Wesley Hicks’ job as a financial analyst at a bank was to support and receive important information from the department manager. This vital information was the precursor to setting up the bank’s regulations and standard of procedures. The vital information received from the department manager had to be current because it was used to minimize the risk to the bank and to stay in compliance with banking regulations without incurring any penalties. During Wesley’s time spent in the department, he witnessed the decline of morale from his fellow teammates. The team’s professional manner was deteriorating and the commitment to go above and beyond in their job dedication was diminished. As a result, the decision of half the team’s resignation was a consequence of the management’s absence of leadership skills, the nonexistence of communication between subordinates, and the lack of room to grow within the company.
The manager of the department described by Wesley failed to connect and team build with her subordinates of the department. As a manager, it is common knowledge that in order to help a company achieve long-term success depends greatly on the quality of the employees and their commitment the company. According to Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson, managers’ main goal for their employees is to maximize job performance and to guarantee that employees stay with the company for a significant length of time (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson, p.7). As mentioned by Wesley, at its inception, the manager of the bank was initially very involved with her group and the exchange of information between management and subordinates frequently happened. The workload at the bank eventually increased, when the employees willingly committed themselves to working the extra hours to reduce the backlog. As a result, a backlog of work was reduced, and the department achieved a high level of productivity. In Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson’s view, an employee’s two primary goals are to perform their jobs at a high level and remain with the company they respect (Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson p. 7). So what happens when departmental managers lack the leadership skills necessary to help their teams stay involved and achieve organizational objectives? What happens when departmental managers cannot identify who their top performers in the company are passing over them on promotions? There is inherit need for employees wanting to see how their work and commitment help contribute to the overall success of organizational objectives. It is up to departmental managers to help their teams establish and monitor organizational goals, thus giving the team a sense of purpose and an opportunity to evaluate their performance. According to Sidle’s view, “most employees are faced with role ambiguity and challenged with unclear messages around responsibilities, goals, and priorities” (Sidle, S.D 2007 p.76). Several attempts were made to improve team building, but these attempts fell short when management failed to promote the top performers from within. Departmental leaders promised to promote and developed senior leaders within the department, but instead the manager of the department decided to hire three new temporary employees that had no prior experience in the banking industry. The department manager did not invest the resources, time or the energy in practicing good business sense by hiring three new employees that had no prior banking experience. The manager also made matters worse when she had the three senior personnel from the department train the three temporary employees. After several weeks of training, the three new employees were awarded permanent positions within the department, and the new employees were also awarded titles above the senior members that trained them. This caused tension within the department. Many
