Introduction and case description

Alliender is a network company responsible for supplying energy and other services to two
million households in the Netherlands. The main objective of the organization is to distribute the
electricity and gas to institutions, businesses and consumers. The Technical Customer Service
connects the the households to the internal maintenance department and its frontline staff is
mandated to service customers for technical problems by responding to their queries via phone
calls, web care and e-mail. The frontline staff is divided into three teams that work in shifts 24/7.
The teams have team managers and a supervisor who spearhead their operations and conduct.
Power disturbances have curtailed the activities of the organization, leading to a rise in the
current workload that is twenty five percent more than the workload of the previous year. The
organization’s management is unable to offer the required service levels to the employees and
thus it cannot hire new labour in the short run. Some of the current employees complain, lose
job interest and experience exhaustion due to the current events in the organization. Moreover,
the situation is compelling some employees to switch or quit their jobs at the institution.

Connection of the case to a course theory

The scenario in the energy firm correlates with management of employees’ motivation,
management of diversity, management of employee well-being, and management of innovation
and creativity. The management has failed in their mandate of ensuring the employees are
motivated, innovation and creativity is on the right track, diversity is achieved and the well-being
of the employees assured. Research has shown that high workloads exhibit negative effects
and low integrative complexity (Shao, 2019). The management has a task of investigating the
conditions in which the employees fully maximize their potential. Burnout has been realized as a
chronic exhaustion and a negative attitude in regard to work It is also evident that the job
demands in the firm are limited and the workload very high since the employees lack support
from the supervisors and lack task diversity during shifts. Lack of motivation among the
employees will lead to toxic environment characterized by diminished productivity, poor
communication, low engagement levels and higher employee turnover (Bakker & Demerouti,
2017). The leaders need to keep the employees satisfied and positive. If the employees feel that
they are not fit to be in the organization they will leave. Organizations that create groups and
programs in supporting diversity are always successful. Attitude and perceptions that hinder
ideas and creativity among the personnel in leadership eliminate creative possibilities. The
management may have hindered the opportunity of embracing new ideas since they will create
uncertainty in the institution and the difficult posed in measuring the investment returns. The
status quo of the energy firm has remained in place adjusting nothing in its systems. The
institution’s management has a lot to do to bring the situation in the organization to a
manageable state where no one is in conflict with another.

Shao, Y., Nijstad, B. A., & Täuber, S. (2019). Creativity under workload pressure and integrative
complexity: The double-edged sword of paradoxical leadership. Organizational Behavior and Human
Decision Processes, 155, 7-19.
Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2017). Job demands–resources theory: taking stock and looking
forward. Journal of occupational health psychology, 22(3), 273.