Global Communications Problem Statement

What are the issues and opportunities facing Global Communications?

Step One: Describe the situation:

There are lots of little problems going on with GC, but I believe the main issue is a conflict of interest between the company's growth goals and the value (or lack thereof) placed on current employees.

Here are some conflicts that have occured so far:

1. GC has renegotiated contracts with it employees--forcing them to take a 20% cut in education and benefits. However, the company placed Maria, the union liaison, in a difficult situation. She was uninformed about the company's new plan, and was forced to make up reasons why the employees should agree to the cut in benefits. Her reputation and role as liaison is now jeopardized because she has not been privy to the "big picture".

2. Katrina has set forth objectives for the "new plan" with little regard to the sacrifices the employees will again have to make. Her goals for globalization and growth are at the cost of the current employees. The company has a reputation for loyal employees, but their recent actions and new strategies are repeatedly battering the trust between the employees and GC.

3. Not all of the upper management supports the new plan. During the board meeting, it seemed as if Katrina just wanted to get the message out to the employees before it leaked any other way. She wanted all of the upper management to come up with excuses to convince the employees why the new plan had to happen. She is too concentrated on the "big picture", and not enough of the "building blocks". Sy, one of the most respected/influential managers, was disregarded at the meeting.

4. There is no inclusion/lack of respect with the union. Maria has been forced to become a pawn in the company's game. She was uninformed of the new plan, and yet is being forced to convince employees that it's the right thing for everyone. Katrina casually dismisses Maria with some underhanded comments, intentionally/unintentionally showing their lack of respect for her position with the union. The union was not included in forming the new plan, and will be near the last to find out about it.

5. Outsourcing jobs will be the sorest issue with public approval. The "new plan" pill will be hard to swallow for the current employees. Not only will they be taking a 10% pay cut, but many will be losing their jobs or have to relocate. They will have to sit there and watch their jobs go to Ireland and India, while they work with a "career counselor" to find some menial job to pass the time. The company's growth plan does make for some current sacrifices for the long term, but these sacrifices are ALL placed on the employees, and nothing on the company itself.

Ultimately there needs to be a better balance between the company's growth goals, with sacrifices/cuts done with respect to the value of the current employees. One thing I thought they could do to make this plan a little more bearable:

-no outsourcing! cut the education benefits to 50% of the original--use those savings to provide/bring in the technical training that is needed to support the call centers.

-lay off only the absolute minimum amount of employees.

-have an across the board pay cut, such as the 10%--but in turn:

-offer the employees a balance of a re-signing/relocation bonus to stay with the company

-add an incentive of say...10 shares of stock in the company per month that they are with the company (can't cash out for at least one year).

People will continue their loyalty in a company if they feel that they have a vested interest in it, to include a piece of the pie.

PROBLEM