SCENARIO 1 You were hired three weeks ago as Director of Compensation for a thriving mid-sized high technology manufacturing company. The Vice President of HR, your boss, approaches you in your office and asks if you have a few minutes to talk about something. Of course you say 'yes,' and enter her bright and spacious corner office with floor to ceiling windows and lots of tropical plants. After you admire her art work and aquarium, you ask her what's on her mind. The VP tells you that she is concerned with what she has observed in the programming area. The staff is arriving to work late and leaving early; sick leave use is up; and turnover is increasing. She asks you to figure out what it would cost to raise all the programming staff salaries by 10%. She thinks that a raise will stop people from leaving. What questions will you ask the VP to assess her plan to address the problems in programming? If you determine the problem is not linked to salary, what advice will you give the VP to address the problems she had identified? SCENARIO 2 One year later, you've solved the staff turnover problem, but you have a challenge of your own. You're trying to figure out how to take some time off to spend with your spouse, who has just survived a major operation. The company comptroller shows up at your office ranting and raving about escalating benefit costs. He vents his concern to you about the ever-increasing number of parental leaves. He expresses grave concern that the parental leave top up - supplementary employment insurance benefits that the company agreed to in the past - will completely wipe out the company's benefit budget! The comptroller confides in you that he feels that it is totally unfair that all these parental leaves are drying up the benefits fund and will leave him with a meager pension fund to draw on when he retires in 5 years. When you hear this, a light goes on! You have wanted to change the company benefits plan for some time now. What is your strategy to address the above situations? Explain fully what you need to do to make your plan work effectively and what pitfalls you should avoid. Assignment 3: Scenarios The Three ScenariosSCENARIO 3 It's 4 o'clock on a Friday afternoon. The weather forecast for the first long weekend of summer is hot and sunny! Just as you are packing up your laptop in anticipation of a nice relaxing weekend at the cottage, the head of Research & Development pops into your office and tells you he has to talk to you, now. Being the team player you are, and seeing how visibly distressed your colleague is, you invite him in to talk about what's on his mind. It's a painfully long story, but, in summary he tells you this: his staff is the hardest working, most creative bunch of people he could wish for. They have brilliant ideas for better and more innovative products, and for ways to produce them faster. However, he tells you that his staff is unhappy and feels unappreciated. They feel that the rest of the organization undervalues them and the contributions their department makes to the organization. This perception is negatively affecting their morale and their effectiveness. The head of R & D wants to do something for his staff but is at a loss where to start. What ideas can you sketch out for him to think about over the weekend?