CEO: Thanks for meeting with me, and sorry about the time difference. Here in Banglore, an issue has come up that I need to discuss with you.
I was called here to Bangalore due to a very unfortunate incident. One of our workers had a breakdown during the work day and had to be hospitalized. In the hospital, he told the doctor that he works 45 hours a week and is barely able to support his wife, children, and in-laws. The doctor reported this and somehow the media got a hold of the story. We are now being accused of overworking and underpaying our employees in Bangalore.
Under India’s Factories Act, 1948, adults (over 18 years old) cannot work for more than 48 hours a week or more than 9 hours in a day. We thought we were being generous in establishing a 45-hour work week! And is it really our fault if our employee feels he has to support his extended family?
I need an action plan for addressing this with the media and then to determine what kind of policies we can put in place to respond ethically and responsibly without overburdening the organization financially.
I know this is really last-minute, but can you please write up a brief for me by tomorrow morning?
Instructions:
Address all three concepts: leadership, motivation and retention, explain the relationship between the three and apply them to the situation given, provide your action plan, and your draft press release.
Mechanics:
We return to a memo format this week. Use in-text citations and a reference page of at least 3 academic or professionally credible sources (not Wikipedia or Indeed), preferably from our course material. Any approved writing style format such as MLA, APA, Chicago style may be used. This link may be a useful source: UMGC’s library guidance on citations. Use topic headings to distinguish each section of the memo. If topic headings are not included, the memo may be returned to you before grading. Topic headings guide the author of the memo to help ensure all elements of the assignment are included and helps to focus the individual receiving the memo on the key points.
Elements:
- Academic Title Page
- Date, To, From, and Subject of the memo
- Introduction/Purpose Statement for the Memo
- Description of each and the relationship between leadership, motivation, and retention (this section is more theoretical and should draw heavily on the literature provided for the definitions of the three terms plus theories/models of leadership, motivation, and how each impacts retaining employees). Please place each of the three theories in context for the situation at ParlaTech.
- Recommendations for a plan of action. The action plan should be presented as a Gantt chart or simple chart for easy viewing in addition to a longer description of the plans to change the current practices. A deduction will be taken if the plan of action is not presented in a chart format. The plan should address both:
- The accountability of the organization to all its stakeholders such as the public, regulatory agencies, the leadership team in the United States, the employees, and their families. Recall the risk audit you completed last week about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DE&I).
- The well-being and motivation of ParlaTech employees (this section should be specific changes in practices, monitoring, programs, and possibly incentives). In addition, explain what you recommend regarding the employee in the hospital in addition to the larger employee base.
- Draft of a short press release – your communication to the public through the media for the CEO (a paragraph of about five sentences will suffice) that can help counter the negative press because of the situation with the employee being hospitalized. Organizations must get ahead of negative perceptions of them in the public eye as well as with their own employees.
- Conclusions/Summary
- References