The Valley Winery
1. What are the problems facing Pat Waller?
The problems facing Pat Waller are the high turnover rate, using unsuccessful push strategy, and a commission structure that does not reward evenly across all sales levels. Also the unrealistic quotas that are too high creating unethical behavior with the front line sales force. Mangers are hired from one specific group, the chain group leading to lack of cross training. Lack of gender diversity is apparent in the different sales areas and most males become managers.
2. What are the causes of the problems facing Waller?
The causes to the problems mentioned have resulted from the recruiting and selection process. The employees are unmotivated due to the unrealistic goals, as they are encouraged by management to misrepresent their sales numbers. Training and mentoring appears to be non-existent with just one day of shadowing that appears to give an unrealistic job expectation. Overlapping of territories has contributed to the high turnover rate. The aggressive cultural of the company does not allow the sales person positively develop their skills or reflect true sales numbers. The sales reps of Valley are disliked in the industry, possibly creating a negative work environment.
3. What steps should Waller take to resolve his problems?
Change the recruitment and selection process by using an HR department that can select quality employees based upon department needs and processes. Also further gender diversity needs to be expanded to all lines. Establish a training and development program that can help initiate new employees into the corporate culture and aid in creating realistic expectations. Open up a commission based structure for all lines of sales; change the incentive base and performance with a balance scorecard system. Another recommendation is changing the sales culture by implementing a top down initiative. A pull strategy needs to be implemented vs. the aggressive push
The problems facing Pat Waller are the high turnover rate, using unsuccessful push strategy, and a commission structure that does not reward evenly across all sales levels. Also the unrealistic quotas that are too high creating unethical behavior with the front line sales force. Mangers are hired from one specific group, the chain group leading to lack of cross training. Lack of gender diversity is apparent in the different sales areas and most males become managers.
2. What are the causes of the problems facing Waller?
The causes to the problems mentioned have resulted from the recruiting and selection process. The employees are unmotivated due to the unrealistic goals, as they are encouraged by management to misrepresent their sales numbers. Training and mentoring appears to be non-existent with just one day of shadowing that appears to give an unrealistic job expectation. Overlapping of territories has contributed to the high turnover rate. The aggressive cultural of the company does not allow the sales person positively develop their skills or reflect true sales numbers. The sales reps of Valley are disliked in the industry, possibly creating a negative work environment.
3. What steps should Waller take to resolve his problems?
Change the recruitment and selection process by using an HR department that can select quality employees based upon department needs and processes. Also further gender diversity needs to be expanded to all lines. Establish a training and development program that can help initiate new employees into the corporate culture and aid in creating realistic expectations. Open up a commission based structure for all lines of sales; change the incentive base and performance with a balance scorecard system. Another recommendation is changing the sales culture by implementing a top down initiative. A pull strategy needs to be implemented vs. the aggressive push