Consulting Assessment
HRM/326
Amanda L Conley August 17, 2015 Rick Lab

Consulting Assessment The company that I am going to discuss is called Professor Plumb. This is a company that I have recently began working for and it is a well-known plumbing company that is also a sub-contractor for two large home improvement stores. The bulk of the company business is the work obtained from the sub-contracts, in performing installs of plumbing and appliance needs. There are two large markets in the Alabama area, there is the Birmingham region and the Montgomery region. We have a total of five technicians that are scheduled to take care of the servicing needs of the customers. The one thing that the company makes the most money on is going to be the installation and sales of hot water heaters, and therefore those calls take priority.
The Birmingham region is the most recent acquired by the company owner, and there are not as many stores and business in this area. We as a company are focusing on the growth in sales of the hot water heaters in both regions and the building of more jobs in the Birmingham region. When looking at the focus and the needs of the company it is very important to ensure that the technicians are well trained and know and understand what is needed and expected of them. The company is struggling at this time with the acquisition of the new region and trying to make money and provide the funds for the overhead and more. We as a company have been trying to go virtual, not only is this process faster but more accessible to multiple people within the company. What this means is that the office personnel can add notes to a work order or schedule a service call and the technicians are able to see that immediately after the changes and updates are saved on the work order. There are many effects focus and goals can have on other aspects of the business. Too many the goals obtainable there is going to have to be group and individual training for the employees. It is very important that everyone is on the same page, this is for the scheduling, billing and overall customer service. One of the toughest issues that we are facing is the adding of notes by the technicians. This training is going to take time and a lot of it is trial and error, with changes being made as needed based on the company. As a company owner you hope that the training is money well spent, and proves to be well worth the time and money spent on the training. The training that involves the uniform way of doing the job, should take priority within the company.
This company is not a large company, yet. We hope that business will grow to the point of needing more and more technicians. I have been told by possible employees that there are items that are going to need to be in place for most people to come aboard with our company. While most people would feel that it would be money, it really is not that, it is health insurance for the employee and family or the sick time or even the option to build a retirement within the company. However those goals will happen as the company gets larger, at this time all we really focus on is earning more money, growing the markets and expanding our work force. That is only half of the issue, the other half of the issue would be the training of the company. Many people hear one thing and then never perform the way that they were trained, this can cost the employee and the company money. There are programs in place federally that protect the company as well as the employee as far as what must be offered and what is actually offered. The larger the company work force the less it will cost for the company to offer those benefits that so many people are seeking.
There are several goals that Professor Plumb would like to meet and even exceed in the near future. There are going to be goals that will deal with the training of the employees and the data entry system that is used, as well as the training of the companies that we conduct business for and with. It is great to have partners in business, but it more important to make sure that we understand what they want the customer to have as well as for them to understand what we want too. The ultimate goal is going to be the service of the customer and the contract in a timely manner.

References:

Blanchard, P. N., & Thacker, J. W. (2007). Effective training: Systems, strategies, and practices (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.