With reference to the above illustration,there are many findings which can indicate a stereotype and relate to social identity theory.
As per my understanding , Rochelle Beauport is a very competent and passionate woman who has brought forth a radical change in the sales figures of HY Dairies Inc ever since she joined the organisation. Her commitment and sales energy was extremely remarkable which she got it from her prior experience or the things she learnt in the current company or any other factor. She as a potential resource , deserved a great career graph. However, in the light of social identity theory we categorize objects in order to understand them and identify them. In a very similar way we categorize people (including ourselves) in order to understand the social environment. We use social categories like black, white, Australian, Christian, Muslim, student, and bus driver because they are useful.If we can assign people to a category then that tells us things about those people, and as we saw with the bus driver example, we couldn’t function in a normal manner without using these categories; i.
e. in the context of the bus. Similarly, we find out things about ourselves by knowing what categories we belong to. We define appropriate behavior by reference to the norms of groups we belong to, but you can only do this if you can tell who belongs to your group. An individual can belong to many different groups.In the second stage, social identification, we adopt the identity of the group we have categorized ourselves as belonging to. If for example you have categorized yourself as a student, the chances are you will adopt the identity of a student and begin to act in the ways you believe students act (and conform to the norms of the group). There will be an emotional significance to your identification with a group, and your self-esteem will become bound up with group membership.
Hence, the management / manager should have not offered her the position of a Research Coordinator which in fact is a demotion. The way they opted to communicate about this to her has opened a way for Ms.Beauport to think in many possible offending ways.Q2.
My observation from this case study are few…In any organisation , employees bring revenue to the organisation and promotes growth. A successful company will surely know and should know how to acknowledge the efforts of the employees. In this case study, i strongly feel that Ms.Beauport is not appreciated and acknowledged for her efforts in a right way.Her Manager Mr.Gilman wanted to appreciate her during her performance review meeting – which was not communicated properly to Ms.Beauport.
There is an improper communication method opted.Secondly – Mr.Gilman has given a demotion to Ms.Beauport. She has joined HY Dairies couple of year back as Brand Manager and all her sales reports shows that she has been exceptionally good in bringing sales which subsequently increased revenue. How can a manager who knew her sales figures give her a research coordinator’s job ? As someone was leaving the position he wanted to fill that position but failed to think about the demotivation which Beauport might face.
Hence, demotion was offered instead of promotion.Thirdly,She was not appreciated in public neither was any official communication rolled out to any about her performance. There was no proper pat on her back.Fourthly, there was no time scheduled to have one-o-one with her to talk about her sales and explain a career graph neither was a room created to encourage her that company would operate only by merit not by race , religion or gender.Q3. Management should be proactive to identify the talent and retain the talent. It was proved that Ms.
Beauport was a very potential resource but she was not acknowledged properly for her to keep going.Companies and management of the company should have right orientation given when employee comes onboard. Management should show and tell the career graph of the resource . They need to educate the staff that, company operates only by merit but not by any other means which gives employees confidence that their growth will not be hampered by any means.Management should have a proper evaluation metrics in place which should be enabled periodically with the employees .
Mr.Gilman thought of discussing with her about her promotion during her performance review meeting but it was not communicated to her .A thorough understanding about policies of the company is mandate which enables employees to think what to expect at what time.As part of retaining the talent management should be loud to announce the achievements of the staff which would encourage them and motivate non-performers.
There was no token of appreciation in public. A well known quote says – Appreciate in public and correct in private.Management can opt for some perks or goodies as a token to appreciate and retain talent.Management can plan for performance related bonus too which would make employee happy than declaring a promotion out of blue.
