Treadway Tire Company Analysis - Case Study Example

Case Analysis: The Treadway Tire Company Name Institution Date Case Analysis: The Treadway Tire Company Introduction Treadway Tire Company is experiencing a major problem of High turnover rates and work dissatisfaction. Ashley as the new resource manager, just after the company had closed down in 2006, has to focus on implementing organizational changes that would boost the development of this company so as to reduce the turnover rate and enhance employee satisfaction. Reversing the situation would help solve the problems the company is undergoing. Foremen are the most affected by this situation, they are always found in conflicting situation with the management. In resolving such issues, Ashley has to ensure that employees are valued as assets to the company and therefore they should be motivated to continue working for the plant. According to the survey conducted on the Tread way tire company, a former employee who was working in a position of line as a foreman responded to an interview that he left his job because the supervisor was always so strict on him and that he could be instructed to carry out a job he had no idea about. He did not have any required skills to do such jobs and therefore he could not carry out his duties. Besides, they were not given opportunities to advance and the working conditions were not good which led to their dissatisfaction at work. Diagnosis, Analysis and Interventions From the survey, job dissatisfaction was majorly caused by strict supervision by the supervisors, lack of training, poor working conditions and of lack of opportunities to grow. (Western, 2010) suggests that seeking the help of experts on how to deal with organizational issues is vital for the management so as to take the best steps toward implementing strategies for development. Analysis If the performance of Tread Way Tire Company is analyzed basing on SWOT the following is found out; Strength: High salary Benefits, noble working hours Good co-worker relations. Weaknesses: Lack of training opportunities to the foremen Poor organizational communication Lack of good working condition Opportunities: The company has the capability to boost communication in the organization to allow proper and efficient running of the company. Training the workforce will increase the effectiveness and quality of their products hence increasing its marginal production. Threats: The company is likely to incur high costs on tire raw materials, high costs will reduce the profit margins of the company or rather it will force the company raise the price charged on its tires. Competition in the tire industry is increasing; this threatens the performance of Tread way tires especially with increasing globalization. Organizational change requires that all the underlying setbacks such as lack of employee motivation, poor communication and poor working conditions be addressed. For any change to occur, these vital strategies should be added and the bad actions that could be making the company stagnate be done away with. For Tread Way to develop, Ashley should involve a significant change in the given points of development. These points of change should involve communication, leadership and management with employee motivation given a top priority. Supervisors and managers of the tread way tire company should make efforts to implement a change that is successful and significant. For a company to improve performance in the coming future time, there are five stages in which the company has to undergo for the effective management of the desired change. The initial stage is to steer motivation among the company employees. This will ensure that minimal resistance is encountered at the initial stage of change implementation. Jackson (2006) notes that establishing a visionary statement to guide the rest of the employees will be important because they will understand the reason for the change; the employees will feel that they are a part of the team that is required to attain the goal of the strategy to change. Thirdly Tread Way Company has to develop a political support which works towards the involvement of the stakeholders in the change process. The fourth stage is the management of the change process. The process of transition has to be evaluated and assessed timely so as to put strategies that need to be altered in trying to reach the desired level of performance. Finally tread way will have to sustain the momentum of the performance so as to prevent falling back to the old structure of performance. The stages have been put in detail as follows; Stage 1: Motivating Change Some employees can be reluctant to accept the transformation changes that could be going on in an organization. They may be heard saying that they miss the pre-change period and that they are not happy with what is taking place currently. Therefore correct measures should be put in place so as to stimulate the employees to embrace the changes and make them successful. A cynicism about the efforts of an organization to change comes in two folds. There is the pessimistic outlook towards effective or successful change and the blame outlook whereby by blame is directed towards the ones who are responsible for the failure to the successful change. (Wesley, 2009) suggests that motivating employees to embrace the change to try their own efforts in support of the initiative to transform can help avoid the attitude of pessimistic employees towards the change. Therefore rightful strategies to motivate the employees should be put in place by the management. In the case of tread way tires the employees- foremen should be involved in the process of transformation. They should be made to feel that they hold a significant asset to growth and development of the company. Some can see change as a tool to make them incompetent, powerless or needy that is, they may feel like they are losing their self confidence. Incorporating the foremen in the change process is important so as to let them develop the required skills needed in their areas of expertise so that they depend on the mechanism of psychological support in the whole planning and execution of the change. This will challenge those who might want to rebel the change. Garry (2007) views that if the employees are motivated their productivity is going to increase, they would produce quality work which will make them attain the set goals and gain a positive perspective towards the change. If they are incorporated in change they will seem to create power for themselves at work place, improve their self esteem and be able to manage their own self development. Ashley should ensure that the employee’s morale to work for the company is lifted by making them feel that there is a connection between them and the management. They have to feel that they have a common goal with the management; a goal to attain the envisioned results within a stipulated time period. Tread Way managers have to know who the foremen are, what is happening in their work and that they are always there to help them in case they have any need. The management can do this by spending some time with them. According to the survey of Tread Way Company carried on employees, half of these employees said they were dissatisfied with their supervision; maybe their instructors were not always available to closely monitor their work and direct them on what to do. The supervisors have to work along the foremen from time to time. And if not, they should find time just to sit with them at their desks. They can have meals together to imply that the foremen are not beneath their association, this will help the management get the kind of connection needed to maintain the morale of the employees. The management has to verify their system to see whether the employees lose work morale because of it or the policies put in place. Creation of a vision Creating a vision of what the company needs is very important in stimulating and maintaining the kind of change needed in an organization. The major visionary goal for Tread Way would be to focus on employee satisfaction and competitiveness. They have to eliminate the high turnover rates while working on improving the employee work satisfaction. (Carter, 2004) writes that management would work to implement the goals and the employee will start to respond positively to the change which will facilitate the change process. This will lead to the type of future that will be desired by both the management and the employees. Choosing the right vision the company would be required to choose the right metaphors. The appropriate metaphors for tread way in this case would be to act as a “machine.” This term refers to a way in which a firm maximizes production while making it efficient at the same time. This will ensure that maintenance, inputs, outputs, programs, standardization and production is controlled more efficiently. The management will have to communicate the vision to the employees. They have to understand what is required of them as far as the organization is concerned. (Bradford, 2005) points out that the vision statement has the power to connect the employees and the management because they will feel they are all working to achieve a common goal. The best way to communicate this vision is to hold company seminars where the required duties from the employees and management are addressed. The leaders can set the pace for the foremen; the supervisors have to follow the vision in a way that is practical. Stage 3: Developing a political support In order for Tread Way to manage the political dynamics of the required change they have to carry out the following tasks; Identifying the key stakeholders The management has to find a way to influence stakeholders by establishing why the change is necessary and what is expected of them so as to achieve such a future goal. Assess the agent power for the change. That is, how well and ready the employees and the management are taking the change and how they are willing to sustain the given change. Stage 4: Managing the Transition Implementing change in the organization will need Tread Way to move from the existing organizational structure to a future state that is desired. Three activities will need to be followed so as to successfully move from the old to new organization practices. They are; activity planning, structures for change management and commitment planning. Activity planning This involves designing the required methods to attain the change. (Cummings, Worley & Waddell, 2007) points out that it will need the human resource manager to cite specific activities and the required events that will happen for the success of the transition. The planning should clearly point out, orient, and incorporate discrete change activities and should associate these activities to the change goals of the organization. Commitment planning This will involve the human resource manager to point out key individuals whose commitment is necessary for the change to take place. She also has to formulate a strategy of how she can gain their support. Change management structures Tread way management has to lay special structures for the transition process to take place. This is because the process of change can be quite challenging and ambiguous. The management structures will include the individuals who have the capacity to mobilize the required resources to facilitate change, respect the current leadership and advocates for change, in addition they should have skills that are related to the ability to associate with all the members of the organization and the stake holders so as to be able to guide the whole process of change. Stage 5: Sustaining the momentum Cummings, Worley and Waddell (2007) write that the management should be ready to provide the needed resources or change and build a support system that will allow change agents to work out effectively. In addition, the management has to initiate development of competencies and skills among the employees and the leaders and reinforce new form of behavior that will be required to stay on the course of change. The foremen will have to be trained so that they acquire the right competencies that can let them carry out their duties without constant supervision. People tend to work well when they are given a room for their own development. They will feel that they have the ability required to carry out their duties without instructions. This will therefore reduce conflicts between the foremen and the supervisor’s hence reduce turnover rates among them and increases job satisfaction and morale. Evaluation and measurement For the continuation of change plan, Tread Way has to evaluate and measure the effectiveness of the whole process to carry through change to completion. This can be done by evaluating the outcomes of the new structures. The performance of the company can be measured to find out the appropriateness of the change implementation. (Morrison, 2005) points out that monitoring the engagement level of the employees can also be another way to evaluate the performance of the change transition. The effectiveness of the human resource activities can show whether the plan is appropriate or not. Level of engagement and employee satisfaction can be measured through; Staff turnover rates and the costs associated in recruiting process The average service length Results from the surveys carried out on employees Employee absenteeism from duty This process of evaluating can be at times difficult to apply, the effects of interventions incorporated in the management and activities of Tread Way Company can be used to measure the effectiveness of the strategies put in place. The expected results should be compared to the actual performance results to determine further what should be adjusted in the change process. Recommendations Ashley, as the human resource manager to Tread Way should clearly state down their internal policies that govern leaders and employees. The laid down policies should work towards achieving the desired goals. In that, leaders should associate themselves with the employees so that the employees do not feel like they cannot associate with their leaders. This would foster communication and understanding between the employees and the leaders hence paving a better way to resolve conflicts and boost employee work morale. Training both the leaders and employees result to effective management system of the organization. Tread Way should adapt the culture of training their staff so that they may obtain better knowledge of what is required of them in their duty while developing new skills. This will provide advancement opportunities for the employees and other management team members. If employees advance their career, their self esteem is boosted, they find a reason to work even harder, in that they become more motivated to continue working for the company. Because Tread Way is a tire manufacturing company, some hazardous substance exists in the working environment and therefore the company should be concerned with providing proper safety measures for the foremen working in the mixing of rubber. A good working condition contributes towards a worker’s job satisfaction. Conclusion In conclusion, change can be incorporated into the company’s culture and that it can result to high responsive rate to the vision strategized by the company. If the process of change implementation is effectively put in place then the company will have a room to register high performances again and be able to compete favorably with the increasing global firms. However, while they implement the change process, the employees should be a part of the change by training them and communicating with them of what is required of the new structure of operation. Evaluation of the results should be measured by the impact caused by the interventions that have been put in place. Comparing the obtained results with the expected results will identify the strategies that need to be adjusted so as to obtain the desired results. These strategies will yield a better performance for Tread Way Tire Company in the future and near future. References Bradford, D. (2005). Reinventing Organization Development. San Francisco: Pfeiffer Cummings, T. Worley, C. Waddell, D. (2007). Organization Development and Change. Cengage Learning. Carter, L. (2004). Best Practices in Leadership Development and Organizational Change. A Journal of Organizational Development, 3(7)11-17 Garry, G. (2008). Employee Involvement in Decision Making. A Journal of Organization Development and Management, 7 (8) 23-29 Jackson, H. (2006). Decision making in Organizational Development and Change. International Journal of Organizational Development, 17(9) 123-131 Park S. (2005).Evaluating and Measuring Organization Change. A Journal of Organization development and change, 4(7) 24-29 Wesley, W. (2009). Practicing Organizational Development. A Guide for Leading Change. New York: Oxford Press. Western, S. (2010) What We Mean By Organization Change. A Journal of Organizational Development and Change, 4(8) 34-39 Read More