Case Study:

Over and Output

Introduction

In a 60-person team working for Amazon Fashion, - selling clothing, shoes, jewelry, watches, accessories, and luggage- employees are asked a different survey question on a daily basis to track job, team, and manager satisfaction

Symptoms

Results from these surveys show that employees report low job satisfaction, feeling demotivated, frustrated, and feeling disconnected from the strategy/vision. They also report not understanding the “why” behind their work and don’t feel that they are “achieving their career goals”.

Diagnosis

Following 1-on-1 interviews with employees, the scope of the problem began to crystallize. The Amazon Fashion cultural norms (whether spoken or unspoken) for manager-employee relationships, feedback, and focus areas showcase an inherent prioritization of employee output over employee development.

Amazon Fashion managers, leadership, and org culture lacks focus on fostering talent; bolstering opportunities for career growth; and identifying opportunities for employees to develop new skill sets, take on new responsibilities, or stretch themselves as strategic thinkers and problem solvers.

Solution

We recommended that the management at Amazon shift the managerial focus. Since managers are currently rewarded for driving their teams to meet certain output levels (e.g. sales goals, task completion), to bring together the team and improve morale, connection, and satisfaction, Amazon Fashion will need to train managers how to develop their employees and reward managers for developing their employees.