Assessment of the Problem

After reading the Case Study in Labor-Management Negotiations over Multiple Issues, we realized there was not just one problem going on in the Sleep-Soundly Pajama Company, nor was there one easy solution to the many problems. These were all complicated problems stemming from, we believe, one central issue.

Opening Statement:
The main problem going on in the Sleep-Soundly organization is the fact that they seem to have no written rules. It is because of this lack in written rules and procedures, we believe, that SleepSoundly is experiencing a wave of inefficiencies and difficulties among the employees at the company.

Other Problems: (Where is fairness by rules and procedures not implemented?)

1. Miscommunication a. In how employees can move up within the hierarchy of the company i. Deborah Diehard says that there are many employees who work hard to get somewhere, like moving up into company headquarters Employees need to know how they can move up in the company rankings because it gives employees something to work towards. If instructions or requirements of each position are spelled out, employees can seek to better their skills and move up the hierarchy. It is important to

keep in mind that the best people for each job need to be in that position, so it is important to have task competence before moving up in rankings; because of this, employees must master each task and may have to be evaluated by upper-management before moving up. b. In how employees can communicate i. Direction and channels of communication 1. Carol Contender thinks that people do not get a chance to speak their opinions Managers need to show their authority over their employees and it is important that employees know their place in the rankings. That being said, if there are written rules about how one could go about communicating their thoughts and feelings, it would be beneficial to both employees and managers.

c. Differencing opinions between employees and management i. Job satisfaction 1. Carol Contender thinks that there are many unhappy people in the company than management thinks 2. Managers are 50% happier with their jobs than the employees This is a major problem with Sleep-Soundly, and this lack in job-satisfaction is causing an excessive rate of job-turnover, in turn causing more and more of the companys money to be thrown into training new employees. There is a major difference between managers happiness and employees happiness. There needs to be a way to get employees and managers on the same page. By instituting rules and regulations, everyone who worked at the company would know

what they needed to do and how the company operated; it would put every employee on the same page so there should be no dissatisfaction because every worker should know what the job entails.

ii. Views about the organizations identification 1. Many employees view the work as just a job and are not the least bit concerned about company policies This is an issue because workers need to take pride in their work. If they continue to feel like it is just a job, they will not work as hard. By giving every employee a specific job and task, workers will know exactly what they need to do and will in turn take pride in their work. Workers will start to view their jobs as careers.

iii. Perception of work environment being open and trusting 1. Managers think that they are progressive with respect to labor relations 2. Managers also think that they are the regional leader in the fair and open treatment of all employees 3. Supporter claims that The employees just dont understand that we managers know best. They need to trust the managers because we have the bigger picture in mind. We need to be in control. 4. 30% managers agree with statement and only 10% of others agree with the statement

This difference in opinions should not be happening in the workplace. The workplace should always be trusting because every employee should know their individual task they need to complete and therefore should trust the work of every other employee. If one employee does not trust the company or other employees, they might start to persuade other employees with their opinions and start to form informal organizations. Every employee should feel like their work environment is comfortable, but the fact that managers think the work environment is currently open and trusting is a bit unrealistic. There should be one central opinion of what the work environment is like.

iv. Adaption to company policies from employees 1. Managers feared negative and subversive reactions by some workers in response to proposed changes 2. After changes were implemented, Domina still found that workers were unwilling to adapt to any progress and do what is best for the company This is a huge problem that Sleep-Soundly is dealing with. Upper-level managers should be practicing rational authority and should be respected by their employees. Employees should always be listening and obeying by the rules and procedures their managers give them. If the company policies are put into writing, there should be no discrepancies whatsoever. Employees should be doing what is best for the company.

2. Formation of Informal Organizations

a. Carol Contenders Adjustment Time aka bitch sessions with 15-25 other workers b. Cliques and Clusters i. Two in management and four among other employees c. Talk of unionizing i. Daryl Domina, Plant Director, acknowledges rumblings about unionizing on the part of hard-to-please employees down there in the shop ii. Carol Contender believes that the majority of the employees would support an effort to unionize This is a problem because these employees who are taking part/ organizing the informal organizations may feel that they are important and superior in that separate organization and may feel more entitlement in the actual company. They may start to think that because they have respect in the informal organization, that they deserve to be treated better in the actual company. Employees should be focusing their energies on the energies of the company, not a fictional company.

3. Feedback employees are receiving a. Currently employees are having their results of their piece rate/pay published on a bulletin board and electronically for everyone to see By putting individual names of the board takes away from the companys goals as one united goal and focuses on individuals. The company should be focusing on the company as a whole moving forward and improving, not on an individual basis.

4. Individual Incentive Pay a. Employees are being paid differently individually by piece rates, so if they work harder they will be paid more This individual incentive plan takes away from the goals of the company as a whole. The employees should be paid the same as other workers at their skill level and, as a group, should be paid based off how their production rate is together. By focusing on smaller groups of employees, it will help boost the companys production rate because people will not want to let their group (others at their skill level) down.

5. Excessive Training Time a. Re-learning time i. Currently 8 weeks for workers who are transferred to a new job b. New employee training time i. Currently 6 weeks for newly-hired employees This excessive training is taking the companys time and money away from them. The company should be focusing their energies on making sure they hire those who are skilled and should make sure each person is the best for each task (task specialization). This new-employee training time would not be a huge issue if the company focused their energies on keeping the employees they already have and making sure they hire skilled workers.

6. Excessive Job Turnover

This is, again, one of the larger issues Sleep-Soundly is dealing with. When employees leave the company, the company needs to fill the void by hiring someone to take the place of the missing employee. During this time, the production rate will drop because one person is missing. At the current rate, the company will have to take 6 weeks to train the new employee before they are able to start working. This is a cycle that could be avoided if Sleep-Soundly focused on keeping the employees they already have.

7. Structure of the company a. Management thinks they are entitled to this position and that they are above the rest of the employees b. Managers seem to be in positions that they may not have earned because they have not been at the company as long as some other employees and they have been trained at other places c. Some management lacks the education that some employees have This is an issue because if managers lack the credentials to be in the positions they are in, some employees who feel that they are more qualified will be defiant to the managers and will not listen to them or respect their authority. Managers should be the most qualified people at the company. They should have not only experience, but they should have the training and the skills to be higher up in the hierarchy. 8. Sleep-Soundly Slowly Loosing to Competition company NiteThreads