Description
Report Instructions
Review the case study (attached) named “Lakeside Automotive Ltd Digital Employee Recognition Amid Organizational Change”. Please see the attachment for more details.
While drafting a formal Business Report please focus on below points:
Describe and analyze the key issues discussed in this case study allocated to your group
Apply the material covered in class during this course
Evaluate the implementation options you discovered during your studies
Create a “Best Practice” business solution to respond to trends in your case study
Present your solution as a report to “the executive committee.
Word count: 5000 words (the People in the group are 5 so each is 1000 words total 5000 words)
Draft checking available until 15th November
Zero plagiarism less than 10% with a plagirism report
Presentation Instructions:
Create a 10 min presentation that focuses on your Group Report
Present the Business Report to the class
Answer audience questions
Upload the presentation as a PDF on Blackboard before doing the presentation in class
Presentation Grading Criteria:
Professional format of the presentation
Mastery of the content
Quality of the presentation [Ability to engage and interest the audience]
Timing of the presentation
Depth of answers to questions after the presentation
create for us a speaker’s note from the presentation.
CLOs Covered
Question(s)
Max Mark
%
Actual Mark
Demonstrate an appreciation of how individual differences and motivation
influence behavior in the workplace.
Group Report
20
66
Presentation
05
66
Total
25
100
Unformatted Attachment Preview
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W19355
LAKESIDE AUTOMOTIVE LTD.: DIGITAL EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION
AMID ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
Kun Huo and Ann Peng wrote this case solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to illustrate either
effective or ineffective handling of a managerial situation. The authors may have disguised certain names and other identifying
information to protect confidentiality.
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This publication may not be transmitted, photocopied, digitized, or otherwise reproduced in any form or by any means without the
permission of the copyright holder. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights
organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Business School, Western
University, London, Ontario, Canada, N6G 0N1; (t) 519.661.3208; (e) [email protected]; www.iveycases.com. Our goal is to publish
materials of the highest quality; submit any errata to [email protected]. i1v2e5y5pubs
Copyright © 2019, Ivey Business School Foundation
Version: 2019-07-19
KATRI SIDHU
tC
Katri Sidhu, the dealership facilitator at Lakeside Automotive Ltd. (Lakeside), was perplexed. The usage
report generated from the Thumbs Up system seemed to contradict the personal feedback provided by the
employees. While the report’s statistics showed that employees had increased their usage of Thumbs Up
since the dealership adopted it in June 2016, some employees had commented that the tool was “a waste of
time.” The Thumbs Up system was designed for the managers and employees to recognize others’ good
work by sending digitalized badges, and it promised to be a useful tool to engage the employees in the
digital age. The implementation of the Thumbs Up system was also intended to facilitate the relocation and
expansion of the dealership early in 2019; by then, the majority of the company’s internal communications
would be conducted virtually. Should Lakeside Automotive continue to implement the Thumbs Up system?
Sidhu found herself wavering and unable to decide.
No
Sidhu had obtained a bachelor’s degree in commerce with a major in accounting from the University of
Guelph, in Ontario. Later, she graduated with a master of science degree in the international business
program from Ivey Business School at Western University. Sidhu had worked in the dealership’s
accounting department for two years before commencing work on her Ivey degree. After working on a
compliance project in Singapore for two years, she was lured back to Lakeside by both its family business
environment and the opportunity to practise business management.
Do
As the dealership facilitator at Lakeside, Sidhu had many responsibilities. She supported the sales and
service departments across all six brands that the dealership sold, mainly through projects related to
customer experience, such as implementing customized human resources (HR) solutions, which included
the Thumbs Up application (app). In addition, she worked with vendors, auto traders, and Google
advertisements in an effort to strengthen Lakeside’s marketing both on and off the Internet. Lastly, she
helped to facilitate the dealership’s compliance with policies of the manufacturers, a key function that
maintained good relationships and supply agreements with the automakers.
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LAKESIDE AUTOMOTIVE: COMPANY BACKGROUND
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Lakeside Automotive Ltd. (Lakeside) was a family-owned auto dealership group that operated in the Greater
Toronto Area (GTA). The company was founded in 1965 by Matteo DiBiaggio, who was the father of the
current owners, Angelo and Anthony DiBiaggio. Under the Lakeside banner, six separate dealerships sold
and serviced six automobile brands: Honda, Hyundai, Subaru, Volvo, Jaguar, and Land Rover. The Honda,
Hyundai, and Subaru dealerships were close to each other at the lakeside, while the three premium brands
(Volvo, Jaguar, and Land Rover) were located in a different part of the GTA. Lakeside had been successful
through more than five decades in the market. The elder DiBiaggio believed that the key to long-term success
was cultivating close personal relationships, both with customers and with employees. Each Friday, he met
with and talked to his front-line employees, sales staff, and service personnel, and thanked them for their
contributions to the firm. As a result, compared with the rest of the industry, Lakeside had enjoyed higher
employee satisfaction and longer tenure over the past many years.
tC
The children of Matteo DiBiaggio, Angelo and Anthony, were keen to maintain the success and the
reputation of the business but needed to overcome several difficulties since Matteo’s retirement in 2017.
First, due to the expansion of the dealership over the years1 and the lack of investment in human resource
management systems (HRMS), the paperwork involved with managing personnel additions, terminations,
vacations, and bonus pay was slow and error-prone. Second, the younger DiBiaggios did not want to spend
all of their time in the dealerships and wanted to pursue other interests while managing the business. Thus,
they were looking for alternative methods to track activities in the dealerships so that they could step in
when necessary. Third, responding to the growth of the GTA automotive market, Lakeside had been
planning to expand by relocating its Honda, Hyundai, and Subaru dealerships. Unlike the current location,
where the management team could interact with the employees frequently and in person, the individual
dealerships would be farther apart from one another.
THE CANADIAN AUTOMOTIVE RETAIL INDUSTRY
Do
No
Canada was a thriving market for automotive manufacturers and retailers. According to Statistics Canada, in
2016, more than 33 million vehicles were registered in Canada, of which 22 million were passenger vehicles.
Given Canada’s population of approximately 36 million, car ownership per capita was 0.6 per 1,000 people
(Statistics Canada 2018).2 A Scotiabank report showed that passenger car sales had increased by 23 per cent
since 2014, and that more than 2 million passenger vehicles were expected to be sold in 2018.3 The Scotia
bank report further suggested that Ontario made up for over 40 per cent of Canadian retail sales, and this level
was expected to hold for 2018 and beyond.4 In Southern Ontario, strong sales were generated by a significant
appreciation of property values. As house prices trended up, consumers were able to borrow against their
property values to finance vehicle purchases.5 The GTA region was the largest municipal market for cars in
Ontario and Canada. A 2011 report showed that the GTA region had at least 1.1 million cars, and that number
had grown substantially, given that the region’s population continued to expand.6
1
Jaguar and Land Rover were added to the group in 2014, and Volvo was added in 2015.
“Road Motor Vehicle Registrations, by Type of Vehicle,” Statistics Canada, 2018, accessed July 5, 2018,
www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=2310006701.
3
Carlos Gomes, “Global Auto Report: Canadian Auto Sales Expected to Total 2 Million Units in 2018,” Scotiabank, February
23, 2018, accessed July 5, 2018, www.gbm.scotiabank.com/scpt/gbm/scotiaeconomics63/GAR_2018-02-23.pdf.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
6
Chris Bateman, “How Many Cars Are on the Road in Toronto,” BlogTO, July 30, 2014, accessed July 6, 2018,
www.blogto.com/city/2014/07/how_many_cars_are_on_the_road_in_toronto/.
2
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IBISWorld reported the Canadian automotive retail industry would have an annual revenue of $125.2
billion in 2017.7 However, this industry was incredibly fragmented. Only one company, AutoCanada Inc.,
had more than 1 per cent of the market share, while independent owners such as the DiBiaggios accounted
for the rest of the market. The industry was nevertheless highly profitable with a profit-to-revenue ratio of
2.6 per cent and a return on equity that was more than 20 per cent over the period of 2012–2017.8 As of
2017, Canada had 3,744 dealership groups, which employed a total of 141,616 workers.9 IBISWorld
projected the industry would continue to grow over the next five years, given the stable employment trends,
growing household disposable income, and strong corporate profit levels.10
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Although profits were strong, dealerships were on the verge of both technological and social changes. The
Globe and Mail documented that in 2018, 44 per cent of car buyers expected to make their purchase decision
over the Internet rather than visiting the dealership.11 This trend coincided with a growing number of
younger buyers entering the car market; Forbes estimated that, by 2020, 40 per cent of the market would
consist of millennials.12 While visits to car dealerships dropped, those who walked through the doors were
much more likely to buy, as they had already done their research on the Internet. In response, many
dealerships in Toronto had been placing product experts in showrooms to answer detailed questions about
the car models available.13
TALENT MANAGEMENT IN DEALERSHIPS
tC
Industry experts concluded that having a knowledgeable and dedicated staff was key to continued success
in the automotive retail industry. However, the industry was having difficulties retaining staff. The
Automotive News, citing research by the National Automobile Dealers Association, reported that the
average employee turnover rate in US dealerships for all positions was 40 per cent in 2015, up from 35 per
cent in 2011, and that the average turnover rate for salespersons was a shocking 67 per cent.14 The losses
from high turnover could be immense for two reasons. First, almost all auto manufacturers required new
dealership sales staff to attend product and brand training. Such training investment by the dealership was
largely wasted as a result of high staff turnover. Second, dealership revenue often came from repeat
customers with whom the salespersons had established personal connections. High turnover risked losing
those connections and therefore led to lower sales.
7
No
At the same time, dealerships were having difficulty attracting talented younger workers. Salespersons’
compensation was primarily from commissions, which varied week to week. This compensation structure
also resulted in stiff competition among co-workers. While some thrived in such environments, many
university and college graduates reported that they would rather work in a lower-pressure environment such
as Starbucks.15 Nonetheless, as current employees were nearing retirement, a dealership would need to
Do
Iris Peters, IBISWorld Industry Report 44111CA: New Car Dealers in Canada, IBISWorld, 2017, accessed July 6, 2018,
http://clients1.ibisworld.ca/reports/ca/industry/default.aspx?entid=1003.
8
Ibid.; Gomes, op. cit.
9
Peters, op. cit.
10
Peters, op. cit.
11
Neil Vorano, “How Car Dealerships Must Change to Stop Upsetting Customers,” Globe and Mail, May 12, 2018, accessed
August
8,
2018,
www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/news/industry-news/how-buyers-researching-cars-online-ischanging-the-industry/article21872344/.
12
Lin Grosman, “How E-Commerce Is Driving the Auto Industry,” Forbes, April 23, 2018, accessed August 8, 2018,
www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2018/04/23/how-e-commerce-is-driving-the-auto-industry/#57dd0bf77f76.
13
Vorano, op. cit.
14
Amy Wilson, “Employee Turnover Costs Dealers Billions,” Automotive News, January 23, 2017, accessed August 8, 2018,
www.autonews.com/article/20170123/RETAIL06/301239850/employee-turnover-costs-dealers-billions.
15
Ibid.
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A DIGITAL SOLUTION? THE THUMBS UP APP
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tackle the challenge of attracting, training, and retaining younger workers. This need was particularly urgent
for Lakeside, as its business was expanding.
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In 2015, Lakeside engaged DigitalHR to streamline its HR management. Based in London, Ontario,
DigitalHR was a medium-sized technology company specializing in designing and maintaining cloud-based
HRMS. DigitalHR’s management believed that technology could be used not only to manage the workplace
but also to improve worker engagement and performance. Similar to their father, Angelo and Anthony
DiBiaggio had always believed that recognizing employees for work accomplishments could be as
important as pay in terms of fostering employee commitment. Since the brothers did not always have time
to talk to all 222 of their employees, digitization offered a potential solution to this problem. After some
discussion and based on the inputs from Lakeside’s management, DigitalHR decided to develop Thumbs
Up. In return, Lakeside would be the test site for the Thumbs Up system, which might be marketed toward
future HRMS customers.
tC
Sidhu had been involved with Thumbs Up since the initial stages of development. The concept behind
Thumbs Up was quite simple. Employees accessed the Thumbs Up app under the existing HRMS. Inside
the app, they could send a digital badge to a colleague (or a group of colleagues) to compliment the recipient
for a good deed or work achievement. For example, a manager could congratulate a salesperson for
satisfying a difficult customer, or salespeople might thank a peer for taking care of their customer while
they were occupied with other tasks. To send a badge, employees selected from a variety of colourful
choices and attached a personalized message to the badge (see Exhibit 2). The sender might also designate
how many people would receive the badge and how many others would be tagged on the message so that
the worthy deed was visible to more people.
No
Unlike the traditional handshake approach that could work only in person, Thumbs Up could be accessed
anywhere and anytime from a computer or a smartphone. The badges sent and received stayed in the
employees’ profiles, and management could view usage statistics such as the type and frequencies of badges
sent by each employee. Sidhu was pleased with the tracking feature. In the past, the owners and the HR
department had little knowledge on whether or not an employee had gone above and beyond the call of
duty to serve a customer or to help out a colleague, unless the supervisor reported the incident. With Thumbs
Up, employees could recognize each other and provide good stories to celebrate. Sidhu saw the Thumbs
Up app as a tool to assess employee engagement levels in real time.
Over the past two years, the collection of badges in Thumbs Up had grown to include fun badges that
celebrated birthdays and work anniversaries, and “one-liners” that employees found amusing. Usage statistics
had grown significantly year by year, although there were large monthly variations (see Exhibit 3). Usage also
differed between employees versus managers. Thus, Sidhu wondered how to interpret these patterns.
Do
SIDHU’S LOVE WITH THUMBS UP
Sidhu frequently used Thumbs Up to recognize group accomplishments such as completing required
training and meeting or exceeding manufacturers’ customer service standards. For example, in the previous
week, Lakeside had dramatically shortened its response time to online inquiries, and Sidhu sent everyone
on the sales team a congratulatory badge. She believed that the personal repository of badges could be
motivating in itself:
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Whenever I get good news or I get something that’s fantastic in my email, I move it to a “Good
News” folder and then I can go back to look at my good news. So when I go to my history app I
can see all of the thumbs-up I ever gave anyone and I can see all of the thumbs-up people gave me.
It’s just a really great place for me to go. These are my victories.
In the future, Sidhu had also considered using Thumbs Up in two other avenues. First, Thumbs Up could
be modified to be more closely linked to employees’ day-to-day jobs so that they would be more engaged
with using the app. She believed that having consistent follow-ups with employees, seeking their feedback,
and making adjustments were important to involve employees in the changes. Second, Sidhu wanted to use
Thumbs Up data in employees’ performance reviews. Although data from Thumbs Up would not be a direct
input to employee bonus and promotion decisions, they could supplement supervisor assessment and
employee self-assessment.
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More importantly, Sidhu saw Thumbs Up as a tool to manage communications when the dealership
expanded. The three dealerships currently located in one location would, in the future, have separate
buildings, making face-to-face communications more difficult among managers in different dealerships.
As we’re growing, the group is getting bigger and we’re going to be spread across three separate
buildings. So that’s where things for me personally would get a little bit more difficult, and the
thumbs-up or having a digital way of communicating with the team is really important for me.
ENCOUNTERING PUSHBACK
DAVID SMITH
tC
Change was never smooth, whether it occurred in large or small organizations. Sidhu had, along with
DigitalHR, organized a series of training sessions for employees to learn how to use the software. She had
also obtained verbal commitment from Angelo and Anthony DiBiaggio, who would lead by example by using
the tool to send their own recognition messages. Many employees balked at the idea of sending recognition
using an app, and some negative reactions surfaced and circulated around the company. To better understand
the issues, DigitalHR conducted interviews among some representative employees at Lakeside.
No
Smith was a salesperson in his early 50s. He had worked for Lakeside for five years and had been at the
dealership since the inception of Thumbs Up. His attitude toward the app, however, was mostly negative.
Smith was a strong believer in the superiority of using physical objects as tokens of appreciation and
preferring verbal communications over electronic ones. Not surprisingly, he rarely used Thumbs Up and
did not see a future for this app at Lakeside. Several of his comments included:
Do
If somebody helped me out, instead of sending a badge to them electronically, why not print it out
and give it to them personally? If you were to receive a print copy, you get to have a drawer of
cards which you look at it from time to time. You can even make a folder and leave it on your desk
and customers can even look through it and say, “Wow, this guy is a good worker.” Also, [with
print copies] you can be sure that the person has received it. I’m not letting it go through the email
and not knowing whether it has been opened.
I’d rather have a manager who’s just across the desk from me, walk over to me and tell me, “Hey,
great job selling three cars today,” instead of getting a badge on my email, which I might not open
until two days later. I mean you can go in your phone [to check it] but I turn that off because what
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happens is I often get a thumbs-up but that is not for me, I am just getting tagged on messages by
people I don’t even know. [Smith points to his cell phone] See, I open it up and it says somebody
from Land Rover [dealership] tagged you on a message that says “Thank you for cleaning the lot.”
But the message is not to me.
However, when asked whether he enjoyed still receiving an electronic badge from a manager or a colleague,
Smith was affirmative:
SAMUEL OKAFOR
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The times I do get it, it’s good. Sometimes they made funny ones with tags and try to make you
smile. I like them. But I don’t want to receive a badge just because a colleague or manager is forced
to give them out. Those are not genuine.
Okafor was a salesperson in his late 20s. He was from Nigeria and had worked for Lakeside since 2014.
Similar to Smith, Okafor had been at Lakeside since Thumbs Up was introduced. Different from Smith, his
attitude toward the app was mostly positive. He believed that the app provided an effective way to get things
done even when he was not in the dealership:
I had a deal that was going to fall through, but for some reason, my manager was able to talk to
[the customers] and then they reconsidered and went ahead with it. He sends me an email to let me
know. With the app, I can just go quickly to my phone and send him a thumbs-up and tag my
colleagues in it just to show my appreciation. So that’s the good thing.
tC
Okafor also thought that the app could complement face-to-face interaction:
. . . my sending [a thumbs-up] ensures that my colleagues see that I appreciate what [my manager]
did [to help me]. It is more like getting all of my colleagues to say “Thank you” to my manager.
But at the end of the day, I would still go to him, out of courtesy to say, “Thank you” face-to-face.
I believe that there’s a place for Thumbs Up and that there is a place for face-to-face. The two ways
[of communicating] do not conflict.
No
On how to make the app work better, Okafor pointed to the abuse of the app’s tagging function. While
tagging people could save a person’s time compared with messaging multiple people, its implementation
had led to issues:
Do
We are not using it the way we are supposed to. See, we have six dealerships. Something happens
at Jaguar, and the person tags everybody in the company. But I don’t know who he is talking about
so it doesn’t make me excited, and I just go through them and quickly press erase. This takes away
the good essence of Thumbs Up.
ALEX FREDERICK
Frederick was a more recent hire with eight months of experience in a sales position. In his mid-20s, he
was an adept user of technology. Frederick was initially active on Thumbs Up but his enthusiasm for the
app had declined over time. In addition to pointing out the tagging issues voiced by Smith and Okafor, he
was also disappointed by the lack of mobile functionality in the app and pointed to some potential
improvements:
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. . . most times too I don’t even log onto the portal. If there is some way the Thumbs Up app could
be incorporated into a [real] app on your phone for example, that’d be a lot easier to use. Currently,
you have to log into the company website on your phone and [it becomes a hassle].
. . . it’d be pretty cool if you could include a picture file. Let’s say I help out with a car [sale], and
my colleague would be able to go to the car and take a picture of it and then post it alongside a
badge that says, “Good job, this is the car that you sold,” and then write a little paragraph. I am a
visual learner and they’d like to see unique pictures. The pre-existing badges in the app can get a
little boring.
RON PATEL
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Patel was the manager of the service, parts, and rental cars departments of the Subaru and Hyundai
dealerships. He was in his late 50s, had been at Lakeside for five years, and supervised 33 workers. Patel’s
assessment of Thumbs Up was both positive and negative. As a manager, he supported the mandate to
evolve the organization and to use new tools to boost employee engagement. But he had also received
resistance from his direct reports:
In the service department especially, there are people who have been working here for 40 years. A
lot of the older tenured employees have a great sense of loyalty. Personal contact and the handshake
[mean] so much to them. For people who have been around more than six or seven years, the
personal contact and handshakes [were] the expectation. A manager back then would shake hands
with the technicians or salespersons and say, “Thank you very much.” Every Friday the owner
would also come in and personally express his gratitude to the employees.
tC
Now, our people are told that they need to do it in a new way and need to get to a website. Perhaps
that was just a mindset. But to change the culture, to change their thinking, to change the way they
have been accustomed to at Lakeside does not make much sense to me.
In addition, Patel pointed out significant differences in the work environment between his department and
the new-car sales departments:
No
We actually discourage our employees to be on the phone while working on the cars. You can lose
the focus if you leave a bolt loose, the engine costs $10,000. So that’s a danger there.
In terms of individual recognition, Patel favoured instant verbal communications but recognized the value
of Thumbs Up in some circumstances:
Do
. . . if my people are doing well, I will provide the instant recognition on the spot. For example, I
may say, “Hey guys, come. So far, the past four hours have been excellent, very good workflow,
customers all happy, and there’s nobody waiting in the waiting area.” If I see a technician doing a
good job, I would definitely approach him right away and say, “Thank you very much,” and loud
enough that his peers would listen to my compliment and they learn what is good behaviour. A
thumbs-up would not work very effectively in this situation. If I come back to office to send a
thumbs-up and the person accesses the system two days later, I lose the moment and it does not
give much impact.
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If there’s a birthday coming up, or a baby coming in one of our employees’ life, we want to celebrate
together. We can send a thumbs-up because this is not as time-sensitive as other scenarios.
Toward the end of the interview, Patel showed a text he sent to an employee that showed his personal touch
and sincerity. He read:
Good morning Richard. Today’s a very special day for Lakeside’s success history. Your
contribution to this auto group’s success speaks the highest volume. Your dedication, honesty, and
hard work speaks for itself. . . . Thanks to you for being such a valuable friend. Please pass on my
regards to your lovely wife and parents. Such a milestone of 20 years. Regards.
PASCAL RAHAL
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The aforementioned Richard was appreciative and stopped by Patel’s office to thank him. Patel expressed
doubt that a Thumbs Up badge would have had the same impact.
Rahal was a new-car sales manager for one of the brands. He was in his late 30s and he had been in the position
for two years. Rahal came to Lakeside with a non-auto background, having previously worked as a finance
manager at Rogers Communications Inc., a large Canadian telecommunications company. Rahal’s initial
enthusiasm for Thumbs Up was high, partly because he had good experience with a similar app at Rogers:
tC
The digital generation is growing. I think this was a great way for me and my team at Rogers to
communicate when I see something happening with the salesforce while I’m upstairs in a meeting
or on a conference call. But the team I worked in had 2,500 employees. Currently, we are only a
small dealership. It takes me literally two or three minutes to send a badge whereas it takes me 10
seconds to gather my guys up and say, “Hey guys, great job.”
No
Further, Rahal was discouraged by the lack of reciprocity on behalf of his employees. Although he sent
many badges, he received few. The lack of badges coming from employees had, at times, made him wonder
whether he had done something wrong. But after talking to his employees it was apparent that things were
fine. Pascal was frustrated with the mandated number of badges he had to send, though no such quotas were
applied to non-managerial employees:
Today I got a reminder that it has been 57 days since I sent a badge. But I say, “Good job” to my
people every day. We just spoke verbally about what they did, and then I got to reinforce them,
“Hey, don’t forget to send me your thumbs-up before we leave.” It becomes something that you’re
doing just for the sake of using the app.
Do
Rahal believed in the need for digital innovation but also recognized that people in the automotive industry
tended to be less tech-savvy. Thus, how to manage digital change with the current workforce had become
a significant challenge.
REACTIONS FROM DIGITALHR
The management at DigitalHR was surprised by the feedback from the Lakeside employees. Aside from
the actual results, which showed that the Thumbs Up usage increased from approximately 100 per month
to 200 per month, many of the new badge designs were actually from suggestions by Lakeside employees.
In addition, DigitalHR’s management and employees liked the product so much that they used it themselves
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(see Exhibit 4). However, the employees at DigitalHR comprised mostly programmers, designers, and sales
associates.
WHAT’S NEXT
Do
No
tC
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As she sat in her office, rolling a toy Land Rover across her desk, Sidhu contemplated the roadblocks to her
vision for Lakeside. The automotive market in Canada remained strong but the demographics of the buyers
and their purchasing behaviours were changing. To respond to these changes, Lakeside needed to attract
young and talented employees and to train current employees to be accustomed to digital technologies. At the
same time, the incredible loyalty of the current and often long-tenured employees was what made Lakeside’s
culture so strong and special. Given Lakeside’s current circumstances, what was the role of Thumbs Up in
promoting employee engagement? Would it be advantageous to incorporate the data from Thumbs Up into
employee evaluation decisions? Such a change would certainly require the greenlight from the owners who
would want to see a strategic roadmap. Sidhu made herself a mochaccino and began to strategize.
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[email protected] or 617.783.7860
9B19C020
Category: Recognition Badges
Category: Fun Badges
op
yo
Category: Motivational Badges
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EXHIBIT 1: SAMPLE BADGES FROM THE THUMBS UP APP
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tC
Category: Special Occasion Badges
Do
No
Source: Images obtained from the Thumbs Up app developed by DigitalHR. Used with permission.
This document is authorized for educator review use only by Zahid Hameed, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University until May 2024. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
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9B19C020
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EXHIBIT 2: LAKESIDE AUTOMOTIVE’S BADGE USAGE STATISTICS
Panel A: Frequency and Types of Badges Sent, August 2015 to December 2017
2016
Total
Motivation + Recognition
Dec.
Oct.
Nov.
Sep.
Aug.
Apr.
Mar.
Feb.
Jan.
Dec.
Nov.
Oct.
Sep.
Jul.
Aug.
Jun.
Jan.
Feb.
Dec.
Oct.
Nov.
Sep.
Aug.
0
Apr.
50
May
100
op
yo
150
Jul.
200
Jun.
250
Mar.
Number of Thumbs Ups sent
300
May
Frequencies of Badges Sent from August 2015 to December 2017
2017
Fun + Special Occasion
Panel B: Types of Badge Sent, by User Type
tC
Thumbs Ups by Sender
3000
2500
2000
1500
No
1000
500
0
Motivation + Recognition
Supervisor
Total
% of Total
% of Total
Fun + Special
Occasion
Badges
309
89.83%
1,026
461
1,487
38%
35
10.17%
1,990
405
2,395
62%
Employee
Supervisor
Do
Employee
Total
Motivation +
Recognition
Badges
Registered
Users
Employee Level
Fun + Special O
