You have been working at Davis & Leon, a national chain of specialty food stores, for over 4 years. You really enjoy the work; the pay and benefits are excellent, and the organization is very supportive. Recently, you applied for a store manager position in the downtown location, and you were the successful candidate. You started training for your new position 3 months ago with the former manager (Pat), who retired as soon as you were trained.

Your team consists of 16 direct reports: 2 supervisors, 4 cashiers, 6 grocery staff, 2 delivery drivers, 1 baker and 1 catering/gourmet food specialist. The 2 supervisors do most of the scheduling, ordering and day-to-day supervision of the staff. According to their job descriptions, staff report to both supervisors equally, which has caused some confusion and tension in the past. However, you see little actual evidence of any staff reporting to the supervisors, except for matters related to scheduling.

The store has 5 departments: produce, bakery, grocery, meats, and gourmet food. The staff generally work in their specific areas but are expected to help out in any department or take on any role when needed.

During your training, the former manager shared some frustrations about the staff team.

Pat: Overall they are a great team. They know their jobs. They also know that I will always be there to help them out. I dont like mistakes, so the staff know that if there is anything out of the ordinary, they should come to me, and I will make the decision.

There is one person Im having issues with, Sam, our gourmet food specialist. I dont know what is going on with him! He used to be my star employee, friendly and great with customers. Now, he is rude and uncooperative with the staff. I have been tempted to just let him go, but who could I hire? The knowledge Sam has is very specific, and we have many customers who will only deal with him because of that knowledge! So, I just kind of ignore it and hope it will get better.

You have been observing the staff team for a while now and have come to some of your own conclusions. Overall, they do seem to be good at their jobs. They pull together and work well as a team when the store gets busy. However, if a customer complains, if anything goes wrong, or if they have a question or concern, they come straight to you, the Store Manager., They do not seem to be willing to make a decision on their own. You questioned the supervisors as to why the employees are not going to them, but they state that Pat used to make all the decisions, and they thought you would continue with this style. Even the supervisors double-check with you about decisions they have made. Both of them seem very competent and seem to be ready to take

on more responsibility when it comes to dealing with customers or making decisions. Besides, these constant interruptions are taking up too much of your time, and something needs to change.

Over the past few months, you have been observing Sam, and you agree with Pats assessment. Sam snaps at the other staff, takes extra long breaks and will not help out in other areas, even when the store is busy. You have noticed that the other staff seem frustrated with Sams attitude, and they are starting to gossip about Sam behind their back. Sam and a supervisor got into a verbal altercation yesterday. The supervisor asked Sam to help put together a large delivery order, and Sam refused. The supervisor came to you after the incident and requested that you do something about Sam.

A. Organizing and Authority

Your response to section A should be between 300-500 words. This word count does not include the organizational chart.

You have decided that some changes need to be made to the reporting structure, as well as the way staff are organized, to ensure the organization is using its resources efficiently. You are not wanting to make any major changes to anyones roles or responsibilities; just some changes to the existing structure so the organization will be more efficient and effective.

1. Explain what kind of organizational structure would work best for this store and why.

2. Using the organizational structure that you chose in question 1, decide how you want to organize your staff team, including any changes you want to make to the reporting structure.

To do this, use the three-step approach to Organizing, outlined in Chapter 7. Explain in general how you will follow each step in creating your plan. You will be presenting this plan to your staff at the next staff meeting. Please be creative and add/make up any details that you feel are appropriate.

The three steps are:

1. i. Define the objective: What is the end goal you wish to accomplish by making changes to the organizational and reporting structure of your team? How will this goal make your staff team more efficient and effective?
2. ii. Determine the needed resources: What do your staff need so they can accomplish the established objective(s)?
3. iii. Group activities. What changes do you want to make? Think about how you will group your staff: by function, by area, by duties, etc. Consider the 4 Principles of Organizing and how you will delegate authority and responsibility. Briefly describe what the changes will look like for each team/group/department and supervisor.

3. Using the information from questions 1 and 2, create a new organizational chart that shows the changes to the structure.

B. Motivating Staff

Your response to section B should be between 150-250 words.

Although you do not know Sam very well, you can see that he is a valuable employee and is quite good at their job. However, his attitude is negatively impacting his relationships with the rest of the team members as well as the supervisors.

1. Which motivational theory discussed in this course do you think would be most successful in helping Sam rekindle his spark? Why? Describe how you would use this theory to try to motivate Sam. Use specific examples to illustrate how this theory would work at the store.

C. Employee Discipline

Your response to section C should be between 350-500 words.

Over the last 6 months, you have been working with Sam, applying your motivational theory, and meeting with him regularly. You have seen little change in regard to his negative interactions with other staff or supervisors. He is still very rude and abrupt when staff ask him questions. He tends to ignore staff if they ask him for assistance, so they have given up asking him. The supervisors have stated that he will do what they ask but does so with plenty of disrespectful body language (eye-rolling, facial expressions, loud sighs) and mumbling under his breath.

The staff team has expressed frustration and anger over the situation with Sam. Both supervisors are fed up with Sams attitude and are tired of hearing complaints from the staff team about him.

Sam received a verbal warning 6 weeks ago from a supervisor due to an argument with another staff about the location of a display table. The argument was quite loud, and a few customers heard it. Sam seemed to take the warning well and stated he would not argue with other staff in front of customers again.

Today, Mrs. Alverez, a loyal customer for over 10 years, called you directly to complain about Sam. Mrs. Alverez stated that she was talking with Sam yesterday about a large catering order she was placing. During the conversation, a staff member approached Sam to ask a question related to a new product in Sams section. Sam snapped at the employee and yelled Get lost, stupid! Mrs. Alverez told you she was very shocked at Sams conduct and that she was considering cancelling her catering order. You spent over 20 minutes apologizing and reassuring her that this would never happen again. After you hung up the phone, you realized that something had to be done about Sam.

1. If you decided not to discipline Sam, what do you think the impact on the staff team would be?

2. You have decided that Sam deserves a written warning. Think about what specific issues and/or behaviours you want to address. Draft a warning letter that addresses the issues and/or behaviours, as well as any consequences. See the Supervisor as a Leader- Writing a Warning Letter section of Chapter 12 for ideas on how to write the letter.