Scenario

You work for Quantigration, Inc., a semiconductor manufacturing plant headquartered in the United States. Capitalizing on advancements in its product, Quantigration has aggressively expanded and acquired fabrication plants and workers around the world. With new employees joining every week, workers are both excited and nervous about the new opportunities and changes in responsibilities.

Because there is a shortage of employees in this industry, management wants to increase retention. To do this, they want to improve morale and foster good group dynamics. Your manager, Gregory, has asked you to make some initial recommendations. You check your email and see that he sent you this email late on Friday:

Date: Fri 3/16/2018 9:17 p.m.
From: Russo, Gregory
Subject: Morale and Employee Satisfaction
Attachments: employee_morale_research.pdf

Hi,

As I mentioned to you the other day, Quantigration is growing very quickly. I just did some quick calculations, and if things continue at the same pace, we will triple our workforce in four months!

Thank you for agreeing to help with the program; the board of directors wants us to keep employee satisfaction high. Morale is a top priority, since it will help us with retention. With so many employees joining the company, new departments forming, and people taking on new roles, we want everyone to get to know their coworkers. I’ve given your name to Nathan, a recent hire in the fulfillment department, who’s going to be training everybody on the shipping and receiving software. As a long time Quantigration employee, I’d like you to help him get settled and answer any questions he has.

I’d also like you to report back with a briefing about how to improve morale. The board has made it clear that they want any changes to be based only on research, so I’ve put together a few articles for you to review. But I’m having trouble convincing the board that our personal experiences are also important and need to be taken into account. Can you put together a document with your thoughts on how past experiences can apply to new situations? I’m having difficulty finding the right way to express this idea.

Gregory

After meeting Nathan in person, he followed up with this email:

Date: Mon 3/19/2018 10:42 a.m.
From: Morten, Nathan
Subject: All these new folks…

Good morning,

Thanks for stopping by and saying hello! I’ve been really busy getting to know everyone here. In fact, I just got another new group of employees assigned to train on the shipping and receiving software. That’s on top of the two departments I got last week!

I just don’t know how to stay positive through all these acquisitions. There are so many new names; it’s hard to keep track of them all. I’m having a hard time wanting to come in to work in the morning. Have you ever felt this way?

Nathan

Directions

Part 1: Email

First, write a 200- to 300-word email back to Nathan.

• Relate your own personal experiences to his professional situation. 
  • Think about what has motivated you in the past.
  • Consider a time in your professional or personal life when you didn’t feel motivated. What about the situation made it hard to feel invested? What did you do to push through?
  • What did you learn that could apply to Nathan’s situation?

Part 2: Briefing Document

Read the articles that Gregory sent to you, and prepare a 800- to 1,000-word briefing document.

1. Explain how research has informed your approach to the issue of employee morale. 
   • How are other companies approaching the issue of employee morale?
   • What other kinds of research could you use to further improve the plan?
2. Describe how past experiences can apply to the new challenge Quantigration faces. 
   • Think about your email to Nathan. Can the situation and strategies you described be applied to Quantigration?
   • What other experiences have you had that might apply?
3. Describe how research and personal experiences work together to inform decisions. 
   • How do you compare personal experience with research to reach new conclusions?
   • Did the information in the research change the way you perceived the problem?