Improving Departmental Cohesion and Productivity - Assignment Example

Clifford Davis (Junior V.P., Hartford Industries) HERE (Organizational Consultant) December 16, 2007 RE: Improving Departmental Cohesion and Productivity Foreword Purchasing reports suggest a substantial drop in departmental productivity from 98% to 67% from Q3 to Q4. Initial departmental observations clearly indicate a lack of teamwork and rampant animosity which exists between the purchasing staff members. A recent consulting interview suggests that scheduling conflicts are the primary catalyst for lack of internal staff cohesion. Managerial influence in this department further requires modification. Summary After careful analysis of the purchasing department at Hartford Industries, it has come to my attention that considerable lack of motivation to perform exists between the six employees in relation to flextime and scheduling. Several employees are currently allowed to work split shifts so as to fulfill their personal and family obligations, however productivity in this department is considerably below corporate standards due to internal staff conflict over perceived unfair scheduling allowances. To improve performance motivation, it is recommended that scheduling processes be radically revised to eliminate the flextime options. A 31% drop in purchasing department productivity is well below corporate guidelines, and this effect is being felt with diminished profitability, product purchasing errors, and diminished customer service. Short-term employees (1 year of service or less) have indicated that the long-term employees in this department are being granted scheduling options which negatively impact the quality of work outputs in purchasing. Many of these angry staff members have suggested that the times in which the flextime employees are absent have caused the short-term staff to experience doubled workloads and they suggest they are forced to deal with angry customers who are unable to reach their assigned purchasing agent. Team projects, such as the monthly purchasing reconciliation report (which identifies inventory discrepancies), are suffering for quality and accuracy due to unwillingness to work as a team to complete the project. Further, the manager responsible for purchasing scheduling has refused the short-term staff opportunities for similar flexible scheduling, citing that it would cause “undue disruption” to the department’s daily activities. As part of my path forward recommendation, flexible scheduling should be completely eliminated as a staffing option in this department for all members of purchasing, effective immediately. Further, a team meeting must be scheduled (approximately 2-3 hours), so as to discuss why this course of action is required and this meeting will serve as a forum for discussion about methods to improve staff unity. As the leader of this division, Mr. Davis, it is recommended that you contact the purchasing manager immediately to discuss the drop in productivity and emphasize why profitability and staff productivity cannot be sacrificed in favor of flexible scheduling. By offering flexible scheduling to only a select group, it has created a culture of hostility which jeopardizes the company’s external reputation. Thank you for your consideration. TO: Nancy J. Smithburg (President, Jonestown Industrial Group) FROM: YOUR NAME HERE (Senior Human Resources Manager) DATE: December 16, 2007 RE: Fraudulent Manager Time-Card Information Foreword A recent payroll audit, conducted by external auditors Smith & Black, LLC., has identified substantial instances of non-salaried managers submitting fraudulent time-card information. This review covered 2005-2007, indicating nearly $675,000 worth of staff payments issued against inaccurate timesheet data. When these managers were confronted with the data, all suspected in the activity denied submitting inaccurate information and have threatened a discrimination lawsuit against the company if the matter is pursued. Having experienced enormous recent sales losses due to market conditions, this activity must be halted through senior management intervention to save profitability. Summary The bi-annual corporate audit implicated eight specific members of middle management who violated company policy repeatedly by submitting inaccurate time-card information. The electronic “clock-in” system, which is time and date stamped using an electronic key, indicated that many of these managers barely worked a 30 hour week, however their self-adjusted timecards reflected that a 45 hour workweek had been experienced. The majority of these managers are known to maintain strong, personal relationships outside of the work environment, suggesting that this activity was part of a fraud scheme which cost the company $672,459 in unjustified payroll disbursements in less than two years. When confronted by human resources and the external auditing team, all managers involved threatened a discrimination lawsuit, which further supports the theory that this was a well-constructed scheme initiated by the management group. Current human resources policy does not include a clause for immediate termination for such a violation, thus it is next to impossible to initiate formal reprimands or dismissal for this activity. Further, after analysis of our current reputation for higher-than-industry-average discrimination lawsuits, the business cannot afford further damage to our public image. However, this activity has further depleted our payroll-related cash reserves and, if allowed to continue, will seriously jeopardize corporate profits for 2008 and beyond. All of the managers involved in this alleged payroll scheme are of a protected class based on ethnicity, further complicating this difficult financial situation. To combat this problem, two specific recommendations are proposed: Senior executive leadership is seriously persuaded to immediately establish a corporate policy which highlights grounds for immediate dismissal in the event of fraudulent timesheet submission. Secondly, as human resources lacks the authority to formally reprimand these managers, senior leadership must confer with the alleged culprits and provide a training seminar which reinforces issues of personal integrity and the importance of middle management honesty as a catalyst for improving total firm profitability. Since immediate termination is not a viable option, the company must be proactive in protecting its interests by revamping the human resources manual to address payroll fraud. This situation represents a crisis for the firm and cannot be ignored or summarily dismissed. Thank you for your rapid response to a very frustrating and difficult issue. TO: Quality Assurance Group – All Shifts (Electro-Press Industries, Inc.) FROM: YOUR NAME HERE (Safety and Product Executive, Gaming Division) DATE: December 16, 2007 RE: Eliminating Product Recalls – Improving Quality Systems Foreword Electro-Press Industries, Inc. has experienced its highest volume of product recalls in its entire 28 year history in the year 2007. Employees in the Quality Assurance Department have been documented and observed engaging in inappropriate activities on the job, including unauthorized social events which persist in this division. External consultant reports further indicate that Electro-Press maintains the worst record of quality product distribution in the entire electronic gaming industry. Quality Assurance requires an immediate and radical reorganization in order to avoid impending bankruptcy. Summary Electro-Press Industries, in 2004, was the leader in the gaming industry in relation to providing consumers with quality video-gaming products. In 2005, the company was awarded the “Klaxon Quality Award” and the firm experienced record profitability of $218 million in this year. In 2006, the company lost six of its long-term employees due to various retirements and turnover due to staff movement to competitor firms. Many of these employees had been awarded and recognized for their innovative approaches to restructuring methods for assuring quality products. Upon their exits from the firm in 2006, the company has experienced 13 specific product recalls, costing the company over $295 million, making 2007 the least profitable year in history. Radical reorganization and prioritizing within the QA group is required to save this company. Discussion The accounting division suggests that 2007 will include losses exceeding $86 million, which is likely to lead to a series of staff layoffs as a cost-reduction necessity. As Electro-Press is a small firm, the impending loss of (approximately) 20 employees would seriously disrupt our production and engineering processes, likely beyond the point of future repair. Further, process engineering suggests that such layoffs would require terminating production on nearly 20% of our gaming products due to an inability to produce, further cutting profitability by 40%. Nearly 100% of our losses stem from irresponsible activities, on all shifts, within the Quality Assurance group, as the majority of QA staff members fail to utilize the corporate checklist as a failsafe to ensure all elements of quality have been examined. In addition, a recent audit indicated that only 30% of the time does leadership in this department even bother to sign-off that they have checked the integrity of the quality process, thus there is minimal follow-up in this group. A series of unannounced observations, performed by external auditors, found several employees engaging in romantic activities on the 2nd shift and many engaging in illegal gambling sessions while product checks began to back up in the system. Discussions with the shipping department also indicated that many deliveries have been missed in recent months, providing documents which indicated over $125,000 in excess shipping costs due to QA failure to deliver the appropriate approvals by the shipping deadline. In addition, the QA “clean room” is required to maintain a humidity level between 12 and 15% at all times to avoid corrupting the data modules in the gaming chips, however several audits have found these levels at 20 to 28%, which severely corrupts these enormously expensive pieces of electronic technology. Such obvious failures to modify humidity levels have been directly associated with nearly 38% of all recalled gaming modules. To make this situation worse, several checklists that were completed to verify the quality of our products were obviously falsified, suggesting that personal recreation amongst this highly-paid staff had been selected over the fulfillment of job responsibilities. This was measured by reviewing the humidity logs of the QA clean room, the date and responsible party for verifying the checklist integrity, and the nature of the specific product recall. This suggests a severe failure of management and staff members alike, which has seriously brought into question whether staff dismissals and termination is required. Having identified the enormity of the company’s problems with QA, radical reorganization is called for within this department. As previous discussion with members of this group have met with continued resistance and failure to meet basic obligations for quality checks, it is determined that a new senior leader will be promoted as the QA Champion Executive, who will be scheduled from 10AM – 9PM so as to maintain direct contact with all production shifts. In addition, this Champion Executive will be the senior manager who will report directly to the Chief Operating Officer, who will make recommendations to the CEO regarding Quality Assurance Productivity. In addition, starting immediately, any employee who is observed in unauthorized recreational activities will be terminated on the spot. A new series of checklists are currently under construction which will include items such as hourly clean room humidity checks to ensure that the most priority elements of QA are attended to and put back to corporate standards. All shift managers will conduct bi-daily staff meetings, scheduled according to the capacity of each shift, where each and every employee will attend so as to address their daily activities. A transcript of these meetings will be assigned to a junior staff member and will be presented daily to the QA Champion Executive. Failure to submit the transcript by the assigned deadline will result in a formal reprimand for the assigned QA staff member, possibly including termination. The activities of QA directly impact our future profitability, thus the security and stability of all career positions (for all staff) are directly associated with willingness to comply with the new, stringent QA requirements. It is unfortunate that such steps are required, however when facing a series of VERY controllable oversights in this department, it is the most appropriate and logical step to returning Electro-Press to a position of profitability and to maintain a quality reputation on the consumer electronics market. Read More