Treadwell Tire Case Study

According to the article The Treadway Tire Company: Job Dissatisfaction and High Turnover at the Lima Tire Plant, Tireway Tire Company is experiencing high turnover at their Lima Tire Plant. Ashley Wall, a human resource specialist for the company is hired to analyze the problem, and develop a plan of action. After doing research through employee interviews, employee satisfaction surveys, employee files, and some observations, there are several key issues identified: low morale and lack of training for leaders

Low Morale:

There are several roles within the Treadway Tire Company, line workers, line foremen, general supervisors, area managers, and the plant manager. The line workers and the line foremen are primarily the staff that have the low morale. According to an employee satisfaction survey conducted in August 2007 Exhibit 4, more that 50% of the employees were either neutral or disagreed that they were satisfied with the morale of the company. During an exit interview Exhibit 5, an employee stated that, "I was not satisfied with my job or work environment. I was effectively left alone, without the necessary skills/tools, and couldn't get my job done." The employees were yelled at when they returned from breaks late, and were thought to be slackers. According to Skinner and Beckham (2008), due to long strenuous shifts, the hourly workers would often come late to work or call off. The primary focus is meeting performance goals, not employee satisfaction. A hourly worker commented on the employee satisfaction survey, Exhibit 4, and stated that," Foreman don't treat us with any request. They just bark orders and expect us to jump. They don't seem to understand how hard our job is." (Skinner, Beckham, 2008)

Lack of Training:

Line Foremen had a challenging job. They were required to resolve daily personnel issues and administrative issues, and felt powerless. They had a lot of responsibilities on their shoulders. They were constantly covering the schedules due to call offs, and felt the pressure of meeting performance goals, but required primarily to focus on production, maintenance, material control, and quality assurance. According to an exit interview of a foreman, Exhibit 5, "My general supervisor would just say "Do it!" I received no training on how to do my job. The hourly employees showed me no respect." (Skinner, Beckham, 2008). They had informal training at the discretion of the manager. Area managers felt that the foreman would learn on the job.

Perspective

When analyzing the root causes and developing a plan to address the issues at the Treadway Tire Company, Ashley should view the situation through a temporal lens. Currently Treadway Tire Company has to change their approach to development. If they focus on fostering growth