Mountain West Health Plans, Inc
November 18, 2010
Memorandum
From: Principles of Management Team 1
To: Mountain West Health Plans, Inc
RE: Customer Service Department We’d like to go over some key leadership issues that lie within Mountain West Health Plans, Inc’s Customer Service Department. We’d to review the overall performance of Mountain West Health Plans, Inc’s new hire Erik Rasmussen. We will also compare the leadership style of your current hire with that of recent retiree Evelyn Gustafson identifying strengths and weaknesses of each individuals leadership styles. In addition, we will identify the primary issues with Mr. Rasmussen’s leadership style and provide specific recommendations as to how to address these issues. We firmly believe that the Customer Service Department will operate more effectively and efficiently if our recommendations are taken into consideration.
Here are the issues:
After Erik Rasmussen acquired his new position, he was challenged by upper-level management to increase efficiency and lower costs in the Customer Service department. To address these concerns, Mr. Rasmussen, made it priority to increase the number of calls per hour that each representative handled. In contrast of Mrs. Gustafson’s “open door policy,” Mr. Rasmussen’s “No-nonsense” approach was put into effect. For the first time ever, the company measured the representatives’ performance against statistical standards that emphasized speed, recorded the customer-service calls, and used software that generated automated work schedules based on historical information and projected need. Efficient, non flexible scheduling was the goal. In addition, the company cut back on training.
Indeed, Mr. Rasmussen reached his goal. The calls per hour have increased dramatically. Although Rasmussen’s primary goal was to control the increasing costs of the labor-intensive department, it should have been done so more effectively and with regards to the overall well-being of the company. The results
Memorandum
From: Principles of Management Team 1
To: Mountain West Health Plans, Inc
RE: Customer Service Department We’d like to go over some key leadership issues that lie within Mountain West Health Plans, Inc’s Customer Service Department. We’d to review the overall performance of Mountain West Health Plans, Inc’s new hire Erik Rasmussen. We will also compare the leadership style of your current hire with that of recent retiree Evelyn Gustafson identifying strengths and weaknesses of each individuals leadership styles. In addition, we will identify the primary issues with Mr. Rasmussen’s leadership style and provide specific recommendations as to how to address these issues. We firmly believe that the Customer Service Department will operate more effectively and efficiently if our recommendations are taken into consideration.
Here are the issues:
After Erik Rasmussen acquired his new position, he was challenged by upper-level management to increase efficiency and lower costs in the Customer Service department. To address these concerns, Mr. Rasmussen, made it priority to increase the number of calls per hour that each representative handled. In contrast of Mrs. Gustafson’s “open door policy,” Mr. Rasmussen’s “No-nonsense” approach was put into effect. For the first time ever, the company measured the representatives’ performance against statistical standards that emphasized speed, recorded the customer-service calls, and used software that generated automated work schedules based on historical information and projected need. Efficient, non flexible scheduling was the goal. In addition, the company cut back on training.
Indeed, Mr. Rasmussen reached his goal. The calls per hour have increased dramatically. Although Rasmussen’s primary goal was to control the increasing costs of the labor-intensive department, it should have been done so more effectively and with regards to the overall well-being of the company. The results