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Catracho Catracho
wrote...
Posts: 529
Rep: 2 0
5 years ago
You have been able to have confidential conversations with many employees at all levels in the company, and have had access to company data, statistics, and internal employee surveys.  From this investigation, you have identified the following negative conditions that you believe are significant in preventing the company from achieving the success it desires, or at least matching the success of its competitors.
 
@ Turnover of employees is high relative to comparable companies in the same industry.

@ The majority of turnover is through employees who self-terminate from the company. 

@Current employees express frustration with demands to perform tasks for which they are not capable.

@ There have been an increasing number of negative customer experiences where customers were billed for product quantities that were greater than what they received.

 @Customer service / support reviews on social media websites have been poor, with many reviews reflecting customer perceptions that the company representatives are either unable to help resolve issues, or unconcerned about resolving issues. 

@There have been a higher than industry-average number of discrimination complaints filed against the company. 

@ Current employees frequently cited feelings that their ideas or concerns were not given serious consideration by their managers.

@ Current employees relayed frustration that many times the solutions to problems or new ideas that would improve processes were readily apparent to them, but obtaining approval to implement beneficial changes was difficult and time-consuming. 

@ Current employees in many interviews mentioned that often their jobs or priorities were changed without notice and without explanation, which caused them to experience significant stress. 
 
For each of these identified negative conditions, , first, describe and explain probable causes for the condition and, second, provide a recommendation for actions to correct the negative condition, explaining how the actions will result in benefit to the company and employees.
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wrote...
Valued Member
Educator
5 years ago Edited: 5 years ago, bio_man
@ Turnover of employees is high relative to comparable companies in the same industry.

Probable cause:

Poor management can cause the normal turnover to climb to an excessive level. In addition to feeling undervalued as an employee, rude behavior within the workforce, and/or no opportunity for growth in the company.

Fix:

If the employee is feeling undervalued, management needs to implement a system that focuses on improving employee recognition. Perhaps incorporate monthly awards for workers that meet their quotas or excel in job performance. Rewarding employees reduces employee moral and makes work more challenging, thereby increasing self-esteem.

Quote
The majority of turnover is through employees who self-terminate from the company.

Probable cause:

The main cause to this is being underpaid for work being done, when other industries pay more for the same job.

Fix:

Management needs to remain consistent their their pay raises, or start employees with a competitive salary relative to what other companies are paying or willing to pay.

@Current employees express frustration with demands to perform tasks for which they are not capable.

Probable cause:

Unreasonable timelines or expectations will lead to employee dissatisfaction. In addition to being undertrained.

Fix:

While you may be an expert in a particular field you're hired to work on, every company has its own specifics. Hence, all employees need to be trained specifically based on company expectations. This training period should take place during the trial period upon employment (3 months). This will assess the strengths and the weaknesses of the individual. Sometimes unreasonable timelines can discourage the employee from working efficiently, as strict deadlines can cause distress, fatigue or bend the rules just to accomplish the task. Companies should focus on assigning work ahead or incorporate a schedule that'll give an employee more time to prepare.

@ There have been an increasing number of negative customer experiences where customers were billed for product quantities that were greater than what they received.

Probable cause:

The system inplace responsible for collecting orders is either outdated or poorly coded.

Fix:

Hire an IT specialists that can moderate orders, and at the same time, prevent duplicate orders when, say, orders are placed online or those being processed in queue. Bad end monitoring requires a dedicated personnel to operate efficiently; this employee whether he/she is part-time or full-time should manage the digit database to prevent such thing occurring. In addition, if the system is poorly designed, he/she will know how to make it run more efficiently so that information coming from the customer isn't lost.

@Customer service / support reviews on social media websites have been poor, with many reviews reflecting customer perceptions that the company representatives are either unable to help resolve issues, or unconcerned about resolving issues.

Probable cause:

If this is happening suddenly, this suggests that a personnel working in the customer service department isn't taking the necessary steps to ensure the customer is satisfied. This could be due to an inconsistent policies regarding returns or an employee lacking moral aptitude which may lead to lying, cheating, stealing, and harassing.

Fix:

I'd start by reading the reviews to see if any specifics were mentioned, for example names of the individuals whom serviced them or products that didn't meet their standards. If I can't isolate the individual / product, I'd retrain the customer service representatives on how to improve customer relations, namely how to communicate respectively and how to extract information from the end user about the product's quality. In addition, I'd issue an apology where those negative reviews were placed so that future customers realize the company has room to grow and is proactively trying to improve.

@There have been a higher than industry-average number of discrimination complaints filed against the company.

Probable cause:

Oftentimes the underlying issue may be pay gaps between employees, leading to discrimination about race, disability, religion, and age. In other words, employees will hate on each other simply because they're not being treated/paid equally. Otherwise, discrimination can occur due to personal beliefs towards a certain group of people; perhaps one man doesn't get along with women, so he discriminates against them (or vice versa)

Fix:

The best fix to discrimination is to hire the individual with a 3 to 6 month probation. This will help management determine the type of employee you're allowing permanently into the system. Therefore, better screening of potential hirees is crucial. Termination may be warranted if threats, stalking, or repeated and unwanted physical contact has been made. Lesser discipline, such as a warning or counseling, might be in order if the harassment arises out of a misunderstanding (an attempt to ask a coworker on a date, for example).

@ Current employees frequently cited feelings that their ideas or concerns were not given serious consideration by their managers.

Probable cause:

Managers are following a strict policy from the corporate level that prevents them from using employee suggestions

Fix:

A dropbox initiative or program where employees can gather their thoughts and ideas should be collected, as some of these changes may actually increase the bottom line profits. Developing an employee suggestion program can have a positive impact on employee morale and overall corporate culture. If a dropbox is too open-ended, a formal program can be developed, as it may help to determine what exactly is blocking ideas in the organization from the employee-up. This program would potentially break down these barriers.

@ Current employees relayed frustration that many times the solutions to problems or new ideas that would improve processes were readily apparent to them, but obtaining approval to implement beneficial changes was difficult and time-consuming.

Probable cause:

Approval is not obtained or implemented likely because the managers responsible for making these decisions are not hearing it from the employee itself. Therefore, the idea gets lost somewhere in between the employee level and the corporate management.

Fix:

To fix this issue, I'd set up a cross-functional team to go over all the suggestions. It is important that employees at all levels across all departments are part of this group. This way, you can make sure all the ideas are evaluated correctly, and also gives the employee an opportunity to speak directly to those responsible for implementation storewide.

@ Current employees in many interviews mentioned that often their jobs or priorities were changed without notice and without explanation, which caused them to experience significant stress.

Probable cause:

The company is expecting more from the employee than what they're trained or originally hired to do. This occurs when a company is downsizing or can't afford to have others on their payroll to cut costs.

Fix:

The company needs to remind the hiree that within the company job responsibilities change all the time and for all kinds of reasons. Sometimes it's because a new grant or other external factors are causing a shift in your organization's priorities, which may result in a shift in your responsibilities. So prior to hiring the individual, they should be made aware of this so that there's little confusion in the future. In addition, the company should offer further training if such events occur.
Answer accepted by topic starter
bio_manbio_man
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Valued Member
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Posts: 33224
5 years ago
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