MGMT861 - Perpetual Guardian Case Study, Managing Organisations & People - Management Assignment Help

Assignment Task

Perpetual Guardian Case Study
On 5 March 2018, estate planning and investment firm, Perpetual Guardian embarked on what it believes is a world-first among privately held companies anywhere in the world: it started an eight-week trial that involved all 240 staff around New Zealand and sought to test productivity, motivation, and output by changing the work model to give every staff member a paid day off each week. All other employment conditions, including remuneration, remained unchanged – so staff worked 30 hours but were paid for 37.5, and were asked only to deliver the same amount of output as in a standard week. Perpetual Guardian’s founder Andrew Barnes decided on the trial after reading several global reports on productivity, for which New Zealand is one of the lowest-ranked OECD countries. Barnes said the decision to test the new way of working was “the right thing to do. We want people to be the best they can be while they’re in the office, but also at home. It’s the natural solution.”

Barnes introduced the concept of the four-day workweek at an informal meeting with staff telling them, “We’ve decided to try something reasonably radical. We’re going to do a trial where you will be\ working four days a week.” Wearing a headset and microphone he met face-to-face with the Auckland office and communicated his message to all Perpetual Guardian staff nationwide. Barnes said to the staff, “I’ve no idea how we’re going to do this but I need you team-by-team to tell me how you’re going to deliver the same level of productivity in four days as opposed to five.” Teams were given a month to prepare with regular meetings held so teams could plan for the change and choose which day they would have off.

On the staff, intranet staff shared their thoughts and came up with the best ideas as to how they could manage and save time. This proved a valuable interactive way for staff to share and collaborate on ideas. As far as branch teams were concerned each team determined its own style and established the best process to enable ongoing cohesion and engagement. The once a fortnight staff newsletter from CEO Mark Jephson also kept staff regularly informed about developments. Head of People and Capability (HR) Christine Brotherton said of the productivity trial, "If employees are engaged with their job and employer, they are more productive. The trial was a valuable and timely way to test our theory that efficiencies will come with more staff focus and motivation.” Brotherton said for some clients, getting the message out was easiest with a phone call, but many clients received hard copy letters outlining the proposed trial. Continual communication with clients was maintained, sometimes on a weekly basis, this involved email and phone calls.

    
The company embarked on the trial with the expectation that it might not provide all the answers but could be a big step towards making business work better for people and the bottom line. In order to make the trial useful on a local and global economic and productivity scale, Perpetual Guardianengaged academic partners The University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology (AUT)to measure the outcomes of the company’s employee engagement and publish the results. Based on the outcomes, Perpetual Guardian initiated the Four-Day Week on a long-term, opt-in basis across its business from 1 November 2018. Brotherton says that traditionally the company has not been seen as upbeat or trendy, but as ‘old school’, however since the trial, a new demographic of worker has begun to join the company with younger staff attracted by the more ‘funky’ image as branches moved to new buildings fitted out with modern color schemes, and original New Zealand art on the walls.

Being a Manager and Organisation Culture 
a. Discuss the culture at Perpetual Guardian, using cultural models. 
b. How does the owner of Perpetual Guardian Andrew Barnes influence the culture at the organization?

2. Motivation 
a. Using Herzberg’s two-factor theory discusses how employees such as Mark Jephson and Tammy Barker have been either motivated or de-motivated by the implementation of the four-day workweek at Perpetual Guardian. 
b. Use a different theory of motivation to explain how the implementation of the four-day workweek has contributed to staff motivation and engagement.
3. Communication 
a. Andrew Barnes introduced the concept of the four-day workweek in an informal face-to-face meeting of all staff, explaining in person the reasoning behind it and asking for feedback. Discuss with reference to the theory why you think Andrew chose this channel and method of communication as appropriate for this stage of the change process and its effectiveness.
b. Describe three further channels and methods of communication that Perpetual Guardian used to engage the staff during this change process. Discuss, with reference to theory why these channels or methods were appropriate. 
2 - Discuss one channel of communication that would not be effective for this kind of communication. 

4. Stress and Wellbeing in the Workplace 
a. Explain why organizations need to be concerned about workplace stress, and what the
consequences of poorly managed stress are for employees and for organizations.
b. Discuss how the implementation of the four-day workweek has affected employee stress and wellbeing at Perpetual Guardian.
5. HR and Diversity 
a. Human Resources has been described as being either part of the solution or part of the problem in achieving an organization’s strategic business outcomes and productivity. Describe how a focus on the ‘people-side’ of the business has led to increased productivity at Perpetual Guardian.
b. Explain how Perpetual Guardian has successfully managed diversity in its employees by implementing the four-day workweek

Discuss the culture at Perpetual Guardian, using cultural models. 
b. How does the owner of Perpetual Guardian Andrew Barnes influence the culture at the organization?

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