This case study involves Arthur Reed who works for Blue Grocery Stores Incorporated as a warehouse supervisor (case study, 2010) and is having a difficult time fulfilling staffing requirements during the summer months he has tried some options that didn’t fulfill the needs of the business. This case study will help Arthur meet these goals. Staffing Issues The summer months were a staffing headache for the warehouse supervisor at Blue Grocery Stores Incorporated (case study, 2010).
Everyone wanted to take their accrued vacation then. After all, summer time was the perfect time for family vacations and activities. What made this staffing issue a bigger headache was the fact that a significant number of employees were calling in for sick days during this time of year as well. Replacement workers hadn’t worked in the past so that’s another challenge to overcome. Options for Optimum Staffing
The first suggestion would be for the company to pay for the costly steel-toed boots for the replacement workers and waive any union dues for the replacement workers (case study, 2010). If for some reason that didn’t work, the next suggestion in solving this staffing issue would be to hire a summer temporary force using college students. College students can always use extra money for school. I would suggest that the company to pay for the costly steel-toed boots, this would help attract more potential temporary employees for the summer months.
The final option would be to adjust the warehouse hours for the summer time. Instead of working a day and afternoon shift, consolidate both teams of employees into one team with two different starting times, two hours apart. That will optimize the staffing, while eliminating the need to hire temporary employees for the summer. If corporations have to rely on temporary employees to fulfill the needs of the business, then they are risking the business objectives.
Temporary employees are just that, temporary, and there is a strong possibility that the company performance would slip in relying on them. There could be compromises and arrangements made with the shipping and receiving of supplies so that the business goals are still obtained. This is the best option if successful, not only does it not rely on temporary employees to fulfill the business needs, this keeps the company budget down while maximizing the resources that are available.
