How Leading Companies Deliver Value with People Analytics
Group 5 presentation final version 1
1. Green Haven - Changed Values
Macquarie University
PSY130 – Organisational
Behaviour
Assessment 2 – Group Case Study
Group 5
2. • Adam Cooper's passion revolved around gardening
• Approximately 30 years ago a business ignited based on
this passion
• Resulting in a successful family-owned nursery
business, which he named…
GREEN HAVEN
Developing Green Haven
3. • Adam ensured that all staff he employed shared a
passion for gardening
• Monthly staff meetings were informal
• Adam established and maintained an individual
connection with each staff member
• All staff demonstrated generosity towards customers by
being passionate, informative and friendly
• Adam distributed a quarterly newsletter to customers
• Adam prioritised customers and achieved success and
satisfaction by providing excellent customer service
Organisational Culture
4. How was success achieved within Green Haven?
Staff members worked as a team and were recognised as
experienced in their skill and were fully supported by Adam
Customer satisfaction was the top priority and staff were
given freedom to engage with customers at their discretion
according to the customers requirements
Customers were presented with a free gift at the staff
member’s discretion
Customers purchased high quality plants and seedlings,
gardening tools, equipment & decorations
Organisational Culture
6. Adam’s Succession Plan
• Adam was forced to retire due to poor health
• Philip Cooper, Adam’s son stepped into the role of Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of Green Haven
• Philip is an Accountant by profession, of which he has
20 years experience
• Philip has a fondness for gardening…
but is that enough?
7. New Management –
Changing Times
•Green Haven employees started to feel they had less of a
voice with Philip in charge
•Formalised meetings left employees feeling a lack of
motivation and missed sharing their knowledge and
learning new things with their fellow employees
•Staff at Green Haven started to resign
8. The staff at Green Haven always felt comfortable in
sharing their knowledge and thoughts with Adam.
The employees at Green Haven were beginning to feel a
lack of motivation, and the motivational drives (drive to
acquire, drive to bond, drive to comprehend and drive to
defend) they once had were starting to fade (McShane,
Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
Consequences of Changes
9. Six months down the track Philip the new CEO of Green
Haven, started to notice that employees were leaving the
company. Even Green Havens oldest nursery manager had
handed in his letter of resignation.
Consequences of Changes
10. • Some of Green Haven’s employees had chosen the
response of “Flight” from the “drive to defend, fight or
flight” (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013)
• They had chosen to leave the company (flight) instead of
staying and fighting for what they believe is right for the
company
• This resulted in Philip losing some of his employees
Consequences of Changes
11. Customer Interaction Issues
• Removal of free plants to customers
• Reduction of customer interaction
time
• Introduction of self serving
computers
12. Handing out free plants to new customers was a way
to build relationships and keep customers happy and
coming back for the nursery. Practices like this one
help to build a company’s relationship capital, which
adds to the value of the organisation (McShane,
Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
Free Plants for Customers
13. Reduced Customer Interaction
Another change that directly affected the company’s
relationship capital was the reduction of customer
interaction time. Philip saw a two hour conversation with a
customer as a waste of time, rather than a relationship
building exercise.
14. In an attempt to facilitate the reduction of time employees
spend with customers, computers were introduced to provide
information on the plants.
Introduction of Computers
15. By implementing these extensive changes in the way he
did, Philip may have created low value congruence
between the staff members and himself. A person’s value
congruence refers to the extent of which an employee’s
values are compatible with the organisation’s values
(McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
Values at Green Haven
17. Philip needs to review the values that he has tried to
implement into the business and investigate why the changes
have not been embraced by the staff of Green Haven
Nursery.
18. “The challenge of change if not so much in deciding which way
to go; the challenge is in the execution of the strategy. When
leaders discover the need for change and identify some ideas
about the preferred route to a better future, the change process
involves navigating around the numerous obstacles and gaining
organisation-wide support for the change” (McShane, Olekalns
& Travaglione, 2013).
19. Too Much, Too Soon?
Research suggests that employees are more
stressed when they lack control over how
and when they perform their tasks
(McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione,
2013).
“Employee Engagement - The employees
emotional and cognitive motivation, self-
efficacy to perform the job, perceived
clarity of the organisation’s vision and his
or her specific role in that vision, and
belief that he or she has the resources to
get the job done” (McShane, Olekalns &
Travaglione, 2013).
20. Bond Between Personal Values
and Behaviour
• Individuals tend to engage their values only when they
have a logical reason for doing so
• Individuals are more inclined to apply their values in
situations that facilitate doing
• Individuals tend to apply values to a situation when they
are reminded of those values
(McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013)
21. Regaining Employee
Involvement
A great first step for Phillip would be to consult with the
team and re-implement a high level of employee
involvement (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
Phillip has little experience working in a Nursery, so
bringing together the staff and asking for possible
recommendations and solutions would be greatly
beneficial.
This will also allow for Philip to gain the employees trust
as it shows he wants their involvement in the future of
Green Haven Nursery.
22. Review of changes made and
values implemented
Philip should now implement a small strategic team of
senior staff, both management and long term employees,
along with a few volunteers to review how the business
was, how it is now and the vision for the future.
The key strategy of “evaluating decision outcomes more
effectively” (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013)
could be adopted.
25. Minimising Resistance to Change
To assist in minimising
resistance to change,
there are 6 points that
need to be utilised.
LearningInvolvement
Communication Stress Management
Negotiation Coercion
(McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013)
26. Minimising Resistance to Change
(cont.)
Communicating face-to-
face, or through written
correspondence with
employees
LearningInvolvement
Communication Stress Management
Negotiation Coercion
(McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013)
27. Involving employees in
the formation of the
organisations direction.
Learning
Communication Stress Management
Negotiation Coercion
Involvement
Minimising Resistance to Change
(cont.)
(McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013)
28. Minimising Resistance to Change
(cont.)
Negotiating workplace
conditions such as the
loss of employee
benefits is an important
task.
Learning
Communication Stress Management
Coercion
Involvement
Negotiation
(McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013)
29. Minimising Resistance to Change
(cont.)
Managing stress in the
workplace will lead to
more open discussions
and reduce the
employees fear of the
unknown.
Learning
Communication
Coercion
Involvement
Negotiation
Stress Management
(McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013)
30. Minimising Resistance to Change
(cont.)
By giving learning
opportunities to the
employees they will
obtain the knowledge and
skills to move forward
with the organisation.
Communication
Coercion
Involvement
Negotiation
Stress Management
Learning
(McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013)
31. The coercion strategy
should only be used if
all other strategies
have not worked, as
some employees may
find this too
confronting within the
workplace.
Communication
Involvement
Negotiation
Stress Management
Learning
Coercion
Minimising Resistance to Change
(cont.)
(McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013)
32. Implementation of Technology
•Philip introduced computers into the nursery for customers to
look up information on plants
•Great interaction tool for customers
•Takes away the customer service aspect of the business which
in turn takes away knowledge requirements of the employees
Whilst technology is a beneficial tool, it needs to be
implemented correctly.
35. Democracy in Green Haven
Giving the individual more responsibility and power gives
the employees more self-determination, meaning,
competence and impact regarding their role in the
organisation (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
36. In Conclusion
• Phillip distanced himself from staff, and staff from each
other. This reduced employee engagement (McShane,
Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013)
• Philip needs to treat his employees as valued people
• Philip needs to engage and promote values
• Philip needs to re-establish acquisition, sharing, use and
storage of knowledge. To ensure retention by
employees valuable intellectual capital.
Most Importantly
Philip needs to work as part of the team!
37. References
McShane, S., Olekalns, M., & Travaglione, T. (2013).
Organisation Behaviour: Emerging Knowledge/ Global
Insights. North Ryde, McGraw Hill Edcuation.
Editor's Notes
Adam has spent 30 years of his life building up his nursery businesses, motivated by his passion for gardening and the skills he knew he had, a ‘green thumb’. Adam established his flagship nursery approximately 30 years ago driven to provide quality plants and seedlings along with high quality tools, equipment and ornaments/decorative items. Continuing with these values Adam’s hard work and dedication has resulted in him owning 11 successful nurseries.
It is important to note that Adam’s motivation is absolutely not driven by financial gain, he specifically committed himself to “keeping profit margins low” (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013). As long as his business provided him with a living he didn’t focus his attention on increasing profits rather he focused on providing quality products and providing excellent customer service.
During Adam’s 30 years as a business owner he employed people who shared his passion for gardening. This shared passion allowed Adam to build individual relationships with his staff and create an environment for providing excellent service to customers. The informal nature of the monthly meetings were understood to be a open floor for sharing ideas and discussing business, were Adam promoted a relaxed environment and encouraged cohesion. Adam would make sure he worked along side the staff of each of the 11 nurseries. Taking a ‘hands on’ approach with customers and spending time sharing, using and acquiring knowledge. This was directly with the customer on site or via Adam’s quarterly newsletter which was circulated to over 5000 people! All of this behaviour Adam believed added value to the experience of the customer and lead to the success of Green Haven.
Adam Cooper’s business is clearly his life’s passion and this wasn’t limited to just the produce for sale, his staff and customers were included in his passion and provide a supportive environment. Adam shared his leadership rather than taking charge and being directive, he naturally demonstrates some of the traits which form the path-goal theory of leadership, as a servant leader (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
Authoritarianism versus Leadership
Adam visited all nurseries on a quarterly basis.
Adam possessed natural talent and skills to manage the business.
Why was Adam so successful with leading customers and staff members?
Rather than ordering and commanding staff, Adam had a sense of equality towards leading.
Adam gave staff their autonomy, encouraging their passion to naturally flow into excellent customer service.
This leader style along with his ability to employ staff who shared his values lead to Green Haven operating successfully.
The monthly meetings were a great team building exercise for staff members, and they found it a relaxed environment.
The meetings encouraged staff to share ideas and experiences, as the stores were closed customer dissatisfaction due to staff absences was not a concern.
Unfortunately, due to poor health Adam was forced into retirement and his son Philip an accountant by profession stepped in as CEO of Green Haven. Philip shared a fondness for gardening and inherited his father’s ‘green thumb’ from this it is clear that he did not share his father’s passion for gardening. Philip has operating experience of his father’s business from an accounting perspective, as he was involved in the establishment of the company accounting system in conjunction with the company accountant. Although he may not share his father’s passion for gardening he was very proud of his father’s achievement and was passionate to see his father’s business continue. The question is, of course, this will be discussed very soon, will Philip’s professional background which is more structured fit in with his father’s servant leadership style (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
Now that Philip is in charge, he has undertaken a review on how he sees the business.
He has done this without the consultation of staff.
The Green Haven staff started to miss the days of communicating with others and the acknowledgement that would come from the meetings with Adam this caused their organisational learning to reduce (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
Not all of Philip’s changes affected just the internal interactions between the staff members at Green Haven. Some of his cost cutting measures also affected the interaction and relationships between the staff and the customers. When Adam was CEO there was major focus on a high quality of customer service. Philip’s attempts to reduce costs and increase profits by implementing changes to the style and extent of customer service that his staff were to provide resulted in negative outcomes for both the staff and the company’s revenue.
This was a practice that had been in effect for many years, however it was deemed to be an unnecessary cost with no real benefit to the company. The decision to cease this practice was made solely by Philip, whose perspective was focused on the benefits for the bottom line only. What he did not take in to consideration is the effect that this practice had on other stakeholders in the organisation. The stakeholder perspective (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013) explains the importance of maintaining relationships with anyone who is affected by the organisation’s actions.
This could have caused quite a bit of confusion for the staff. While working for Adam they were encouraged to spend time with customers, now their job was less about customer service. With this sudden change, the staff may have been struggling to understand what their duties are, and how they can perform well. Clear role perceptions are important for employees to keep them on track and completing the work that is required (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
In a company that has been running for 30 years, the knowledge and skills of employees can be extremely valuable. This human capital can be quite rare and difficult to imitate (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013) even by a computer. This undervaluing of employee stocks of knowledge was likely a factor in the resignation of staff members.
Philip has shown the staff that his values relate to the bottom line, whereas the staff, guided by Adam, had developed values relating to high customer service and a passion for gardening.
By looking at the execution of his changes and what could have been done better to gain organisation-wide support he may come up with the answer.
Phillip implemented so much change very quickly and without the consultation of employees. This change was prevalent, so Philip was potentially increasing stress amongst his employees by changing the organisational values without them understanding the reasoning behind this.
Philip needs to provide the employees of Green Haven Nursery with a clear mission statement that sets out the values of the company, possibly though training sessions and team meetings (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
Research has shown that there are three points that increase the strength of the bond between an individuals personal values and their behaviour (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
As amendments to policies and processes have already been implemented at Green Haven Nursery, after initial employee consultation has been completed, Philip could look at putting together a small strategic team of senior staff, both management and long term employees, along with a few volunteers.
This strategic team would review the comments from all employees and then work together to undertake organisational change in a positive manner, allowing the positive messages to flow through the company.
According to Lewin’s Force Field Analysis Model, Philip’s desired conditions for Green Haven Nursery push the organisation toward change, the driving forces. The forces restraining this from occurring are the employees resistance to change and the behaviour that comes with this resistance.
Developed by Kurt Lewin (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
To assist in minimising resistance to change, there are 6 points that need to be utilised when the situation calls for it. By using an employees resistance as a resource, rather than a hindrance, the business will address the underlying cause of the resistance and move forward as a whole unit (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
Regarding how the organisational change will effect them within their employment will minimise the fear of the unknown. If individuals do not know what is happening they are more likely to have negative feelings towards the situation (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
Involving employees in the formation of the organisations direction will allow them to have ownership over the organisational changes that are taking place and reduce resistance to these changes. This can be done through the development of a strategic team of management, long term staff and volunteers, to work on a company plan (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
Negotiating workplace conditions such as the loss of employee benefits is an important task. It generally involves taking something away, i.e. the ability to spend two hours with each customer, and replacing it with something of benefit to the employee in another area, i.e. increased job security or training (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
Managing stress in the workplace will lead to more open discussions and reduce the employees fear of the unknown. This can be undertaken through avenues such as communication, learning and employee involvement (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
By giving learning opportunities to the employees they will obtain the knowledge and skills to move forward with the organisation through a time of change and will empower them to be part of the opportunities change brings with it (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
If resistance to change is still causing issues within the organisation, reminding employees of their obligation, monitoring work performance to ensure compliance to policies and processes, along with confronting staff who constantly do not meet compliance may be required. This type of strategy should only be used if all other strategies have not worked, as some employees may find this too confronting within the workplace (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
Philip introduced computers into the nursery for customers to look up information on plants. This is a great interaction tool for customers but takes away the customer service aspect of the business and in turn takes away knowledge requirements of the employees.
Whilst technology is a beneficial tool, it needs to be implemented correctly.
To assist in the progression of technology at Green Haven Nursery, keeping this computer system and training employees on its use would allow the customer service aspect to re-enter the nursery.
The staff would use their own knowledge as first point of contact for the customers, then during these discussions the computer system can be utilised as a joint interaction tool, making the sales process more streamlined than it previously was.
Whilst Philip believed the monthly day long meetings were too much of a social event and waste of time, these were actually a large part of the culture and success of the business, as it allowed for interaction and information sharing across all different levels of the company. This day allowed for the “Four Organisational Leaning Processes – Knowledge acquisition, sharing, use and storage” (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
As well as providing a conflict resolution platform, “The main organisational approaches are emphasising subordinate goals, reducing value differences, improving communication and understanding, reducing task interdependence, increasing resources, clarifying rules and procedures, and establishing a positive climate” (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).
There were already good group development days in place and that with consultation from employees, ideas should be given to re-establish such a planning day on a more formal and more practical basis.
Phillip has created a hierarchical structure by no longer involving all staff in organisational meetings. Only Green Haven Nursery managers meet with Philip and it is then their responsibility to pass the information down to their teams. To remedy this, allowing a more democratised system to be implemented (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013), this will empower employees in the decision making process and re-establish the harmonious working environment at Green Haven Nursery.
Philip needs to re-engage with the employees, to do this he must make clear the values of the company, possibly though training sessions and team meetings (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013). By democratising the business, employees will have a greater sense of belongingness and value that adds to the well-being of the individual within the organisation. By giving the employees a greater allowance for decision making, they can now make the choice whether or not to give free plants to customers. Although this had not been monitored in the past, Phillip can reduce the amount by possibly allocating certain plants that can be given away. This gives the business an additional point of difference and strengthens relationships with customers.
“Employee Engagement - The employees emotional and cognitive motivation, self-efficacy to perform the job, perceived clarity of the organisation’s vision and his or her specific role in that vision, and belief that he or she has the resources to get the job done” (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013). Employee engagement is driven by “Goal setting, employee involvement, organisational justice, organisational comprehension (knowing what’s going on in the company), employee development opportunities, sufficient resources and an appealing company vision are some of the more common mentioned influences” (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2013).