With the estimated loses made we tried to narrow down the cause of this problem and found that core issue is with the ‘psychological contract’ (McKenna and Beech, 2008) between the employee and our company. This largely effects the commitment of the employee which can be related to a number of other points related to the overall attitude. Which is again directly related to the efficiency of the worker, failing to comply with leads to a pressure from the supervisors who really are just doing their jobs to ensure the shop- floor level staff is completing the job they are expected to do. This may also lead to increased amounts of stress.
(Patterson, G. T. , 2003). The fact that 80% of the shop floor staff comprises of older females, the need for them to be able to speak out there concerns is vital, as the result of the survey suggest that they are subjected to one way communication with the male supervisors. The supervisors who are in charge of the workers are task oriented and not people oriented as they have never been formally trained in doing so, they are well aware about the task given in hand and are skilled in chalking out plans to get them completed, provided the workers are all task oriented and they both understand the company goal equally well.
The shop floor workers also are faced with another issue which is related to the small technological advancement that have come into the stores, as the customers that come in to our shop have the option to look up electronic catalogues and ordering for them through kiosk, automated billing machines and indexing of items are now done through devices that index them using serial numbers. The shop floor workers largely of who are low skilled, find it difficult to do the job at the speed expected of them.
This causes a conflict between the supervisor and the workers these employees are under part-time and think that they are not taken as seriously as the full time employees. Hence, there is disparity among the shop- floor workers and the supervisors leading to a breach to the psychological contract. The answer to this entire problem is that employees need motivation as it is very important. Motivational and inspirational experiences improve employees’ attitudes, confidence and performance.
What can be done to fix this problem? Identifying the problems of the staff I propose a plan which includes a short term goal of improving the employee morale by bridging the communication gap between the shop_ floor workers and the supervisors, the shop floor workers need to be showed that we care about them and the company wants to retain them. The problem faced by the shop floor workers in terms of the technology has to be taken care of.
All of this and more will be achieved with a 3 week programme that I have designed which will ensure all these short term goals are achieved. The costs involved in setting and running this programme is much lower as compared to the losses made by us combined with costs involved in rehiring for the replacement of the staff leaving the company. The second part of the plan focuses on the future changes that are required to retain the employees we have and also give a good environment to the new recruits we would have in the future.
A change in the organizational culture is very much required and this can be done by encouraging or employees and supervisors to get together and do activities that are not work related like especially when bosses and supervisors take part together in team games that will improve the cohesion between each other and building a progressive culture. Fixing the problem. The training program includes a 10 day communication training, audio visual training and Business games. Each of these sessions will last for 2 hours each and there are 3 sessions each day one in the morning, followed by two sessions in the afternoon and evening.
This training will be for the entire work force and will be organized at a venue at a convention centre which has the facilities to accommodate all the staff that will attend the training. The use of the communication training will help us address the communication gap that had been created due to the age differences of the supervisors and the shop – level workers. The session during the day will be separated by a lunch buffet and then a tea and snack break between the two afternoon sessions.
The shop floor workers have a choice to attend any one of the sessions that will take place in the period of 3 days, the supervisors will also be allowed to attend the same session along with the workers this will improve the relations between the floor staff and the workers. Here all the topics and expert suggestions made by the trainer will be shared by all the workers and the supervisors, this will definitely improve the morale of the workers, and the communication training sessions will include an anonymous feedback form where they can post their comments, complaints, expectations and give a feedback about the training.
The second portion of the training the staff includes the medium of audio-visuals where documentaries, short films and presentations on the companies motives, future aspects, our companies expectations from the them and towards the end there would be a brain storming session where everyone can discuss the days preceding or to just catch up. The second session of the audio-visuals will be held the week soon after week one of communication.
The third portion of the training will commence in the third week, after the audio-visual week, this week will be to promote simulations and business games, this section will include a lot of fun activities where the interaction level will increase as the motive behind this training is to allow role plays the workers form the shop floor would get to act as a supervisor and a supervisor would get an opportunity to act like a worker.
Observations made here will help with the Employee -employer interaction. The convention centre will be filled with various fun activities that will be free of cost for the workers and supervisors. Posters, highlighting the older aged people, who used to feel neglected, will be a part of the company’s vision giving them hope for the future.
