Introduction
Lisa Benton was a 27-year-old Harvard MBA graduate who sought to work in Right Away or Houseworld Company. While a student at Harvard, Lisa worked at Right Away Stores, a chain of Chicago-based restaurants where she was the Assistant President. Lisa enjoyed her work at Right Away and had good relationships with her co-workers and manager. At that moment, Lisa’s supervisor was happy with her performance and trusted her skills. Lisa was the first female manager at Right Away to get along well with her colleagues because of her roll-up approach. She successfully presented and directed from concept to project implementation, which greatly motivated the Right Away staff. Upon graduation, Lisa had to choose between two positions: Right-Away Marketing Director and one as Product Assistant Manager at Houseworld Home Care Division. Benton had been acquainted with Right-Away since doing her apprenticeship at the company. This is where she found good relationships with other employees. It also provided better incomes and opportunities for women to progress to the level of management, as Weber reported.
A position at Right Away Stores provided a higher salary than that offered at House World, and one would be eligible for promotion to VP in a few years. During her internship, Lisa enjoyed working in Right Away stores and communicated well with her manager and colleagues. At the same time, she was concerned about working in the Right Away Stores because it was a small and less luxurious company to work for as its offices were in a neglected part of Chicago. She would be the only female manager, and she would not miss working with other female bosses. On the other hand, House world was a magnificent working company with offices in a brand new downtown area. It was an established consumer product company specializing in home care products. It held the largest market share in its many product groups. Houseworld was renowned for providing excellent Marketing training and attracted MBAs from high school business schools. In the company, one would immediately take on the responsibilities of Assistant Product Manager and become a product manager within two to three years.
At Houseworld, everything looked good during the interview (Ghahramani et al., 2022). People and managers seemed friendly and welcoming. However, it became an uncomfortable place for her when she started working. Benton had chosen Houseworld Company because she expected appropriate training and career advancement. She was not worried that Houseworld’s salary was lower than Right-Away and the promise of a future vice president with the company. However, the president of Right-Away was not happy with her decision and suggested that that decision was a serious mistake in her career.
Houseworld had implemented the annual MBO testing process, and that promotion took place internally. The people she met during the interviews were professional, educated, and relaxed. The working hours set by the Marketing Department would allow her to maintain a working life balance. She was offered a lower salary than the Right Away stores. During her interview, she was also informed that there were fewer staff in the marketing department of the Home Care Unit due to promotions in very few positions over the past few years. Lisa did not know who her boss was or what product she had shared until her first day (Ghahramani et al., 2022). At the same time, Assistant Product Managers deliver a few tasks every month, making it difficult to build close working relationships. Lisa had accepted the position of Assistant Product Manager at Houseworld stores and has been working for four months. However, she is unhappy with her work at Houseware Stores and is exploring what she can do to improve her work.
Her manager, Deborah Linton, and her co-production manager, Ron Scoville, negatively viewed her and the MBA problem. This led to her mistreatment instead of helping her to learn, develop and improve her career. Such leadership made Lisa Benton so frustrated with work on House World that she decided to quit. The biggest problem surrounding Lisa Benton in Houseworld is poor leadership skills demonstrated by her close employer and product manager assigned to her (Ghahramani et al., 2022). This relationship puts Benton in a frustrating and unsatisfactory situation. She tries to bring out the best in her work because she is hardworking, talented, and a fast learner. Yet the two leaders do not want to support her in understanding her position despite the support of other aides and managers. Such problems discouraged Benton until she wanted to leave the company and considered talking to the president of Right-Away to ask for a chance to work there.
In addition, Lisa Benton felt that she did not receive marketing training that could help her improve her career according to her previous plans. She wondered if she should ask to be transferred from the home care unit to another section of Vernon or call Kingston or ask to join Right-Away. The paper analyzes Lisa Benton’s problems in her new job-based equity, personal and organizational equity, and personal manager equality. It also provides solutions and recommendations to both Lisa Benton and the Houseworld Company on the way forward.
Analysis of Person Fit Concepts
Person-Job Fit
The balance of a person’s work determines how a person’s features and abilities meet the requirements of a particular job. Lisa Benton’s degree coincides with the product manager position at Houseworld Company Herkes et al., 2020). Kingston offered Benton a full-time position when she graduated. Kingston continues to talk about Benton even after leaving due to her contribution to the company’s success. This shows that Benton’s qualifications, skills, and behavior align with her career. On the other hand, the performance appraisal of their supervisor indicates that they have the qualifications and skills to qualify for the job as an assistant product manager (Wind & Walker, 2020). Performance reviews show that Lisa Benton can quickly learn how the company works and good written communication, and she does a good job. This is a clear indication that Benton is ready for the job. Benton failed to do her job due to a lack of emotional intelligence to cooperate with her team members.
Person-Supervisor Fit
There is a wrong person-supervisor concept when it comes to Lisa Benton’s case. Benton’s manager and product manager partner have a bad relationship with her. A person’s equality with a supervisor is the coherence of an employee with their supervisor, enabling them to perform tasks as expected (Ratnasari & Sudarma, 2019). The existing relationship between Benton and her management is demanding. Managers do not welcome and support her enough to motivate, encourage and allow Benton to learn, grow and advance in her career. They also do not give her proper guidance and direction on carrying out her duties (Wind, 2020). For example, her boss, Linton, failed to give her the intentions of the position. In addition, she does not allow her to participate in the program and gives her recommendations regarding the development of a Home Care unit. These are clear indications of a person’s inadequacy with the manager.
Person-Organization Fit
Benton has a well-qualified personal organization fit. The equality of the individual organization means the interaction of the individual with the organization. Benton is committed to taking the Houseworld Company to the next level. This is reflected in her willingness to handle her duties satisfactorily, as supported by the performance review provided by her supervisor (Ratnasari & Sudarma, 2019). She was able to get along well with others despite the mistreatment she received from her supervisors. She goes to her manager with questions and problems about moving the organization forward. This shows that she had a positive attitude towards achieving the organizations’ goals; however, there are also differences between her and the organization. It is important to be strong enough to provide recommendations to help the organization move forward despite the current situation as a successful project (Herkes et al., 2020). However, this was very difficult for Benton because she had recommendations, but she did not have the confidence to contribute even though she was denied the opportunity to do so. A person’s relationship with the organization must be based on their confidence in handling all matters affecting the organization without fear of management.
Person-Group Fit
There is a strong and positive group equality fit. Personal group equality refers to a person’s ability to interact well with others. Her supervisor praised Benton for her ability to get along with a team of employees in the company’s home care product category. Benton was also able to work with other assistant product managers in other categories. These features support a good and strong team relationship or entry within the organization. Benton had to do things differently based on qualifications and skills (Wind, 2020). Self-confidence and resilience are important qualities that make a good leader. She would have been greatly respected if she stood firm and did what was right despite her boss’s frustration. The manager will fail to have any weak points they can address to them during the performance review. Sometimes a manager may not support the employee based on their benefit because of selfish traits, but in their mind, they may respect the employee for their good skills. She failed to deal with the conflict and instead became a victim. Failure to check on this regularly and diligently can lead to serious problems, detrimental to one’s success. Therefore, there is a great need for Benton to develop her way of resolving disputes.
Recommendations
Lisa Benton has already learned the behavior of her boss and the managers assigned to her. She has to make her manager Linton realize that she is competent enough and not worthy of the abuse she was going through. For example, it was the right time for her to open up to her boss about how she was dealing with her team when they scolded her. This may help the manager to understand that she is dealing with injustice, and she may improve their relationship. Benton needs to make her boss understand her true character no matter how much the boss may take her. This is a step towards helping her grow and improve her career. Being open will free her and make her work comfortably without pretending she is not. In addition, it is wise for her to create a team letter and present it to the manager. The document should provide detailed information on what members should do. With the document, Benton will be able to force the manager to improve her leadership style. In doing so, Linton, her manager, will encourage and motivate her to work towards meeting her goals and those of the organization. Success in any organization can only be achieved when all stakeholders and stakeholders are at peace. This is the only way members of the organization can work freely and cooperate in carrying out the organization’s activities in unity.
Recommendations for Lisa
- Lisa Benton should focus on the needs of the House world Company instead of her own. This is a good step to help her improve her satisfaction levels. Other than that, this will be a great start in helping her learn more about the job to acquire more marketing skills that will help her achieve her dreams for the future. However, this can happen when confronted with her boss’s hatred and ignorance about her performance. Improving her honesty and ability to manage and manage work policies with her team and non-supportive manager is also important in helping her continue improving her work.
- Lisa Benton should also request a change to another form of home care. This is a good idea to help her focus on her growth and achieve the organization’s goal without being interrupted by her current manager and product manager. Peace of mind in a particular product will enhance the satisfaction of further improving our productivity.
- Benton should ask Kingston to join the stores when her system does not work. Her knowledge of Right-Away stores was excellent, and she developed strong relationships with the company’s employees and managers. This may be a good step to help her feel comfortable in a good work environment that can encourage her to improve her career. She would also enjoy a high income and a challenging job, essential for her growth.
Houseworld recommendation
- Houseworld executives need to develop a program for training its executives to improve their leadership skills and ethics. People like Deborah Linton and Ron Scoville need to develop their leadership and moral skills. This will help them understand how to motivate, motivate, and motivate their followers to achieve the organization’s goals and improve their careers. ·
- Houseworld managers should also create clear project commitments for every assistant manager. Clear objectives and objectives should support such obligations to help assistant managers understand what is expected of them before embarking on any project. Otherwise, all jobs should be well defined to prevent employees from being misused by their supervisors, such as the Benton case, when they had to do repair work. Proper communication is very important in promoting efficiency and effectiveness. ·
- It is commendable for the House management of the House to develop a team-based culture that promotes the active participation of all its staff in the decision-making process. This is a great strategy to help employees like Lisa Benton express their opinions and recommendations freely and participate in strategic development. This is key to increasing the morale of workers, which leads to increased productivity.
References
Wind, S. A. (2020). Exploring the Impact of Rater Effects on Person Fit in Rater‐Mediated Assessments. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 39(4), 76-94.
Ghahramani, S., Omidifar, N., Garayemi, S., Sayari, M., & Bagheri Lankarani, K. (2022). Burnout in hospital staff using partial least squares path modeling for job-person fit: The case of a tertiary referral hospital in southwest Iran. Plos one, 17(1), e0262774.
Wind, S. A., & Walker, A. A. (2020). Exploring the Impacts of Different Score Resolution Procedures on Person Fit and Estimated Achievement in Rater-Mediated Assessments. Language Assessment Quarterly, 17(4), 362-385.
Ratnasari, E., & Sudarma, K. (2019). The Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment on the Relationship between Person Fit Organization and Knowledge Sharing Behavior in Innovative Work Behavior. Management Analysis Journal, 8(3), 330-339.
Herkes, J., Churruca, K., Ellis, L. A., Pomare, C., & Braithwaite, J. (2019). How people fit in at work: Systematic review of the association between person–organization and person–group fit with staff outcomes in healthcare. BMJ Open, 9(5), e026266.