Not Measuring Up

“I must admit, I’m completely baffled by these scoring results for Cam
Leslie,” Carole Wheeling said as she and company CEO Ronald Zeitland
scrolled through the latest employee surveys for middle management.
For the second year, RTZ Corporation used Wheel- ing’s consulting firm to
survey and score managers. An increasingly younger workforce, changing
consumer tastes, and technology changes in the industry had caused Zeit-
land to look more closely at culture and employee satisfac- tion. The goal of
this process was to provide feedback in order to assure continuous
improvement across a variety of criteria. The surveys could be used to
highlight areas for improvement by showing manager and company
strengths and weaknesses, anticipating potential problem areas, pro- viding a
barometer for individual job performance, and as a road map for
transforming the culture as the company expanded.

From the outset, Zeitland insisted on employee hon- esty in scoring

managers and providing additional com- ments for the surveys.“We can’t
change what we don’t know,” Zeitland instructed employees in meetings
two years ago. “This is your opportunity to speak up. We’re not looking for
gripe sessions. We’re looking for constructive analysis and grading for what
we do and how we do it. This method assures that everyone is heard. Every
survey carries equal weight. Changes are coming to this organization. We
want to make those changes as easy and equally beneficial as possible for
everyone.”
Now, two years into the process, the culture was show- ing signs of
changing and improving.

“The results from last year to this year show overall im- provement,”
Wheeling said.“But for the second year, Cam’s survey results are
disappointing. In fact, there appears to be a little slippage in some areas.”

Zeitland leaned back in his chair, paused, and looked at the survey results on
the screen.

“I don’t really understand it,” Wheeling remarked.“I’ve talked to Cam. He

seems like a nice guy—a hard worker, intelligent, dedicated. He pushes his
crew, but he’s not a control freak.”
“He actually implemented several of the suggestions from last year’s
survey,” Zeitland said.“From all reports and my own observations, Cam has
more presence in the department and has increased the number of meetings.
He appears to have at least attempted to open up communica- tions. I’m sure
he will be as baffled as we are by these new results because he has put forth
effort.”
“Employees mentioned some of these improvements, but it’s not altering the
scores. Could it merely be a reflec- tion of his personality?” Wheeling asked.
“Well, we have all kinds of personalities throughout management. He’s very
knowledgeable and very task- oriented. I admit he has a way of relating to
people that can be a little standoffish, but I don’t think it’s always necessary
to be slapping everyone on the back and buying them beers at the local pub
in order to be liked and respected and . . .”

“. . . in order to get high scores?” Wheeling finished his sentence. “Still, the
low percentage of ‘favorable’ scores in re- lation to ‘unfavorable’ and even
‘neutral’. . .” her voice trailed off momentarily. “That’s the one that gets me.
There are so many ‘neutral’ scores. That’s really strange. Don’t they have an
opinion? I’d love to flesh that one out more. It seems that in a sea of vivid
colors, he’s beige.”

“It’s like he’s not there,” Zeitland said.“The response doesn’t tell me that
they dislike Cam; they just don’t see him as their manager.”
Wheeling laughed.“Maybe we can wrap him in gauze like the ‘Invisible
Man,’” she joked.

The joke appeared lost on Zeitland.“That invisibility leaves him disengaged.

Look at the comments.” He scrolled down.“Here’s a follow-up comment:
Employee Engage- ment: Are you kidding? And here’s another:
Advocacy:
I don’t think and I don’t believe anyone here thinks he would
go to bat for us.”

“I know,” Wheeling said.“On the other hand, many of their remarks indicate
they consider him fair in areas like distribution of workload, and they score
him decently in the area of follow-through in achieving company goals. But
overall satisfaction and morale levels are low.”

“That’s what I don’t understand,” Zeitland commented. “Morale and

productivity are normally so strongly linked. Morale in this case is blah,
blah, blah, and yet these guys manage to perform right up there with every
other division
in the company. So they’re doing it. They just don’t like it or find any sense
of fulfillment.”

“Does Cam?”
“Interesting question,” Zeitland agreed.
“So, how do we

help Cam improve these scores in the coming year?” Wheeling asked.“What
positive steps can he take? I’d at least like to see an up-or-down vote—not
all of this neutrality—on his management skills and job performance.”

Questions
1. Do you think Zeitland’s desire for changes in culture are related to
changes in the external environment? Explain.
2. What additional investigation might Wheeling and Zeitland undertake
before settling on a plan of action?
3. In which quadrant of Exhibit 3.8 would you place Cam? What are some
steps that you would recommend Cam consider to better connect with the
employees who report to him?