Human Resources Management (HRM)

Instructions: Below are the questions for the final exams. Please download the three files (which are below as Attachments) you will need for this assignment.

1. In your opinion, what is causing the turnover at Columbus Custom Carpentry?

2. Are the assembly technicians overpaid? Explain. Are the craters underpaid? If so, why? Will they still be underpaid if the custom hand-work portion of their job is eliminated by the jig system? Explain.

3. Given the case and market information, is the CFO position best aligned with that of an accounting manager, director, or a CFO? Explain.

4. Are there differences in pay that appear to be based on sex/race/ethnicity rather than performance or length of service? How so or why not?

5. Given your answers to the previous questions, exactly how would you rectify the key issues within Columbus Custom Carpentry? What resources/references support your plan of action?

ANSWER

Columbus Custom Carpentry

Q1. In your opinion, what is causing the turnover at Columbus Custom Carpentry?

In my opinion, several factors are contributing to the turnover in the company. The company has been unable to retain resources and skillful talent due to several reasons. The first reason is that the company does not have a functioning human resources department. This means workers in the company do not have their needs met. The company is also lacking in terms of communication. Judging from the interviews done, different departments do not communicate with each other about various things which is leading to the company having a hard time producing the quality which is expected from them. For example, the manufacturing supervisor complains about not having enough personnel to complete their assigned tasks. They also complain that the warehouse manager is not doing his job right. On the other hand, the warehouse manager complains that they are not being paid enough and that the manufacturing supervisor and his team are doing their job wrong.

According to the marketing manager, the lack of teamwork and communication in the company is spilling over to the quality and efficiency of the company. The quality of products one provides determines whether or not they will make money. If the products reduced in the company are broken or if orders keep delaying, then the company is likely going to lose business. Columbus custom carpentry needs to re-evaluate its culture (Frederiksen, 2017). The factors that they need to access include teamwork, and communication and they also need to consider compensating their employees for the work they do. The company has employees moving from one department to the next because they need a raise. They should consider increasing the salary for some departments as that will prevent them from losing some of the talents due to poor compensation. The company is plagued with inadequate staffing, limited resources, and a lack of teamwork and communication which are all internal factors that are interfering with the productivity of the organization.

Q2. Are the assembly technicians overpaid? Explain. Are the craters underpaid? If so, why? Will they still be underpaid if the custom hand-work portion of their job is eliminated by the jig system? Explain.

Assembly technicians at columbus customs are paid a salary ranging from $29,000 to $39,000. This is a division in the company that deals with moving raw materials from the staging area to the production jigs. They complete the assembly process according to established procedures and, they are responsible for quality control. They report to the assembly supervisor.  From their job description and the machinery, they use, the assembly technicians are not overpaid. They use a lot of skill to move the materials in the assembly, especially the jig machines. They are also involved with creating the raw materials and thus an important part of the business. That is an important part of the company they should be paid enough money to keep them satisfied and to ensure they produce quality work.

The salary of the craters ranges from $21,000 to $32,000. The craters take finished products from the manufacturing areas and build wooden shipping frames to protect the units during storage and transport. Crating involves a lot of work despite not utilizing any machines. This means that they do a lot of physical work and physical work is tasking, and thus, they are being underpaid. It is common knowledge that work takes more time when done using hands than machinery, and thus, the craters are a lot of physical work. According to the equal pay laws, the content of the job should determine the pay and not the title. In this case, the craters are not being compensated according to the amount of work they are putting into the company (Frederiksen, 2017). This means that they are demotivated and this could lead to problems in the company such as employees quitting and poor output. The company should consider increasing their pay.

Q3. Given the case and market information, is the CFO position best aligned with that of an accounting manager, director, or a CFO? Explain.

A CFO holds the top financial position in an organization. The CFO in an organization is responsible for tracking cash flow, financial planning, analyzing the company’s strengths and weaknesses, and proposing strategic directions. The position of the CFO is best aligned with the CFO position. The CFO of the company analyzes the scope of the organization’s financials. From the interview, the CFO is doing his job as a CFO mad overseeing the financial state of the company. In the interview, he talks about their competitive advantage and the need to ensure that the business plan does not collapse. It is clear that he is the head of finances in the company as he oversees them.

Q4. Are there differences in pay that appear to be based on sex/race/ethnicity rather than performance or length of service? How so or why not?

There is a difference in pay based on sex, race, and age. This is evident in the HRIS database. Looking at the forklift payroll, a black woman aged 50 is paid less than a white woman aged 56. This could also be based on the number of years they have worked in the company. This should however be a non-factor as employees should be paid equally unless they are at their entry-level. The younger employees also receive less pay compared to the older employees despite working in the same department. This applies to both males and females. The females in the company also seem to be taking mote of the administrative roles and the other roles are left to the male employees. The male employees in the company who have administrative positions are also being paid more than the women which shows that there is some discrimination in the company in terms of salary. The company is also mostly white which means they are not a diverse company. They have not embraced many people of color in the company and those who are working in the company earn less than their white counterparts. This shows that the company has some level of discrimination in those areas that need to be addressed.

Q5. Given your answers to the previous questions, exactly how would you rectify the key issues within Columbus Custom Carpentry? What resources/references support your plan of action?

There are many problems in this company. The first problem that needs to be sorted out is the lack of a human resource office. The second issue that should be resolved is that of pay. The employees in this company notice the discrimination that sig pig on in terms of the way they are paid. The first thing one should do is to increase the pay of those who are underpaid (Frederiksen, 2017). This will ensure that the company does not lose so many of its employees and spend time retraining new ones. The next step is to work on communication and teamwork. The company does not have teamwork and thus the departments are working independently. The next thing to do in this situation is to create team-building activities where the different departments work together. They should also work on communicating with each other about various factors that affect them in the company so that they can create amicable solutions.

Many employees in the company are doing work they are not trained to do. This means that there is a need to hire new employees in understaffed areas. This will ensure that employees are working within the stipulated time and thus, reducing the amount of money spent on overtime. The employees will also be well-rested and motivated to work in the company if they are working in the areas they like. Some employees complained of having to take two jobs or looking for better jobs and thus in this case it is important to ensure all the employees are satisfied with what they are being paid. The HR department will also be responsible for handling the employee’s complaints. This will ensure that there is no pressure and that the employee turnover in the company reduces. Supervisors will also get leadership lessons so that they can learn to handle their employees well without over supervising them. According to the interview with Jeffrey, the supervisors in production keep yelling and there is so much pressure. These are some of the issues that should be addressed.

As the new HR manager, all these issues would be taken into consideration and try to create a friendly environment. I will ensure that all the employees are being compensated fairly. Fairly compensated employees will produce more work (Jhaver et al., 2019). There is also low turnover if the employees are happy with their work. teamwork will also increase production as there will be communication. Communication will ensure all the products are in the company in good time and the company will be operating smoothly. The key to a successful operation in a company is opening the communication channels. Once this is done, the company will be on its way to increased production, satisfied customers, low employee turnover, and making more money.

References

Frederiksen, A. (2017). Job satisfaction and employee turnover: A firm-level perspective. German Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(2), 132-161.

Jhaver, M., Gupta, Y., & Mishra, A. K. (2019, November). Employee Turnover Prediction System. In 2019 4th International Conference on Information Systems and Computer Networks (ISCON) (pp. 391-394). IEEE.