Treadway Tire Company

Introduction

In this case, there were many problems within the Treadway Tire Lima factory plant. Many of the problems were caused by the inefficient system that was in place. This case revolves around Ashley Wall who had been transferred to Treadway Tire Plant as the Director of Human Resources. She was the veteran human resources professional with over 10 years of experience at the Treadway plant. This case study is about job dissatisfaction and its high turnover and possible solutions to resolve these internal issues.

Problems and Root Causes

Many individuals were highly dissatisfied with how they were treated at Treadway Tire Company. Ashley, the direct of human resources in Treadway, identified major issues that were a source of unnecessary cost to the company. These issues included; inadequate training among employee, employee dissatisfaction, and a poor working environment. She is determined to uncover the underlying issues with the foreman position and help get things within the plant back in perspective. Ashley plans to do this by getting those most involved...i.e. the foreman in the effort and make their concerns known (Treadway Case, n.d.)

There was lack of proper training among the line foremen and the long strenuous 12 hour shifts which made them unable to run things properly. The job of the line foreman at Lima was a daily challenge, requiring foremen to juggle and resolve a variety of personnel, resource, and administrative issues in a 12-hour shift (Skinner & Beckham, 2008).Due to lack of adequate training the foreman were unable to handle the pressure of being caught in between the struggle between the employee union and the management. Instead of giving the employee proper training, the supervisor results to coercing the foremen to produce results.

The Treadway article (2008) states that, "New line foreman received only informal training at the discretion of the general supervisor and area manager"(Skinner & Beckham, 2008 p.5). The authors go on to state that, "A lot of the foremen are put on the line before they have enough knowledge"(p.5).The mistake here is that upper management has high demands for the foremen but are not willing to be proactive and go ahead and spend the time and money it takes to better prepare them for success. Collins (2001) states that, "This is managing by self ego, self interest which will hinder them from becoming great" (Collins, 2001, p.30). This tension between the supervisors and the foremen causes dissatisfaction among them and the workers below them. The foremen and the supervisor are under pressure and are judged according to their production. This is what leads to a high turnover of foremen in the company increasing the cost of business.When an employee lacks the necessary training to become more productive, their performance suffers and one of two things can happen....the employee voluntarily quits or they are fired.

It is imperative that Ashley keep in mind that these issues do not begin only with the foreman but starts at the top and trickles down. Collins (2001) believes that, "The good to great leaders get the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) and then figure out where to drive it" (Collins, 2001, p.63). It will be beneficial for Ashley to get additional information in order to get the people in the right places even if it means starting with the plant manager down to the line employee

Additional Information Needed

Ashley should get statistics concerning foremen and other employee turnover within the company. She should break these statistics down into categories such foremen from inside hires, outside hires or transfers so that she may be able to know which category is most appropriate to hire to this position.

Ashley should then conduct a detailed analysis on the budget to identify possible sources of finances in order to implement the training programs. The budget has been cut due to increased cost but Ashley could use the budget statements to present an argument that the cost of employee turn over is much higher than what it would cost to undertake training of employee. She should also use the budget statements to provide forecast of how much the company could save if it implements the training program.

Possible Approaches

First this learner would collect data that would enable one to understand the training need of the foremen, supervisors and other workers. The job description would be a good place to start. This would enable this learner to develop appropriate training program for the foremen, supervisors and other employees that will adequately prepare them for the job. Next, this learner would also take time to review employees' grievances. This would help one understand some of