Lisa Benton Case Analysis
Introduction
Employee engagement is a significant aspect of an organization since it affects different organizational structures. Research reveals that companies with high employee engagement levels attain higher performance, revenue, and profitability than when employee engagement is lacking. Companies that engage employees also report high employee productivity and motivation, while employee attrition decreases significantly. Notably, organizations have different definitions of employee engagement, but the universal definition refers to the emotional and mental connection employees feel toward their organizations and teams. Lisa Benton’s case study shows that she is dissatisfied with her work due to her perceived lack of engagement. Our assignment writing services will allow you to attend to more important tasks as our experts handle your task.
Analysis
Lisa Benton’s problems emanate from her personality characteristics, including possessiveness, fear of the future, concerns about career progression, and the lack of strategy about her progression. Due to her fears, Benton’s relationships with her boss, Linton, and colleague Scoville at Houseworld Company deteriorated. Benton’s primary concern is the reduced responsibilities in her organization (Weber, 1994). Based on a recent performance review, Lisa is reported to have performed poorly; hence, her responsibilities were reduced. However, the managers failed to communicate to Lisa how the decision came about. Besides, Houseworld failed to provide her with marketing training, which was one of the reasons she was attracted to the company.
Homeworld’s handling of Lisa’s socialization with the organization was below the bar. From the outset, Lisa’s problems emanate from Linton and Scoville’s fears. Since the company emphasizes the employment of MBA holders from top-notch schools for marketing positions, the two fear that Lisa will likely outdo them when promotional opportunities arise. Linton fails to assign Lisa challenging tasks since he views her as a competitor instead of treating her as a junior colleague. Blocking Linton due to her low task maturity was uncalled for, and instead, the company should have given her a chance to advance her expertise. After all, she had proved her competence based on her reviews while interning at Right-Away.
To correct the situation, Linton needs to abandon his traditional management strategies. Linton uses an overbearing strategy to manage Lisa (Weber, 1994). To that end, he assigns the gopher tasks that often leave her idle. To justify his actions, Linton attributes his decision to Lisa’s lack of expertise. However, Linton needed to do better by communicating his concerns to Lisa Benton so that she would adjust appropriately. After all, human resource best practices call for the prompt provision of employee feedback when needed.
Lisa’s weakness is the failure to openly communicate about the hindrances that her workmates created. Lisa decided to keep quiet about her concerns when an opportunity to speak up was available. Employee engagement goes both ways, and employees who feel disengaged have the responsibility to raise concerns (Vora & Patra, 2017). In the future, Lisa will need to defend herself whenever she feels betrayed by her workmates.
On their part, Houseworld Company has the responsibility to keep Lisa’ happy.’ Vernon, one of Houseworld’s top managers, understands that Lisa has high-level work abilities, having written a perfect memo. It is incumbent upon the organization to utilize Lisa’s competence by keeping her engaged and ‘happy.’Based on Lisa’s information power and good relationships with her colleagues, there is a need to create an open communication channel for Lisa as it is currently restricted. Once the communication channels are open, she will communicate her problems with Linton and Scoville to higher management. Besides, Lisa should go ahead to cement her significance as she seeks to reduce her dependence on the organization.
As the VP of HR, I will implement mechanisms to facilitate open communication internally. First, I will make open communication part of the company culture. When employees know their feedback is welcome, they can readily express their dissatisfaction. Besides, I will encourage all managers to communicate openly to manage the people under them effectively. Also, I would consider conducting anonymous surveys to allow employees who fear judgment the opportunity to express their disgruntlement.
Conclusion
Lisa Benton’s case represents employee disengagement. Specifically, there was a communication breakdown that led to Lisa being disgruntled. Top managers should always aspire to create open communication channels for junior employees. Open communication channels will go a long way to facilitate disgruntled employees to express their dissatisfaction.
References
Vora, & Patra, R. K. (2017). Importance of internal communication: Impact on employee engagement in organizations. Media Watch, 8(2), 28-37.
Weber, C. (1994, May 31). Lisa Benton (A). HBR Store. https://store.hbr.org/product/lisa-benton-a/494114
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Question
Instructions
This week, you read the Lisa Benton case. For your first assignment, you will write a 2-3 page analysis of the case (double-spaced, using 12-point Times New Roman font). Within your analysis, address the following: **The case study is attached in the files**
How did Lisa Benton get into this mess?
How effectively did Houseworld handle Benton’s socialization into the organization?
Analyze what could have been done differently and by whom, including clear communication strategies.
Analyze Benton’s position and how she could address the situation she faces at the end of the case.
Does the organization have a responsibility to make her “happy”? Why or why not?
As the VP of HR, what would you do now? Why?
Organize your analysis using the following headers:
Introduction
Analysis
Conclusion