Case Incident: Jack Nelson’s Problem (page 30) 1. What do you think was causing some of the problems in the savings and loan home office and branches? There is clearly a problem with communication, and the effects are felt in the area of employee commitment. Additional contributing factors include the lack of consistency in the policies and procedures of various locations. There is no cohesiveness to the staffing activities of this organization. 2. Do you think setting up a HR unit in the main office would help?
Of course we think it would! Since there are HR-related problems both in the home office and in the branches, it is clear that if a personnel office were set up, it would need to help to coordinate the HR activities in the branches. 3. What specific functions should it carry out? What HR functions would then be carried out by supervisors and other line managers? There is room for quite a bit of variation in the answers to this question. Our suggested organization would include:
HR Unit: job analyses, planning labor needs and recruiting, providing advising and training in the selection process, orientation of new employees, managing wage and salary administration, managing incentives and benefits, providing and managing the performance appraisal process, organization-wide communications, and providing training ; developing services. Supervisors and Other Line Managers: interviewing and selection of job candidates, training new employees, appraising performance, departmental ; personal communications, and training ; development.
Continuing Case: Carter Cleaning company Question #1 Make a list of five specific HR problems you think Carter Cleaning will have to grapple with Answer: Carter Cleaning center will have the following main problems to grapple with if they do not experience the proper management and HR practices in their Cleaning center 1. Carter Cleaning center business has increased from two stores to six stores which have created a need of having skilled workers, so Carter Cleaning center will have to devise a system of Selecting, Hiring, Training, Appraising and Compensating the employees. . The Carter Cleaning center will have the problem of communication and coordination between the employees, for this they have to motivate and guide them of right behavior. 3. Carter Cleaning center will have the problem of proper HR staff, as at this scale of business the introduction of proper HR staff is not profitable so site managers employed in the Carter Cleaning Center will have to perform the job of HR as well, as every manager should have the ability to perform staff (human resource) and line functions both in order to be competitive. . Carter Cleaning center could have the problem of high turnover of employees if the employees are not provided with the proper facilities and health care services and if they feel as if their salaries are unfair and unjust with regards to the work they perform. 5. The Carter Cleaning center will have to update itself with the continuously changing trends such as Globalization, Technological trends, Workforce diversity and Trends in the nature of work in order to compete and live in the continuously changing environment.
Question #2 What would you do first if you were Jennifer? Answer: If I would have been in place of Jennifer I would have done following things * Firstly I would have devised a system of Recruiting, Screening, Training, Compensating and Appraising the employees * I would have introduced promotion plan for the employees who work extraordinary on the ob * I would decentralized the authority by providing the power to the lower staff employees to effectively handle the customers take on the spot decisions to reduce any delay in decision making * I would have arranged different training programs for employees from time to time to provide them the information of current rules and regulations, and important events and to update themselves with the new trends in the environment * I would have arranged complete orientation programs for new employees to introduce them to their work and to cleaning center * I would have created high performance work system in Carter Cleaning center by implementing human resource policies and practices in order to produce high employee performance such as * Employment security * Information sharing * Extensive training * Emphasis on high quality work Performance base rewards Chapter 6: Continuing Case. Case Application: Carter Cleaning Company (page 210) Jennifer and her father are considering methods for screening applicants for their dry cleaning business. In particular, the Carter management team is considering honesty tests, especially for employees who handle cash. 1. What would be the advantages and disadvantages to Jennifer’s company of routinely administering honest tests to all its employees? Polygraph testing raises a large number of legal and moral issues; issues Carter Cleaning would best avoid. Use some of the available “paper and pencil” honesty tests may be a possibility.
In general, these have been shown to be reasonably reliable and valid. They are still controversial. The costs associated with these tests may also make them prohibitive to a small operation like Jennifer’s. 2. Specifically, what other screening techniques could the company use to screen out theft-prone employees? How exactly could these techniques be used? More thorough make background checks are a recommend technique to eliminate potential thieves. Some firms chose to contract this out to a private security agency (Cost may be an issue to Jennifer. However, the company can quickly check to see if savings from reduced theft would offset the cost of an outside agency.
As part of the job preview, Carter must communicate that jobs in her company are worth keeping; dishonesty and theft will not be tolerated. Further company policies regarding theft should be clearly communicated to new and existing employees. 3. How should her company terminate employees caught stealing and what kind of procedure should be set up for handling reference calls about these employees when they go to other companies looking for jobs? Terminating employees for theft should include the involvement of proper authorities and should only be done when there is absolute proof of the theft and who committed it. Such an action will also send a message to the other employees that you will not tolerate theft of company resources .
While many employers are reluctant to prosecute employees for theft , developing evidence with police and through the courts can be beneficial in providing future employers of the individual with truthful and factual information. Chapter 9 Case Application: Appraising the Secretaries at Sweetwater U (page 357) 1. Do you think that the experts’ recommendations will be sufficient to get most of the administrators to fill out the rating forms properly? Why or Why not? What additional actions (if any) do you think will be necessary? While controversial, the recommendations would, in fact, encourage administrators to fill the forms out correctly. Using the more detailed form and not tying the performance ratings to salary increases would allow the managers to feel more free about rating the secretaries accurately.
There would, however, need to be some strong training sessions (both for administrators and secretaries) to help them understand the new system. Since all secretaries have traditionally received the same salary increases, and have been pleased with that, it would be advisable to consider lowering the maximum increase to an amount that could be given to all secretaries while staying within budget. Then all secretaries with a satisfactory rating or better would receive that increase. 2. Do you think that Vice President Winchester would be better off dropping graphic rating forms, substituting instead one of the other techniques we discussed in this chapter such as a ranking method? Certainly other methods could be used.
He has already had a taste of what would result if he went to a forced distribution or other ranking method. A BARS system might be best, but it could be costly to develop if the clerical staff have positions that are significantly different. 3. What performance appraisal system would you develop for the secretaries if you were Rob Winchester? Defend your answer. If the development costs are not too great, the BARS system would give the strongest solution to the current situation. The behavioral anchors would make it more difficult to just rate everyone at the top. It would also help to eliminate the different interpretations of what the rating scales mean.
