Frank had been a part of the Business Projects area for three years. A young man in his early twenties, he had started with HEDB in the hope of kick starting his career in the finance industry. While the company was not one of the biggest, it had a long history and a good reputation as an employer. This reputation was built upon a foundation that reflected the firm's strong philosophies of job security and developing its people. The firm had a family feel to it, with most of its employees having served for five years or more. However, much had changed in Frank's time at the company.

The financial services industry had changed dramatically.Many firms such as HEDB had survived on brand loyalty in an industry that was once characterised by many observers as fragmented. However, the deregulation reforms in the financial sector by governments helped blur boundaries between what were largely distinct segments in the financial services industry. Insurance, banking, superannuation and other services could now all be bundled within one firm which meant giant firms that once never went head-to-head in the market were now locked in battle. During the 2000s and 2010s, technology reduced barriers to entry even further as some insurers and banks went completely online in order to reach new markets and reduce transaction costs. There were some successes, but like all industries grappling with change there were also spectacular failures. As most firms dealt with the growing competition through mergers and acquisitions in order to achieve greater economies of scale, analysts predicted this consolidation was likely to continue for some time, particularly as barriers to entry for foreign competitors had also fallen.

Two years have passed since HEDB employed a new CEO (Richard), to deal with these changes in the marketplace. This was a big step away from tradition in a firm which had a history of making senior management appointments from within. Many long-term employees openly commented on how this was a vote of no confidence from the board in relation to its internal talent.Indeed, it soon became clear that the new CEO was going to implement change at the company and while many liked the vision of innovation laid out by the CEO, just as many had their concerns about how it was to be done.

From Frank's perspective, he was keen to see the new changes work but after two years of hard work he was beginning to wonder if his boss Wayne was right about Richard. Wayne and Frank had done a lot of extra hours on some of Richard's change projects and most of their efforts seemed to disappoint Richard. Frank and Wayne felt the poor outcomes from some of their work were primarily Richard's fault as he would frequently reject or cut the funding they requested for training and expert consultants to assist in areas they had limited expertise. Wayne believed Richard was too focussed on short term performance targets that his generous bonuses were linked to.

Eventually Wayne was passed over for a senior appointment which was given to one of Richard's old friends from a previous company. After finding out, Wayne commented to Frank, "You're a brilliant worker Frank but, I'm not sure if that means much now. There was a time it did but, things have changed a lot and speakingyour mind seems to have become more of a liability these days. If I go and I think it's likely, I will put in a good word for you as you've been groomed for my job for a long while."

Frank was disappointed because although he sometimes disagreed with Wayne, he never felt Wayne had a problem with his openness.In fact, he knew Wayne liked him and was grooming him for his job because of this. Frank wondered, "If this is how they treat someone senior, will they do this to me?"

Wayne soon resigned as a result of his treatment and while Frank was sad to see him go, he was still hopeful and applied for Wayne's job. Some weeks later the news came; a new boss had been appointed to replace Wayne from the CEO's old company. Frank was shattered because while HEDB didn't pay the best, he had stayed a long time because it was once an employer that would develop and promote from within for those that worked hard. Frank realised he could very easily get a new job elsewhere and be paid much more. So, he began the search for a new job

Question 1

Read and demonstrate application of motivation theory, SWOT and problem definition?