A recent survey was taken among employees at Biotech Health and Life Products (Biotech). The results were alarming as it appeared the leadership has been less effective than in the past. Some of the common complaints seemed to focus on the lack of vision, a breakdown in communication and a lack of connection with staff.
You have read the results and as Vice President of Biotech you completely agree with employees. Leadership is the cornerstone to success in any organization and to permit poor leadership can only spell trouble. It occurred to you that the place to start change was starring you in the face - the new management hires planned for production in Detroit and Anaheim. Mumbling to yourself "but what do I want them to look like?" you decide that you must make a memo to HR Director Judy Jakes to make sure the "right" description of a leader is asked for in the soon-to-be released job description. Scrambling around on the desk you find the old job announcement so that you can make some changes. It reads "Biotech is looking for experienced production managers who focus on keeping the production high and costs low. Manager must be able to motivate employees to keep production moving smoothly and efficiently. Must be someone who can handle a fast paced environment, is driven and results-oriented. Goal oriented and policy adherence critical to succeed in the department."
Instructions
You will act as the Vice President of Biotech. Make a memorandum to the HR Director, Judy Jakes that explains the need for a new job announcement for managers at Biotech. The memorandum will explain how the business environment has changed the view of the leader and defines the vision you have based on synthesizing the course material about leadership theory and definition of a leader in today's business environment opposed to leaders hired in the past.
In writing the memorandum, use the course material from week 1 and week 2 to support the reasoning and conclusions made. Answer the following:
- Explain how the existing job announcement for new hires was effective in the past based on the theories and view of leadership through the 1990's.
- Explain why the leader of today would no longer fit the definition set out in the old announcement.
- Describe what a leader looks like today and what theories and leadership definition support this description.
The language in the announcement has to be just right so that Biotech attracts the best candidates. It is important to help Judy capture the essence of a leader at Biotech.
- Make suggestions about language that should appear in the job announcement that supports the definition and characteristics you derived for the leader of today.
- Provide an explanation so Judy knows why the specified language is important to convey the definition and characteristics of a leader;
- Make suggestions about language that would not be in the job announcement for this leader;
- Provide an explanation why the specific language should not be in the job announcement.
Memorandum Development
A memorandum is left-justified with no indentations of paragraphs.
Use a memo format:
To:
From:
Date:
Subject: