Background

Phoenix Advertising, with its main headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, serves clients that include banks, insurance companies and local businesses such as restaurants and shops. You're the vice president of human resources management at Phoenix, and you report directly to Gregory S. Forest, the president of the company.

Mr. Forest advises you that in the last month, four clients have complained about the advertising work produced by the Roanoke, Virginia branch of the agency. He reminds you that the Roanoke branch and its clients are vital to the overall success of the company.

Mr. Forest explains what he has learned about the situation at the Roanoke branch over the last three months. Three graphic designers and four copywriters have threatened to quit because their creative contributions on projects are being rejected or revised without their input. They want to be part of a collaborative team, not to simply produce work that the art directors and account executives can alter arbitrarily. These changes to projects have also caused tension between the creative teams and account managers, causing an art director and an account manager to leave the agency.

In addition to the four clients who complained, others have not renewed their contracts with Roanoke. Several have posted poor reviews of the Roanoke branch on social media sites, leading to a drop in profits.

In an attempt to increase revenues, the branch is accepting new clients without evaluating the effects of the new accounts on the current project workload. As a result, without notice or compensation for the additional hours, all salaried employees are required to work long hours several days each week. Employee morale and productivity are declining day by day.

Mr. Forest directs you to conduct a field investigation at the branch itself to explore the nature of the problems that have arisen there. Your investigative goals are to

• Identify and describe specifically the causes (root issues) underlying each problem
• Show the impact of each problem on the business and on employee morale
• Provide specific recommendations for resolving the problems in order to restore the Roanoke branch to full productivity

Now imagine that you've visited Roanoke, met with the people, conducted the interviews, and reviewed the surveys and other information. You've returned to Charlotte and are sorting the information gathered from your investigation according to the primary problem.

Review all on any problem not yet clearly defined in terms of causes, the impact on employee morale and/or productivity, and possible solutions.

Assignment: Problems and Illustration

Start a new page in the same Word document after the Step 2B assignment for this section. For the "Problems" portion, you may use words and phrases in bulleted or numbered form to represent your thoughts instead of complete sentences. For the "Illustrations" portion, you must use complete sentences.

Begin with the following labels for the Problems section.

Problems:

Facts and Causes:

Impact and Effects:

Solutions:

Under "Problems," list four or five of the primary problems you discovered in your investigation. Although President Forest categorized the problems into three areas, you will have found that one or two need to be broken down further, and/or you will have discovered other problems unknown to Forest.

Choose one of the problems you listed. Under "Facts and Causes," list those you identifiednot only what people said or felt, but also the proof or facts you've uncovered that identify the causes and underlying issues of the problem. Remember, a major problem is the result of several factors working together.

For the chosen problem, describe under "Impact and Effects" the impact on the business and on the employees for each of the underlying issues you identified in "Facts and Causes." In your discussion, include numbers such as percentages to show changes in productivity, employee work time, and so on. For issues involving employee morale, be sure to explain the impact on the business as well.

Finally, under "Solutions," list ideas for each cause that will end the negative impact as well as improve the situation, making sure the solutions actually address the issue. For example, suggesting that the branch dedicates a full-time staff member to hand social media outreach would not be effective unless the quality of the work improves. If you make a solution you want to use but haven't laid the foundation for it in the causes and impact sections, then return to those sections and create the necessary information to support your solution.

After providing the above information, type "Illustration" and below it identify a specific type of illustration (table, bar graph, pie chart, etc.) you might use to represent numbers related to causes or impacts. Then write two or three sentences explaining why your choice is the best way to convey the information to the executive team of Phoenix Advertising