WRITTEN ANALYSIS AND COMMUNICATION

An analysis report on the case “GEN Y IN THE WORKFORCE”

Submitted to Prof. Madhusri Shrivastava
Towards partial fulfillment of the Written Analysis and Communication
Course
PGP Mumbai IIM Indore, 2014-2016

Submitted by:
Shivam Pandit (51)

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 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
22nd Feb, 2015
Prof. Madhusri Srivastava
Department of Communication
Indian Institute of Management, Indore
Subject: Report Submission of case “Gen Y in the Workforce”.
Dear Madam,
In accordance with the instructions given by you, I am submitting a report on the
case “Gen Y in the Workforce” in partial fulfillment towards WAC course.
This report examines the issue of miscommunication between Josh and his boss
Sarah leading to ineffectiveness. Also discussed are the possible options available to
resolve this issue and my recommendation based on the analysis.
I hope you find this report reasonable.
Sincerely,
Shivam Pandit.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The case is a perfect example of conflict between Gen X and Gen Y in the corporate
world. Josh, a young marketing associate has realized how against his expectations
the job has turned out to be monotonous. Also, the generational difference between
his boss Sarah and him has led to miscommunication. To work effectively as a team
the best option would be to develop a periodically updated feedback system which
would improve their performance, would require no special time allocation, and
would solve the problem permanently. For this they should discuss the issues face
to face in their free time.
(100 words)

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 CONTENTS
Situation Analysis …………………………………………………………..…….. 4

Problem…………………………………………………………………………..……. 5

Options……………………………………………………………………………..……5

Criteria for Evaluation……………………………………………………..……..5

Evaluation of Options……………………………………………………………..6

Recommendations…………………………………………………….…….……. 7

Action Plan………………………………………………………………………………8

Contingency Plan……………………………………………………….....………..8

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 SITUATION ANALYSIS
Josh, a recent graduate had great aspirations of making films with a social message
which he wanted to disseminate. He thus joined the prestigious production and
distribution house Rising Entertainment. His expectations of excitement and great
opportunities were shattered when he realized that he was handling ancillary projects
as a marketing associate. The monotony of performing uninteresting projects
repeatedly, got on his nerves. Josh’s relationship with his boss Sarah was devoid of
trust and understanding, instances of which can be cited from the case. In a team
meeting for discussing the marketing premise for Triple-F series, Sarah suggested
that they should utilize traditional marketing channels. Josh on the other hand had
an innovative and compelling idea of using online medium. Sarah cut him short
appending the reason to lack of time and resources for the overhaul of marketing
strategy. On another occasion, Sarah had given Josh a task related to their Triple-F
series which had to be completed quickly and efficiently. Josh did meet the deadline,
but the quality of work was very poor. Despite this Sarah applauded him as she
believed that like the other Gen Yers, even Josh was hungry for results and praise.
The above instances show how generational differences led to miscommunication
between the two. Both of them failed to clearly convey what they expected from one
another, and Sarah didn’t give Josh the feedback that he, like many Generation Y
employees, needed to stay engaged and perform effectively. Josh in a hurry to get
his ideas forward took out time from the allocated task, and dedicated it to develop
his own concept of online marketing. He pitched his idea straight to the CEO who
greatly appreciated fresh thinking that had been put into the concept and asked for
further elaboration the next day. While this was happening, Sarah was totally
unaware of the situation. CEO’s praise for Josh surprised her and she then demanded
an explanation.

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 PROBLEM STATEMENT
The most important issue to be addressed in the case is “How can Sarah and Josh
work together more effectively to succeed in the long run?”

OPTIONS
The conflict between Gen X (Sarah) and Gen Y (Josh) is counterproductive for their
organization. In order to work effectively following options could be considered;
 Sarah and Josh should decide upon fixed rules to follow between them
 Sarah should invest time and train Josh
 Sarah and Josh should develop a periodically updated feedback system

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION

In order to check the effectiveness of the above options the following measures
should be considered;
1. Improvement in performance
2. Ease of implementation
3. Extent of problem solved

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 EVALUATION OF OPTIONS:
C R I T E R I A

O
Improvement in performance Ease of implementation Extent of problem
P solved
Fixed rules to follow May be significant - Moderate
T

I Sarah should invest

time and train Josh Not significant Time consuming Low
O
Develop a feedback Significant Less time consuming Very high
N system
S

 OPTION 1: Sarah and Josh should decide upon fixed rules to follow
between them
 Criterion 1 & 3: The rules decided upon by the two will solve the conflict
only temporarily. As the time proceeds they will be faced with new issues for
which the formulated rules might prove to be obsolete. Hence an improvement
in their performance may be temporary. The extent of problem solved is
moderate as the solution is not robust enough to withstand future shocks.

 OPTION 2: Sarah should invest time and train Josh

 Criterion 1: If Sarah trains Josh, one of the positive results would be the
recalibration of Josh’s expectations. Training will teach him how to pitch his
good ideas through established channels, within the established team
framework. Also Josh’s behavior is wrong on so many levels. He not only
disrespects his boss but also puts his team’s work in jeopardy by not
completing, to the very best of his ability, the tasks he was assigned. Hence
Josh needs training. But at the same time even Sarah has to improve in many
areas. Sarah could have done a much better job of validating Josh’s idea as it
was a promising one, even if it wasn’t completely thought out. She could have
admitted to not knowing a lot about new media or suggested they talk about
it later. Josh might be transformed, but Sarah may not change and training can
prove to be obsolete.

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  Criterion 2: Training Josh will be a time consuming affair and with Sarah
remaining unchanged it will not be a time “investment” but time “spent”
without solid results.
 Criterion 3: With only one party getting transformed, the efforts of training
will not be fruitful. Problems will again arise due to Sarah’s behavior and
hence extent of problem solved is low.

 OPTION 3: Sarah and Josh should develop a periodically updated feedback

system
 Criterion 1: A feedback system will improve the performance of both Josh
and Sarah greatly. Both of them will be able to communicate clearly their
grievances and scope for improvement. This would be beneficial to both Josh
who would feel heard and also Sarah who would be in a better position to
communicate her point of view.
 Criterion 2: The informal feedback system will be very less time consuming
as they will discuss the issues being faced, once a week in their free time.
Apart from being highly productive no separate time allocation would be
needed.
 Criterion 3: The feedback system being a weekly affair, any future shock
could be handled. It would enable Sarah and Josh to work in collaboration as
each one had the freedom of discussing any issue that existed or had a chance
of arising in the future. Hence feedback system will be a permanent solution
to the generational difference problem.

RECOMMENDATION:
 It appears that the best course of action for Sarah and Josh to work effectively
would be to develop a periodically updated feedback system.

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ACTION PLAN:
 Sarah should initiate the need for an informal feedback system.
 Sarah and Josh should decide upon the method of carrying out the feedback
according to their convenience, preferably a face to face feedback.
 Each one should take note of what the other has to say and in every meet
should discuss the level of improvement.

CONTINGENCY PLAN:
 In case every option fails they can involve a third party to resolve their issue
 Reprimand Josh and ask him to just do what he is told to do efficiently.