California Credit Life Insurance Group

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Introduction

Incorporated in Los Angeles in 1961, the California Credit Life Insurance Group had expanded its business from all types of life insurance to various kind of insurance covering health, automobile, professional liability, pensions as well as retirement program. The South Eastern Region which is about to be discussed in the case analysis was set up in year 2003 with the sale manger being James Bradford. The major concern was to find out whether there should be any sex discrimination claimed by Renoldi who joined the South Eastern Region in 2003.

Symptoms of problem

• Renoldi’s discrimination case is one symptom that shows that the employee is dissatisfied with the area manager due to sexual discrimination.
• There have been cases of discrimination in the past that have not been filed due to unknown reasons. However, it is clear that the management did not take steps find out the core problem and did not take measures against Bradford.
• The fact that Renoldi went straight to the lawyer and not to any other manager in the company shows that there is no open platform for communication for women.
• The focus groups in general show that women are
  now expressing their feelings regarding discrimination at work. The feelings unfolded only in the focus groups which were conducted after the problem has taken place. This shows the absence of an existing platform for women to communicate their issues.
• It has been mentioned in the case that bonuses were distributed in an unfair way. Bradford divided the yearly bonus by 12 and distributed the, He did not take into account the individual performance of employees.
• Exhibit 1 shows that Renoldi was not able to meet quota for the last 2 years. However Exhibit 3 shows that she got positive valuation in those years which proving the fact that performance evaluations were not dine the right way. This is supported by the focus group discussion as well.
• Exhibit 1 shows that not only Renoldi but all the women in the southern region were not able to meet quota. Also, Exhibit 3 shows that women spent more on expenses as compared to men in the same years. This related to the problem that Renoldi faced. She claimed that territory assignment was discriminatory and she was assigned mostly male clients. When she requested a change in territory, Bradford stated that she cannot quota because she could not “entertain” her clients. It should be noted that this problem was with all the women in that region. They could not entertain the client’s request to go on dinners etc. This is the reason that they are spending less than men.
• Exhibit 3 can be concluded as follows:

It can be noted that mostly women did not get the evaluations. This shows discriminatory treatment.

• Exhibit 4 shows that women were paid less than men. Renoldi did not get much increment in her pay over the years.
• Exhibit 5 shows that even though the women were paid less they were satisfied with the pay. This exhibit also shows that women in southern region were more dissatisfied than other regions or as compared to men. The root problem could again be tracked to the manager of southern region.
• Another issue is that there are less career opportunities because the turnover at the area sales level is low which inhibits the promotion.
• It is stated in the case that one area manager managed 15 sales people which is a large number. This could be the reason that the manager could not perform the evaluation for 15 people in the right way and used a shortcut.

Core Problem

THE CORE PROBLEM IS THE COMMUNICATION GAP AND POOR MANAGEMENT DUE TO STRUCTURAL ISSUES.