people with whom a manager works. Human resource management is crucial for leading a company to success and increasing its profit. The main learning from this case analysis is that communication should be done slowly and individually, not neglecting the experience of the current workers.
Reference
Cates, K., Riederer, G., Tacha, N., & Awanda, R. U. N. (2017). The perils and pitfalls of leading change: a young manager’s turnaround journey. Kellogg School of Management Cases.