Leadership and Motivation Final Project

Leadership and Motivation Final Project

MGT 425 Leadership & Motivation

Leadership and Motivation Final Project

The only thing we can expect to remain consistent is that change will happen. Whether it be in our personal lives or within our professional atmosphere. The benefit of change is what drives us to new heights, but it doesn’t happen without resistance or fear . Even Henry Ford found resistance when trying to convince everyone of the wonders of the automobile. Many people shared the opinion that there was nothing wrong with the horse and carriage. It’s been well over one hundred years since the Model T was introduced, how fortunate are we that Mr. Ford didn’t listen? With that being said, not all change ends with success, and not all results go as planned. For our project, we will take the steps necessary to increase the likelihood of success. This will require a change management system that considers several key components of the change. The history of the organization, the change and the possible negative effects of that change. We should also consider how motivated the employees will be to follow through with the change, how to explain it and how to gain buy in. Most importantly if we are to know if we are successful, we must utilize a measurement process.

The Organization

Comcast is a fortune fifty company and is also ranked in the top five as a top place to work. Comcast is a leading name in the telecommunication industry where it offers cable tv, internet, home telephone, home security and mobile phone service. They are known for the X1 platform and for offering the fastest internet speeds . In the past ten years Comcast has acquired NBCUniversal and Sky UK which has expanded the business into theme parks, movie production and overseas telecommunication. Comcast has found success by taking calculated risks, being fiscally responsible, putting employees and community as a top priority and pushing change. Comcasts ability to push change and manage the process is part of why it has continued to find success and grow for over fifty years. On paper and to shareholders everything looks great, but even for Comcast, change doesn’t come without consequence and it isn’t simple. It is a process, and the company is about to go through one with their residential door to door sales department.

Proposed change

The direct sales team is the highest compensated channel in all of Comcast sales. It is hard work, but easy to manipulate. We have found that the lifetime of the customers they acquire are not near as long and are the least profitable. Sales reps tend to target current customers and downgrade one product and add another to get them into a promotion. We have two options, close the direct sales channel or restructure how we do business. We would like to move forward with restructuring. We will change acquisition targets to non-subscribers only, and we will run algorithms to target only those with the highest propensity to buy. We will split our geographic areas into territories, and we will assign one sales professional to each territory. With this design and structure, we will not have enough territories for our current headcount. This will require a workforce reduction of ten percent and we will need to eliminate our east side office, this results in letting four people go and combining the two teams.

We will hold a meeting with our direct sales department. In this meeting we will inform them of the changes our department will soon undergo. We will share the specifics of why we are making the change, how it benefits the company and how it benefits them. We will also discuss how it affects them. Due to the magnitude of this change within the job function, we will be required to lay everyone off. It is encouraged that everyone educate themselves on what the new role consists of and if interested, apply for the new role. We welcome everyone to look at other opportunities within Comcast if they are so inclined. If employees choose to move on, we will offer a lucrative severance package. This will be a ninety-day process, where we will continue business as usual. We will begin the evaluation, interview and hiring process immediately.

The strength of each connection and possible causes of weak connections

This is by no means an easy feat, people are going to lose jobs, this affects lively hood, team morale and motivation. While the news may motivate some, it may be extremely overwhelming and demotivating to others.

Action to Results Connections

For the confident, high performers, this connection will be strong. They know that if they put forth the effort and perform, the likelihood of them being rehired will increase. It may also encourage those that are in the middle of the pack, to exert extra effort to ensure they are putting themselves in the best position for rehire. They know that their results are a reflection of the effort they put forth .

For those that are lower performers, this could be a weak connection. They may see their peers as competition. If they are self-aware, they will know that their ability is limited in comparison to others. As a result, lower performers may disengage and give up, putting in less effort, knowing that it is a lost cause and they won’t get the results necessary to secure employment.

Results to Evaluation Connections

For mid and high performers that have a good work ethic, a positive attitude and have continually met at least the minimum expectations in prior reviews may be more so motivated by this circumstance. They will understand that how they engage, interact and the results they deliver will weigh heavily in the evaluation process.

For those that have been inconsistent or have created a bad image within their workgroup, may find themselves demotivated in this connection. They may feel defeated and that even if they produce positive results, the results may not be favorable enough to convince the company that they should remain employed .

Evaluation to Outcomes Connections

There will be both strengths and weaknesses within this connection as well. This is the outcome of the evaluation process. There are both good and bad outcomes, in other words, there will be reward and there will also be punishment . This isn’t the difference in receiving a pay raise or missing a promotion, this is keeping employment or being laid off. High performers may not worry at all, they may be confident and motivated by their ability and feel secure in keeping employment. For those mid and low-level performers, panic may kick in even thinking that they may lose their job based off these reviews, which may result in stress and even lower performance.

Outcomes to Needs Satisfaction Connections

Many people love this company and appreciate their job. Others can’t stand doing what they do and may be looking for an excuse to move on. For those that wish to remain employed, are very motivated. There is a need being met from their employment, they can provide for their family, Comcast offers great benefits, it is extremely important to them to keep this job. For others this job may not satisfy a personal need, maybe they see it as a job and not a career, they may not take advantage of the benefits, and really may just tag along through out the process waiting to be let go to earn the severance package.

Appropriate solutions and explanations to help generate employee buy-in and support

Culture is vulnerable during times of change, it is what will successfully get you through it or it will be responsible for the failure of the new standard. The motivation of those being impacted can be fragile. So, it takes solid leadership to navigate through change. We will be using the ADKAR model, this stands for awareness, desire, knowledge, ability and reinforcement. Awareness is the first step, we need to make them aware of the need for change, or why. We need to create the desire to participate and fully support the change. We need structure, and we need to educate them on the new processes and expectations. By managing behavior and developing their skills we create the ability to change and finally we must reinforce the change, this is the new standard, this is how we do business .

It is important to consider how the employees must feel. This is a huge change and could drastically change their lives. For the company to successfully transition through this process we must focus on behaviors . How we did business in the past will not be how it is done in the future, we must live by the mantra of “what got us here, won’t get us there.” It is imperative that we are sensitive to each individual through out the change process. Everyone handles and rationalizes change at a different pace. We have to honor that and help guide the workforce through the steps of change.

There are several changes happening. Some people will be losing their job. There is no way around it, it is a sad situation. It is very important to explain to the employees that are goal is to take care of everyone. While we won’t be able to retain everyone, we hope that they will find opportunity in other areas of our business. If moving on is what ultimately happens, then we wish them the best and we know that our generous severance package will help them on their journey, and we will do everything we can to help them with job placement. We must make it clear that one way or another, we are going to do our best to take care of everyone.

When it comes to the changes being made in the actual door to door job, there are several things that must be considered. The most important part of this process is gaining trust, especially if it was lost. This is done by telling the truth. If there are questions, leaders need to answer them. The why behind the change needs to be made extremely clear. If people don’t understand why, they won’t be bought in. Sharing the WIIFM, is extremely important as well. Not many people will follow anyone blindly, they need to know what the benefit of doing so will be .

Results measurement process

There are several steps in measuring results. Due to the change we have no historical data to compare, so we must benchmark against other companies. Prior to the change with the help of forecasts from our analysts we were able to create goals, on a monthly basis, we should evaluate our performance and the goals we have set. We will celebrate successes and course correct when necessary .

We will also implement a feedback process that gives our employees the ability to share their voice. We will conduct an anonymous monthly employee survey that asks a few specific questions. What is something the leadership team can do to make your job better? If you could change anything about the current state of things, what would it be? If you were the CEO what is the first thing you would implement? Who is one person you would like to give a shout out to for going above and beyond?

Conclusion

Change is hard, it requires discomfort, patience and perseverance. Organizational change is even harder, it requires solid leadership. To ensure success, we considered the history of our organization, the necessary changes and how we will accomplish them. We looked at the level of motivation, both strong and weak connections. We developed thorough explanations to gain buy in and we are instilling an employee feedback process.