Keeping people motivated in a tough economic environment

You were recently appointed as a new manager. You face a number of issues in your new position. Please address each.

The previous manager used a transactional leadership approach, which has been relatively ineffective. Evaluate one leadership style and describe which you would take.

An experienced executive assistant discovered that she made the same amount of money as a newly hired janitor. Consider the role the human resources department plays in driving organization performance. What HR strategies would you employ to address this?

To keep people motivated in a tough economic environment, the company has shifted from annual to semiannual bonuses. Do you think offering semiannual bonuses is a good way to motivate the kind of behaviors organizations need to survive the economic downturn? What might be some potential problems associated with this approach? What other strategies would you use?