Solutions to improve ineffective supervision at FPT digital retail joint stock company

Executivesummary...5 CHAPTERIPROBLEMIDENTIFICATION...7 1.1 Companybackground...7 1.1.1 Industryoverview...7 1.1.2 Marketshareandcompetitors...8 1.1.3 Companyhistoryandstructure...9 1.2.B

Executivesummary 5

CHAPTERIPROBLEMIDENTIFICATION 7

1.1 Companybackground 7

1.1.1 Industryoverview 7

1.1.2 Marketshareandcompetitors 8

1.1.3 Companyhistoryandstructure 9

1.2.Backgroundofproblem 11

1.3 ProblemJustification 17

1.3.1 Potentialcentralproblem 17

1.3.2 Justifytheexistenceofproblem 19

1.3.3usifytheimportanceofproblem 21

1.4 Identificationofpotentialcauses: 23

CHAPTERIIALTERNATIVESOLUTIONS 27

2.1.Causesvalidation 27

2.2.Solutiondesign 30

CHAPTER III SELECTED SOLUTIONANDCHANGEPLAN 37

3.1.Introductiontoselectedsolution 37

3.2.Detailsplan 37

3.3.Changeplanandcountermeasures: 41

CHAPTERIVSUPPORTINGINFORMATION 42

4.1.Questionnairedevelopmenttojustifycentralproblem 43

4.2 Questionnairedevelopmenttojustifycauses 44

4.3 Transcriptofallinterviews 46

REFERENCE 77

Table1:AsiaretailssalesvolumegrowthfromEconomist IntelligenceUnit,2016 7Table2:Electricalappliancesandhousewares:MarketdemandgrowthfromEconomistIntelligenceUnit,2016 8

ListofFigures

Figure1:F P T CorporationstructurefromFPTRetailHumanResources,2016 10Figure2:StaffgrowthatFPTRetailJSCfromFPTRetailJSCHumanResources,2016

11Figure3:TurnoverrateatFPTretailJSCfromFPTRetailJSCHumanResources,2014t o 2016 11Figure4:Initialcauseandeffectmap 16Figure5:Finalcauseandeffectmap 26

Iwouldliketoexpressmydeepestappreciationtomysupervisor,Dr.NguyenThiNguyetQue,whoalwaysstandsbymeandmotivatesmetocompletethis.Withoutherf u l l support,thismasterthesiscannotbefulfilled.Needlesstosay,herguidancehelpedmeinallthetimeofwritingthisthesis.Inaddition tothat,IwanttoshowmysinceregratitudetoProf.NguyenDinhTho,whoarealwaysdedicatedandpatienttousineverysinglemoment.

Besidesmyadvisors,Iwouldliketothankmyfamilyandfriendsforencouragingmespirituallythroughoutwritingthisthesis

an d informations o u r c e f o r t h e abovet h r e e chapters.Itcomposedt h r e e s e c t i o n

s o f

c e s sucha s highturnover,lowjobperformanceandemployeesatisfaction.

Asbeingillustratedi n T a b l e 1 , overt h e p a s t 4 ye a r , V i e t n a m hada p r e t t y lowgrowthrateincomparisonwithotherdevelopingcountriessuchasChina,HongKong.However,r e c e n t l y from2 0 1 6 , i t i s p r e d i c t e d t h a t t h e second-

highestgrowingc o u n t r y belongstoVietnamthoughthesefiguresvariedslightly

Table1:Asiaretailssalesvolume growthfromEconomistIntelligenceUnit,

2016Needlesstosay,retail competitionofelectricdevicemarketisge tt in g graduallya g

g r e s s i v e andexpansive.Followtheverysimilarpatternwiththegrowthrateinthefirst

table,t h i s s e c o n d t a b l e i l l u s t r a t e s t h e r a p i d l y growtho f V i e t n a m i n termo f e l e

9Vietnam’sl a r g e s t mobilep h o n e r e t a i l e r , T h e g i o i d i d o n g h a s a c c o u n t e d

1.1.3 Companyhistoryandstructure

OnAugust28,2007FPTDigitalRetailJSCwasestablishedwiththestorechainnamed[IN]Storen a t i o n w i d e Aftert h a t , i n 2 0 0 8 ,

[IN]Storechangedi t s namet o FPTShop.Andsince2009,FPTbrandnamehasbecomepopularwithcustomers.Threeyearslater,FPTRetailJSCchangeditsnametoFPRDigitalRetailJSCandthisnamehasbeenw i d e l y useduntilnow

H a Noi,H a i Phong,C a n T h o , DaNangan d H u e P r e d i c t a b l y , Y e a r 2 0 1 6 witnessasharpincreaseupto400shops.

FPTCORP ORATION

Figure1:FPTCorporationstructurefromFPTRetailHumanResources,2016FPTShopprovideshuger a n g e s o f p r o d u c t s fromMo b i l e p h o n e, Laptop,

AccessoriestoService,usedmobilephones

Forst af f, t h e r e i s a dramaticallyi n c r e a s e i n s t a f f growthw i t h ca r e e r p a t h fromnewbiestoRegionalS ho p manager.In2015,the numberofstaffr eac hed 4500peopl

ea n d increasetoaround5000staffin2016

a b l y , symptomsofhighturnoverrateandproductsreturn,customercomplaintsare“realandurgentthreat”tothesustainablelong-lastingdevelopmentFPTretail.

1.2 Backgroundofproblem

Thereisnodoubt

thatretailindustryhaswitnessedahighturnoverratefromsomesou r ces ofsecondarydata.Accordingtoasurveyin2016ofMercerandTalentnet(1),bigcompaniesinHumanResourcesconsulting,thetopthreeindustrieswithahighturnoverr a t e wereretail

(39%),lifescience(17%)andtechnology(16.2%)andstaffturnoverr a t e i n 2015wasslightlylowerthan2014.Inparticular,FPTretailJSCheldahighturnoverr a t e from2014to2016asbeingseeninfigure3follow:

55.0%

26.9%

Figure3:TurnoverrateatFPTretailJSCfromFPTRetailJSCHumanResources,

2014to2016

Fromtheexternalso ur ces ofinformationas sec on dar y data,IntheCorporatio

n,

FPTRetailisstillthegrowth-leadingcompanyinprofitbeforetaxandrevenue(2) F P TRetaili s n o w c a l l i n g forbiginvestorst o i n v es t i n t o t h i s a r e a o f r e t a i l W i t h t h e r a p i d expansionofshopsin63/63citiesandprovinces,thiscompanyputaveryhighpressureo n theirstaffespeciallyforsalesgrouptobemorecompetitiveandstronger.Toexplorethisproblemfurther,interviewhasbeenconductedwith8peoplewhoarefrom3groupsmentionedbelow:

Thefirstgroupof3peopleincludingthosewhoarecurrentlyworkinga t FP

TR e t a i l JSC:Ms.LeT h i NgocH o a –

c u r r e n t l y a s t a f f i n H R departmentofFPTR e t a i l ;M r H u y n h Q u a n g Long–Heado f T r a i n i n g D e p a r t m e n t ofFPTRetail;Ms.LeThiBichNgoc–

ShopManagerof344LeVanKhuong,Dist12,HCMC

Thesecondgrouphas03participantswhousedtoworkatFPTandthen leftforanotherorganization:Mr.VuThanhTung,heiscurrentlyworkingasShopManagerinVinpro+andusedtoworkatFPTRetailformorethan4yearswi t h variouspositions;Ms.NguyenNgocThanhHieu24yearsold,sheusedtobeasalesmanatFPTShopandnowworkingforHoaThienPhuCompany;Mr.LyQ u o c TienwhousedtoworkatFPTat3differentpositions:salesman,technicalstaff,taskforcemember

Thelastgroupof2customers:Mr.HoNhutKhuong–

25yearsold,aregularcustomero f FPTShop;M r LeDinhQ u i ( 3 3 y e a r s o l d ) , r a r

e l y buyproductatFPTShop

13Conductingtheseinitialinterviewswithallgroupmemberslistedabove;therearediff eren tfeaturesforeachgroup.Thekeyreasonforchoosingthesepeopletointerviewi s that,variousperceptionsandperspectiveshavebeenmarkedandcollected Withthef i r s t group,theyareallcurrentlyworkingatFPTRetailJSCbutdifferentdepartmentandlevelfromstafftoshopmanagerandtrainingmanager.Thesecondgroupisex-

fordifferentreasons,t h e y understoodwhatwasgoingoninsidethecompany.Thefinalgroupisvariouskindsofcustomerwithd i f f e r e n t a s p e c t s a n d giveso u t d i f f e r e n t viewpointsw i t h t h e i r r e a l ex p er i en c e

Behindthesymptomsofhighturnoverrateandalarmingconsequences,thereareaw i d e rangeofcauses.Employeesatisfactionis thecoreelementthatheightenturnoverrateup.Employeearenothappyandsatisfiedduetoaplentyofreasonslistedlikelackofpromotionopportunity,ineffectivesupervision,poorpayandbenefit,lackofmotivation,competitionbetweenco-workers,stressandpressure,lackofmotivationorburnout

Ms.LeT h i NgocH o as t a t e d t h a t r e ga r d i n g s a l es f o r c e , d u e t os e l l i n g policy

i n FPTwithlowbasesalaryandquiteattractiveincentives, itcanstimulatesellingproductivitybuttoughcompetitionbetweensalesmenhappenedwhichhas

ledtostressoru n f a i r

competitionbetweenco-workers.Withsomeothersalesmancannotsellproductsw e l l willbeverymuchunderhighcompetitivepressureandquitthejob

Sharingthesameperspectives,Ms.LeThiBichNgocconfirmedthatsheandhers t a f fhadtoworkovertimelikeroadshow,leafletssending…

veryoftenandwithoutanye x t r a paymentfromcompany.Afterwork,shehadotherthingstodoathomeaswell.Asf a r a s s h e ’ s c o n c e r n e d , t h e r e i s n o s a t i s f a c t i o n r e g a r d i

n g p a y andb e n e f i t F r o m thesayingsofMs.LeThiBichNgocwhoiscurrentlyShopManagerofFPT,sheconfirmedt h a t shecanseethecurrentsituationofincreasingturnoverrate,somesalesmenarenoth a p p y tocometoworkandfeellikeenergylossstatus,thentheyquitthejob.Andsheal s o sharesthesameviewpointswithothersthatthereisahighrateofturnoverinFPTShopwhichcanimpactoncompanyproductivity.Ontheotherhand,whenbeingaskeda b o u t currentstatusofFPTretail,Mr.HuynhQuangLong–

HeadofTraining

15DepartmentofFPTRetailshowed hisopinionthatwhathecanobserverecentlyishigherturnoverofsalesmanespeciallykeypersonssuchasASM,SMleavecompanyandmove

t o a n o t h e r similarcompanyc a l l e d Vingroup.B e c a u s e o f t h e marketc o m p e t i t i o n , FPTs h o p istryingtobuildthebestimagetobemoreattractive.FPTShoppushstrongerandhighertargetforeachshop,whichmakesalespersonherestressed.FromtheopinionofM s NguyenNgocThanhHieu“thereisahighandtoughcompetitionamongsalesmenw h i c h makesmereallystressed”

Duringthetimedoingtheinterviewswiththefirstgroupandthesecondgroup,t h e

y mentionedt h a t t h e employees a t i s f a c t i o n greatlyc a u s e h i g h turnoverr a t e w h i c h

i n d i r e c t l y leadtocustomerd i s sa t i s f a c t i o n Thatisthereasonwhythethirdg r o u pof2 customersisalsoinvolvedtobeinterviewedtoexploreproblemfurther.Theresultafteri

n t e r v i e w i n g twocustomersareregardedassimilar

To sum up, initial cause and effect map has been showed as below

b et w e e n co

-workers

JobStress

Lackofmotivation

Strictsellingp

olicy

Lowjobperformance

Ineffectivesupervision

NatureofWork

Failuretoreachtarget

Workp

Lowemployeesat isfact ion

Lackofpromotionopportunity

Highturnover

Newandlessexperiencedsalesmenincrease

Productsreturnincrease

Supervisory

re la ti on sh

ip

skillt r ai

Soft-n i Soft-n g

relatedleadership Figure4:Initialcauseandeffectmap

Gender-17Thesucces so fo ne companydoe sn ’t on ly m e a n t hi s companymakesmoneyorn o

t , that’showtheymaketheiremployeesdrivepassionanddesiretowardstheircurrentj o b As

w e l l , effectivesupervisioni s c o n s i d e r e d a s veryimportantelementfromt h e prospectiveofmaintainingandretainingappropriateemployees.Foracompany,greaterlevelofjobsatisfactioncanresultingreaterlevelofjobperformanceandmeaningfullyr e d u c e s turnoverrate

1.3 ProblemJustification

1.3.1 Potentialcentralproblem

Asbeings h o w e d i n Figure4 i n i t i a l causea n d e f f e c t map,a p l e n t y o f co n s e q

u e nc e s havebeenfoundoutfromvarioussourceofdatawhicharehighturnovera n d turnoverintention, l o w levelof jobperformance,customerdissatisfaction, p r o d u c t r e t u r

n increase.Theseorganizationoutcomeshavebeenledbymanyissues,onedirectp r o b

l e m ofthemislowemployeesatisfaction.Inadditiontothat,whereas,thefactoroflowemployeesatisfactioniscontributedbyawiderangeofissuescollectedfrominterviewsandothersecondarydataaswell.Amongall,intermsoffactornatureofwork,highsalestarget,competitionbetweenco-

workers,poorpayandbenefit,inthecurrents i t u a t i o n ofthecompanyt h a t FPTRe t a i

l JSChavetobuilduptheirimagesan d makee f f o r t toattractbiginvestors,soifoneofthemhasbeenchosenascentralproblem,itcannotb e changedorimproved.R e g a r d i

n g t h e promotiono p p o r t u n i t y a n d f a c t o r o f motivation,notsomanypeoplefindthemthemainproblemsthatimpactonorganizationoutcomes.Moreover,ifjobstressorburnoutareselectedasthecentralproblem,itwill

taketoomuchtimeandeffort,resourcestosolvewhichisimpossibleinthelimitedscopeo f work.

Moreimportantly,whenbeinginterviewed,peoplemostlymentionedtheproblemo f ineffectivesupervisionwhichisthemostinfluentialfactortoconsequenceswhichisregardedasasolvablecentralprobleminthiscontext.Mostofintervieweesmentionedandemphasizedp r o b l e m o f s u p e r v i s i o n , t h e y a r e n o t s a t i s f i e d w i t h t h e i rsupervisor;leaversalsodecidedtoleavecompanyduetot he ir supervisor’sbehaviors andthewayt h e y supervised

Mr.LyQuocTien–

oneoftheintervieweejoiningtheinitialinterviewsharedthath e l e f t FPTb e c a u s e o f h i s s u

p e r v i s o r s , h e believedthatt h e y w e r e r e a l l y s e l f i s h a n d thoughtfortheirbenefitonly,heandhissupervisordidnothaveagoodrelationship,theyd id notlistenandacceptconstructiveopinionsfromhim.AgreedwithMr.LyQuocTien,M r VuThanhTungwhowasalsoanintervieweeinthefirstinterviewsharedthat,therewasaplentyofreasonsthatmadehimleavecompany,butamongallofthem,problemofsupervisionisthekeycausetothisissue.Fromhisperspective,employeesdidnotleavet h e i r company,theylefttheirsupervisorsormanagers.FromperspectiveofMs.LeThiNgocHoa,shehad2managers.Shewasnothappywiththewayhermanagerssupervised,t h e y didn o t u n d e r s t a n d s t a f f ’ s f e e l i n g s a n d s h e d i d n ’ t receiv

ea n y goods u p p o r t fromhermanagers

To conclude,after collectinginformationandanalyzingallthefactors,problemofi n e f f e c t i v e supervisionishighlyconsideredasrootcauseorcentralproblemthatneeds tob e tackledinthescopeofthisthesis

Accordingt o M o r g a n , M i c h a e l M(3),supervisionseemst o involvea s t r u c t u

r e d r e l a t i o n s h i p betweenasupervisorandsuperviseewiththegoaltohelpthesuperviseegai

nt h e attitudes,skills,andknowledgeneeded;butsimplytopointoutthatformanypeople;supervisioni s c o n c e r n e d w i t h a varietyo f objectives.P e l l , ArthurR(4)showedt h a t a goodsupervisorknowsthestrengthsandlimitationsofeachteammember.Inplanningh ow topresentinformationtotheteamitisimportanttokeepthisinmind.Bybuildingthi s knowledgeintotheapproachused,thesupervisorcantailorthemannerinwhichthei n s t r u c t i o n s willbegiventowhatisbestfor t he personinvolved.Watkins(5)suggestedt h a t ineffectivesupervisorsa r e i n t o l e r a n t , non-

empathic,discouraging,defensive,a n d u n i n t e r e s t e d i n t r a i n i n g or c o n s u l t a

t i o n t o improvet h e i r s u p e r v i s o r y skills.“ A n y s a l e s supervisorsa r e i n e f f e c t i v e b e

c a u s e t h e y d o n ' t knowh o w t o b e managers”s a i d McSparran,Kent(6)

1.3.2ustifytheexistenceofproblem

Thiss e c t i o n aimst o validatew h e t h e r ineffectivesupervisioni s a r e a l c e n t r

a l p r o b l e m inFPTDigitalRetailJSC

Thereisavarietyoftheoriesthatgivesoutthedimensionsofineffectivesupervision.Variousdimensionsof ineffectivesupervisionhavebeen discussedin lotsofr e s e a r c h previously.McSparran,K e n t(7)s t a t e dmanys a l e s supervisorsa r e ineffectiveb e c a u s e t h e y don'tknowh o w t o b e managers.T h e s e f e l l o w s generallyfalli n

t o t w o

groups.Thefirsttypeofineffectivesupervisorsaretheworker-beeswhofeelguiltyandunproductiveift h e y aren o t m o v i n g cases,hangingsignso r makingemergency

becausetheyf a i l torecognizethattheycanaccomplishmorebyincreasingtheoutputofeight

s u b o r d i n a t e s t h a n t h e y c a n b y t h e i r o w n hardwork.T h e s e c o n d t y p e o f i

n e f f e c t i v e supervisorsa r e t h o s e witht h e " I ' v e p a i d m y

-d u e s " a t t i t u -d e T h e s e p e o p l e i n t e r p r e t a promotiontomanagementasmeaningthattheyhavedonetheirtimeonthestreetsandhavee a r n e d t h e rightt o c o a s t f o r a w

h i l e Situatedo n thee a s y s i d e o f t h e i n v e r t e d a cc o u n t ab i l i t y equation,thesesupervisorsfailtoseethattheirpaycheckisjustifiedonlyb y theeffecttheyhaveontheproductivityoftheircrew.AccordingtoNicholasLadany1,

YokoM o r i 2 , a n d K r i s t i n E M e h r 3(8),t h e effectiveandineffectives u p e r v i s i o n s were

differentiatedbasedonthesupervisoryworkingalliance,supervisorstyle,supervisorself-d i s c l o s u r e , superviseenondifferentiatedbasedonthesupervisoryworkingalliance,supervisorstyle,supervisorself-disclosureandifferentiatedbasedonthesupervisoryworkingalliance,supervisorstyle,supervisorself-dsuperviseeevaluationusingsuperviseeevaluationo f s u p e r v i s o r form,workinga l l i a n c e i n v e n t o r y / s u p e r v i s i o n -

s h o r t form,supervisorys t y l e s inventory,supervisors e l f

-d i s c l o s u r e i n -d e x , t r a i n e e -d i s c l o s u r e s c a l e , evaluationprocesswithinsupervisioninventory

Threerespondentsoutofeightpeopleinthefirstinterviewattendedtheinterviewt o helpvalidatetheexistenceofineffectivesupervisionatcompany.Having

deepertalksw i t h Mr.LyQuocTien,hestatedthathewasnotsatisfiedwithhissupervisor’sskillsand

techniquesorbehaviorswhichcouldn’thelphimgrowup.Helearnedbyhimself.Therew a s noagreementonthegoalsofsupervisionbetweenhissupervisorandhe.Supervisoraskeda n d assignedt o him,a n d h e j u s t f o l l o w e d Aboutt h e emotionalb o n d b e t w e e n supervisorandhe,hismanageralsocreatedhighpressureonhim,everythingwasimposedbyhismanagers.

Resultofthisjustificationprocessillustratedthatineffectivesupervisiondoesexistin thisorganizationwhichhadbeensupportedbyboththeoriesanddata

1.3.3Justifytheimportanceofproblem

Asvalidatedabove,t h e p r o b l e m o f ineffectives u p e r v i s i o n r e a l l y e x i s t s i n FPTDigitalR e t a i l JSC,t h i s s e c t i o n aimst o j u s t i f y w h e t h e r a n d h o w t h i s c e n t r a lproblemimportanttomakebigimpactstoorganizationoutcomesbydetermining thecause-effectr e l a t i o n s h i p o f ineffectives u p e r v i s i o n t o e m p l o y e e s a t i s f a c t i o n , turnoverr a t e , a n d j o b performancedirectlyorindirectly

Zaman**& AllahN a w a z ,

(10)j o b

s a t i s f a c t i o n o f academiciansi s w e l l documentedacrosstheliteraturewherecertainleadingfactorsofsatisfactionhavebeenr e s e a r c h e d overandoverindicatingthatwork,pay,supervision,promotion,coworkersa n d environmentcollectivelydeterminesthetotalsatisfactionofaworker/officer

22Theterm“turnover”isdefinedbyPrice(11)a s :theratioofthenumberoforganizationalmemberswhohaveleftduringtheperiodbeing

considereddividedbytheaveragenumbero fp eo ple inth at or ga niza ti on during thep

e ri od C h o u , R i t a

Jing-AnnAuthorI n f o r m a t i o n(12)s t a t e dt he fac tt hat whenturnoveri s high,t h e r e a re n o t en o

u g h workerst o p e r f o r m t a s k s , c a u s i n g a s i t u a t i o n t h a t a f f e c t s q u a l i t y o f outcomes.Furthermore,highturnoveralsocreates aconstantinflowofnewworkers,whotendtobel e s s experienced

Yang,C h e n g

-L i a n g ; H w a n g , M a r k(13)s t a t e dt h a t j o b p e r f o r m a n c e measuresanindividuala g a i n

s t h i s o r h e r goal,w i t h a n emphasiso n w h e t h e r outcomesmatcht h e e x p e c t e d goalorishowanemployeeperformshisorhertasksusingtime,techniquesandi n t e r a c t i o n s withothers

Liang;H w a n g , M a r k(13)showedt h a t i f j o b s a t i s f a c t i o n i n f l u e n c e s jobperforma

nce,thenattentionshouldbegiventofactorsthatcontributetohighjobsatisfaction,which,ifpresent,canthenleadtohighjobperformance

23Wei(Amy)Tian-Foreman(16)s h o w e dthatthemoststudiedwork/job-

relatedan t e c ed en t ofturnoverhasbeenjobsatisfaction,whichhastypicallybeentreatedasanin t e r v e n i n g variable

Tojustifythatineffectivesupervisionandemployeesatisfaction,turnoverrate,jobperformanceareinthecause-effectrelationship,in-

o f l e a v i n g companyb e c a u s e shewasuncomfortableworkingwithhertwosupervisors.Whenshefeltu n h a p p y , shedidnotwanttogotoworkandcouldn’tperformwellatwork

Centralproblem ofineffectivesupervisionis r e a l l y importantwhichcan greatlyimpactdirectlysatisfactionand indirectlyinfluenceturnoverrateandjobperformance.T h e r e f o r e , whenevert h e re havebe en so l u t i o n s t o ineffectivesu p e r v i s i o n , a l l t

alreadyi n t r o d u c e d i n t h e f i r s t p a r t , M r LyQ u o c T i e n a n d M r V u T h a n h Tungalsoagreedwiththreemaincauseslistedbelowwhicharesupervisoryrelationship,soft-skillt r a i n i n g andfactorofgender-relatedleadership.Inadditiontothat, theseprimarydataaref u l l y informedbytheory.

Supervisoryrelationship

BernardandGoodyear(17)broadlydefinethesupervisoryrelationshipasincluding

a l l interactionsbetweenasupervisorandsuperviseeandaccordingtoBordin,thesupervisoryrelationshipcollaborationfor changeinvolving mutualagreementandu n d e r s

t a n d i n g o f t h e goalsa n d t a s k s o f supervisiona s w e l l a s t h e b o n d s b e t w e e n thesupervisorandsuperviseenecessarytosustaintherelationship

Next,w e reviewt h e l i t e r a t u r e t h a t s u b s t a n t i a t e s w h a t superviseesarea s k i n gofsupervisorsa n d highlightst h a t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p i s a n e s s e n t i a l e l e m e n t i n s u

p e r v i s i o n e f f i c a c y andeffectivenessaccordingtoPatton&Kivlighan(18).Wealsoexplorewhathasb e e n writtenaboutineffectivesupervisionandparticipantsfinditmeaningfulthattheiro w n experienceswithineffectivesupervisionarecongruentwiththisliterature

Whenbeingaskedaboutsupervisoryrelationship,Mr.LyQuocTienandMr.VuT h

a n h Tunga l l s h a r e d t h e sameviewp o i n t s t h a t t h e y d i d n ’ t havegoodo r stron

gr el a t io n s h i p withtheirsupervisors.Noorverylimitedrapport,trustorcaringhasbeenc r e a t e d Mr.HuynhQuangLongalsostatedthefactthattherewasnotimeforfeedback,listening,gettingopinionsfromsalesmanoremployees

Soft-skilltraining

25Trainingsa r e n o t o n l y forn e w h i r e s o r l o w levelemployees.Eventopmanagementalsoneedstrainings(includingtechnicalandsoft-

skillstraining).Accordingt o Santucci,P h i l l i p J(19)traditionally,traininglies w it hi nt he r e a l

m ofhumanr e s o u r c e management.Itseemslogicaltoletthepeoplehohire,process,andorientnewemployeesalsotrainthembeforeturningthemovertotheirsupervisors.Thesupervisorsmightormightnotconductfurthertraining,dependingonwhattheyfeelisnecessaryorcomfortable.Maket r a i n i n g t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f supervisors( p u t i t i n t h e i r j o b d e s c

r i p t i o n s ) a n d u s e t h e trainings t a f f t o providet r a i n i n g s u p p o r t t o t h e s u p e r v i

s o r s SayingsofMr.VuThanhTung,mostofupperlevelmanagersinFPTrecentlylackofi n t e r p e r s o n a l skills,theyarenotemotional,attractiveintermsoftheirsupervisorystyle

Gender-relatedleadership

Thereisnodoubtthat90%memberfromBoardofDirectorofFPTRetailJSCarefemale.Comer,LucetteB(24)revealedthatwomenarerelativenewcomerstothei n d u s t r i a l s a l e s f o r c

e , w h i c h t r a d i t i o n a l l y wass t a f f e d almoste x c l u s i v e l y b y men.T h e st u d y s h o w

e d t h a t M a l e s a l e s f o r c e membersw e r e mostresponsivet o l e a d e r s whod i s p l

a y e d individualizedconsiderationandusedatransactionstyle(contingentrewardsormanagemen

tb y e x c e p t i o n ) Saleswomenp r e f e r r e d charismaticl e a d e r s a n d t h o s e w h o w e r

e capableofintellectuallystimulatingmethods.Therefore,genderfactoralsomakeanimpacto n supervisions t y l e Doughty,E l i z a b e t h A(20)pointedo u t t h a t superviseesm a y havedifferentexpectationsofmaleandfemalesupervisor.Thereisanexpectationfemalesupervisorsmightbemorenurturing

orcommunicateagreatersenseofcaringthantheirmalecounterparts Theexpectationofmalesupervisorsistheywillrelylesson

High turnoverLow employee satisfaction

Low job performanceIneffective supervision

Supervisory relationshipSoft-skill trainingGender-related leadership

relationshipvariablesa n d f o c u s moreo n t h e a p p r o p r i a t e n e s s o r f a i r n e s s o f t h e supervisee'sa c t i o n s M a l e s a r e o f t e n vieweda s e x p e r t s a n d t r e a t e d a s s u c h

b y t h e i r supervisees.W h e n t h e s e t r a d i t i o n a l e x p e c t a t i o n s a r e n o t met,somesuperviseesmaybecomer e s i s t a n t t o th e supervisionp r o c e s s , o r sho wb ias t o w a r

d t h e i r sup er vis or Forexample,malesmightbecomeresistantiftheyfeeltheymustbe"subordinate"totheirfemalesupervisor.Intermsofl e a d e r s h i p style,

Mr.LyQ u o c Tiena l s o s h a r e d h i s o p i n i o n s that,femalemanagersinFPTRetailJSCalsomakedecisionsontheiremotiona n d shortageofequality

Toputitinanutshell,finalcauseandeffectmapispresentedasbelow:Figure5:Finalca

useandeffectmap

informed.M e t h o d t o b e u s e d i n t h i s

sectionisin-depthinterviewwithsemi-

structuredandopen-endedquestionstothesamerespondentsinpreviouspartwhoareMs.LeThiNgocHoa,Mr.LyQuocTienandM r VuThanhTung.Questionnaireweredesignedtocollectdatafromthreerespondentswhichwillbepresentedinpart4.2ofchapterIV

CotterM e n a , K r i s t i n M a r g u e r i t e(21)statedt h a t t h e supervisoryr e l a t i o n s h i

p f u n c t i o n s toprovidesupportandguidancetosocialworkersandfrontlineworkers.Theq u a l i t y ofthisrelationshipcaneitherenhanceordetractfromtheworker'sperformanceoreffectiveness.Inthesupervisoryrelationship,thegoalistoprovidetheworkerwiththeguidancet

o a i d i neffectivea n d e ff ic ien tse rv ice t o cl ien ts B e s i d e s , c o n s e q u e n t l y , t h e supervisoryrelationshipthatsupportsworkersatisfaction an dpreventsburnoutise s s

e n t i a l

(3)The

c o n c e p t o f supervisoryr e l a t i o n s h i p event o d a y r e m a i n s o n e o f t h e mosti n f l u e n t i a l insupervision.Supervisoryrelationshipincludesthecollaborationforchangei n v o l v i n g mutualagreementandunderstandingofthegoalsandtasksofsupervisionas

wellasthebondsofsupervisorandsuperviseetosustaintherelationship.Muson(21)alsomentionedtrustwithin supervisoryrelationship asa requirementtoeffectivesupervision.Shulmana l s o i n c l u d e d r a p p o r t a n d ca r i n g a s elementst o a positiv

es u p e r v i s o r y r e l a t i o n s h i p

Whenbeingaskedabouttherelationshipbetweensupervisorandsupervisee,ther e

s u l t showedthatallrespondentsagreedthattherewasalowleveloftrustbetweentheman d theirsupervisors.Intermofrapportandcaring,thesameanswerwasreceivedthatt h e r e wasalmostnocaringandrapportfromtheirdirectsupervisors

skillsuchascommunication,a n d dohisdirectmanagers.Thisisarootcausefromtrainingissue,too.Atthismoment,t h e r e is n ot ra in in g intermsof li st en in g skill,u n d e r s t a n d i n gand co mm un ica ti on skill.Andyouknow,itisnottruethateveryonecancommunicatewell.Therefore,soft-skillt r a i n i n g issueshouldbeincludedtobegivenprioritytobesolved

Thirdly,gender-relatedleadershipissueisalsomentionedasoneofthreecausestoi n e f f e c t i v e supervision.Comer,LucetteB(22)confirmedthatfemalesalesmanager

29isstilla relativer a r i t y T h e r e f o r e , managemento f t h e i n d u s t r i a l s a l e s f o r c e i

s a n i m p o r t a n t

targetforwomen'sachievementiftheyaretobreakthroughthe"glassceiling"andgaina c c e s

s totopmanagementpositions.Toaccomplishthis,womenmustfirstdemonstratet h e i r a

b i l i t y t o supervisetheactivitieso f f i e l d s a l e s p e r s o n n e l R o s e n a n d J e r d e e ' s(22)s t a t e d

t h a t s u b o r d i n a t e s o f b o t h gendersweremores a t i s f i e d w i t h a contingentr e w

a r d p o l i c y w h e n s u p e r v i s e d b y m a l e s t h a n t h e y w e r e w i t h a s i m i l a r p r o g r a mmanagedb y females.W a t s o n(22)a l s of o u n d o u t thati n oneorganization,menw e r e f o

u n d tob e significantlymorereceptivet h a n womentofemalemanagersw h o emphasizeda participative,warm,informalsupervisionstyle

Whenbeingasked,Mr.VuThanhTungandMs.LeThiNgocHoaallagreedthatmosto fmanagersi n FPTR e t a i l JSCa r e femalebuti t c a n n o t a f f e c t t h e i r s u p e r v i s i o n effectiveness.Onthecontrary,amongthreeinterviewees,Mr.LyQuocTiensharedthatfemalemanagersusuallymakedecisionontheiremotionsandfeelings

However,factorofgender-relatedleadershipwasnotemphasizedtoomuchtobeac a u s e whichneedstobetackledurgently.Besides,toimprovegender-

relatedleadershipi s s u e , itisrelatedtoalongprocessofrecruitmentwhichcannotbesolvedinthelimitedtimeandresourcesofthisthesis

r e l a t e d leadershipissuesareexistingandimportanttothecentralproblemofineffectivesupervision.Nevertheless,inthescopeofthesis,factor ofsupervisoryrelationshipandsoft-skilltrainingwillbeselectedascausestothecentralproblem

2.2.Solutiondesign

With all symptoms,centralproblem that addressed and discussedabove,solutionshavebeendesignedtotackleproblems.Obviously,therearethreemaincausesthatleadt o centralproblemofineffectivesupervision.Nevertheless,afterreviewingthetheoriesa n d datafrominterviews.It’stimetoconsiderfactorofsupervisoryrelationshipisthemostcrucialfactorwhichisarootcauseneededtobesolved.Sincethat,solutionshaveb e e n disclosedandbuiltupbasedonliteratureaswellasdatafromin-depthinterview

o n t r a c t , a s s e s s i n g thesupervisee,andgoalsetting

Mr.H u y n h Q u a n g Longs a i d “OurC o m p a n y n e e d s t o r e s c h e d u l e a n d a l

l o c a t e s u i t a b l e timef o r feedback,l i s t e n a n d u n d e r s t a n d e a c h o t h e r more.W e n

e e d timef o r supervisorsa n d sales t a f f /

e m p l o y e e s ” C u r r e n t l y i n FPTR e t a i l JSC,s u p e r v i s o r s a n d

Thisw i l l beaninternalmeetingandexchangingideasonhowtoimprovesupervisoryr e l a t

i o n s h i p andenrichthe internalcommunication Inadditiontothat, toenhanceth

is supervisoryr e l a t i o n s h i p , regardlesst h e effectivenesso f

i n t e r n a l communication

ande x c h a n g i n g ideas,teambuildingando u t d o o r s o c i a l activitiess h o u l d a l s o b e r

e i n f o r c e d a n d s t r e n g t h e n e d .E l l i s (23)alreadys p e c i f i e d t h a t t h e supervisoryr e l a t i o n

s h i p w a s i d e n t i f i e d asthemostimportantelementinsupervisionbythesupervisee.Theoreticallya n d c o n c e p t u a l l y , i t i s presumedt h a t t h e s u p e r v i s o r y w o r k i n g

a l l i a n c e c o n t r i b u t e s tosuperviseegrowthanddevelopment.Therefore,creatingastrongworkingallianceswithmutualagreementb a s e d ont h e goalsetting,a s s e s s i n g s u p e

r v i s e e , n o t o n l y r e c e i v i n g o r d e r s orrequestfromtoptodown

Havingsho rt t a l k s w i t h M r H u y n h Q u a n g L o n g w ho i s T r a i n i n g Mana ger

a n d d i s c u s s e d withhimthissolutionandweallsharedthebenefitcostanalysisasbelowBenefit:

 Supervisorandsuperviseecanbridgethegapincommunication,inorderthatthesupervisoryrelationshipmustbereinforced

Providefrequenttraining quarterlytom ana ger ’s level.Topicof trainingwillbe

discussedbetweenSalesTeamandHumanResourcesDepartmentpriortothetraining,mainlyinsoft-

skillstrainingsbutnotlimitedtolisteningskill,interpersonalskills.Thet r a i n e r s willbeseniorvoluntaryexpertfromvariouscountriesworkingforGovernment-

O f f i c e u n d e r t h e p r o j e c t s T h i s s o l u t i o n w i l l b e morec o m p r e h e n s i v e

w i t h t h e combinationo f t h e t e a m b u i l d i n g activitiesa s s e r i e s o f a c t i o n s T r a i n e

r s a l s o j o i n thiss e r i e s ofactionsasanunderlyingpartofFPTRetailJSC.Andtimebytime,trainerscanb e veryfamiliarw i t h activities,getf a m i l i a r w i t h managementlevela t companyt o becomeaconsultinggroupsofcompany

Thepr ob le m ofin ef fec ti ve su p e r v i s i o n is alsoca used by t r a i n i n g iss uesatFPTRet ail JSCatthismoment.AccordingtoLindo,

DavidK(24):Atrainingprogramcanhelpsupervisorsl e a r n h o w t o o v e r s e e t h e workofo t h e r

s a n d maket h e e f f o r t n e c e s s a r y t o meets u b o r d i n a t e s ' n e e d s A goodtrainingstrategys h o u l d h e l p s u p e r v i s o r s makethet r a n s i t i o n i n t o management,encouragesupervisorst o developi m p o r t a n t s u p e r v i s o r y skills,an d providecontinuing directionforcareerdevelopment.A supervisorytraining programthatbeginsp r i o r t o managementa p p o i n t m e n t s w i l l p a y o f f b y i n c r e a s i n g th e productivityandqualityofsupervisors.Mr.HuynhQuangLongsharedthatatFPTnow,t h e y usuallytrain newhires fromtechnicaltosoft-

skillstec hn iq ues, however,b e c a u s e t h e y arefacingthefactofhighturnoverrate,theyhavet

board.Forsomecases,newhires

failedintheirtests,andaftermanytimestheyalsohavetogetthemon-board,becausethey skillt r a i n i n g duetotheirworkloadandtimemanagement.Trainingteamjustupdatethemnew

needthem.However,formanager’slevel,itrarelyprovidesregularsoft-p r o d u c t s , h o w t o u s e , w h i c h meant e c h n i c a l

skills.Soft-skillstrainingi s r e a l l y importancewhichdecidessupervisionstyle.Jain,Samta(25)i n d i c a t e dthatsoftskillshavebecomeanessentialqualityformanagerstoeffectivelymanagetheirteamandjobinthec o r p o r a t e w o r l d irrespectiveo f t h e s e c t o r Alongw i t h p r o f e s s i o n a l

q u a l i f i c a t i o n a n d domainknowledge,t o d a y ' s p ro fe ssi ona ls needt op ossess a highsof t skillsquotient ino r d e r tosucceedinthiscompetitiveera

 Learnpracticalthingsfrominternationaltrainersandgetexperienced

Cost

JSCbutinshort-ThissolutionwillsolvecurrentproblemasabusinessproblematFPTR e t a i l JSCandt h e analysisofbenefit-

costshowsthatt h e benefitsexceedthecosts

sibilitytoraisevoiceandguildeveryonet ofollow.T h e r e a re alsopenaltiestomanagementlevel

getusedtonewregulationoftrainingsectionandpenaltyregulationifneeded

Boundarycondition Thisnewtrainingprogramtotallycompli

eswithlegalrequirements,includingthoseonhealthandsafety.Italsocomplieswithpresentbusinesspoliciesofthecompanyandfitthepresentcompanyculture

Thisnewtrainingprogramtotallycomplieswithlegalrequirements,includingthoseonhealthandsafety.It alsocomplieswithpresentbusinessp o l i c i e s oft

h e c o m p a n y andfitthepresentcompanyculture

Designrestrictions Thisprojectshouldtakenomorethan

12months( s h o r t e r term)andtherealityofthissolutionwillchangethepresentbusinesssystem

Theprojectshouldtakenomorethan24months(longerterm)

Therealityoft h i s s o l u t i o n willchangeint h e presentbusinesssystem