Inequitable Salary Structure of DrainFlow Company - Case Study Example

A standardized hiring process is also proposed to address the seeming lack of emotional labor among employees that resulted in 30% of customers considering other plumbing companies should they encounter similar issues.
I. Cash reward system
The reward is a common motivational tool used by managers to increase productivity and efficiency as well as to promote employee satisfaction. Therefore, the cash reward system proposed at DrainFlow should be aligned with this objective.
Unfortunately, the proposed mechanism of individual productivity as a basis of cash reward is not aligned with this objective. DrainFlow’s performance is often dependent on another job category to perform effectively and efficiently. For example, the 20 completed calls of order processors do not necessarily translate to customer satisfaction because other employees have to do other jobs in the chain to satisfy customers. It does not guarantee that the plumber will do the job well as well as other employees such as billing representatives and assistant plumbers. It does not also address the root cause of job dissatisfaction which is inequitable salary structure and flawed job design. Also, customer satisfaction requires teamwork and collective effort in the plumbing business so instead of individually rewarding employees, emphasis should be made on customer satisfaction as the criteria of reward. The individual reward systems will still be installed in the company’s reward system such as commendations from customers but will not be the sole criteria of reward.

II. Hiring recommendation
At present, there is little consistency in the hiring practice of DrainFlow. This hiring practice is flawed because the company may be getting talents that are not consistent with the company's objective. For example, its employees have little customer service aptitude and see the business in terms of technical plumbing practice. While this may mean that the employees know how to do the job, this still could result in low customer satisfaction evident with the following problems. 25% percent of customers ended in no service call because customers were confused by the diagnostic questions the order processors asked and did not have sufficient skill to explain the situation. 40% of customers are not satisfied with the service, 75% of completed work ended with other problems and 30% of customers would consider the competitor if they have another plumbing problem. These problems can be traced to a lack of personality traits to complete the customer interaction component of their jobs. This deficiency should be addressed by the hiring practice of DrainFlow and should include in the standardized hiring process. Among the trait of the big five personalities that should be standardized in the hiring process is the extraversion personality trait.