1. Despite the fact that he was underemployed, Fred seemed to enjoy his job at first. What conditions contributed to Fred’s job satisfaction when he was first hired?

2. Explain why Fred’s workplace behaviour changed so dramatically. What could have prevented the behavioural change?

3. Is this a process or an outcome related issue? Explain your answer.

4. What could a manager do now, after these events occurred, to improve Fred’s job satisfaction?

Fred Blogs stared at the phone receiver in disbelief. He was too stunned to be disappointed. The disappointment would come later, once he had fully processed what had just happened. The light for line 2, the customer line, blinked as his phone began to ring. Fred knew he should really answer; it was probably a customer needing help with his or her new photocopier equipment. 

Normally Fred did everything he could to help customers, including staying late, going in person to their office when phone support wouldn’t suffice, and even letting them call him on his cellphone on evenings and weekends. But now, after what had just happened—well, let’s just say it was time to take an hour or two off and go for a walk. The customer calling would just have to solve his own problem this time.

 Fred had begun working for Encre Office Machines in Toronto 14 months ago, immediately after completing his MBA at the age of 36. Prior to his return to school, he had worked 14 years in field sales in the software sector. Fred had sold large, complex database and enterprise resource planning solutions to corporate clients. The products allowed clients to automate business processes from inventory control and accounting to human resources management. Selling these tools meant spending a great deal of time with C-level executives analyzing business processes and communication flow.

 Fred had been very successful in that role, but after 14 years he grew tired of having a sales quota hanging over his head every month. He saw the MBA as a way to transition to a new, less stressful career. Unfortunately, Fred’s master plan had not included a recession. After taking two years off for his MBA, he found himself newly graduated, in debt, and unemployed with few immediate job prospects. Unwilling to go back into direct sales field, Fred started applying for jobs in other functional areas. His undergraduate degree had been in education.

 Although he’d long ago decided that looking after a classroom full of kids all day wasn’t for him now, he thought he might leverage his combined education degree and MBA to get a corporate trainer role. He thought he could do a great job of staff training and education, especially for sales, presentation, and customer service skills. After almost six weeks of sending out résumés, Fred finally landed an interview with Encre Office Machines. The interview went well but both he and the human resources person interviewing him admitted that he was overqualified for the entry-level training role they had available. It wasn’t what he had hoped for—instead of training managers and new hires he would be training customers who had just bought new photocopiers. Customers needed lessons on how to maintain the machine and use advanced copy features. It seemed like a comedown. 

But one thing encouraged Fred. The human resources manager had said, “We understand that this job is a little simple for someone with your experience and background but we are really interested in getting you on our team and this is the only job available right now. Within a year to 18 months something more suitable should open up and we can promote you, but for now we just want you on board.” Under the circumstances, with his bank account dwindling, Fred accepted the job. Fred proceeded to do truly excellent work for the next 14 months, which he considered a trial period during which he would prove he was promotion material. He enjoyed the challenge. He went above and beyond for his customers. He also examined the processes Encre used to manage and monitor customer inquiries, and made some process-related suggestions that improved communication between the training team and technical support. The accolades he got for that felt great! He took on tasks other trainers balked at due to their difficulty, most notably helping high-maintenance clients known to be bad-tempered and difficult. He smiled inside every time he helped out, sure his actions were being noticed. 

Fred did all this and bided his time, waiting for his opportunity. After 14 months it happened. A new job was created at Encre in response to excessive turnover among sales personnel. A Director of Training role was created to oversee, manage, and improve the new-hire orientation and sales training process. The internal job ad that went around the company stated that key qualifications included a business degree, demonstrated knowledge of the training function, a minimum of five years’ success in field sales, and a proven record of innovation. Fred felt very confident when he sent in his application. His confidence was further bolstered when he got a call the next day setting up an interview. On the day of the interview Fred prepared carefully, picking out his best tie and adding extra shine to his shoes. He had reviewed the corporate strategic objectives and even talked to several sales reps to get their perspective on training needs. He was ready to blow the interview out of the water! That’s when he got the call he couldn’t believe, the call cancelling his interview. “I am sorry,” the assistant said, “but the VP has decided that only someone with sales experience at Encre should be considered for the job.” “That is ludicrous,” thundered Fred, “I have 14 years of experience selling technology, doesn’t that count for anything?” Fred went home early that day, deflated and angry at the same time. That weekend he turned his cell phone off. Let the customer wait until Monday, he thought to himself bitterly. 

He continued like this for a week, heading out the door exactly at 5:00. He probably would have continued like that for some time but then he heard the news. The promotion to Director of Training had been given to someone currently in sales at Encre, Tom Fields. Tom had no formal education credentials, had a BBA rather than an MBA, and only 8 years’ experience in sales. What truly infuriated Fred, however, was that Tom was the life partner of Jim Guenther, Encre’s VP of Operations. It had actually been the VP of Sales who had made the decision, but she was known to be friends with Jim. The whole thing seemed very suspicious, and even in this bad economy Fred had no patience for unfairness. He considered his options: stay and work hard for another promotion, stay and do the bare minimum, or move on. He decided to . .