Management 14th Edition by Leslie Rue,Lloyd Byars ,Nabil Ibrahim

Exercise 23

Insubordination?
The company installed a new performance management system this year. You distributed the information and forms several weeks ago, and they were due to be completed in two weeks. One manager reporting to you has not yet returned his. This morning, you ran into him in the parking lot and asked him about it. He reacted angrily with: "I haven't had time to do it-I don't have enough time to get my job done as it is, much less to take the time necessary to have my people write a bunch of meaningless information."
You asked him to stop by your office later to discuss it. As you think about how to handle this situation in the meeting, you consider several alternatives.
1. In view of his attitude and behavior, it clearly is appropriate to exercise your authority. Tell him, in no uncertain terms, that this must be done if he expects to continue as a supervisor.
2. Tell him why this program is important and use your best persuasion technique to sell him on doing it willingly.
3. Remind him that no salary increases, including his own, will be processed until the forms are completed. Establish another deadline and let him know you expect it to be done then.
4. Explain to him that appraising employee performance is a part of every supervisor's job and that he himself is being evaluated on his performance in implementing this program.
5. Tell him you understand the difficulties of his job and the shortage of time available to do it, but remind him that this is a mandatory program that has top management's backing.
Other alternatives may be open to you, but assume these are the only ones you have considered. Without discussion with anyone, choose one of them and be prepared to defend your choice.