Competency

In this assignment, you will demonstrate your mastery of the following competency:

· Analyze the use of management styles in varying contexts to determine preferred approaches

Scenario

You are a training coordinator for Sunnyvale Insurance. The company recently added a new manager, and with new management positions anticipated, the company owners have asked that you support the company in calibrating management approaches and styles. In order to do this, you will need to develop management recommendations to send to leadership. Your work here will support leadership in both training current management and in informing future hiring decisions.

Sunnyvale Insurance

A man in a business suit holding his hands over paper cutouts of a family, home, and automobile

Company History and Overview

Sunnyvale Insurance was founded as an independent insurance company by Julianne and Robert Montague. They met at work selling insurance for a large chain company, and they were frustrated with working in a model that focused on making money over what is best for clients. They decided to open their own insurance company to better serve their community. The company provides reasonably priced home insurance, automobile insurance, renters’ insurance, business insurance, and small business insurance. Within the past few years, Julianne and Robert have taken a more hands-off approach in order to travel and enjoy retirement. The company has a diverse workforce and a small team that operates remotely to manage technology and customer support needs.

Vision

Sunnyvale Insurance helps clients—from small businesses to everyday people—find the right insurance needs for themselves, their businesses, and their families. The company prides itself on getting to know its clients personally and on presenting options that fit within its clients’ needs and budget.

Company Culture

The company is known for its friendly interactions with customers. It has a high level of customer satisfaction, and customers love that the representatives take the right amount of time to answer all of their questions and that the representatives seem “human” because they engage in conversation and make clients feel comfortable. Employees love the laid-back atmosphere and appreciate having flexibility in their work week. For example, there is usually no problem if someone needs to come in late after an appointment, as long as they make up the time later. But when a new manager starts, he views the laid-back culture in a negative way and implements more strict policies.

Technology and Growth Considerations

Technology is growing steadily in the insurance industry, and consumers tend to favor industries in which they can access services online. The company hopes to expand their presence internationally, and online insurance sales and consulting teams are part of the initiative. The small but diverse team includes members from all over the world to support clients in a range of hours.

Management Challenges

Sunnyvale Insurance hired Scott recently when Mary, who had been in the position for 20 years, retired. Mary was a bit lenient but very well-respected in the company and among its employees. Scott comes to the company with several years of experience managing insurance companies. He has a serious, authoritative presence. He believes firmly in a traditional management style in which people come to work, keep their heads down, and do exactly as the manager says, no questions asked. Many of the younger employees feel resentful toward Scott for his management style, preferring a more laid-back atmosphere and more autonomy.

Since he started in the role six months ago, Scott made the following changes:

· Enforced penalties for clocking in any more than one minute late

· Required that employees attend weekly meetings at 8 a.m. (the workday typically begins at 9 a.m.) on Monday to go over sales and discuss a strategic plan for the week

· Enforced strategies to increase productivity, including a significant focus on increasing sales and profit. Employees are incentivized based on how much money they make, and those who make below a certain threshold are put on a performance improvement plan.

· Increased pricing of the insurance plans offered

Scott’s communication with the both the team in the office and the online team is structured and authoritative. He believes that clarity is of the utmost importance. Remote employees report that they feel disconnected from the company and that miscommunication occurs frequently because it sometimes seems that a different message is being communicated to them than to employees in the main office.

Six months after Scott begins in his manager role, employee turnover increases and employee morale is down significantly. Customer satisfaction polls indicate a decrease in satisfaction with the overall experience. The stock market value has increased, as shareholders see an initial spike in profits. Scott sees this as a sign that the company is going in the right direction, but many employees wonder if profits will continue to increase as their regular clients see the impacts that Scott’s management style is having on the company.

Directions

Upper management has asked you to develop a management recommendations email to support management in moving the company forward. In order to do this, you should analyze the current management approach being used, identify gaps, and recommend preferred management styles and techniques that will best serve the company. Your 1- to 3-page management recommendations email should include the following:

· Introduction: Owners Julianne and Robert Montague would like you to frame your management recommendations within the context of a modern workplace environment.

· Describe the workplace environment, including technology and growth considerations that potentially impact the company’s future initiatives. Why is it important to consider management styles for their impact in a shifting workplace environment?

· Outline management traits that are valued in diverse and shifting business environments for effectively supporting employees. Specifically, provide examples of how management traits outlined would address the issues of employee turnover and low morale at Sunnyvale Insurance.

· Identifying Management Challenges: Provide background on the challenge impacting Sunnyvale’s management, and include specific examples where possible.

· Describe the influence of the currently demonstrated management styles on company culture and workplace environment, and provide at least two examples from the scenario to support your ideas.

· Consider how employees might respond to the management styles in the scenario. In turn, how might their responses impact the customer experience?

· Recommendations for Improvement: The owners have also asked that you share your recommendations for management and leadership styles. This will support them in supporting current management and in evaluating new management candidates.

· Recommend a preferred management approach. Include strengths and weaknesses as well as specific strategies to best support management in implementing the preferred approach.

· Based on the gaps you identified in manager support within Sunnyvale Insurance, discuss styles and leadership methods that the managers can employ to better support a diverse and increasingly virtual workforce. Provide examples to support ideas, and consider strengths and weaknesses of various management styles.

· Recommend techniques for reflecting on strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities and for managers to reflect on and improve their management style to best support the company and its employees. Specifically consider how managers will need to adapt their style for a diverse and geographically distributed workforce.

· Recommend resources and strategies for supporting a diverse and virtual environment, including technology for addressing the concerns expressed by virtual employees in the scenario. It is not necessary to find specific software to use; instead, discuss what types of tools the company might benefit from.

· Company Impacts: In a closing statement, briefly outline actions you would like your audience to take away from the email. Be sure to include how the company will benefit from the action.

· In the closing statement, be sure to discuss how the preferred approach and strategies will help support a more positive company culture and workplace environment, and anticipate the impact on clients and sales based on key trends.

What to Submit

Every project has a deliverable or deliverables, which are the files that must be submitted before your project can be assessed. For this project, you must submit the following:

Management Recommendations Email Submit a management recommendations email based on strengths and weaknesses of management styles observed and employee feedback outlined in the scenario. The recommendations should suggest a preferred a management style and approach to support the company as they move forward. The management recommendations email should be 1 to 3 pages in length.