Vetements Ltee Argumentative

Key Person: Sales staff of Vetements Ltee
Case Overview
Who is the case about?
This case is about the sales staff that work at the Vetements Ltee (A chain of men’s retail clothing stores located throughout Quebec). What is the current situation?
The senior management start to receive complains from the store managers regarding the performance of their sales staff.

Why is the current situation happening?
Because sales staff receives a fixed salary plus a commission based on the percentage of sales credited to that employee over the pay period.

When will a solution need to be completed?
This issue must be solved as soon as possible because it effects the store sales and profits.

Reread the case & complete the remaining sections of this chart What are the specific issues or problems (at least 3)?

1. Sales staff are leaving some parts of the store unattended because the tended to stand near the store entrance waiting to “tag” customers as their own. The managers were concerned that this aggressive behaviour intimidated some customers.

2. Many managers were also concerned about inventory duties. The store have faced stock shortages because merchandise was not stocked or reorder forms were not completed in a timely manner because the staff were too busy trying to tag the customers as their own to gain more commission.

3. To reduce the tendency of sales staff to hoard customers at the store entrance, some managers have assigned the sales staff to specific areas of the store. But this also created a big conflict among employees stationed in areas with less traffic or low-priced merchandise.

List at least 3 Basic Chapter/Course Topics that can be applied in this case:

1. Individual Differences: Equity Sensitivity.
2. Limitations and Contributions of Maslow’s Work.
3. Equity Theory.

What type of factors will affect the outcome in this case?
INTERNAL FACTORS:
(within the organization)
Sales staff motivation and performance.
Store inventory management and merchandise.
Achieving the targeted goals.
Store appearance.
Managers feedback on the sales staff performance.
EXTERNAL FACTORS:
Customers positive feedback.
Customers complains.

Identify 3 criteria to evaluate each of your alternatives: identify both quantitative (numbers, data can be measured) and qualitative (more subjective) criteria. 3 Criteria to evaluate each alternative:

Qualitative: Staff performance after the training program. Quantitative: Sales and number for satisfied customers. Quantitative or Qualitative: The commission the sales staff will receive if they perform their job as they should be.

Why these three criteria?

I choose these three criteria because they will all lead the store to be successful and by applying the right solutions both the sales staff and the managers will be happy with the results.

Alternative Assessment: Identify at least 3 viable alternatives that will address the main issues in the case. Evaluate each alternative integrating your criteria into your pro/con analysis. 1. The first alternative in this case scenario is to layoff all the sales staff in the store and replace them with the right people who has the experience, skill, and knowledge to do the right thing and make the business more profitable.

Pros:
Customers satisfaction. If the customers are happy with the service they will always come back to the store and they will become loyal customers. The staff will be happy and more comfortable at the work place because the all are working like one to achieve their goals. More profit for the store by achieving the targeted goals.

Better repetition for the business.
More professional and high skilled staff.
Cons:
This process will cost the company a lot of money by laying-off their employees. Interviewing new applicants to find the best people for the job is a very long process and it will cost the company a lot of time and money. Training the new employees will cost money and time.

2. Training program for the existing sales staff and clearly explain the outcome that will result from their successful performance.

Pros:
The staff will be more aware of the company goals.
When the staff see that the company took the issue very seriously and they even provided them with a training program, the staff will be threatened somehow and they will try to do the right thing rather than losing their jobs. More organized staff.

Achieving the company goals.
B performing their job correctly and effectively. Each employee will have the chance to get more commission because they all work as a team and they know how to deal with customers.

Cons:
Training programs will cost the company the time and money.
It needs a lot of effort to change the staff behaviour.
“Some people will never change!” if some of the staff performance did not improve the company will have to lay-off the employees and getting a new staff members will cost the company a lot of money and time.

3. set up a weekly schedule for the employees tasks and station.

Pros:
Each employee will get the chance to have a different task and a different station each week. That will allow the employees to engage with the customers + they will have inventory and merchandise tasks. More commission for all employees due to the weekly schedule. Customers will be more than happy and satisfied by dealing with this organized team. Profits for the company + Achieving the goals and targets.

Cons:
The weekly schedule may produce a new problem on the sales staff. In the weekends the customers will visit the store more often, so maybe during the scheduling period some staff will try to set up their names in the best stations in the store which may create a conflict between the store managers and the staff.

Based on your alternative analysis, what Recommendation/s are you making? Clearly state your recommendation (beginning with an action verb, number if making more than 1 recommendation):

Select the right people with the required skills and knowledge to do the job + provide training program for the existing employees of new ones. Solve any conflict in the working team.
Provide examples of other employees whose good performance has resulted in a higher rewards. Motivation is very important.

Describe the predicted outcome if the action is taken:
If the action is taken the out come will be:
High motivated and organized staff.
More commission for each employee.
Satisfied customers.
Loyal customers in the future.
Comfortable working place.
Achieving the company goals and objectives.
Profits for the company.

Action & Implementation Plan
Who should manage the change?

Senior management + Store managers + The sales staff.

What steps should be taken and how will they be implemented (provide details)?

There should be regular meetings between the managers and the sales staff every once in a while to keep their eyes on the staff performance and behaviour. Staff and managers should work together as a team.

Individualize rewards if the tasks and completed.
Achieving the company goals and objectives.

When (what is the timeline these steps will need)?
The company managers should take these steps right away.
The process of training the staff will take around two weeks and the results will be in few months.

Where will this happen?
Identify any “Missing” Information in the case (what information would have been helpful that was not provided?): How long did the staff worked for the company? How much did the company lost due to their poor staff performance?

Identify any Assumptions made in your evaluation and recommendations: