BFGym
BFGym has been successful in growing its customer base on the basis of their amiable atmosphere and friendly and talented staff. However, a chance encounter has revealed to the head of the BFGym to realize that several of their employees are planning to leave, and she needs to intervene, identify the problem, and control the consequences. The problem is based on the lack of motivation of their employees who feel the management has forced them into a corner with a grueling work schedule, mundane responsibilities, lack of consideration, and several other problems.
Due to the lack of motivation, employees feel misused, overworked, and stagnated, which combined to cause process losses to BFGym. The hierarchy culture developed by the management is the root of the problem, as the management has failed to consider the needs of their employees. The following analysis will use motivation theories, process gains, and losses, explore the current and suitable leadership styles, and identify the current and suitable culture to assist BFGym to overcome their problems.
Compulsory: Motivation Theories
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Lack of Motivation in Philip. In the case of Philip, the changes made to the gym have derided his social needs, as he liked to teach and interact in his spinning class. Another dent to his social needs is due to the same schedule, which has left Philip unhappy with the high attrition rate, which means he fails to develop an instructor-trainee relationship. Also, Philip’s esteem needs are unfulfilled, as the changes introduced by the management have forced him to take the same spinning class for the past year, which has become boring and uninspiring for him. Also, esteem needs are also challenged by the loss of breakroom which makes him feel overworked and disrespected (Griffin & Moorhead, 2013, p. 93).
Lack of Motivation in Jane. Jane came to BFGym with the impression that she would take personal training sessions and use it for developing personal training classes and programs, but the management has shunned her suggestions. Also, she has been given a fixed academic schedule where she takes back to back classes. It is clear that Jane’s safety, esteem, and self-actualization needs have are unfulfilled, as she is unable to contribute to her job and faces the challenge of continuing her Master’s course while managing her constrained role at BFGym (Griffin & Moorhead, 2013, p. 93).
Lack of Motivation in Jo. In the case of Jo, her social and esteem needs are unfulfilled, as she is not able to take personal sessions and have been forced to take larger groups. The changes have made her job time consuming and reduced her job quality, as she is taking shorter sessions. Also, the management has made the changes to her role, without consulting her and understanding her preferences (Griffin & Moorhead, 2013, p. 93).
Lack of Motivation in Robin. While Robin is satisfied with his job and plans to stay at BFGym, he has complained about the boring nature of the classes and hopes for leverage opportunities. Therefore, his self-actualization needs are unfulfilled, as he hopes for greater leverage in his job responsibilities (Griffin & Moorhead, 2013, p. 93).
Lack of Motivation in Nick. In the case of Nick, social and esteem needs are unfulfilled, as he is often forced to take classes at odd times that other trainers shun. Nick feels disrespected by his colleagues who are inconsiderate of his needs and talent (Griffin & Moorhead, 2013, p. 93).
Alderfer’s ERG Theory
Existence needs. In the case of Jane, her existence needs are unfulfilled leading to her lack of motivation. As a class instructor pursuing her Master’s, Jane joined BFGym with the hope of contributing to the training sessions and classes. However, her academic pressure might force her to adopt her working schedule and accept the management’s instructions, as she has back to back classes (Griffin & Moorhead, 2013, p. 95).
Relatedness needs. Philip, Jo, and Nick are three employees whose relatedness needs are unfulfilled, which contributes to their lack of motivation. In the case of Philip, he is not getting the opportunity to interact with his clients and has been forced to take the same spinning class for a year by the management. In the case of Jo, she is overworked due to taking larger groups, and the management has changed her role without asking her preference. Finally, Nick is new and needs social interaction with colleagues, but he is forced to take classes on odd timings and feels his colleagues are taking his advantage (Griffin & Moorhead, 2013, p. 95).
Growth needs. Robin and Jane are two employees that seek growth opportunities, and the operating system developed the management is curtailing their opportunities (Griffin & Moorhead, 2013, p. 95).
Compulsory: Process Gains and Losses and Recommendations
Process Gains
The group work at BFGym has contributed to process gains in terms of increasing their customer base from 200 to 540 customers who enjoy their training experience due to access to a professional group of trainers and instructors. The group work of the professional team at BFGym has also effectively managed customer needs and developed an engaged workforce. As a result, the changes made by the management has been the result of the process gains from the growth of BFGym in terms of customer base, increase in demand for classes, and expertise of the team. The group meeting between the employees has also provided process gains, especially from Jane who contributed suggestions that could help in combating lack of motivation among trainers. The interference also helped in managing conflict between other trainers, as Jo and Robin were not showing interest in the meeting and it angered Philip (Stangor, 2017).
Process Losses
The changes made by the management due to their growth has left several employees dissatisfied with their role. The group work assigned to employees is making several employees think about quitting. There is a lack of teamwork, which has been highlighted by the experience of Nick who feels he is assigned classes that other trainers are unwilling to take and his newbie employee status is misused. The change in processes has also led to several employees complaining of getting bored in their job, as they perform mundane tasks and take the same classes every day. Another process loss is the tired and overworked employees, as they are forced to take large classes and have lost their breakout room. Finally, process loss is also experienced as employees are expected to follow a strict schedule of classes and are not allowed to leverage their experience into the development of innovative training sessions (Stangor, 2017).
Recommendations
BFGym needs to provide a more significant level of authority to employees, as providing them with an opportunity to leverage their knowledge and develop classes and instructions would make them feel part of the process and confident in their ability. Employees should also be provided a breakdown space where they take a timeout from their grueling schedule, as leisure time has boost employee productivity. Some trainers that prefer working on personal sessions can be given the opportunity by hiring support staff that assists them in managing their classes, as trainers need the opportunity to socialize and build an instructor-trainee relationship. Also, employees should be allowed to complain or provide feedback about their work situation and the problems they face in the workplace, which is needed in case of Nick who feels misused by colleagues. Overall, these changes would help in gaining processes gains, which have been curtailed due to the changes made by the management.
Compulsory: Dominant Culture at BFGym
Dominant Culture
BFGym follows hierarchy culture, as they have a formalized and structured work environment where procedures are decided by the management. There is a clear operating structure, as management is made of former trainers who decide the schedule of sessions and classes and employees need to follow it. Leaders show that they are proud of developing an efficiency-based organization, which focuses on long-term goals such as results and stability. For instance, when Jane expressed her opinion on changing the services, the management rebuffed her offerings and claimed no change was needed. Also, the organization has a hierarchy culture, as they plan to keep BFGym functioning smoothly, and policy and rules are used for keeping the organization united. For instance, Jo felt disappointed at losing her personal trainer role and getting forced to take larger classes that she was not consulted for by the management. The hierarchical culture developed at BFGym is causing several problems, especially on the motivation level of the employees (Hayden, 2015, p. 94).
Recommended Culture
The low motivation level at BFGym can be countered with the introduction of clan culture. A friendly and supportive culture is needed to help employees discuss their problems and raise concerns with the management. It would mean the working environment would become friendly, and employees such as Nick would be able to raise their problems with colleagues. Employees such as Philip and Robin would be able to understand their common problems such as boredom due to the tasks assigned and pressure the management to consider some changes. Leaders would be seen as mentors, which suits BFGym as most of their management is made up of former trainers. Implementation of clan culture would help Kate encourage involvement from employees in terms of their contribution to the work structure and operational efficiency. Also, it would help to enhance tradition and loyalty, which can help in retaining talented employees. Finally, BFGym would promote participation and teamwork, which is needed to make process gains (Hayden, 2015, p. 94).
Elective: Leadership of Kate and Philip
Analysis of Kate’s Leadership
As the head of BFGym, Kate has shown that her leadership style is democratic, as she encouraged employees to conduct a meeting and come up with solutions for their problems. Kate’s leadership style is centered on contributions of her subordinates and delegation of authority to determine future direction. Also, communication from Kate moves downward and upward, as she openly asked for suggestions from the employees and assured them she would communicate them with the management and deliver suitable solutions. Also, Kate is interested in the well-being of her subordinates, even if it requires makes changes to the systems developed by the leadership (Amzat, 2018, p. 194).
Analysis of Philip’s Leadership
It is clear from his actions in the meeting that Philip has shown autocratic leadership. Similar to an autocratic leader, Philip decided to take the initiative and called the meeting. While starting the meeting, Philip displayed his dominating nature and asked for possible solutions expected by all employees present. While Nick’s opinion was discarded during the communication, Philip went with the group and made him felt left out of the process. Philip also showed unhappiness towards Robin and Jo’s lack of interest and accused them of having a negative attitude, without considering that they had a long day and they probably wanted the meeting to at the earliest. After getting some form of input from Jane, Philip overlooked his previous assertions and developed the points that they discussed during the meeting (Amzat, 2018, p. 194).
Recommended Style
In the case of Kate, she needs to implement strategic leadership as the issue concerning the employees is bordering between possibility and practicality, and can be managed with negotiation. As a strategic leader, Kate would be able to understand that both parties would be willing to negotiate on their situation as the management would prefer to retain their trained employees and employees would prefer to remain employed at a successful job. Instead of falling for every demand of both sides, Kate can merely allow both sides to negotiate over a commonly agreed situation, work as a mediator, and take credit for solving the problem. In the case of Philip, team leadership would be suitable, as he had a strong sense of direction and purpose and was willing to take the initiative. However, his lack of understanding would be solved with team leadership, as he would need to consider the needs and situation of all employees involved in the meeting (Amzat, 2018, p. 194).
Conclusion
The use of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and ERG theory helps in understand the lack of motivation faced by the employees is based on their unfulfilled safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization needs. The process gains created by BFGym with a talented workforce and large customer are at risk due to the process losses as the unmotivated staff, and lack of teamwork is becoming a problem. The hierarchy culture needs to be replaced with clan culture, which would help in stabilizing the pressure on employees and provide them with some form of leverage over the role. Kate’s democratic and Philip’s autocratic leadership styles need to be changed with strategic and team leadership styles to achieve desired results.
References
Amzat, I. (2018). Predictive Models for School Leadership and Practices. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Griffin, R. W., & Moorhead, G. (2013). Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Hayden, L. (2015). People-Centric Security: Transforming Your Enterprise Security Culture. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Professional.
Stangor, C. (2017). Group Processes. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Psychology. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.255
