Discussion 1: Impact of Unmet Expectations on Employee Attitudes

Onboarding New Employees

Program Transcript

MALE SPEAKER: I want to thank you all for coming in today. As you may or may
not know, I’m conducting an assessment of your company with the goal of being
able to provide your superiors with ideas for making this a better workplace. Now
I’ve already met with some of the employees of the company who’ve been here
for years. But I want to meet with you now, relatively new employees, so that I
can hear about what your experience has been like in these first few months.
Now I know you all know each other already. But if you don’t mind, just saying
your name and what you do here at Walden sports, that would be great.

DIANE: Hello, I’m Diane. And actually, Toby here and I have the same job. We’re
both travel experience managers which means that we help to oversee the travel
agency aspect of the business by ensuring that fellow employees are up selling
to their highest potential when one of our customers books a travel adventure. So
for instance, if someone books a trip to the Grand Canyon, we try to make sure
that they purchase their tent and other camping supplies here instead of from
one of our competitors. It’s a really crucial aspect of the business.

MALE SPEAKER: It’s very interesting. And how long have you been with the
company?

DIANE: Just a little over three months.

MALE SPEAKER: And how about you, Toby? How long have you been with the
company?

TOBY: Well, actually, I’ve been with Walden for a couple of years now. I used to
work in the retail side of the business, but changed positions about two months
ago and became a travel experience manager.

MALE SPEAKER: OK, that’s great. And you are?

CASSANDRA: I’m Cassandra. I’m an assistant manager of our west side retail
location, and it’s very nice to meet you, Mike. Oh, and I will have been on the job
for four months next week.

MALE SPEAKER: All right, sounds great. And it’s really nice to meet all of you as
well. So I’ll start with you Cassandra. What was it that initially attracted you to
working with Walden?

CASSANDRA: Of course. I grew up in a family that was always camping or
fishing or something. So I’m really passionate about the outdoors and have a
pretty fast knowledge of great camping spots, equipment needed, et cetera, et

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cetera. But I also really love working with people both customers and employees.
So this felt like a really perfect fit for me.

MALE SPEAKER: That’s great. You know, having a passion for your company’s
line of work is very important to enjoying your job. But let me ask you, though,
more specifically what was it about Walden that interested you as opposed to
maybe going with some other sporting goods company down the road?

CASSANDRA: Oh gosh, there was a lot actually. I remember when I first started
interviewing for the position, one of the things they kept mentioning was how
much working here was like being part of the family and that everyone got along
really well. That really appealed to me.

MALE SPEAKER: And did you find that to the case when you actually started?

CASSANDRA: Honestly? No, not really. The company’s actually really fractured.
They acquired a travel agency not long before I started, and it honestly feels like
a war between the traditional retail employees and the travel experience folk. Our
jobs may seem vastly different, but there’s actually quite a bit of overlap to them
especially on the managerial level which creates a lot of confusion as well as
competition. I know a lot of people, myself included, aren’t sure who to go to
when this overlap causes problems. And frankly, I feel sorry for a lot of
employees who are basically just caught in the crossfire of this overblown turf
war. But, of course, that’s just my perspective.

DIANE: No, I think you’re absolutely right. It’s been extremely hard for people like
Toby and I to work on the travel agency side of the business. The traditional retail
employees really seem to hate us. I’ve heard rumors that they think we’re paid
more and have more relaxed rules. But honestly, I think they’re just nervous that
we’re going to bring in more cash and make them look bad. I mean, we were told
that everyone at Walden had a strong team mentality, but this is the kind of stuff
I’ve been dealing with since day one.

TOBY: I’ve had a slightly different experience because I used to work in the retail
side of the business and know a lot of people over there. But I will say that some
of them have started to treat me differently. It’s like they think of me as a trader
even though we all supposedly work for the same company with the same goals.

MALE SPEAKER: I see. And have you tried talking to your supervisors about
this?

DIANE: Well, I tried once and she pretty much blew me off saying that I need to
learn to give back the same attitude which is not at all how I want to spend my
work life.

MALE SPEAKER: What about you, Toby?

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TOBY: Well I’ve had a number of issues with my supervisor already.

MALE SPEAKER: Such as?

TOBY: When I initially interviewed for this new position, I was told that very little
would change in terms of workplace rules and regulations, but it’s like I work at a
totally different company. Like my new supervisors do everything differently than
what I’m used to. And if I ever question these differences, just for clarification,
they start treating me like I don’t know how to do my job. It’s kind of humiliating.

MALE SPEAKER: Noted. Now how about your actual job duties, have they been
as promised as in your interviews and job description?

TOBY: For the most part, I guess. But I was told that I’d get to travel at least once
a month to gain expertise on your vacation sites or to run our booth at
conventions. But there hasn’t been a single mention of any kind of travel yet
which is a huge disappointment for me. That’s part of the reason I made the
switch.

MALE SPEAKER: OK. Well, what about you, Cassandra, are there any job duties
that you were promised that haven’t come to pass yet?

CASSANDRA: I was told by my manager during the interview process that he
valued a lot of input from his assistant managers. So about a month ago, I was
assigned to a small working group with him and got really excited about it. But
when I made a bunch of suggestions at the first meeting, he kind of blew me off.
And he reassigned me to work with a different group the very next day. Nothing I
said was even that dramatic or intense. But he clearly showed he doesn’t want to
hear any real ideas from me other than blind agreement.

MALE SPEAKER: Yes, that’s–

CASSANDRA: Oh, and can I also mention the intense amount of tunnel vision
going on within each department? Almost no one pays attention to what other
departments are doing. No one communicates. Everybody just goes a long to get
along, doing their own thing to get through the work week. This is not a family,
and it’s definitely not the way this organization was presented. If things aren’t
corrected soon, there’s going to be a massive mess on our hands.

DIANE: I completely agree with you. I’ve wanted to step up and say something,
but it’s not even clear who I should go to you. There’s no chain of command.

CASSANDRA: I’ll second that. I have yet to see any sort of discernible
management structure. Even I, as part of this supposed management structure,
have no idea who to go to beyond my own immediate supervisor. I’ve tried asking
HR, but they tell me just to take it back to my immediate supervisor which is kind

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of awkward when the issue is about him. I thought HR was here to help us, but it
seems all they care about is protecting the leadership and overall organization.
Or maybe they just don’t care at all, who knows?

MALE SPEAKER: Have you been offered any constructive feedback from any of
your supervisors? I had one experience where I actually got to sit down with
some higher ups to propose an idea. One of our self made camp in a box sets
comes with some tent stakes that are obviously a little sub-par. They don’t go into
the ground very easily, and we get a lot of complaints about them. So I proposed
that we upgrade to a higher quality brand and got shut down immediately saying
that there was not a good enough reason to switch. I mean, the emphasis is all
on making money and not a quality product. And that’s not what I signed up for.

TOBY: I get that feeling. On the retail floor, I didn’t need many office supplies. But
now that I work behind a desk for part of my day, I actually need things and it
takes forever to get them. Even small requests for things like pens and sticky
notes are analyzed and fussed over to the point where I’d rather just go out and
buy it myself so I can do my job properly without the hassle.

CASSANDRA: I don’t think any of our profits have been turned around and
shared with anyone outside of upper management. I have been shot down on
trying to take outside training courses to improve my management skills, even
though I was told there was plenty of money in the budget to support training
ventures. I basically feel lied to about 75% of my time at work.

MALE SPEAKER: Wow, I’m sorry to hear all of that, but I thank you so much for
sharing. I know that you’re all very frustrated. But I can tell you that everything
you’ve just told me is going to be very helpful to making changes down the road.
Now I want to change gears just a little bit and start talking about your benefits.

© 2012 Laureate Education, Inc.

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