Training with no efficiency! Peter Dummy, president of Green supplies, has a problem. No matter how often he tells his employees how to do their jobs, they invariably decide to do it their way, as he puts it, and arguments ensue between Peter, the employee, and the employee supervisor. One example is the door-design department, where the designers are expected to work with the architects to design doors that meet the specifications. While it rocket science, as Peter puts it, the designers invariably make mistakes such as designing in too much steel, a problem that can cost Green supplies tens of thousands of wasted dollars, once you consider the number of doors in, say, a 30-story office tower
The order processing department is another example. Peter has a very specific and detailed way he wants the order written up, but most of the order clerks do not understand how to use the multipage order form. They simply improvise when it comes to a detailed question such as whether to classify the customer as industrial or commercial.
The current training process is as follows. None of the jobs has a training manual, although several have somewhat out-of-date job descriptions. The training for new people is all on the job. Usually, the person leaving the company trains the new person during the 1- or 2-week overlap period, but if there is no overlap, the new person is trained as well as possible by other employees who have filled in occasionally on the job in the past. The training is the same throughout the company for machinists, secretaries, assemblers, engineers, and accounting clerks, for example.
Questions:
1/ What do you think of Green Supplies training process?
Could you explain why employees “do things their way”, and If so, how?
2/ What role should job descriptions play in training at Green supplies?
3. Explain in detail what you would do to improve the