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CASE STUDY

Eric is currently employed as a Consultant with the major management consulting firm, H. Solo, Inc. When he first started, he completed 5 rounds of intense interviews and a probation period of 6 months. Eric has now been with H. Solo, Inc. for 3 years. Eric’s parents are incredibly proud of him; H. Solo, Inc. is a reputable organization and it’s rumoured that they pay their consultants well.

H. Solo, Inc. has approximately 36,000 employees worldwide and consistently ranks in the top 3 consulting firm globally. H. Solo, Inc. helps their clients become more durable brands for future generations, and regularly meets their commitment to their stakeholders.

When Eric was first hired, he was placed into H. Solo, Inc.’s management training stream. It was never fully explained to him what this training stream entailed but after graduating and then 5 years bouncing from one company to the next, Eric was just pleased to work at an organization that could offer him some stability. In his first year with H. Solo, Inc. Eric was “evaluated” on 4 different teams until he was unceremoniously placed onto a marketing team. The hours are long, the work is competitive, and Eric travels 80% of the time, usually only seeing his 2 young children and his partner from Friday morning until Sunday night before he flies out again. Eric works from his home office on Fridays.

3 weeks ago, Eric was approached by the headhunting firm, Leia and Associates. Even though Eric has only been with H. Solo, Inc. for 3 years, he has 8 years of work experience. Eric has also been on the Taco King account, which has seen consistent revenue growth for the last 3 years, although Eric never documents any of his contributions. Leia and Associates would like to put Eric forward for a Senior Consultant role with the competing management consulting firm, K. Ren, Inc. Eric will also be given the opportunity to lead a small team of 4 individuals if he wins the role.

Eric isn’t sure if he should apply for K. Ren, Inc. though.

Eric has always wanted to lead a division at a large enterprise company. At most management consulting firms it takes the average consultant at least 5 years of employment before they are eligible for the much-desired Partner status, which is when compensation is far more lucrative. Eric is concerned he’d be giving up 3 years of his career to start over again, although he’d be moving for a more senior role.

Over the duration of his time with H. Solo, Inc., Eric has yet to have a conversation with the executive team about his career projection, but he knows 2 colleagues who didn’t either until they were suddenly offered Partner status.

In addition, Eric is regularly offered new training programs on various technologies but when the opportunity arises with a client, he’s usually asked to pass the work to a more experienced consultant. H. Solo, Inc. does have an incentive program where consultants are awarded a bonus when they implement new technology.

Eric reports into Marissa, a Partner who has been with H. Solo, Inc. for the last 18 years. Marissa is Eric’s 2nd boss this year because of “internal shuffling” so he hasn’t had the opportunity to really get to know her. Marissa missed his last performance review because she did not feel she had adequate information on his performance yet, however, she was quick to get feedback from Taco King, who all said that Eric was their brightest consultant. They also said that Eric is a personable and likable human being. Eric gets the impression that Marissa may be intimidated by him because she is difficult to schedule time with. Eric has an MBA and is continuing his education on weekends to focus on analytics, while Marissa worked her way up in the organization.

One of Eric’s greatest challenges at H. Solo, Inc. is the ongoing disputes he has with Luke, another consultant who started approximately the same time as him. Luke is often unethical in his business practices, like adding more hours on a timesheet, which is charged back to their clients. Eric is confident that H. Solo, Inc. is aware of Luke’s poor behaviour but no disciplinary action has occurred. In fact, Luke was recently given the Saber Award, which is provided to 1 employee per division per year.

It’s also rumoured that most management consulting firms reserve a set number of positions at the Partner level. These Partner roles can only be replaced (by promoting from within) when someone retires, is let go, or leaves willingly. At H. Solo, Inc. there are several Partners, including Marissa, who should be retiring soon.

Eric has till end of the day to inform Leia and Associates if he’d like to be put forward for the opportunity with K. Ren, Inc. He has decided to be transparent and speak with his Manager, Marissa, about his career goals, the opportunity presented, and his future with H. Solo, Inc., except she is once again unresponsive to his urgent request to meet.

You may select any 3 of the 7 questions and must answer them by referring to the case study.

No partial marks will be awarded (ie. partial responses to more than 3 questions)

Please pay attention to how each question is marked to maximize scoring. Mark breakdowns are placed in brackets below each question.

Question #1 – Identify the 4 levels of listening and provide 2 examples for each level from the case study.

Question #2 – List any five of the six types of questions a coach could ask Eric and provide an example of each type of question.

Question #3 – Define trust using one of the three methods we discussed in our class. Using your chosen definition of trust, explain how someone from this case study behaved in a mistrusting way.

Question #4 – List the 6 components of the ongoing performance management process. Provide an example when each component was or could have been implemented to improve performance.

Question #5 – There are several coaching tools we discussed in our class, which a coach may use to improve a coachee’s performance. List any 5 coaching tools and explain how you might use each one in this case study.

Question #6 – Define the 3 individual coaching approaches. Using the case study, provide an example when Marissa (Eric’s boss) might consider using each coaching approach. In your opinion, which method of individual coaching approach might work best if you were to coach Eric?

Question #7 – Define the 3 ways one might evaluate performance. Using the case study, provide an example when you might use each method. In your opinion, which method of evaluating performance is best for Eric’s current position?