Consulting ReportShara AfsharGayane GyulakopyanMichelle Nielsen

The American Red Cross Case Analysis

Table of ContentsIntroduction/Background...............................................................3Consulting Procedure....................................................................3Opening Note................................................................................5Presenting Problem.......................................................................5Summary of Gathered Data............................................................6Analysis/Diagnosis.........................................................................7Change Management.....................................................................7Star Model Analysis.......................................................................8Recommendations.........................................................................9

Details of the Recommendations.........................................................11Timeline......................................................................................12

Proposed Timeline.............................................................................13Appendix A………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………14

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Introduction/BackgroundThe American Red Cross (ARC), is a non-profit humanitarian organization that

provides emergency assistance, disaster relief and education inside the United States. The

organization was established in Washington, D.C. on May 21, 1881, by Clara Barton, who

founded the American chapter after learning of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland. The

American Red Cross gained solid support after assisting in two major disasters. Based on the

efforts of the American Red Cross, people began to recognize the positive impact that the

organization could have on people and communities.

The American Red Cross today is a nationwide network of more than 650 chapters

and 36 blood services regions dedicated to saving lives and helping people prepare for and

respond to medical emergencies. The dedicated individuals that make up The Red Cross are

approximately 500,000 volunteers that include FemaCorps and AmeriCorps members. There

are 30,000 employees annually that mobilize relief to people affected by disasters, train

people in necessary medical skills, and exchange emergency messages for U.S. military

service personnel and their family members. The American Red Cross supports victims,

military families, firefighters, and law enforcement when needed.

The mission of the American Red Cross is to prevent and alleviate human suffering in

the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.

The company culture is one of helping people and at the start of the project, the consulting

team identified that there was a low level of moral among the employees. After probing

further, the consulting team tried to clarify what the key factors were that were contributing

to the low morale. Based on the findings, the consulting team designed recommendations

that The American Red Cross could use to increase morale within the company to continue

the mission of helping people.

Consulting Procedure

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The consulting team was introduced to the client, The American Red Cross, through

one team member who had previous experience volunteering for the organization. After

reaching out to Jon Brown, the disaster program manager for territory 1, the consulting

group received permission to conduct an organizational needs analysis to identify if there

were any problems within the organization. The first initial contracting meeting was

arranged and the consultants met at one of many American Red Cross office buildings in Los

Angeles and interviewed Jon Brown to identify what he felt were some issues within The

American Red Cross.

In the initial contracting phase the consultants were able to ask Jon Brown in greater

detail what the consultants goal was throughout the project as well as what the client

expected to gain from the consultants in return. Some guidelines that were discussed were:

detailing the amount of participants the consultants would have access to, stressing the

importance of having managers and supervisors as part of the participants, clarifying that all

data collected from the interviews would be kept confidential and anonymous, outlining how

often the consulting team would check in with Jon, to establish the expectation that the

consulting team would be presenting the data collected to The American Red Cross in a

feedback session, and to deliver recommendations. It was discovered in the initial consulting

phase that in 2015 IBM had conducted an engagement survey and the consultants were

given permission to view the report and compare the results obtained from IBM to the

results obtained from the consultant's interviews (Appendix A). This was helpful for the

consultants to see that trust, growth & development, recognition, communication, and

inclusion were low within The Red Cross in 2015.

Based on the initial consulting phase, the team recognized that there was a low level

of moral within The Red Cross. The consulting team reached out to all of the participants one

at a time to interview each participant for an hour with the same six questions the team

developed to capture the level of moral within The American Red Cross. The questions

touched upon topics such as: recognition, satisfaction with their job, satisfaction with their

leadership, satisfaction with their company, satisfaction with their coworkers, and how their

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satisfaction could increase overall. Based on the answers received from each question, the

team would probe deeper to try to better understand the underlying problem. Each

interview was an hour long and was conducted over the phone with one member facilitating

and two members taking notes.

After the interviews were finished, the consulting team analyzed the data and

developed recommendations based on the key issues identified that were contributing to

the low levels of moral. The team held a feedback meeting with Jon and incorporated

recommendations accordingly. At the conclusion of the feedback session, the analysis and

recommendations were well received and a follow up meeting was scheduled to present the

findings to management in order to facilitate morale improvement.

Opening NoteThe American Red Cross is currently in alignment with how the organization helps

people and the community. All participants that were interviewed stressed a collective

opinion that they loved the outcome of the work that they do. There was a ‘do-gooder’

approach that was apparent throughout all participants and they genuinely believed in the

organization and what it stood for. Many participants saw the direct effect of their work

within the community and were willing to stay and work for the American Red Cross for as

long as they possibly could. Many participants stressed positive feedback with the level of

autonomy that higher management gave to its supervisors in regards to how they managed

their employees. Supervisors enjoyed the ability to move around at work and stressed the

ability take on various functions within the Red Cross, making them more ‘deployable’ when

needed to respond to disasters.

The American Red Cross has a clear hierarchy that enabled employees to know who

to go to for help and feel supported by that leadership, because they share the ‘do-gooder’

mindset. The organization understands the value of volunteers and the support that they

add to the organization in obtaining its overall mission. The American Red Cross has

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developed training and offered resources for volunteers to obtain the knowledge needed to

be successful in order to fully impact the American Red Cross.

Presenting ProblemAs indicated above, the presenting problem at the American Red Cross was found to

be low levels of employee morale. Meriam-Webster defines morale as “the mental and

emotional condition (i.e. of enthusiasm, confidence, or loyalty) of an individual or group with

regard to the function or tasks at hand, a sense of common purpose with respect to a group,

the level of individual psychological well-being based on such factors as a sense of purpose

and confidence in the future”. For the purposes of this research, morale is similarly defined

as job satisfaction, outlook, and feelings of well being of employees within the workplace.

Psychology Research and Reference, Inc. identified key components of morale as:1) Job satisfaction

2) Satisfaction with supervision

3) Satisfaction with rewards and recognition

4) Satisfaction with coworkers

5) Satisfaction with the organization and general management

Healthy levels of employee morale is essential for the success of the organization

and has been proven to have a direct effect on productivity (Neely, 1999), in addition to a

number of other organizational processes and outcomes such as return-on-investment and

turnover. Levels of employee morale in the American Red Cross have been reported as

considerably low according to information collected from all of our interviews, in alignment

with the results of IBM’s company-wide survey administered in 2015. This survey indicated

only 39% of employees would recommend the American Red Cross as a great place to work.

Low morale impacts the organization by creating high turnover and impacts the employees

by creating low job satisfaction, feelings of frustration, burnout, and disengagement is some

cases. It is important for this organization to take appropriate measures in addressing these

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issues to create a positive work environment, maintain satisfied workers, support a healthy

organizational function, and be able to achieve its business objectives.

Summary of Gathered DataThe six interviewees were asked six main questions exploring information on

addressing the main components of morale mentioned above. In addition, an open ended

question was asked inquiring how various levels of satisfaction within this organization can

be improved.

A high number of recurring themes included:

● Culture shifted from humanitarian to metrics driven and corporate, creating

conflicts with the fundamental missions of this organization

● Disconnected leadership perceptions on day-to-day job requirements

● Ambiguity: unclear delegation, lack of job clarity, roles, responsibilities, and

structures to follow

● Ineffective inter-departmental communication & collaboration

● Expectations are set too high with unrealistic goals

● Understaffed and over-worked creating high turnover

● Employees are feeling burnout due to the need for 24/7 connectivity to work

● Lack of effective training, poor onboarding, and no active recruiting

● Poor employee development opportunities

Analysis/DiagnosisA recurring topic discussed by interviewees was the dissatisfaction of workers with

the new corporate culture, highly metrics driven objectives and vision at the ARC. In 2007,

the ARC went through a fundamental restructuring of the organization’s processes,

strategies, and objectives to operate through a lean and metrics-based model, in order to

survive the loss of donation funding that resulted from the economic downturn. There was a

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change in the executive leadership running the new ARC and interviewees referred to this

change as shifting from a humanitarian-focus driven company to a metrics-driven company.

Interviewees indicated that this change was in conflict with the very fundamental mission

and vision of the Red Cross that inspired the employees to work for the ARC.

Change ManagementFollowing the analysis of data, it is proposed that the low morale can be caused by

insufficient change management measures around planning, communicating, implementing,

and sustaining the new structure, culture, and vision. This ineffective change management

has lead to feelings of ambiguity, resistance and low levels of morale. For a large-scale

organizational change to be successful, the reason behind the change needs to be

emphasized to obtain buy-in from employees.

Furthermore, there needs to be planning and resources in place that support the new

objective and structure of the ARC. The lack of support has left employees feeling that the

earlier humanitarian mission no longer exists. Interviewees stressed that they feel proud of

what they do by helping people and communities, however they feel the new structure has

steered away from this mission, by focusing on numbers and metrics. In order to address the

resistance and discontent with the change, the Star Model was used below to categorize

various aspects of the findings. Following the analysis, we will provide recommendations to

help improve morale.

Star Model Analysis Morale in organizations involves attitudes and perceptions towards the job, work

environment, team members, managers and the organization as a whole. There is no single

factor that contributes to low morale in this case, rather a combination of related factors

that can influence each other. These factors are broken down in the following table using the

Star Model.

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The Star Model is widely used to help organize the information and provide logical

explanations for organization analysis. This framework consists of a series of components

that are controllable by management and can influence employee behavior and attitude (i.e.

morale).

Below we have attributed key factors found in the data to their corresponding

components of the Star Model.

Organization Design Components Key Factors

StrategyThe organization’s direction and long-term vision. Here the direction of the organization is set

· Lack of strategy for innovation, growth and expansion· Poor talent management strategies· Using metrics as the sole strategy to drive programs

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· Poor communication strategy· Disconnected decision making strategies

StructureRoles, responsibilities, and relationships among functions

· Misalignment or lack of understanding regarding roles and tasks· Rigid and hierarchical decision making structures · Infrequent inter-departmental communication and collaboration

ProcessesDecision-making, integrative roles, and cross functional collaboration. These processes create the flow of information

· Disproportionate distribution of resources· Ineffective inter-departmental communication and collaboration· Lack of accountability (due to lower expectation standards in non-profit sectors)

RewardsCompensation and recognition, goals and measurement systems aligned with rewarding employees

· Rewards and recognition/ compensation based solely on metrics achievement· Accomplishment of work rewarded with additional work (from other departments)· Not enough relevant recognition systems· Unattainable goals and metrics

PeopleOrganizations human resources involving hiring, performance reviews, training and development

· Understaffed and over-worked resulting in burnout and high turnover· Lack of effective training, poor onboarding, and no active recruitment efforts for volunteers· Lack of customized training depending on locations· Poor development opportunities (i.e. promotions)

According to this model, the five areas should be connected and aligned to promote

successful decision making and behaviors in an organization. We will now discuss

recommendations tailored for the ARC to help align these five components of the business

structure.

RecommendationsThe American Red Cross has the opportunity to take a number of measures to

improve morale and other aspects of organizational functioning. Below are the prioritized

recommendations for the long term and short term, followed by a more detailed description

of information with examples for our various recommendations.

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Prioritized Recommendations

Short Term Long Term

1. Communicate - The Mission And

Vision Initiative

Strategically communicate the

humanitarian mission in town-halls,

social events, newsletters, company

emails etc. to regain buy-in

1. Strategize - Your Approach

Establish strategic approaches for

Change Management, communications,

leadership training (i.e. on thing such as

goal setting and metrics establishment)

Redefine success metrics and

rewards/recognition approach (i.e. hard

AND soft performance criteria, peer

reviews)

Rethink reward and recognition

approach (reward goal achievement with

recognition and not additional work)

Develop new rewards and recognition

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measures based on employee surveys

2. Recruit - Volunteers

Increase collaboration with volunteer

recruitment agencies

2. Recruit - Volunteers

Allocate more resources for volunteer

recruitment, training, and advertising in

key places (i.e. Targeting retiring baby

boomers)

3. Develop - Trainings And Resources

Develop onboarding training outlines

Update onboarding trainings to decrease

new hire turnovers

Utilize quick and pre-made trainings (i.e.

project management tools such as RACI

charts, team management trainings)

3. Develop - Your People

Investing in employees, directly and

indirectly increases employee

satisfaction and morale

Coaching training for employees and

managers

Further development opportunities such

as learning spanish, goal setting training,

and team building activities to facilitate

group cohesion

Details of the Recommendations1) Increase resources and emphasis on active volunteer recruitment

Leverage new volunteers to support employees/ workload by measure such as collaborating with volunteer program agencies, advertising in strategic places for retiring baby boomers, and college students, etc.

2) Communicate Communicate about the humanitarian mission through different channels (for

emotional investment)o In public forums, town hall meetings, company events, newsletterso In one-on-one dialogues between managers and direct-reports o Through electronic media (i.e. emails, video links) to rapidly reach across

territories, reinforcing the message often and in a timely manner

Encourage interdepartmental communication and collaboration by building effective communication channels

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o Active fun intranet social networking platformso Interdepartmental events/team-building activities to improve familiarity

between departments

3) Project Management Standardize using RACI charts for all projects to clarify roles and responsibilities,

and increase accountability Ensure regular process check-ins during a program to support employees &

managers

4) Train Design and communicate sufficient and standardized trainings such as

onboarding trainings, for various levels of employees Provide developmental trainings such as Spanish language, or Project

Management training to allow for employees to development (increases engagement)

Establish clear onboarding outline strategies for new employees , enabling them to learn the tools and skills needed for their success

Train managers on providing frequent and effective coaching and open feedback Train managers to effectively facilitate effective calls and meetings to be

engaging and not rushed (i.e. weekly meetings)

5) Reward Define new success metrics based on hard and soft performance indicators Incorporate various types of formal and informal reviews (i.e. coaching,

interactive peer review & kudos programs) to also reward and recognize soft but important performance indicators such as helping behavior, attitude etc.

Assess how employees would like to be rewarded for accomplishing objectives

TimelineThe recommended activities are designed to implement on an on-going basis. Below

is a chart outlining the sequence and dispersion based on their priority.

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Proposed Timeline

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References:

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1. Neely, G. H. (1999). The relationship between employee morale and employee productivity. National Fire Academy.

2. http://psychology.iresearchnet.com/industrial-organizational-psychology/job-satisfaction/morale-i-o/

3. http://www.redcross.org

4. http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1105&context=dissertations

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Appendix A. IBM Engagement Survey Report 2015

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