Case Brief

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The University of Southern Mississippi College of Business

The Treadway Tire Company: Job Dissatisfaction and High Turnover at the Lima Tire Plant

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Executive Summary _________________________________________________________________ The Treadway Tire Company is a major supplier of tires to original equipment manufacturers and markets for replacement tires. The Lima Plant is one of the company’s main manufacturing plants and was recently overhauled with major technological improvements in a $100 million dollar renovation project. The closing of Treadway’s Greenville, South Carolina plant has moved volume to the Lima Plant and resulted in the decision for the plant to change to continuous operations. It now operates with two 12-hour shifts 24/7. The new improvement has increased overall quality and allows the plant the opportunity to become Treadway’s number one production plant. In spite of these great attributes, the Lima Plant is experiencing several problems including job dissatisfaction and high turnover rates in its foremen positions. A gap in communication exists between the foremen and the hourly paid line workers. The job duties of a line foreman are extensive and many times go unappreciated. Many attribute a lack of training as the initial source of the turnover, as many foremen are placed on the line without adequate knowledge of their required responsibilities. Other areas of concern, for both foremen and all workers, are the 12-hour shifts. Foremen do not see many opportunities for advancement to higher level positions of management within the company. Several alternatives were suggested including a return to 8-hour work shifts, quarterly meetings, and mentoring programs for foremen. After identifying problems within the Lima Plant and offering multiple viable alternatives, we recommend Treadway immediately consider implementing the following: start new mentoring and training programs, restructure the organizational chart, provide longer breaks, and increase communication levels within the company. Each recommendation takes into consideration both long-term and short-term goals and approaches. The Treadway Tire Company has a valuable opportunity for growth with its Lima Plant. With teamwork and a good implementation of the provided recommendations, the Lima Plant is positioned for a future of excellence.

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Situation Overview _________________________________________________________________ Company Background

The Treadway Tire Company employs nearly 9,000 individuals between its eight various manufacturing plants located in North America. The company produces two Treadway Tire brands as well as a few private tire brands, making it a major player in the tire equipment market. The tire manufacturing industry is very susceptible to changes in costs due to market price fluctuations of raw materials required for the production of tires. Raw materials make up roughly 55% of the total production cost of tires. One of the major components to the manufacturing process is petroleum and the cost of this commodity has more than tripled the last four years (2003-2007). This cost increase has invariably created challenges for Treadway Tires, as well as all tire manufacturers around the globe.

One of Treadway’s production plants is the Lima Tire Plant, located in Lima, Ohio. In

2000, the Lima Tire Plant made efforts to modernize and expand its operations by investing $100 million in the plant with hopes of increasing its capacity and exploiting newly developed technologies. This expansion allowed the Lima Plant to become a top producing facility for Treadway. The factory is monumental in size, totaling 2.5 million square feet on 128 acres of land. In 2007, the Lima Tire Plant produced 25,000 tires for passenger and light truck vehicles. The Lima Plant is still not the number one producing facility for Treadway, although since the 2000 expansion it certainly has the capacity and potential to meet this challenge. The Lima Plant employs approximately 1,120 people; 150 are salaried and 970 are hourly. The hourly employees of the Lima Plant are members of the United Steelworkers Union, which protects these workers by monitoring pay rates, overtime, health and safety issues, benefits, and grievance procedures.

Treadway faced some difficult financial decisions which were compounded by the

increasing price of petroleum, and in 2006 closed the doors of its Greensville, South Carolina plant. Treadway moved the Greenville productions to the more efficient Lima Plant. This massive increase lead Lima to change its operations to run on a 24/7 schedule. The majority of employees now work 12-hour shifts. This change allowed Treadway to reduce the headcount of employees, reduce fixed costs, and maximize its production volume. Situation Background

Accompanying the additional production requirements from Greenville, South Carolina was Ashley Wall, the new Director of Human Resources. The Lima Plant has some major problems affecting its foremen, and this has resulted in an extremely high turnover of these positions. Understanding why 23 of the 50 foremen positions have turned over in the last year, as

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well as how to change this issue has become Ashley Wall’s top priority. The rising prices of raw materials is not something Ashley can affect directly; however, she does possess the power to improve production and cut costs by solving the high turnover problem, which has begun to create feelings of dissatisfaction throughout the whole plant.

The 50 line foremen amount to the largest number of salaried employees at the Lima

Plant. These foremen oversee all phases of production as well as the quality assurance work. The vast majority of the foremen resulted from internal hires via promotion from other positions, while the rest were hired out of college or transferred from other Treadway Tire plants. Since arriving at the Lima Plant, Wall has had a goal of increasing the new external hires, as she feels there are not a sufficient number of quality candidates to promote from within the company.

The position of line foreman is an extremely stressful and demanding job requiring a

large variety of duties to manage within a single 12-hour shift. Along with meeting strenuous goals set by upper management, the line foremen also must deal with administrative duties, and resolve various personnel and resource issues for the unionized staff in which they manage. This includes staffing the line, which, because of long hours and stressful working conditions, causes many employees to often call out from work. The foremen are also in charge of ensuring that health and safety standards are met, as well as resolving any technical and mechanical issues that arise and halt production. From the perspective of the plant manager, the foremen’s most important job is to meet the set performance goals, which are quite steep. From the foremen’s perspective ensuring that the line production can start each day free from technical issues is their most important goal. If a foreman failed in meeting all the target goals set by management they are susceptible to rough verbal reprimands and poor performance reviews.

One of the major issues brought to Wall’s attention through surveys, exit interviews, and

conversations with foremen and line workers is a general lack of respect and communication throughout the ranks at Treadway. The plant manager seconds these assertions and also attributed the plant’s overall moral problems to these communication problems. The foremen are not a part of a union, and are therefore left out of grievance discussions between management and line workers. This undermines the foremen’s authority with their staff, and further contributes to the lack of communication.

Aside from communication issues at the Lima Plant there are a lack of opportunities for

promotion for foremen. There exist few salaried positions above the foreman level. In the past year there has only been one line foreman to be promoted, and there are not any positions forecasted to become available. Combined with Wall’s desire to hire more outside candidates, the chance for a foreman to advance within the company is extremely slim. These issues, among

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others, are highlighted in the exit interviews conducted by Wall at the time foremen decide to leave their position. The largest issue addressed in these interviews and surveys is a lack of training. Below listed in bullet points are issues and concerns addressed by the foremen in surveys and exit interviews. Issues addressed by and concerning Foremen: Excerpts from this year’s Lima Employee Survey: ● Only 14% feel management is sensitive to employee problems ● 56% do not feel prepared to accomplish the duties of their job ● 6% viewed their supervisor as a positive role model

Comments Foremen made with regard to their roles: ● “Younger line foremen...don’t get enough training - especially in how to work with the

union and manage their employees.” ● “If hourly employees feel they can get away with something - they’ll do it.” ● “We have to do a better job of communicating…”

Selections from a foreman’s exit interview who quit of his/her own volition: ● “I was effectively left alone, without the necessary skills/tools and couldn’t get my job

done.” ● “I received no training…” ● Wish there had been “more communication ...and training…”

○ Selected “Dissatisfied” in the following areas: ■ Training and development ■ Working conditions ■ Advancement opportunities ■ Supervisors

Ashley Wall has a hard task in solving Lima’s issues that will require much of her time and attention. This is made more difficult for her, considering she attempted to implement a new rotational training program that was denied by the plant manager due to budget cuts. She plans to research and develop an analysis of the foremen turnover situation, as well as a detailed plan to combat these issues over the next 5 weeks.

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Problem Identification _________________________________________________________________ Problem 1: Lack of Training and Development Foremen are placed in charge of a segment of the tire manufacturing process and they are responsible for handling personnel matters, resource issues, and various administrative duties. The foremen are placed in positions of responsibility without fully understanding the job requirements and are not provided adequate training. They are treated disrespectfully by hourly workers and threatened with poor performance reviews from their supervisors whenever issues arise. Previous mentoring programs developed by Walls, were not approved due to cost cutting mandates. Problem 2: Lack of Communication Every level of the organization recognizes there is a communication problem. The foremen feel isolated from the rest of management and feel upper level management ignores their concerns. The foremen also have a difficult time communicating with the hourly workers because their roles as supervisors are not respected. Problem 3: 12-Hour Shifts Prior to the shutdown of the Greenville Plant, the Lima Plant ran three 8-hour shifts. Once the workload from Greenville shifted, the Lima Plant switched to continuous operations, running two 12-hour shifts. This has led to an increase in last minute sick calls and tardiness. The foremen are left to scramble at the last minute to find replacements to ensure that operations do not stop. Problem 4: Chain of Command and Authority of Foremen Diminished Although the foremen are responsible for operations and staff, they have no authority. When disciplinary issues arise with hourly employees, the foremen are not interviewed by Human Resources personnel and their disciplinary decisions are often reversed without explanation. The hourly workers do not respect the foreman position because they know the foremen are powerless. Problem 5: Lack of Recognition Foremen are responsible for a variety of personnel, resource, and administrative duties. They are also responsible for ensuring work stoppages are quickly resolved. Management posts daily forecasts and performance levels and foremen who do not meet the forecast performance levels are publicly reprimanded. However, they are not recognized for exceeding performance goals. Problem 6: Promotional Issues Most foremen do not see any chance for advancement to higher level positions. This lack of advancement easily leads to a feeling of stagnation within a job role and therefore creates general job dissatisfaction.

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Alternatives Alternatives to Problem 1: ● Create a Human Resources Training Specialist Position. Treadway should offer a variety

of training programs to reinforce basic shared skills, approaches, and values that will build confident employees and contribute to organizational success. The programs will be implemented and produced by this new position.

● Targeted Training Programs. Programs are designed to target each managerial level and build on previously learned information/skills. Targeted training programs include: ○ All salaried employees attend mandatory 8-hour training programs held quarterly

during a regularly scheduled shift to address updates to technology and how to properly adjust to changes in management.

○ Foremen – receive training to enhance leadership and communication skills, behavior modification skills, and productivity management skills.

○ General Supervisors – receive training for effective communication, conflict management, time management, performance management, labor relations, and situational leadership.

○ Production Managers – receive training in leadership, communication, delegation, and strategic planning.

● Create Tuition Reimbursement Programs. Requirements for participation include: being a full-time employee with at least one year of company service, pursuit of a degree relevant to the industry, and maintain a 2.5 or above GPA.

● Develop and Administer Mentoring Programs. A seasoned foreman will mentor a new foreman so the new foreman can learn what the job entails and how to handle situations unique to the foreman position.

Alternatives for Problem 2: ● Monthly/Quarterly Meetings. All salaried employees would attend scheduled meetings

to discuss issues and maintain a two-way communication forum. This provides all managerial employees an opportunity to communicate issues, needs, or recommendations pertinent to operating production lines effectively and efficiently.

● Town Hall Meetings. Plant manager would address all employees to communicate an array of information to keep all employees abreast of company/plant issues.

Alternatives for Problem 3: ● Return to the three 8-hour Shifts and Continue 24/7 Operations. Employees would rotate

shifts every three months. This would help reduce the number of call-outs and tardiness. ● Offer the Option for Employees to Vote on 8 or 12-hour Shifts. This will include the

employees in the decision making process. ● Add Additional Breaks and Longer Lunch. Continue to operate with the 12-hour shifts,

but add more breaks and a longer lunch break on a rotating basis for employees, so that operations are not interrupted. The increase in breaks will provide adequate periods of

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rest for the employee and help to prevent worker burnout. Staggering and rotating employee breaks keeps operation moving and prevents production from halting.

● Create Incentive Programs for Hourly Worker. By creating an incentive program, workers are more likely to come to work and arrive on time.

Alternatives to Problem 4: ● Clearly Define the Foreman Role. A foreman’s role should be shown in the

organizational chart as a team leader. Their job is to work side-by-side with hourly employees and to serve as a mentor/trainer. Disciplinary, staffing, and payroll responsibilities would transfer from the foreman to the general supervisor position to alleviate tensions between employees and foremen. The foreman would still be responsible for handling vacation requests, timesheets, and other administrative duties that affect his/her team.

● Restructure the Organizational Chart. Currently, the organizational chart shows that salaried and hourly employees report to Human Relations. The chart should be reorganized to place the hourly employees under the foremen in their respective sections.

● Improve Communications between Human Relations and Foremen. Currently, when disciplinary matters are handled by HR, the foreman is kept completely out of the loop when the union represents the hourly worker and often, the worker is not disciplined. The foreman should become part of the disciplinary process and kept abreast of the disciplinary decisions.

Alternatives to Problem 5: ● Create Recognition Program. Instead of highlighting only negative performances,

Treadway should create a recognition program to highlight successes. This can be implemented through positive reinforcement measures such as luncheons, “employee of the month” parking spaces, and award ceremonies.

Alternatives to Problem 6: ● Develop Paths for Promotion. The foremen should have a career ladder with steps to

reach the general supervisor position and identify additional training/education needed for promotion within Treadway Tire Corporation.

● Drop back to 8-hour Shifts. This creates additional foremen, general supervisor, and production manager positions; therefore, providing additional opportunities for advancement within Treadway.

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Analysis & Evaluation _________________________________________________________________ This situation calls for a unique set of criteria. The criteria chosen for this case are employee turnover, cost, and production. Employee Turnover – for this case, employee turnover is defined as the rate of foremen that leave the company for any reason. The employee turnover rate for foremen is 46%, making this the single most important issue in the case. This makes employee turnover an excellent criterion to evaluate alternative towards resolving the issue. Due to the importance of this criterion, the weight of this criterion is 0.45. Cost – cost is defined as an expenditure of money, time, or labor. Any change will incur a cost that affects the financials of the company. All companies are in the business to make money and any expenditure of funds, time, or labor must be justified to increase profits. Senior management must understand that the expenditure of funds is vital to the success of the organization. Cost is very important, but not quite as important as fixing the employee turnover rate. This criterion is rated at 0.35. Production – production is defined as the process of manufacturing or creating an item for sale. Treadway produces tires and the production is very high at the Lima Plant. Any alternative will have an effect on the production rate and this will need to be taken into consideration. Production, although important to the organization, is not quite as vital to the resolution of the case. This criterion is rated at 0.20. As shown in Table 1: Rate Scale, each alternative is rated on a five (5) point scale ranging from excellent (5) to poor (1). The point values are used to determine which alternative(s) are selected. Cost will be rated inversely - the higher the cost to implement an alternative the lower the rating it will receive. Table 1: Rate Scale

Excellent Exceptional Good Fair Poor

5 4 3 2 1

As each alternative is evaluated against the established criteria of employee turnover, cost, and production, the rating will be recorded in Table 2: Weight and Score Review. After all alternatives have been rated, the score will be tabulated by multiplying the rate score to the corresponding weight. The three totals will be added together to obtain the final score for each alternative.

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Table 2: Weight and Score Review

Employee Turnover

Cost Production Score

Weight 0.45 0.35 0.20 1.00

HR Training Specialist Position 4 1 3 2.75

Targeted Training Programs 5 2 5 3.95

Tuition Reimbursement 4 3 3 3.40

Mentoring Program 5 3 4 4.10

Monthly/Quarterly Meetings 4 4 3 3.80

Town Hall Meetings 4 3 3 3.45

Return to 8-hour Shifts 5 1 3 3.20

Offer Shift Options to Employees 5 2 2 3.30

Add More Breaks/Longer Lunch 5 3 3 3.90

Create Incentive Program 4 4 4 4.00

Define Foreman Role 5 4 4 4.45

Restructure Org Chart 5 4 3 4.25

Improve HR/Foreman Comm. 5 4 3 4.25

Create Recognition Program 5 4 3 4.25

Develop Paths for Promotion 5 3 5 4.30

Evaluation

1. Create HR Training Specialist Position (2.75) ● Employee Turnover - Creating the HR Training Specialist position to facilitate

orientation and training programs to the Treadway staff. This will increase employee engagement at all organizational levels. Train foreman on their job responsibilities, handling disciplinary actions, completing administrative duties, handling union issues, and strategic planning. This would have an excellent impact on lowering employee

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turnover as there will be an individual responsible for all trainings. This criterion received a rating of 4.

● Cost - There would be additional expenses to form this position in order to create and

implement training programs, remove the employees from the work environment during training, and regularly update training programs to ensure accuracy and relevance. Even though the expenses can be justified, it will be difficult for the organization to authorize the additional costs considering the current economic status of the tire manufacturing market. This criterion received the lowest rating of 1.

● Production - By providing an individual responsible for creating and implementing sound

training programs, all employees will better understand their job requirements. In turn, production should increase. This new position should guarantee positive results from the training programs and this criterion received a rating of 3.

2. Targeted Training Programs (3.95) ● Employee Turnover - By offering training programs to employees it helps the employee

to feel more engaged and committed to the organization. Implementing these programs will improve job morale, teach new skills, and increase the candidate pool for internal promotions. These programs will send a consistent message throughout all the organizational levels. This criterion received the highest rating of 5.

● Cost - The initial and annual costs to implement and maintain the new training programs

would be high. The costs associated with the training programs would need to be budgeted annually. The training programs are considered a long term investment to improve employee retention. Factoring the investment against the cost is the reason this criterion received a rating of 2.

● Production - The training programs will help the employee to gain relevant knowledge to

enhance their skill sets and to understand and further develop their own competencies. This leads to the overall development of individual employees, motivating them to be more productive at work. This criterion scored high and received a rating of 5.

3. Tuition Reimbursement (3.40) ● Employee Turnover - Wall observed that the majority of potential in-house hires for the

foreman position did not have a degree. Treadway also has a desire to promote from within the organization. Creating the tuition reimbursement program should encourage potential foreman candidates to obtain the required degree and will subsequently help decrease the turnover rate. This criterion received the highest rating of 5.

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● Cost - Although the organization will incur an additional expense, these programs are tax deductible and after the tax benefit the company will incur little expense. For these reasons, this criterion received a rating of 3.

● Production - Foremen with an education are more likely to analyze situations better and

may be able to reduce the effect problems have on production as they arise. Since there are controls in place with the newly modernized equipment, the overall impact will be neutral. This criterion received a rating of 3.

4. Mentoring Program (4.10) ● Employee Turnover - By establishing a mentoring program, the foremen will benefit

from individual employee growth and development and improve their productivity. They will better understand their positions and will be more motivated. A strong mentoring program will have a positive impact in reducing the employee turnover rate. This criterion received a rating of 5.

● Cost - There will be an additional expense incurred by creating the mentoring program.

However, this cost can justified because it will help reduce the employee turnover which has an overall negative impact on profitability and it will also help to increase the production output of the company. This criterion received a rating of 3.

● Production - A well mentored employee will be more likely to ensure the production line

will continue uninterrupted, be more motivated to reduce employee issues, and have the potential to suggest improvements with the production rates. This criterion received a rating of 4.

5. Monthly/Quarterly Meetings (3.80) ● Employee Turnover - Establishing better communication with managers, which includes

the foremen, will go a long way to helping the foremen feel like they are being heard and not ignored. Even the highest levels of management at the Lima Plant recognize the need for better communication. Establishing monthly/quarterly meetings will offer an opportunity for all levels of management to increase communication. Lack of communication was cited by exiting employees for reasons to leave the company. This criterion received a rating of 4.

● Cost - Although managers will be pulled away from plant management for a short period

of time, the economic impact will be minimal. Multiple meetings with staggered participation will ensure all foremen can attend while minimizing the impact to production. This criterion received a rating of 3.

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● Production - Since foremen and other managers will be pulled away for a short period of time, meetings can have negative impacts on production. On the other hand, meetings can also help improve the production rate. For this reason, the overall impact will be neither positive nor negative. This criterion received a rating of 3.

6. Town Hall Meetings (3.45) ● Employee Turnover - Town hall meetings are another alternative to provide top-down

information to all of the employees. This will help employees feel like they are being kept in the know and will feel part of the company. Town hall meetings also offer an opportunity for employees to ask questions to upper level management. This will help reduce employee turnover. This criterion received a rating of 4.

● Cost - Holding town hall meetings will require a temporary halt to production, but the

overall cost will be minimal since it will also help reduce employee turnover. This criterion received a rating of 3.

● Production - Since there will be a temporary shutdown of production during the meetings,

there will be an impact to the production rate. However, this interruption will be short and production can quickly resume. This criterion received a rating of 3.

7. Return to 8-hour shifts (3.20) *This alternative relates to problem 3 and 6 ● Employee Turnover - The 12-hour shifts have caused issues with the hourly employees

and they often call in sick or are tardy. The 12-hour shifts also cause an overall feeling of fatigue and this contributes to employees leaving the workforce. Returning to the 8-hour shifts will cause a huge boost to morale. This criterion received the highest rating of 5.

● Cost - Returning to the 8-hour shift rotation will require the company to hire new

employees, additional management, and support personnel to oversee the new employees. This will be a huge burden on the budget. This criterion received the lowest rating of 1.

● Production - Due to additional shift changes and the required additional personnel to

operate an added shift, the 8-hour shifts will have a slightly negative impact on production. This criterion received a rating of 3.

8. Offer Shift Options to Employees (3.30) ● Employee Turnover - Providing the employee the opportunity to work either 12- or 8-

hour shifts, will increase employee morale and will offer them the opportunity to work a normal schedule. Providing this option to employees will go a long way towards

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improving employee morale and, in turn, reduce employee turnover. This criterion received the highest rating of 5.

● Cost - Implementing this alternative will inflate the overall operational budget. The shift

operations will have to be maintained, in addition to adding the hourly employee and management to be hired. This criterion received a rating of 2.

● Production - Running 8- and 12-hour shifts will cause down time not experienced with

12-hour shift operations. Although it will not be a major issue, there will be additional down time during the 8-hour shift change. This criterion received a rating of 2.

9. Add more breaks/longer lunch (3.90) ● Employee Turnover - Two short breaks and one 30-minute lunch period are not sufficient

for a 12-hour shift. Adding more breaks and a longer lunch period will vastly improve morale and will assist in diminishing employee turnover. This criterion received a rating of 5.

● Cost - There will be an expense to allow for the additional employee downtime, but the

additional expected production will offset the expense. This alternative will have a net neutral effect of cost. This criterion received a rating of 3.

● Production - To keep disruptions at a minimum, the breaks and lunch period should be

staggered so production continues. While employees are on their breaks, the line will naturally slow down, but it will not stop. The overall effect will be neither negative nor positive. This criterion received a rating of 3.

10. Create incentive program (4.00) ● Employee Turnover - In an effort to reduce call-outs and tardiness, implementing an

incentive program could decrease these numbers and further reduce stress felt by the foremen. The foremen have a large amount of responsibilities and reducing the beginning of shift stress will go a long way towards reducing employee turnover. This criterion received a rating of 4.

● Cost - The cost to implement an incentive program will be an easily justified expense.

Quarterly awards and incentives do not have to be expensive, especially since most people will enjoy some public recognition. This criterion received a rating of 4.

● Production - An incentive program will help make sure employees are at work on time,

which allows the production line to start on time. Although it is not a huge benefit to

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production, the incentive program will help increase production. This criterion received a rating of 4.

11. Define Foreman Role (4.45) ● Employee Turnover - One of the major issues employees leaving the company stated was

the lack of understanding the foreman role and the stress of the position. By providing documentation that outlines the foreman position and the role it plays in the organization, the foremen will have a clear understanding of their responsibilities. This is critical to reducing employee turnover. This criterion received a rating of 5.

● Cost - The expense to accurately define the foreman role will be minimal since it will not

require too much work. Defining the foreman role will actually help decrease costs since the company will not have to train as many new foremen. This criterion received a rating of 4.

● Production - Since the number of foremen leaving the company will be reduced by

defining the foreman role, production will be stabilized, if not slightly increased. This criterion received a rating of 4.

12. Restructure Organizational Chart (4.25) ● Employee Turnover - A major problem with the company is the organizational chart. It

currently shows all hourly and salaried employees reporting to the Human Resources department. By streamlining the organizational chart to have hourly employees reporting to the foremen, will ensure the foremen have authority and responsibility for those hourly employees. This will make certain to include the foreman in the processes of annual performance reviews and disciplinary issues. This criterion received a rating of 5.

● Cost - The cost to restructure the organizational chart will be minimal. Foremen are

already conducting the majority of the supervisor role and restructuring the chart will clarify the chain of command. This criterion received a rating of 4.

● Production - Restructuring the chart will not have a positive or negative effect on

production. This criterion received a rating of 3. 13. Improve HR/Foreman Communication (4.25) ● Employee Turnover - All managerial levels recognize the need to increase

communication throughout the company. The lack of communication between Human Relations and the foremen is noted as a major issue during exit interviews. When foremen write-up hourly workers for discipline and they come back from the union

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representative without being disciplined, the foremen have no idea why. Increasing HR/Forman communication will positively affect employee turnover. This criterion received a rating of 5.

● Cost - The cost to implement improved communication between HR and the foremen will

be minimal. Having the foreman involved throughout the disciplinary process will only cost foremen time away from the production line. This criterion received a rating of 4.

● Production - Improving HR/Foreman communication will have neither a positive nor

negative impact on production since this issue is related to non-production line communication. This rating received a rating of 3.

14. Create Recognition Program (4.25) ● Employee Turnover - Exiting foremen indicated that the position was a thankless job.

Formen are held responsible for every negative issue but are never recognized for positive performance. Creating a recognition program will assist in reducing employee turnover. This criterion received a rating of 5.

● Cost - Creating a recognition program will create a minimal cost. Recognizing positive

performance during the daily status review, purchasing plaques, or providing another type of award does not incur a large expense. This criterion received a rating of 4.

● Production - A recognition program may have a positive impact on production, but not

enough to be significant. This criterion received a rating of 3. 15. Develop Paths for Promotion (4.30) ● Employee Turnover - The majority of promotions within the organization are internal.

Unfortunately, career paths are not clearly defined and foremen see little chance for advancement. By developing career paths, foremen will have an idea that there is opportunity for advancement. Senior managers can provide an understanding of what training or additional education is required for advancement within Treadway. This criterion received a rating of 5.

● Cost - The cost to develop career paths will be minor. Most of the costs will be incurred

through mentoring foremen. This criterion received a rating 3. ● Production - Developing career paths will have a positive impact on production. Formen

will be more likely to find ways to improve the production line and production will not be slowed down while new foremen are being trained. This criterion received a rating of 5.

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Recommendations _________________________________________________________________

Based upon a review of the alternatives, Treadway’s Lima Plant should implement the following recommendations. Each of the recommendations considers the short-term and long- term approaches. The short-term approach is compiled of lower costs and fast implementation methods where immediate action is required. The long-term recommendations are stated last for reasons of longer time requirements and forecast budget demands before work can begin.

Defining the role of the foreman within the chain of command should be implemented quickly. This short-term approach would not require any additional costs upfront and would help to decrease job dissatisfaction felt by the foremen with their apparent lack of authority within the company. Defining whether the foremen will take on a leadership role will give structure to the reporting relationships and help identify the proper channels for the flow of communication. This alternative should take approximately one month to implement and should be fully operational within that month, requiring only periodic review to ensure the role description remains on target.

The Lima Plant should restructure the organizational chart so that hourly employees report directly to the foremen and to make sure that employees understand the chain of command. This will give the foremen the authority required to perform the job and handle the employees on the production line. The cost to this short-term approach would be minimal and would streamline the chain of command. This alternative should take approximately one month to implement and should be fully operational within two months, requiring only periodic review to ensure accuracy.

Improving the communication between Human Resources and foremen will keep the foremen in the loop of the decision process and increase awareness of outcomes. This would also help keep tensions at a minimum between foremen and hourly workers. This short-term alternative will only require a small expenditure of funds to implement and the results should help decrease some of the tensions on the production line. This alternative should take approximately one month to implement and be fully operational within that same month. This alternative will require continual monitoring to ensure sustained implementation.

Providing more breaks and longer lunch periods would help to solve some of the problems associated with feeling overworked from the 12-hour shifts. This is a short-term solution and should not incur huge costs to implement. Employee breaks would be staggered and rotate among each of the teams members, so that the production lines would not be

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interrupted. Providing adequate breaks for employees would help maintain production levels and reduce worker fatigue. This alternative should take approximately two months to implement and six months to become fully operational.

To solve the problems for lack of employee recognition, to improve job satisfaction, and

to decrease turnover, Treadway’s Lima Plant should start employee recognition programs. Employees who are praised continue to work hard and perform well. The recognition programs would include giving appreciation to employees in daily reports, reserved parking spots, and luncheons with management for top plant performers. The daily break out reports circulated at the plant would now include each of the names of the team with the highest production numbers. Monthly, quarterly, and annual awards luncheons will be held with upper management to recognize the highest performing teams. The only costs incurred would be purchasing engraved plaques and to hold the luncheons. The costs for the luncheons would be lowered by holding events on-site and covering catering costs. The costs are low relative to the drastic improvements that should be created, fostering a positive employee work environment. Even though the costs are minor, this should be considered a long-term approach since this program will require monthly attention to maintain sustainability. This alternative would take approximately three months to implement and should be fully operational within one year.

Implementation of the mentoring program will require a substantial contribution of time and money. All senior foreman and senior management personnel need to attend training to understand how to provide mentoring to new foremen. The cost would include initial start-up costs and funding to maintain the program. The benefits would outweigh the costs since this alternative would reduce employee turnover and increase production. This long-term alternative would take approximately three months to start and should be fully implemented within eighteen to twenty-four months.

The targeted training programs would require the most time to implement and have the highest cost related with them. All of the programs would need to be tailored to each of the specific positions within the plant and require time to develop. The cost would include the initial startup as well as to maintain the program. The benefits would outweigh the cost from a long term perspective. The training development and implementation would be an enormous cost; however, it should be viewed as a long term investment for the company. This alternative should take approximately one year to implement and three years to become fully operational. If Treadway is determined to decrease employee turnover and increase production at the Lima Plant, it is highly recommended they seriously consider implementation of the suggested alternatives to the numerous problems identified in this case study. We recommend the

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immediate implementation of the short-term alternatives. Treadway should work to implement the short-term solutions within three months and the long-term solutions within the year. References ______________________________________________________________________________ Beckham, Heather, and Wickham Skinner. “The Treadway Tire Company: Job Dissatisfaction

and High Turnover at the Lima Tire Plan.” HBS No. 2189. Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing. 2008.