Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

Judy Adkins is having a miserable night.  The 58-year-old telemarketer is on her 21st call on the evening shift, but so far, she has sold just one bank credit card application.  She is becoming impatient as she waits for her computer to dial the next prospect.  Finally, she hears the beep in her headset and the prospect’s name appears on her computer.
“About time”, she mutters.  There is confusion all around her, but it is rather tame tonight.  Everyone except Judy is close to meeting their goals.  For some unexplainable reason, tonight is not going well for her. 
A young supervisor, not yet 30, Adkins guesses – has now moved into position just behind her.  Adkins knows she is in for some tough comments.  “You’re not holding up your end of the wagon tonight, Judy.”  The supervisor is gone before the words are out of her mouth.
“I don’t need to hear that now!” she says.
But Ms. Adkins knows that the pressure goes with the job.  She is a seasoned veteran, having over six years of experience in a variety of telemarketing industries.  Adkins is one of the most senior people in her current job, having just finished her second year.  For her and other experienced callers, the daily goal is 100 calls for an eight-hour shift.  The expected “conversion rate” is 15 percent of those who listen long enough to count as a presentation.
Adkin’s current supervisor is intense, demanding, and quick to criticize.  Frankly, all of them have been that way.  “Their job is just as tense as mine”, she says, “If they don’t fill their sales targets, they’re history, just like us”. 
Because most supervisors occasionally eavesdrop on calls with mobile phones, they are quick to give feedback.  Some are positive, such as “Judy is a goal buster – way to go, Judy!”
More often, however, what employees hear are “suggestions” for improving their sales pitch, such as “Slow the presentation down” or “Don’t ad-lib the script!”  While Adkins wants recognition as much as anyone, she has become somewhat jaded from the insincerity.  She would rather have more pay or benefits, but neither is in the cards.
Most telemarketers are paid an hourly wage plus commission.  For Adkins, that amounts to about $8.75 per hour plus approximately $5.00 for commissions – about $13.75 per hour on a good day.  There are no health benefits, and if you believe telemarketing executives, no prospects for any in the future.
Adding to the tension are the customers.  Telemarketing is tough, stressful work, Besides the fact that the boss may well be listening in, some hostile customers will verbally heap abuse on the telemarketer.  Profanity is common, and there is nothing to do but continue to be polite and take it.
The constant stress takes a toll on everyone.  The turnover rate is one of the highest in the country.  The average time worked as a telemarketer is only 11 weeks (not months or years).  Those who want to make it a career hope to break into management, where pay and benefits are much better.  But that usually requires more education and youth.  The last opening for a supervisor’s position drew over 50 applications.



QUESTIONS
Assume you are a management consultant called in to analyze the turnover problem.  You are told that pay and benefits are fixed and cannot be substantially altered.  It is clear that whatever you recommend must not bring productivity down.  Drawing upon the motivational theories we have learned, what would you recommend to management?

How might the telemarketer’s job be redesigned so that employees are more satisfied and challenged by their work?  Is telemarketing a job that can be enriched and remain highly productive, or is it more like an assembly line?

How might the supervisors be contributing to the problem?  What recommendations would you make about changing their styles?

Consider such strategies as team competition and alternative work schedules.  What do you think would happen if they were implemented?



textbook: https://www.academia.edu/33930207/Fundamentals_of_Human_Resource_Management_10th_edition_David_A._DeCenzo_Stephen_P._Robbins_