Mukherji, the president of Goodwill Corporation, implemented a open door policy to improve upward communication and address employee issues. Through this policy, Mukherji was able to resolve complaints like one from Anand about his manager overcommitting the department. By facilitating a three-party meeting between Anand, his manager, and himself, Mukherji helped the manager recognize problems from Anand's perspective and make improvements to better support employees.

1. CASE STUDY
Seied Beniamin Hosseini
B.A,L.L.B, PG Student in MBA ,BIMS , University of Mysore

2.  The President of Good will Corporation Ltd ,Mr.Abishek Mukherji ,Wanted to facilitate up
ward communication . He believed an open door policy was a good opinion .he announced
that his own door was open to all employees and encouraged senior managers to do the
same .he felt this would gave him a way to get early warning signals that would not be
filtered or redirected through the formal chain of command ,Mukherji found that many
employees who used the open door policy had been with the company for years and were
comfortable talking to the president .
 Sometimes massage came through about inadequate policies and procedures .Mukherji
would raise these issues and explain any changes at the next senior managers meeting .
The most difficult complaints handle were those from people who where not getting along
with their bosses.

3.  One employee ,Anand complained bitterly that his manager had over committed on behalf of the
department and put everyone under tremendous pressure .Anand argued that long hours and
low morale were major problem .however, he would not allow Mukherji to either bring the
manager into the discussion or seek out the other employees to confirm the complaint although
Mukher suspected that Anand might be Right ,he could not let the matter lie and said ,have you
considered leaving the company ? This maid Anand Realize that A meeting with this immediate
boss was unavoidable .
 Before the three-party meeting ,Mukherji contacted Anand ‘s manager and explained what was
going on . He insisted that the manager come to the meeting willing to listen and without hostility
towards Anand during the meeting , annand’s manager listened attentively and displayed no ill
will he learned the problems from Anand’s perspective and realized he was over his head in his
new job after the meeting . After the meeting , the manager said he was relived .he had been into
the job from a technical position just a few months earlier and had no management or planning
experience .he welcomed Mukherji’s officer to help him do better job of planning.

4. 1) What techniques increased Mukherji’s communication effectiveness ?
2) Do you think that an open – door policy was the right way to improve upward
communication ? What other techniques would you suggest ?
3) What problems do you think an open door policy creates ? Do you think many
employees are reluctant to use it ? Give reason to your answer .

6. WHAT IS AN OPEN DOOR POLICY ?
It is a communication policy in which a manager, CEO,MD, president or supervisor
leaves their office door "open" in order to encourage openness and transparency with
the employees of that company. As the term implies, employees are encouraged to
stop by whenever they feel the need to meet and ask questions, discuss suggestions,
and address problems or concerns with management. An open door policy serves to
foster an environment of collaboration, high performance, and mutual respect
between upper management and employees. It is a quality management practice and
mechanism that serves to sustain employee empowerment and morale, while
maintaining a vital effect on improving efficiency, productivity, growth, and corporate
ethical standards.

7. Advantages of an Open Door Policy
 There is no room for confusion when the employees directly interact with their superiors. They feel
motivated and strive hard to live up to the expectations of the management. They never badmouth the
management or their organization.
 Open door policy encourages healthy discussion at the workplace.
 Individuals exchange ideas and come to an innovative solution benefitting all. The employees are free to
discuss their ideas with the superiors and gain from their talent and mentoring. Gone are the days when
people used to fear their bosses. The “Hitler approach” does not work in the current scenario. The
management must respect the decisions of the employees to expect the same in return. The management
must make the employees feel indispensable for the organization and should lend a sympathetic ear
whenever required.
 The open door policy enables the employees to seek their boss’s help and freely discuss things with them
for better clarity. Open door policy is essential for effective communication, proper feedbacks and better
output. With the help of the open door policy, the employees do not crib amongst themselves, rather talk
to their superiors, clear all their doubts and look forward towards a long term association with the
organization

8. Disadvantages of an Open-Door Policy
 Time Management
it can make it difficult for a manager to maintain a schedule if he never knows when an employee will stop by or
how long a conversation has the potential to take
 Chain of Command
employees may opt to bypass their immediate supervisor and bring issues directly to an upper manager.
 Disruption of Workflow
When an employee bypasses an immediate supervisor or group leader with a new idea or suggestion, it has the
potential disadvantage of a middle manager not vetting the concept beforehand.
 Role of Human Resources
When an employee uses a small company's open-door policy to bring serious charges of harassment or
discrimination, it must be appropriately documented, substantiated and addressed, or a legal liability could result.
Lessening of Authority

9.  Disrupting the Chain of Command
A business owner’s open-door policy can have the unintended effect of
disrupting the reporting relationships he has put in place. A lower-level
employee may ask to come into his office and ask for him to mediate a
conflict she is having with the supervisor to whom she directly reports, it
may result in the employee being disciplined for violating the chain of
command. Also, it puts the owner in the awkward position of trying to
decide .
 Abusing the Policy
ambitious employees to impress the owner of the company and gain
an advantage toward being promoted. They won’t help him make the
company’s working environment more productive.

10. When the open door policy is effectively supported
 the open door policy is honored,
 the chain of command is honored,
 the manager's problem solving skills are enhanced,
 the employee's personal courage, conflict resolution, and problem solving skills are
enhanced,
 the organization benefits from shared information and feedback
 high employee trust is generated from a successful experience with management
 The effective open door policy is a win for all participants.

11. Periodical meetings technique
Business meetings are a necessary part of operating in a professional
environment. They allow for time to network among staff, share ideas to
emphasize teamwork and inform employees and management alike of new
developments within the company or among clients. However, despite their
necessary nature, there advantages and disadvantages to business meetings

12. Advantage Disadvantage
 Information Sharing
it provides an opportunity to share
information as simple sharing updates on
financials or recognizing new employees
to complex issues
 encourages Teamwork
It provides a forum with which to set team
goals and brainstorm ways to meet them,
considering input from everyone in the
meeting,
Time
companies try to limit the amount of time
that employees spend in meetings, When
staff has to spend time in meetings, then
that's action is not being taken to meet
company goals and objectives
 Lack of Leader
lack of a leader to run the show it
makes the meeting run much longer than it
should. Moreover, without a clear leader to
run the meeting, no one quite understands
the rules of the meeting

15. Informal Conference
it is based on informal relations and, therefore, is free from all the organizational
formalities.

16. advantages
 Interpret: The information is given by the top level management under the formal system.
 Present grievance: Under the informal system the employees disclose their needs, without feeling
any hesitation.
 Alternate system: The management sometimes does not able to reach all information by formal
system. Informal system covers the gap or familiarity of formal system.
 Improved relationship: it makes good relationships among the employees and the management.
 Increase efficiency: the employees discuss their problem openly and they can solve it.
 Providing recommendation: the employees can inform their demands. it creates an opportunity to
send the recommendation to their management.
 Flexibility: It is more flexible than formal conference because it is free from all type of formalities.
 Rapid conference: it transmits very fast. Especially miss-information or rumor spread rapidly to
others in the organization.

17. Disadvantages
 Distort meaning: Something the meaning and the subject matter of the information may distorting
 Spread miss-information :.The original information may be transformed to wrong information.
 Misunderstanding:, the employees do not obey the formal authorization system. it creates the
opportunity to develop misunderstanding.
 Maintaining secrecy is impossible: In informal conference system maximum conference is made
by open discussion. So it is impossible to maintain the secrecy of the information.
 Difficulty in controlling: Under informal conference system no established rules or policy is
obeyed. So it is very much difficult to control the information.
 Non-cooperation: Informal conference system sometimes develops the adversary culture among
the employees. So they are not to be cooperative with each other and their efficiency may be reduced.

18. Workplace Counseling
Employee counseling has emerged as the latest HR tool to attract and retain the best employees and increase the quality
of the workforce..The employees can be stressed, depressed, suffering from too much anxiety arising out of workplace
related issues like managing deadlines due to some personal problems.
Workplace counseling can be defined as the provision of brief psychological therapy for employees of an organization,
which is paid for by the employer. An ‘external’ service, such as an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), typically
comprises face-to-face counseling, a telephone helpline, legal advice and critical-incident debriefing. In an ‘in-house’
service, counselors may be directly employed by the organization.

19. Benefits of counseling
 Helping the individual to understand and help him/herself
 Understand the situations and look at them with a new perspective and positive outlook
 Helping in better decision making
 Alternate solutions to problems
 Coping with the situation and the stress
successful counseling program
 Employee Counseling needs to be tackled carefully, both on the part of the organization and the
counselor. The counseling can turn into a sensitive series of events for the employee and the
organization; therefore, the counselor should be either a professional or an experienced, mature
employee.
 The counselor should be flexible in his/her approach and a patient listener. The counselor
should have the warmth required to win the trust of the employee so that he/she can share
thoughts and problems without any inhibitions.
 Active and effective listening is one of the most important aspects of the employee counseling.
 Time should not be a constraint in the process.
 The counselor should be able to identify the problem and offer concrete advice.
 The counselor should be able to help the employee to boost the morale and spirit of the
employee, create a positive outlook and help employees to make decisions to deal with the
problem.