Marion is the manager at a local doctor’s office. His employees are continually late to work and it is affecting appointment workflow. Marion hired you to research why employees are coming late and the impact that the tardiness has on the overall organization. Marion also wants you to provide recommendations for improvement. First, you decide to interview several employees to understand why they are late. You also go to the library to research popular reasons for workplace tardiness. Next, you interview the employees’ immediate supervisors to understand leadership work ethic and the discipline process for tardiness. After researching and conducting interviews, you realize why the employees are continually late. Employees are late because supervisors are also arriving late and do not discipline tardiness. Employees are upset because they have not received a raise in over a year and do not feel appreciated in the workplace. The employees said that they would come to work on-time if the company’s culture changed.

7. In the table below, apply the research steps to the above scenario.

Research Step Application of the Step to the Scenario
________________________________________________
Stating your request up front Type answer here

Explaining & justifying your request Type answer here

Requesting specific action in a courteous close Type answer here

First, one is supposed to make sure he or she understands the steps that should be followed. It is impossible to get to a solution, step by step, without understanding what those steps should be and how to apply them to the situation given. So, it is necessary to research similar situations and have examples of how those situations have been solved. Then, it is necessary to make sure one understands the situation presented by the manager and all that it implies. Only by doing this will it be possible to determine the steps that should be followed, and, most importantly, how they should be applied to the situation. Having that done, one can move on to the next step.

In the situation presented, one should collect data about the common reasons why employees are usually late; realize the impacts of tardiness on the company's and the employees' realities; interview the employees about tardiness and investigate their reasons or feelings and thoughts towards it; talkto the employee's supervisor and realizing how ethics and communication work at the workplace.

Stating your request up front:

Second, one is supposed to state up front what is their necessity. Stating clearly what is the problem and what one is trying to solve is the step that should be taken following the research. The clearer a situation becomes, the easier it is to find cooperation and solutions for it. One should communicate to all employees, including the supervisor, that tardiness has become a problem for the company and that the manager has hired you to try and find a solution to the problem. Hence, you are talking to them with the specific purpose of coming to a solution to tardiness within the most reasonable outcome possible.

Explaining & justifying your request:

Third, one should explain why it is important talking to the employees and the supervisor, who may carry the solution to the problem. It is important talking to them because, only by understanding their requests and points of view, will it be possible to get to the matter's source. It is necessary explaining to them that tardiness is a problem which is going on because of their behavior and that one's intentions are of solving the problem.

Requesting specific action in a courteous close:

Fourth and last, after talking to the employees and supervisor and coming to a conclusion, one should request them and all of the involved people to take action in order to make the situation better for all parts. The supervisor should be asked to set an example and work on his own motivation in order to inspire the employees to do the same. For that to happen, solutions must be discussed with the manager, as so to motivate the supervisor and the employees, like giving them a raise or improving their situation at the workplace by giving them free time or lowing their work charges. Then, the environment should be improved, and also the communication between manager and supervisor, and supervisor and employees, in order to make problems clearer and more easily solved in the future. Also, the supervisor, under his new conditions, must be responsible for talking to the employees and making them commit to work and obligations. Like this, all parts will benefit from the changes taken. All must understand and come to peaceful agreements. These recommendations must be made in the most respectful and direct way possible, in order to establish trust and good thoughts and feelings from the team towards the new possible scenario.