CASE STUDY
I’M NOT MAD AT YOU and company leadership worked together to understand and resolve a former employee’s complaint in only 30 days.
CHALLENGE
A startup company came to us following a significant growth spurt that had resulted in new hires, office expansion, and the creation of new departments. It wasn’t long before the company’s “growing pains” amplified. Not everyone was happy with the changes. One employee’s bad exit sent leadership into a tailspin. The employee spread damaging rumors about the organization throughout the staff, threatened to tarnish the company’s reputation online, and talked about filing a lawsuit. When asked about the issues they had with the company, the exiting employee indicated that they felt they could not speak freely about their concerns without risk of retaliation.
This one employee was undoubtedly a crisis for our client, but worse yet, they wondered to what extent did this rotten apple spoil the bunch? Did other employees feel the same? Was there a systemic problem that needed to be addressed before the company could continue with their growth plan?
I’M NOT MAD AT YOU LLC® was brought in to take the temperature of the rest of the staff and find out what was going on internally. We measured and reviewed the following attributes during Wheels Assessment Training (W.A.T. interviews) with all employees:
- Leadership
- Trust & Transparency
- Employee Satisfaction
- Employee Morale
- Communication Modes
- Compensation & Benefits
- Training & Development
- Company Culture
Based on the result of the W.A.T., I’M NOT MAD AT YOU, revealed some great news for this client.
SOLUTION
I’M NOT MAD AT YOU conducted thorough, confidential W.A.T. interviews with all employees and management to help surface any issues or concerns that had been called out by the unhappy employee. As a neutral third party, we are often able to get to the root of problems expressed by staff members in a way that company executives cannot. Just by hiring us and conducting the full internal investigation, the staff could see that leadership was very concerned about their opinions and wellbeing. In this case, everyone was extremely open to the assessment and gave long, thoughtful answers to all areas they were asked about. They also felt heard.
We were looking for a deeply rooted problem, and what we found was quite the opposite. In our W.A.T. analysis, we learned that the concerns called out by the former employee were not an organization-wide, systemic problem, but actually stemmed from that employee’s dissatisfaction with completely unrelated issues. Their lashing out, shallow threats, and false accusations had no bearing on the company at all. The feelings and allegations appeared to be an isolated incident that had not affected others, as the jilted employee had wanted leadership to believe.
RESULTS
The feedback provided by I’M NOT MAD AT YOU set company executives at ease and gave them the confidence they needed to continue onward toward their goals, without fear of a loss in morale. The company was thrilled to clear their conscience and regain focus on company growth.
As an added benefit, the W.A.T.analysis provided a safe place for the staff to express their feelings about other aspects of the company including compensation and benefits, leadership, trust and transparency issues. This new communication model sparked a lot of excitement. Communication, which had once been avoided or feared, was now welcome and encouraged. With a spotlight now trained on their common issues, the team was able to define new goals and implement new problem-solving techniques. If and when they ever face a real “crisis”, they will be fully prepared.
“Stacey invested a great amount of time with each employee and the entire management team during the thorough W.A.T. analysis. Employees were able to speak freely with anonymity, though the responses our leadership received were extremely detailed and valuable. The growth strategy sessions we had with I’M NOT MAD AT YOU were invigorating. The whole team loved Stacey. Most importantly, our company saw this intervention as the partners truly caring about their individual input and growth, so the morale boost was noticeable and significant.”
ABOUT I'M NOT MAD AT YOU LLC
I’M NOT MAD AT YOU® was created to help companies, its employees and leaders identify their challenges, address their problems and inspire businesses and people to be BETTER. Led by its Founder & Chief Belief Officer Stacey Bullman, the firm serves as a change agent – a hybrid between a business consultant and a performance coach – to enact business transformations that maximize performance and improve the bottom-line. In order to help companies and people overcome obstacles, hurdles or challenges, you must begin with brutal honesty to clearly define any obstacles that stand in the way. For more information, please visit www.imnotmadatyou.com and follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.
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