Tuition Assistance - Case Study Example

Case Study: Tuition Assistance at Garden Gate Describe the key problems with the tuition-aid program. One of the main problems with the tuition-aid program is that there is a lack of communication between departments and the HR team. It seems as if the HR department has no involvement in the program at all until the candidate has already received an education and is ready for a promotion. Even the little good that the HR department does, which is its human resources database, is not updated enough to be of any use to the organization.

By this stage, no planning has been done to ensure that the candidate will have a secure job to walk into by the time they are ready to do so. Additionally, the tuition-aid program suffers from a lack of internal recruiting. Supervisors are not checking internal job postings and informing the appropriate employees are these opportunities. Finally, Garden Gate does not seem to lock employees in once they receive the tuition assistance, meaning that without this they are almost free to leave and taking advantage of the generous program on offer.2. Does the information in the table indicate any special problems or issues?

What do you suggest Garden Gate do about them?The table does not indicate any special problems or issues; in fact, the table shows that Garden Gate has greatly encouraged diversity because there is a balanced mix of males and females and also employees from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. Of the 18 employees who left the company after receiving tuition aid, quite a few of the employees took on a different job from the one they held at Garden Gate. This perhaps shows that they were unsatisfied at Garden Gate and wanted a change.

It is up to supervisors and managers to communicate so that it is known just exactly which direction each employee wants to go in and then how that can be facilitated.3. Should Garden Gate discontinue its tuition-aid program?I dont think that Garden Gate should discontinue its tuition-aid program because although there have been some problems with it, there is the potential for it to create a competitive advantage over competitors. The program is very attractive for employees who wish to up-skill, so this is something that should be pursued.

Also, the company holds the value of treating its employees like investors, meaning that it makes sense to invest in them. Doing anything to the contrary would be going back on the companys principles. The company has grown at 12 percent per year for the last few years, and it wants to continue this rate for at least the next five years. For Garden Gate to be able to do this, it will have to retain most if not all of its current employees before looking to hire new ones. The best way to do this is by investing in human capital, which is what the tuition-aid program was designed to do originally.4. Create a plan to improve the retention of tuition-aid recipients.

First of all, information about the tuition-aid recipients needs to be updated regularly in the companys skills inventory database. Second, there should be a clear long-term goal as to which position a tuition-aid recipients will eventually fill after they have finished their studies. Finally, there needs to be regular meetings held between supervisors and hiring staff so that there are no misunderstandings as to which employee should take each position.