HR scenarios – Morale
Influences
1. Newco is hiring 400
new employees to open two new offices. The new hires are concerned that they
are going to work only 35 hours weekly, which prevents them from being included
in the company’s benefit package. If the organization maintains this philosophy,
what is the long term influence on turnover? How will this influence morale of
those employees who remain as employees?
2. Your organization
has a history of giving employees salary increases based on years of service
(tenure), and not based on performance. You have been assigned to a team that
is charged with making recommendations on how to change salary increases based
on tenure to pay-for-performance. What recommendations and steps of action
would you make in making this change? How do you think the workers will receive
this new structure?
3. Scott has been
hired by your organization and has worked for you for nine months. He soon
begins reporting he has hurt his back while on the job. After numerous sick
days and trips to the doctor, Scott returns. You work as a manager for the
organization. While at a trade association conference in another city, you
happen to meet several people who know Scott, and who also worked with him in
the past. They begin telling stories about how he always claimed to be hurt or
sick and filed numerous worker compensation claims. You learn that the
organization gave him a hefty settlement to take care of all of his distress
and pain. While you have no clear proof that Scott is getting ready to file
worker compensation claims at your organization, you believe that Scott’s
recent work behaviors are strikingly similar to those that his previous
co-workers had discussed with you. What concerns you about this situation? What
do you do with this new information?
4. The Chesapeake
Chicken plant employs 5,000 workers. People come from all over the country to
work at this plant. Chesapeake is known for hiring illegal aliens to work at
the plant, but this has never been proven.
You have been hired by
Chesapeake Chicken and work in the Health and Safety Department. You’ve noticed
that accident reports have increased from 25 annually to 200. During your
investigation, you discover that machinery is broken and/or is not working
properly. In some cases there are no safety guards. During interviews, you
learn that workers have been afraid to report these problems for fear they
would not make production quotas, or that they might be terminated. You also
find out that some workers who were hurt did not document their accidents and
continued working regardless of the accident.
What kind of checks
and balances can an internal Health and Safety Division put in place in order
to prevent this from happening again?
