Introduction
In every business organization, the management and development of the workers are essential for the success of the business. The employees also have the main role in achieving the objective of a business. The major reason for the failure of any business is improper performance of the employees. Today, technology is changing very rapidly; so the businesses have to be developed according to the changing technology in order to cope that. Then only they can exist in the competitive market. Therefore, proper guidance and training are beneficial for the development of the employees to improve the quality of the products. Even if employees are qualified, they should have good technical skill to do the functional activities in an organization in effective way.
Training must be provided by efficient and experienced instructors and they should also motivate the employees to achieve the business goal. The employees should be motivated by providing good salary and other allowance so that their sincere cooperation can be achieved. When the latest technology is introduced in the market, the employees should be trained to handle that so that the business can run without any obstacle. The management of the workers is the controlling and measuring of the worker’s performance in the organisation and also providing appropriate assistance and orders to the workers for doing their work without any failure. Only through appropriate management, the business can run in a smooth way; for that there should be good manager who is responsible for the overall function of the business.
Problems in hard boiled department
The processes in the hard boiled department of Fab Sweets are simple and the management processes are straight forward. Even then, there are some problems in the hard boiled department. ”The main problems that are affecting the company were the high level of labour turnover, below target production rates, high levels of scrap, the employees had little input in the decision making, therefore resulting in low motivation and job satisfaction, and didn’t have enough feedback on their performance.” (Fab Sweets, 2006).
The hard boiled department was the worst department in the Fab Sweets.
There were problems in the production management, labour turn over and there were also some interpersonal problems in the hard boiled department. “Skill variety, which deals with the “opportunity to do a variety of job activities using various skills and talents,” is missing for the workers in the HB department (Ibid, 201).” (Fab Sweets, 2007).
Production management problems
One of the main problems of the hard boiled department of Fab Sweets was the production management problems. The production processes in the department were very simple. At the same time, different product lines could be produced. But, there were certain problems in the management of production. There was consistent fall in production below the target level. The problems were divided on the basis of atmospheric conditions, climatic conditions and attitude. The problems in production mainly occur during seasonal peaks and during less demand in market for sweets. The employees faced some problems in the production processes. They had only little decision making capacity and there was only less motivation for them to do the work. They got less data about their level of performance. So, the employees did not have much satisfaction on their jobs.
In the hard boiled department there were two supervisors who judged the departmental managers. They were evaluated based on their efficiency and production levels. There was some pressure on the production process. Since the processing of sweets was needed before cooling down, there were problems in maintaining buffer stocks. Moreover, the supervisor considered only processing as his job and did not take into account the problems occurring in the packing room. These packing room problems may have occurred due to his deeds or his employees’ acts. “In the HB department an assembly line mentality is at work, the workers do not see or complete the full production process from the beginning to end but instead only complete one or two aspects before passing the product on to the next person.” (Fab Sweets, 2009).
Therefore, the identity of tasks was absent for the staff. The packing side workers were not able to see the effect of their works on the production side workers and vice versa. There were complaints from the employees in the production department about their works. They always had to do the similar works and these works were also physically tough. The staff got uninterested in these similar jobs. They also wished to get more money for the harder works. “Expectancy Theory is a motivation theory that suggests employees are more likely to be motivated when they believe that their efforts will result in not only a successful performance, but also in desired rewards and outcomes.” (Organizational behavior, 2009).
The people had the chance to use only some of their skills in the department. The supervisor was strict over his employees and did not consider the feelings of the staffs. So, there were fights between the employees and the supervisors in the company. There was no proper organization of the works in the department and there was also lack of cooperation between the employees. There were also interruptions to the working due to reasons like breakdown.
Staff turnover and interpersonal problems
Managing a small portion of an organization is also a complicated procedure just like managing entire organization. There are several problems that arise in an organization which influence its successful running. The major problems among them are staff turnover and interpersonal problems. “Path analyses revealed that work satisfaction, job strain, younger staff age and easier subjective labour conditions were directly associated with intended turnover.” (Hatton, et al., 2001).
The hard boiled department of Fab Sweets also suffers these two problems. That is why the HB department of Fab Sweets is the less developed department compared to all others in the factory. The employees of HB department didn’t have the ability to make suitable decision at the appropriate time and also they didn’t get perfect motivation from the part of their head. “Age, tenure, overall satisfaction, job content, intentions to remain on the job and commitment are consistently and negatively related to turnover.” (Mobley, Griffeth, Hand & Meglino, 1979).
The working atmosphere of the department is also in a bad condition. They didn’t get much information about the responsibilities and works. Two supervisors and few workers are the members of HB department. The workers of the production department are uninterested to do the similar job at all times. The employees of HB are not satisfied with their earnings from their work. There are numerous problems regarding payment and grading of the workers. This leads to various interpersonal problems in the company.
Mainly the interpersonal problem arises in the manufacturing and packing departments. The high staff turnover is seriously affecting the entire management of an organization and it leads to frustration among the employees. Therefore, they are not ready to continue their job in the company and also lead to lack of co operation among the employees. “High turnover can be a serious obstacle to productivity, quality, and profitability at firms of all sizes. “ (Employee turnover, 2009).
Reasons of high Staff turnover
There are several external and internal reasons for high turnover among the employees. The internal factors include the atmosphere of the department, lack of training or inappropriate training, lack of motivation etc. The external factors include job pressure, various industry related factors etc. “When the cost of turnover exceeds the benefits it is vital you get to the root of the problem as to why your company is experiencing unusually high levels of turnover.” (Goessl, 2009).
Staff turnover lowering methods
In one aspect staff turnover is beneficial to an organization, but sometimes it badly affects the successful working of an organization too. Low staff turnover reveals the organization’s management ability and also the happiness of their employees within the organization. Lower staff turnover leads to minimize the training cost of the employees and disturbance of their regular business procedures and also it will lead to increase the strong feeling of support among the employees. Employing suitable staff, sharing of profit, etc are the major approaches that the authorities of HB are taken to reduce the high staff turn over.
Interpersonal problems
“Interpersonal problems – employees not getting along with each other, with customers and vendors or with managers and supervisors – arise in an endless.” (DelPo & Guerin, 2007, p.11).
The problems between the employees of an organization will affect the successful rendering of every business organization. Lack of effective communication is the major cause of evolving interpersonal problems in an organization. “Unless your team members can communicate honestly and effectively with management and each other, even everyday challenges can be disastrous.”
(Resolving interpersonal issues with David Bradford and Allan Cohen, n.d.). The packing department of HB is filled with large number of employees and proper communication among the employees is not at all possible among the workers. This l results in interpersonal problems among the employees; this will lead to decrease in efficiency of their performance.
To run a business, there must be some important qualities in employees. They should be “positive, supportive, clear, and empowering.” (Work with people, 2009).
Maintenance of the machines in the HB department is not done in an effective way. The engineers of the department are not ready to give information regarding maintenance of the machines and how to use them in a proper way. Much management time is spent to blame the workers for breakdowns and this also acts as the reason for developing interpersonal problems between the employees. Due to the interpersonal problems, there exists lack of coordination among the employees.
What management action is needed to solve the production, staff turnover and other problems in Fab Sweets?
There are problems of production management, staff turnover and interpersonal problems in Fab Sweets. So there should be effective management actions in order to solve the problems in all the departments. In Fab Sweets, the employees are not getting proper guidance and information about the production process. So, proper training and guidance should be provided to every worker, so that they can improve their performance. “Employee performance needs to be evaluated based on such measures as how they behave or act.” (Managerial actions needed to make culture more customer responsive, 2009).
High performance of the workers can increase the quantity of products and improve the quality of products. Workers’ satisfaction is necessary for any organization. So, in order to get the cooperation of the workers, they should be motivated by providing good salary and other incentives. There should always be a good and friendly relationship among the boss and employees. The workers should be given the freedom to express their idea and decision. First of all, the managers should analyse and understand the current position of an organisation before taking any action because then only they can apply the correct action to overcome from their drawbacks. “To understand how the HB works and how people experience their work it is necessary to recognize the strong drive throughout the organisation for production.” (Jenner, 2009, p.17).
In Fab Sweets, there are various sections for manufacturing of their products. So, if there is a failure in any one department, it will affect their overall business. Therefore, an efficient management is needed to control the whole processes of the business. They should appoint a capable manager in every section to provide proper guidance and direction to the employees. The manager should have thorough knowledge about the production process in order to assist the workers.
In Fab Sweets each individual is given specific job. They do not get opportunity to develop their skills by working in other areas. They do repetitive jobs and become careless in their jobs. To tackle this problem, the management should adopt job rotation frequently so that they can develop their skills in other areas also. The higher authorities should motivate the staffs to do more and more work. The management should also take actions to maintain the machineries properly.
There should also be proper communication between the employees for the efficient functioning of the company. “The department manager wanted to introduce a senior supervisor to handle the conflicts between the production and packing supervisors and further support the pressure for production. The factory manager thought the way the work was organized and the manager might be at the core of the difficulties.” (Jenner, 2009, p.19). With the help of different theories the authorities of the HB department are trying to reduce the problems. The different theories include “the goal theory, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, and also Hertzberg and Mayo.” (Empowerment, 2009).
In goal theory, the goals are used to measure the performance of the employees and also support them to attain their objectives. For the efficient functioning of HB department of Fab Sweets proper motivation and training for the employees is necessary.
Motivation
“Motivation is the processes that account for an individual’s intensity direction and persistence of effort towards attaining a goal.” (Rawat, 2007).
Motivation of employees is very essential in an organization. When the employees do not get enough motivation, their performance will decrease. There are different methods by which the employees can be motivated. The company should set higher goals and there should be good support to the employees from the higher authorities to achieve these goals. For the smooth functioning of the organization, several rules that are favourable to the employees have to be introduced. The needs of the employees are to be considered and proper atmosphere is to be provided for their working. The other main strategy of employee motivation is to provide facilities to share their work experience, and then only they can understand the advantages and difficulties in their work. Employees can also be motivated by giving them good salary, incentives etc. Motivation helps to “encourage employees to believe in themselves. When you catch employees, ”putting themselves down,“ help them to understand the impact of negative self-talk.” (Bruce & Pepitone, 1999, p.68).
Training
Training of the employees for jobs is an important part in an organization. Training ”is a learning process that involves the acquisition of knowledge, sharpening of skills, concepts, rules, or changing of attitudes and behaviours to enhance the performance of employees.” (Introduction of training, 2007).
The employees should be given training on the work they have to perform. All the details of the job have to be explained in detail. Training helps the employees to attain the goals of the organization. It helps increase the skills of the employees and also helps in developing their personality. They become aware of the needs and functions of the organization and can work according to these needs.
“The major purposes of training are improving employee performance, updating employee skills, avoiding managerial obsolescence, preparing for promotion and managerial succession, and satisfying personal growth needs.” (Introduction to human resource management, 2009).
For the proper usage of machines and materials in HB department of Fab Sweets, a proper training is required. If a company is introducing a new technology to improve its product quality and quantity, proper training of the employees is essential. Therefore, proper training of the employees is important to provide an idea about the new technologies. The important thing that they have to consider is to identify the field of the department where training is required. “Statistically significant positive effects on productivity are found both for all training and for general training, but not for specific training.” (Barrett & O’Connell, 2001).
Personal reflection
There were many difficulties and problems in writing this assignment. To prepare the assignment the whole case study had to be analysed in a short time. To write this assignment first we have to analyse the entire working strategy of this organization. It is difficult for those who are writing the assignment. To reduce the management problems, the factory manager of the HB department introduced a new working method and it was quite difficult to understand. While using the Maslow theory in motivation there exist a lot of limitations. It is actually a hierarchical concept. It only satisfies some of the basic needs. There are some other needs, which are more significant than the needs that are specified by Maslow. Therefore, it is difficult to attain that needs when we use Maslow theory in Motivation. These needs include the needs for accomplishment, association etc.
Conclusion
The Fab Sweets is a company manufacturing high quality sweets. Even though this company is doing simple management process and production process, there are some problems faced by this company. The main problem is in the hard boiled department among the production management, staff turn over and interpersonal. The problem in production department is that the production is below the target level. The problem mainly arises when the demand for sweets increases and decreases in the market. When the demand decreases the stocks of sweets get spoiled because they are not preserved in best way. And when the demand increases they are not capable to provide the required products in the market due to poor and slow production process.
The staff turnover and interpersonal problem is that there is no sufficient and efficient supervisor in this company to direct the whole departments. There is no good relationship among the workers and supervisors and there is lack of effective communication between the employees. The workers have no satisfaction with their jobs and also they do not have the power to express their ideas and decision. All these are problems affecting the overall functioning of the company. In order to solve the problems in Fab Sweets, some of the management actions are mentioned. The employees should be trained and motivated in order to increase their performance in the production process. Thus, the quality and the quantity of production can be increased in Fab Sweets.
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