Read the scenarios in the Jones Schilling Employee Coaching Workshop. Based on the (brief) information you have, please prepare to conduct a coaching meeting for each of Michelle.

MICHELLE KANG: THE CAREFREE, CREATIVE MAVERICK Karen Goh, marketing manager for JS's Centre Shop, one of the two largest supermarket chains in HK. Macao and China, faced a similar issue. "How can I coach Michelle without breaking her spirit? She's creative, but she's a bit of a maverick and often does not follow instructions to the letter. While I appreciate her enthusiasm, she has to know that our processes and requests are made to fulfill specific purposes. When I ask for data, I expect to be given a report with the data in it, not a report with her musings and recommendations." Michelle was a high performer in JS's marketing department and had been with JS for three years, a marketing associate for the past year. She had graduated in the top quartile of her class with a business degree from a local university. But Michelle's mannerisms concerned colleagues more used to a more formal cultural setting. Karen wanted to help Michelle change the way she interacted with colleagues and superiors. "A little more politeness and formality in her written and verbal communication would be nice," said Karen. She wondered how to deliver the message to Michelle effectively. The Marketing Department gathered data, conducted research, managed marketing creative (the development of advertising to feature its stores) and placed advertising pieces in traditional and online advertising vehicles for all 340 CS stores. Michelle was primarily in charge of managing outside agencies and creative development. She excelled at translating JS's key brand objectives into advertising that could drive consumers to stores. She enjoyed working with a wide variety of people within JS and with partners such as advertising agencies and marketing research firms that provided data and other research tools such as focus groups. A key issue was that Michelle did not listen to instructions very well. When asked to gather data and provide it in a predetermined format, she focused on what the manager did not ask for, going above and This document is authorized for use only by Vimasha Calchings in MBA 8346 Spring 23 bought by Miguel Lozano Garcia, University of Houston - Downtown from Jan 2023 ma Mar 2023. Page 5 98140040 beyond the stated "ask." She gathered a different set of data, conducted her own analysis on that data and provided her results. The manager, however, was frustrated that Michelle did not "fill in the blanks" and give him what he was looking for. Evidently, Michelle did not realize that the requested piece of analysis was only a small part of a larger analytics project. Even when informed about her role in the project, she reacted dismissively, as if she knew better how to solve the problem. The truth was that Michelle did know the answer, but it was important for the JS staff to document the process en route to finding the answer, so that different teams in the future could refer to their analysis and understand the basis for the decision. The other issue that Karen wanted to remedy was that Michelle interacted with everyone on an informal basis. She wanted to be treated as an equal, even by very senior people. While Gen Y's typically wanted to be treated as equals by their immediate manager, Michelle believed she deserved to be treated like an equal by even the most senior of managers. She seemed unaware that her mannerisms and rebellious nature were overshadowing her good work. Karen wanted to achieve two changes in Michelle's behaviour: (1) to get Michelle to follow instructions without demoralizing her and dampening her creative side and (2) to be more respectful of others at JS. For example, it would be great if Michelle could make the following two communication changes: Start emails off in a more formal way instead of just writing "need recent report, can u send to me plz?" She needs to know why it is important to address senior leaders by "Mr." or "Mrs." and to adopt a more polite demeanour as opposed to saying "Hey Stu" or "Hi Karen." She needs to learn that it matters how she says what she says