Regenerating the Phoenix 1

Regenerating the Phoenix:

Informal Business Report

NAME

PROFESSOR

COURSE

DATE

Regenerating the Phoenix: Informal Business Report

  1. This report will document the findings and conclusions of a comprehensive field investigation conducted at the Roanoke Branch of the Phoenix Advertising agency to ascertain the causes of problems negatively impacting job performance at the branch and to determine potential solutions.
  2. Branch analysis through field observation, employee interviews, client interviews, and revenue data.
  1. Field observations conducted across a span of two weeks.
  1. Field observation of all management teams across four eight-hour days in a span of 1.5 weeks.
  2. Field observation of copywriting and graphic design teams across three eight-hour days for one week.
  3. Field observation of all employees organization-wide across three eight-hour days in a span of 1.5 weeks.
  1. Employee interviews conducted across a period of two eight-hour business days.
  2. Interviews of all branch managers conducted over four-hour period in one day.
  3. Interviews of all graphic designers and copywriters over four-hour period in one day.
  4. Interviews of all remaining employees over eight-hour period in one day.
  5. Client interviews conducted across a period of two eight-hour business days.
  6. Interviews of 10 established clients across one eight-hour day.
  7. Interviews of five new clients across four hours in one day.
  8. Interviews of five clients who have declined contracts with or left Phoenix Advertising within the last six months conducted across four-hour period in one business day.
  9. Revenue data analysis
  10. Analysis of revenue data across previous six months, with client profiles, conducted across four hours on one business day.
  11. Analysis of revenue data, with client profiles, prior to the last six months but not older than three years, conducted across four hours on one business day.
  1. Overall findings about the underlying issues
  1. Lack of cohesion evident in field observations
  1. No shared vision of success uniting management teams, copywriters, graphic designers, and support staff
  2. Pervasive mistrust across all organizational levels
  1. Employee interviews reveal lack of investment in organization
  1. Sense of lack of appreciation, acknowledgement, or compensation among salaried employees and management for their extra efforts for Phoenix
  2. No organizational transparency for hourly workers: sense among copywriters, graphic designers, and support staff of unclear or absent communication from superiors
  3. Sense among all workers that the organization is not invested in its employees or their best interests
  1. Client interviews suggest unsatisfactory work environment and job performance
  1. Lack of organizational cohesion and pervasive workplace tension described by new and established clients
  2. Hostile organizational environment cited by executives choosing to leave Phoenix or to refuse to contract with the branch
  3. New, established, and lost clients all reporting at least one unsatisfactory project outcome within the last six months
  1. Revenue data analysis revealing precipitous decreases in previous six months and a shrinking client roster
  1. Revenue data revealing 50% decrease from company average across the previous six months
  2. Comparisons of data older than six months with data from previous six months revealing shrinking client base, with 90% of current clients having 3+ years with company
  3. Revenue data revealing 25% decrease in clients who have been with Phoenix more than three years
  4. Revenue data revealing less than 1% retention/project renewals of new clients signed within the last six months
  1. Overall recommendations
  1. Uniting employees in shared vision of success
  1. Weekly meetings for all employees to define organizational mission and short-term and long-range goals
  2. Incentivizing performance through profit-sharing
  1. Promoting employee investment through more effective communication and enhanced professional development opportunities

1. Management providing clear, daily communication regarding organizational goals, performance, and challenges, including short-term and long-range goals

2. Management soliciting employee feedback with each communication, including inviting suggestions for improvement

3. Weekly brainstorming sessions with all employees to identify shared challenges and collaborate on solutions

4. New protocols to facilitate employee advancement and professional development, including training and tuition reimbursement

  1. Improving relationships with clients and prospects through workplace optimization

1. Providing brainstorming sessions with all employees prior to client meetings to better present a harmonious united front to clients

2. Developing client and prospect profiles for all employees to give personnel opportunities to identify service strategies and to invest in maximizing performance for each client

  1. Boosting revenue through new client acquisition and the enhancement of existing client relationships

1. Promoting a new brand for Phoenix Advertising as a rehabilitated organization dedicated to client success

2. Offering add-on services and promotional discounts for established clients who have weathered challenging times with Phoenix

Date: August 11, 2016

To: Mr. Gregory S. Forest

From: Susie Smith

Re: Poor Organizational Performance at Roanoke Branch

Purpose

To identify the root causes of increasing employee turnover, low staff morale, client loss, revenue decline, and poor performance at Roanoke Branch of Phoenix Advertising.

Identity of Facility

Phoenix Advertising, Roanoke Branch

Description of Investigation

Across a period of three business weeks, I conducted a series of field observations, employee interviews, client and prospective interviews, and data analyses at the Roanoke Branch of Phoenix Advertising. For two weeks, I conducted rigorous field observations of focusing on management teams and copywriting and graphic design personnel and the remaining staff (in the final three days of field observation). In week three, I spent two days interviewing all employees and another two days interviewing new and established clients, as well as representatives of companies refusing to sign or renew contracts with the Roanoke Branch. Finally, on the last day of my research, I examined revenue data and client profiles, focusing on the comparison of revenue performance within the last six months with that of the previous three years. My intention was to determine the underlying causes of a seemingly systemic organizational problem resulting in pervasive employee dissatisfaction, high turnover, especially among management, client loss, and overall flagging revenues.

Results

My investigation revealed the following problems:

  1. Employees are unclear on overall organizational goals and do not feel invested in its mission.
  2. Hourly employees find communication from management and executives to be unclear or lacking.
  3. Employees at all levels feel that their work is largely unappreciated, unrecognized, and insufficiently compensated.
  4. Established, new, and prospective clients are disturbed by what they perceive to be a hostile workplace environment.
  5. All present and former clients interviewed report at least one unsatisfactory project outcome within the last six months, leading to the non-renewal of contracts and precipitous drops in revenue within the last six months.

Conclusions

In brief, the Roanoke Branch of Phoenix Advertising must focus on rehabilitating its relationship with its employees. Staff at all levels currently feel overworked, under-appreciated, and insufficiently compensated. This has led to high turnover, particularly among management, diminished job performance, low morale, and shrinking revenues. While the Roanoke Branch was once Phoenix Advertising’s highest performing division and an industry leader in the region, it is now Phoenix’s least profitable branch and its once stellar reputation in the region has suffered greatly. Within the last six months, revenues have sharply declined, while client loss has dramatically increased.

Recommendations

  1. Weekly all-staff meetings must be implemented to define short-term and long-range organizational goals which will unite employees in a shared vision of success.
  2. Daily in-person and email communications from management and leadership must be provided to outline daily objectives, give progress updates, and identify current organizational challenges. This will enhance transparency and facilitate employees’ sense of proactive collaboration with and understanding of leadership and its decisions.
  3. Management must solicit employee feedback on a daily basis, both in-person and print, including inviting employee suggestions and complaints, as well as conducting weekly brainstorming sessions with all staff to identify and address current challenges and to capitalize upon opportunities. This will empower employees by affirming their ability to problem-solve for the organization and validating their contributions to its success.
  4. Employee performance must be incentivized, including through profit-sharing, tuition and training reimbursement, and the establishment of a clear and supportive professional development protocol to encourage and facilitate each employee’s advancement wit the company. This will ensure that employees invest in the company’s success while also assuring them that the company is likewise invested in their success.
  5. Client retention and sales revenues must be increased by incorporating staff at all levels in client relationship-building. This will include giving all employees profiles of existing and prospective clients before any client meeting and conducting a pre-meeting strategy session prior to the meeting to invite employee recommendations for better serving each individual client. This will ensure that employees are invested in providing stellar client service and will help to build a cohesive environment which will allay clients’ concerns and further promote their retention.