Intersect Problem Solution

Running head: PROBLEM SOLUTION: INTERSECT INVESTMENTS

Problem Solution: Intersect Investments

University of Phoenix

Problem Solution: Intersect Investments

Intersect Investments (Intersect) needs to make a change in the way they do things in order to be at the top of the industry. The company is currently facing issues which can basically be summed up as sub-par leadership and poor communication between management and employees. Frank Jeffers, the CEO of Intersect, has hired Janet Angelo as Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales to help Intersect achieve his visions. Janet has a task ahead of her coordinating the sales force and breaking old habits of long-term employees. Many employees have found great success doing things the way they currently do them, and a change strikes fear in them. In order to make the change a great success, Janet needs to make a drastic change so all employees are on the same page and everybody has the same goals in mind.

Situation Analysis

Issue and Opportunity Identification

One of the main issues that Intersect Solutions is facing is that there are members of the team that are reluctant to believe in Janet. During a meeting, Annie brought up the fact that there has been talk of how the company plans on reaching goal; however none of the plans were ever followed through with. In order for Janet to rectify this situation, she needs to build trust between herself and the rest of the company. To build trust Janet must show great communication, support, and competence to name a few; "trust needs to be earned; it cannot be demanded" (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2004, Chap 13, pg 42). Janet is going to have to prove herself to the team that she not only talks the talk, but she walks the walk.

In any enormous organizational change there will almost always be employees that are set in their ways. While doing any job, employees often find there niche and it is difficult to get them to sway from it. Intersect's Vice President of Sales, Lyn, is a long standing employee of nearly 20 years who has been successful in her role at the company. Lyn feels that more sales calls need to be made in order to make goals, and that if more time is spent on the phones doing customer service there will be lost valuable time for initiating new calls. Lyn has a fear that if she goes along with Intersect's plan of longer calls for customer service that she will fail in her current role. "Intimidating changes on the job can cause employees to doubt their capabilities. Self-doubt erodes self-confidence and cripples personal growth and development" (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2004, Chap 19, pg. 52). As a leader Janet needs to support Lyn during this time of change and help Lyn understand the value that lies in having fewer, higher quality calls instead of making a higher volume of calls.

At a focus group meeting a couple employees, Hank and Sue, brought to Janet's attention that they are concerned regarding mixed messages they are receiving when it comes to their goals and how they need to reach them. One day they are told to make more sales calls, the next they need to make their calls longer to ensure greater customer satisfaction, thus resulting in less calls being made. It is important for Janet to make sure that all employees are on the same page and the employees know what they need to focus on. "When inconsistency exists, employees do not have fair warning of what is expected of them, let alone the consequences of not meeting those expectations" (Friedman, 2007, employersinc.com, paragraph 3). If there continues to be confusion among the employees then they are likely to become dissatisfied with their jobs and productivity could suffer.

The whole reason for the change Intersect is implementing is to greater satisfy their customers. There has already been a customer that is unhappy and is threatening to get their services elsewhere because they feel as though Intersect cannot be trusted because they are promoting services that are not even available yet. Intersect must make sure that their marketing is indicative of the services they are offering so the customer knows that there is no issue with integrity. The leaders need to be involved in all facets of what is going on during this time a change throughout the organization. They even need to be present when it comes to what marketing is being done. In this case presence is a virtue and "in the absence of this virtue, a person's authenticity, now matter how well developed, may miss the leadership implications of events in his or her organizational setting"