Case Study: Cincinnati Super Subs 1. What symptom(s) in this case suggest that something has gone wrong? •
Drop in Profitabiity . Below average profitability over the past p ast 18 months that directly impact on the monthly bonus of o f the manager and assistant manager. Condition further worsened five months ago when two managers stop receiving their bonuses due to high wastages.
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!igh "ood Wastage . This is in relation to unsold goods, damaged goods, and unaccounted food and drinks. This is noticeable through the cases of poor food handling that leads to drop or spill of food. Other notable incidents include burn heated subs, over preparation of toppings compare to demand! and incorrect order preparation.
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#nethica Wor$ Practices. This is noticeable through the following two practices" o
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#ating and giving away of food. $everal employees give some of their friend generous helpings and also occasionally free soft drinks and chips. #mployees who are not eligible for free meal take advantage of situation when managers are not around to have free meal. They even %ustify their unethical action. &eluctance of team leader to report malpractices by employees due to fear of being snubbed by coworkers who happen to attend same college with them.
Staff %u %urno&er rno&er . 'n important symptom in the case study is that () percent of the e*perienced staff left for other %obs over the ne*t two months. Those employees that remained discouraged friends from considering %obs at $uper $ubs. Other noticeable effect of this turnover is the dampening of fun atmosphere in the workplace. This also leads to shortage of staff and e*perience workers. 'neffecti&e #nsustainabe Correcti&e ction. The managers in this case study try to reduce food wastages by tightening the criteria for food allowance. +nstead it fails and leads to high turnover. This eventually cause the managers to spend more time in the frontline daily operations which is not their core role. 'lthough this improve in the reduction of wastage but it was a not a sustainable practice. hen the manager returns back to their core role, the food wastages started to increase again that leads to the managers issuing more stern warning. -nfortunately the warning was ineffective and unsustainable. *anagers switch focus from their core responsibiity. The core responsibilities of the $uper $ubs managers are in the purchasing, accounts, hiring and other operations. ue to the dire situation in their human resource issue, the man agers need spend more time working in frontline process like food processing and training new staff. This possibility possibility lead to backlog of other managerial work.
+. What are the main causes of this symptoms? •
,ow *oti&ation . 'ccording to /c$hane and 0linow ()1! motivation represents the forces within a person that affect his or her direction, intensity, and persistence of voluntary behavior. +n this case study, it is evident that the motivation of the team leaders and frontline employees are low and one of the main causes of it is the grievance is poor pay in comparison to other places! and food allowance policy. This also led to poor perception of the organi2ation. One of the ke y reason for lack of motivation is lack or almost none! of employee engagement.
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Counterproducti&e Wor$ -eha&ior (CW-). The low motivation among the employees lead to dysfunctional activities in the restaurant. There is no loyalty towards the company. #mployees offers free food or generous helping to their friends One of the symptom is discouraging their friends from considering %obs at $uper $ubs. #ven the team leaders choose not report accidental or deliberate wastages. This also led to issue of ow &aue congruence between the employee and the company.
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,ac$ of *eaningfu 'nteraction (mpoyee ngagement) . +n the case study, there is no evidence of meaningful interaction between the managers and the employees to address the issue at hand. +nstead, the managers only tighten the rules e.g. food allowance rules!. 'ccording to /c$hane and 0linow ()1!, meaningful interaction is founded on the contact hypothesis , which states that, under certain condition, peo ple who interact with each other will be less perceptually biased because they have more personal understanding of the other person and their group. The managers fails to understand the basic needs of their employees who are ma%ority students. This also leads to ac$ of empathy . $adly, even the 3ead Office discourages the managers from involving in frontline work.
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/o 0oa Setting cti&ity. +n the case study, there is no evidence of the restaurants goals being discussed and shared with the employees. The only indicator 45+! for the managers is high wastage that resulted in poor monthly bonus. hen there is not goals being set together with the team leaders and employees, there is not ownership among the employees. This directly affects and cause a low #ffort6to65erformance #6to65! and 5erformance6to6Outcome 56to6O! e*pectancy which directly affects motivation. hen there is no goal setting activities, there is also no attempt to clarify employees7 role perceptions.
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"ai to generate Positi&e motion at Wor$ . +n the case study we notice that the low motivation, tighten rules and lack of interaction leads to dampening of fun atmosphere which was once there. The managers fails to reali2e emotions shapes employees attitudes and attitudes shapes various forms of work behavior.
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Poor motiona 'nteigence *anagement . #motional +ntelligence is an important skill in effective employees. Three dimension of #motional +ntelligence that are lacking among the managers includes" o
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*anagement of own emotions. +nstead of finding out the root cause of high wastage, the managers continue to punish the employees by tighten the free food allowance policy. This is a disruptive impulse. wareness of others emotions. The managers fails to seek to understand the struggle and the challenges of their employees. The manager7s priority seems to be focus on their own need that is their bonus. $teven Covey in 3abit of The $even 3abits of 3ighly #ffective 5eople says we need seek first to understand, then to be understood. The managers fails to understand their employees. *anagement of others emotion. hen the manager fail to take time understand their employees7 emotions it leads to failure to manage those emotions.
2. What actions shoud Cincinnati Super Subs managers ta$e to correct these probems? •
Proacti&e mpoyee ngagement. #mployee engagement is the e*tent to which employees feel passionate about their %obs, are committed to the organi2ation, and put discretionary effort into their work. #mployee engagement is the emplo yees emotional and cognitive motivation, self6efficacy to perform the %ob, perceived clarity of the organi2ations vision and his or her specific role in that vision, and belief that he or she has the resources to get the %ob done. /c$hane and 0linow, ()1!. The managers at Cincinnati $uper $ubs can engage their employees through the following ways" o
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stabish 0oa Setting Process. /anagers motivates employees through goal setting which clarify their role perceptions by establishing performance ob%ectives /c$hane and 0linow, ()1!. To be done right, goals must be $/'&T#& $pecific, /easureable, 'chievable, &elevant, Time6framed, #*citing and &eviewed!. /anagers should include employees in the goal setting process so that they could be One of the goals could be 9+ncreasing revenue specific! by (): measurable! by reducing food wastage achievable, relevant) by ecember ()1 time-frame). Then the managers work with the employees on how to achieve the goals and come out with action plan Learned Need Theory – Need for Achievement ! that is tied to an incentive exciting) if that action plan is achieved. Daiy 3perationa *eeting . +n this meeting which can be a () minutes session!, the managers can how review with the employees on the operational issues and other topics. This provides a venue for employees to provide and receive feedbacks. The managers can also review the goals and track progress.
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Coaching and *entoring. $uper $ubs need to reconsider their policy of discouraging frontline work by their managers. /anagers must be g iven the fle*ibility to engage employee directly at the frontline and to become a role model. ,eadership is the process by which one individual influences the behaviors, attitudes and thoughts of others
'mpro&e Compensation Pac$age. One of the ma%or complains in the case study is related to poor salary below market! and food allowance policy. 'ccording to 'braham /aslow, people are motivated by unmet needs. *asow5s hierarchy of needs gives a clear understanding how to motivate employees based on their different level of needs. o
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Ceebrate Success. The managers can introduce small celebration when a goal is achieved such ;ero rop and $pill ay. This will directly bring back fun to the work environment. This is basically a concept of using small wins to ignite %oy, engagement, and creativity at work 3arvard Business &eview 5ress, ()11!
6e&iew Saary Structure. $alary structures are an important component of effective compensation programs and help ensure that pay levels for groups of %obs are competitive e*ternally and e>uitable internally. One consideration is introducing the concept of Pay7for7performance that ties an employees pay to their performance on the %ob. ?air and accurate evaluation methods are crucial to a successful pay6for performance program. This is where goal setting and clear target and tracking them becomes crucial. This method also can use reward as reinforcement of desire behaviors. The managers can give reward if the food wastage is reduced. Besides, the managers should create and enforce punishments for violations. Standardi8e "ood owance Poicy . The e9uity theory suggests that employees determine feelings of e>uity by comparing their own outcome@input ratio to the outcome@input ratio of some other person /c$hane and 0linow, ()1!. +n this case study, the employees compares their food allowance policy with other friends and choose to violate the rule when ine>uity e*ist. The managers should also consider procedural %ustice in their food allowance policy. +nstead of changing the rules all the time due to poor performance, they should consider alternative actions such engaging the employees rather than punishing. The policy also should be clear and accepted by all the stakeholders involved.
3ther 'nitiati&es. Other initiative that could be carried out by the managers include Training, establish 5erformance ashboard, Aob &otation and variation of workforce not %ust hiring students!.
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/c$hane, $. =. on 0linow, /. '. ()1!. Organiational !ehavior" #merging $no%ledge, D#. /c0raw63ill Covey, $. 1E8E!. The & 'abits of 'ighly #ffective (eople iewed on 11 October ()1 from https"@@www.stephencovey.com@Dhabits@Dhabits6habit.php 'mabile, T. and 4ramer, $. ()11!. The (rogress (rinciple *sing +mall ins to gnite .oy, #ngagement, and /reativity at or0 3arvard Business &eview 5ress, -.$.