Jomel Laus Viray

11213817
I.

Executive Summary

SUMMARY
The performance appraisal system of Kidsgo Corporation is being
contested by African American employees on the basis that they are racially
discriminated by their superiors, all of whom are white except for two. The
corporation is composed of seventy sales clerks of which fifty are

African

Americans, all of whom are appraised by the companys performance

appraisal system based on their level of sales, attendance, customer
relations, decorum, and other operations. The complaints received were of
the African American sales clerks supervisors rating them differently
because of their race. In addition, there are also two individual African
Americans who are on the brink of unemployment due to the complains of
customers for them being ill-mannered toward them. Furthermore, rumors
about the two sales clerks were that they were purposely being ill-mannered
and that they would immediately quit their jobs after receiving their
Christmas bonuses.
PROBLEMS

The problems that arose in the situation of Kidsgo Corporation is that

of poor communications between a superior and a subordinate which leads
to great job dissatisfaction from the African American sales clerks. Another
problem would be the unrevised appraisal performance system in which the
African American sales clerk deem biased against their race which in turn
also leads to their job dissatisfaction thus entailing poor performance.
RECOMMENDED PLAN OF ACTION AND BREIF JUSTIFICATION
The problem regarding the performance appraisal system would be
addressed by the managements re-evaluation of the system which would
eliminate the racial biased criterion and further neutralizing the companys
way of rating their employees. The problem regarding the companys lack of
communication would be addressed by yearly trainings and team building
activities which would lead to a more pleasant relationship among the
employees.
The

problem

regarding

the

two

discourteous

African

American

employees would be addressed through a just process of termination

wherein both the employees terminated and the customers affected would
be compensated which would lead to both parties benefiting from the said
arrangement.

II. Statement of the Problem

The complaint against the companys performance appraisal system
made by the African American sales clerks supervisors are alleged
discriminatory of race. The effect of this problem would have a long term
effect because of its wide coverage of not only the African American sales
clerks but all of the companys sales clerks. The allegation that the
companys performance appraisal system would greatly affect the job
satisfaction of its employees and if this information got around would
negatively impact the image of the company. Thus this problem should be
resolved in a way that would benefit both the company and its employees.
The two discourteous African American sales clerks on the other hand
may be another problem altogether which may be not entirely related to the
previous stated problem in which the two sales clerks are for a fact illmannered toward their customers which is considered a ground for
termination according to the countrys labor code which states that an
employer may terminate an employment for any of the following cases: (a)
Serious misconduct or wilful disobedience by the employee of the lawful
orders of his employer or representative in connection with his work. The
manner in which this problem is handled should therefore be racially neutral
because of the pending allegation of the African American employees that
the companys system is racially biased. This problem should be not based

on hearsay and should be further investigated before implementing actions

of termination in accordance with the labor code of the Philippines.
III. Causes of the Problem
The lack of communication between the supervisors and the sales clerk
may be one of causes of the problem. The absence of communication
between the companys superiors and their subordinates may result to the
dissatisfaction of the employees in their work which leads to poor
performances that will in turn affect their performance. The employees
unsatisfying performance therefore would be reflected on their performance
appraisal reports which will further dissatisfy them with regard to their jobs.
The reasons between the lack of communication may be due to the
difference in the supervisors and the sales clerks racial status. According to
the Communication Accommodation Theory, during communication, people
will try to accommodate or adjust their style of speaking to others. This is
done in two ways: divergence and convergence. Groups with strong ethnic
or racial pride often use divergence to highlight group identity. Convergence
occurs when there is a strong need for social approval, frequently from
powerless individual. Because of the difference in racial statuses of the
supervisors, all of which except two are white, and the African American
sales clerks, a negative effect may occur wherein disagreements would come
off their communication which in turn would have few conversations that
would take place as to avoid further disagreements.

On an individual level, work dissatisfaction may come from isolated cases

unrelated from that of the possible disagreements due to differences in racial
statuses. The situation regarding the two discourteous sales clerks may
come from other factors besides their dissatisfaction which is due to the
companys lack of communication between their superiors and subordinates.
Thus, there is a need for further investigation in which the accused
employees are given an opportunity to state their sides of the story wherein
their reasons may be of a different nature or due to the lack of
communication within the company which led to their dissatisfaction and
direct them to act accordingly.
IV. Decision Criteria and Alternative Solutions
The criteria in which the alternative solutions are decided upon would
be the costs to implement the said alternative, the benefits from
implementing the said alternative and the possible feedback from the
employees of the company.
FIRST ALTERNATIVE
The first alternative would be focusing on eliminating the racial biases
among all systems and employees, and improving both the relationship of
supervisors and their employees as well as that of the employees and their
customers. The two employees would also be evaluated due to their
discourteous attitudes and would be terminated on just grounds in a manner

in which exemplifies zero tolerance for ill-mannered employees regardless of

ethnicity.

The

customers

who

were

affected

would

also

be

given

compensation as to not tarnish the image of the company

The costs of implementing this alternative would come from the reevaluation of the companys performance appraisal system wherein racial
biased criterion would be eliminated and criterions which would neutrally
evaluate an employees performance would be applied. Another cost would
come from the yearly trainings the employees would undergo in which their
communication and relation skills would be developed which would develop
the relations of the employees toward their customers. Yearly team building
activities would also be implemented in order to develop the relationship
among the employees especially that of the supervisors and sales clerks. The
cost of the compensation of the terminated employees would also be needed
because those employees would need separation pay in order to compensate
for the time they spent in the company. The compensation paid to the
customers would also be part of the costs due to the need to prevent the
negative feedback from the customers.
The benefits that would result from these costs would be a more equal
approach in appraising an employees performance within the company
which would satisfy the qualms of the African Americans who are
complaining of the biased criterion the company has. A more harmonious
workplace would also ensue due to the trainings and activities that the

employees would undergo and thus they would be more satisfied with their
jobs. Because of this satisfaction, their performances would improve which
consequentially would also improve the profits of the company. The
prevention of the negative feedback would maintains the companys image
and would not affect the profits of the company which would be beneficial to
the company because of the isolation of the case of the discourteous sales
clerks.
The feedback of the employees toward these changes would hopefully
be leaning on the positive region because these implementations not only
would be for their benefit but would also improve the overall situation of the
company. Thus, the reception of the employees to the changes implemented
would be of great acceptance.
SECOND ALTERNATIVE
The second alternative would be that of maintaining the companys
current performance appraisal system, and firing the two discourteous
employees outright. The results would therefore be obtained immediately
and the problems stated earlier would then be somewhat resolved.
The costs that would come from implementing this alternative would
be from the compensation given to the two African American employees but
along with it the costs of having the impression that their termination was
wrongful due to the racial bias the company has. This would then affect the

company negatively which may also inadvertently affect the companys

profits in the long run. There would be no monetary costs accompanying the
maintenance of the companys performance appraisal system however there
would be negative reaction coming from the complaining African American
sales clerks which would then further their dissatisfaction towards their job.
These dissatisfied sales clerks may then quit their jobs leaving the company
with no manpower which would also affect the companys profits negatively
in the long run.
The benefits that would come off this alternative is that there would be
an immediate answer to the problems presented above. There would be
minimal monetary costs in implementing the changes which in turn would
not affect the companys profits in the short run. The company would
therefore have less problems to deal with for the mean time wherein they
would be able to focus more on other matters.
The feedback from these changes may be of the negative sort due to
the temporary answer of the company to the problems presented. Thus the
employees would become more dissatisfied and be less motivated to do their
work.
IV.

Recommended Solution, Implementation and Justification

I would recommend the first alternative as a solution to the problems

presented earlier.
For the problem regarding the two discourteous African American sales
clerks, their actions would be further reviewed and their just termination
would be coupled with a compensation pay which they would benefit from.
The just evaluation of the employees would then disregard the assumption
of racial discrimination happening within the company thus not affecting the
company negatively due to the isolated case of the African American sales
clerks. The customers affected would also be given compensation which in
turn would not negatively affect the companys image because the damages
done by the sales clerks were paid off.
For the problem regarding the performance appraisal system and the
communication skills of the companys employees, the re-evaluation of the
system would lead to the extinguishment of racial biased criterion and to the
more neutral way of appraising employees. The trainings and activities which
would be done yearly would improve the communication and relation skills of
the employees which would lead to a better customer relation of the
company and a harmonious relationship among the employees of the
company.
The first alternative would therefore address the problems presented
earlier and would give the optimal solution for the said problems.