This Makes Scents (Part 3)

The company was now in its 2^nd year of business. Sales and profits continued to grow, and more staff had been hired. There were now 8 sales clerks and 1 inventory specialist, in addition to Jessie and Ashton, who shared the responsibility of managing the store. Employees seemed to get along with one another, shifts were being split equally, and product was arriving in a timely manner, so all inventory concerns seemed to have been addressed. Jessie and Ashton were convinced that the future was golden and that business would carry on as usual and the profits would continue to roll in.

Things were going so well that Jessie and Ashton were considering opening a 2^nd location in Montgomery Row, a big, bright mall that was the talk of the town. Everyone was excited about the upcoming grand opening of this shopping haven, and Jessie and Ashton had a solid lead on leasing a beautiful spot in this new venue. They were thinking that they could each manage 1 store location and, given the current economy, it would be easy to hire sales clerks for the new location. The plan was to have new hires job-shadow current employees in order to learn how to be effective sales clerks. These new hires could then move to the new store after they had learned the ropes. However, plans for expansion were put on hold when unexpected news arrived.

Youre Leaving Us?

Jessie was shocked when she arrived at work and opened the envelopes on her desk. Sandra, who was the most senior sales clerk and had been with the company since it opened, was giving 2 weeks notice. The 2^nd envelope also contained a resignation letter from Jason, the inventory specialist. Jason indicated that he would be leaving the company next week. How can this be happening? thought Jessie, as she picked up the phone to call Ashton for an emergency conversation.

The Conversations

Jessie and Ashton asked to meet with Sandra to inquire as to why she was leaving. Was it because of money? If they increased her hourly rate, would she stay? How much would it take? Sandra indicated that, although the job she was moving to did pay slightly more per hour, she was mainly moving because the new role provided her with more responsibility and room for career growth and development. Her new employer promised to send her on leadership courses and invest in her future development. Sandra also indicated that her new job was in Cosmo Fair, and she was excited about working in a new, energized shopping mall.

When they spoke with Jason, he indicated that he was tired of always showing sales clerks how to do inventory and that he wasnt really being paid for all the work he did. Jessie and Ashton explained to Jason that he was a valuable member of the team and that they didnt want him to leave, especially with expansion plans in the works. Jason was shocked and replied, I have never been given any feedback or encouragement from either of you. How was I supposed to know any of this? Also, when you gave out bonuses last month, everyone got the same dollar amount. Why did I get the same money as sales clerks, when my salary is higher and my contributions are more meaningful? Also, everyone knows that the 2 of you took a sizeable bonus. Im done. Consider this my last day! Jason stormed out and slammed the office door behind him.

That meeting had not gone as planned, and Jessie and Ashton were stunned. They knew they had to regroup and possibly rethink their expansion plans. Further, they began to question their abilities to address the people side of their business and wondered if they should now consider hiring an HR professional who could provide them with specific knowledge, competencies, and experience in order to fix current issues as well as avoid future problems.

Questions:

1. Jessie and Ashton had offered Sandra more money to stay in her current role with the company. What problems could have occurred if Sandra had accepted their offer?
2. Given that This Makes Scents is a sales organization, how would you explain to Jessie and Ashton the value of a sales compensation plan. Should incentives be offered to all employees why or why not? should they be? If they were to offer incentives, what types of incentives suits this type of organization? Should all incentives be the same? What would be the positives and negatives of an incentive plan?
3. Compensation includes both direct and indirect benefits. Over and above their legal requirements, what unique benefits could they offer to employees? Why did you select these benefits? How do you think your choices will impact employee retention?
4. Why would This Makes Scents want to develop an orientation program for all new employees. What value does an orientation program provide to an organization What topics would you include in the This makes Scents orientation program?
5. Jessie would like to develop a training program for the new sales clerks. Research an applicable sales clerk role, from either the NOC or ALIS and use this information to develop your training program. How should they go about developing a training program? What information does Jessie need to create the training program?
6. Jason resigned due to the lack of commitment to performance management. Jessie and Ashton, now acknowledge that a performance management plan would assist in setting goals and objectives for the team. What performance management plan should be implemented for sales clerks? What performance management plan should be implemented for the inventory specialist? Should the performance plans be the same for both the sales clerks and the inventory specialist? Why or why not? If yes, what approach would be the best? Why? If different, how would you develop and differentiate the plan for the sales clerks and the inventory specialist? (create two different plans)