Jackie has just been hired as the head of the Payroll Department at Bub4U Company, a firm of 58 employees. She was hired by Edwin, the General Manager (GM) of the company, who informed her of the need for maintaining strict confidentiality regarding employee salaries and pay scales; it cannot be divulged under any circumstances. He also informed her that he fired the previous Payroll Department head for breaking that confidentiality by discussing employees' salaries. Furthermore, being a small company they do not have a formal Human Resources (HR) department and Edwin handles all HR related issues for this family based company. Edwin also mentioned to Jackie that they promote from within the company and that they will be looking to hire a qualified HR manager. She was also formally introduced to Brett, the owner, who told her to see him if she has any questions or problems. Both Brett and Edwin made her feel welcome and they both seem friendly, approachable and open to suggestions.
Right away, Jackie noticed that work (service tickets) assignments for technicians was an old, inefficient and a manual process. She was thinking that it can very easily be updated to an electronic process by simply using an Excel sheet and post the list of tickets on the company's intranet. She also envisioned that service technicians will then be able to see list of all tickets and sign up for posted tickets electronically on a first-come-first-served basis.
After three months of employment, Jackie begins to wonder why Gary makes so much more in commissions than the other service technicians. She assumes that he must be highly qualified and must work rapidly because she has overheard Brett praising Gary on his performance on several occasions. She has also noticed Brett, Edwin, and Gary are very friendly with each other and often go out and have lunch together.
One day, Edwin gives Jackie the stack of work tickets for the service technicians for the upcoming week. The technicians are to take whatever ticket is on top once they finish their prior service ticket job. After putting the tickets where they belong, Jackie remembers she has a dentist's appointment the next morning and returns to Edwin's office to tell him she will be reporting late for work. When she enters Edwin's office, she sees Edwin give Gary a separate stack of work tickets. As she stands there, Edwin tells her that if she mentions this to anyone, he will fire her. Jackie is very upset because she understands that Edwin is giving the easier, high-commission work to his brother. Jackie also realizes that Edwin being a GM does have the authority to hire and fire workers including her. Since she has only been at the company a short time, she is also still on probation. This is her first job since college and she is thinking about starting a family with her fiancé. Although competent, holding Bachelor of Business Administration and minor in HR management, she is confused and wonders what she should do. -Original case credit - Dr. Helms, M. University of Tennessee.
Question 1: What is (are) the issue(s) Jackie is facing?
Question 2: Brainstorm with team members and list ALL possible alternatives that Jackie can pursue?
Then, in a new paragraph identify top 2 alternatives from the generated list and clearly explain why they are the best alternatives for Jackie.