Reference no: EM132959542

All Supplies Inc (ASI) is a rapidly growing player in the field of supply chain management. ASI uses leading-edge technology to keep their vast inventory moving quickly and accurately through the supply chain. They are proud of their record in health and safety, which has enabled them to retain their employees. However, in the past six months, some difficulties have surfaced and the CEO has called you, the new head of HR, into her office to discuss a report of the various performance problems being experienced. "I think all of our employees need some training asap!" she says, and asks you to arrange this.

As ASI does not have the ability to conduct training in-house, they rely heavily on external training providers and the programs are delivered off-site. The head of HR is typically responsible for organizing all company training, and managers are good at providing their employees with opportunities to use their new knowledge on the job immediately after completing a training program.

Fortunately, the CEO has agreed to your request for time to conduct a training needs analysis first. You have decided to focus on the two areas that are of greatest concern: delivery delays and absenteeism. The following is the information you have gathered:

-ASI prides itself on being able to meet its service standard of delivering all goods within 24 hours of an order being placed. Any delays in meeting this standard have a major negative financial and reputational impact on ASI.

-Each ASI location has a sufficient number of transport vehicles to fulfil deliveries for the coming two weeks.

-All orders are immediately entered into a tracking system and allocated to logistics teams. Team leaders are then responsible for ensuring that a particular item is available for delivery, assigning the item to a particular driver, and scheduling the delivery for a particular day and time. At the start of each day, the driver reviews and confirms their assigned deliveries with their team leader.

-The drivers and team leaders are all fully equipped with the knowledge and skills to use this process, which was working flawlessly until six months ago when a new tracking system was implemented. A flaw in the new system, which was too minor to be detected immediately, resulted in random errors being made in the orders being assigned. What would happen is that the wrong items would be loaded on the trucks, but then when a final check was made comparing the items ordered to the actual items, the discrepancy was caught and they would have to unload the wrong items and load the correct items.

-ASI never used to have issues with workers not showing up for work, however as of six months ago absenteeism due to illness and injury has been drastically increasing from an average of 2% to 11% and rising. Most of the injuries were among the warehouse clerks and were related to over-exertion and slips/falls. There were almost no injuries among the supervisors, engineers and equipment operators.

-There are approximately 60 warehouse clerks at each of ASI's three locations. They are required to have at least 2 years of experience. However, due to a spike in demand in the past six months they have had to hire an extra 30 at each location. Due to labour shortages, they could only find people with six months or less of experience. Indeed, almost all who were injured were these new hires with less than six months of experience.

-According to employee records, these new hires were provided with minimal training when they started their jobs and there was no indication that they had any safety training.

-According to the job description, the job of a warehouse clerk is very strenuous. It primarily involves lifting and stacking heavy items, operating machinery, etc and this can take a toll on their back and limbs. According to notes of interviews of the less experienced warehouse clerks, it is apparent that they did not know about safety protocols such as wearing a special support for their back, bending at the knees and taking frequent short breaks. Many of the injuries were related to slips and falls, and the less experienced clerks did not know about important safety measures such as having fall protection when working at higher altitudes, checking harnesses etc are securely attached and keeping walking areas clear of obstructions.

-Warehouse clerks work in 8-hour shifts, five days a week. They perform their assigned duties and have their breaks on time. They are provided with adequate equipment and time to do assigned tasks. At the start of every week, they are each provided with their targets. At the end of each day, their team leader reviews the tasks accomplished and records them on a report. ASI is known in the industry for setting very fair targets and treating their employees favourably; their targets are not excessive and each week their accomplishments are recognized and celebrated.Please answer all three of the following questions:

-Briefly describe the two performance concerns at ASI

-Based only on the information provided, analyze the performance concerns step by step using the appropriate framework discussed in the textbook/class to indicate which employees you recommend for training.

-Conduct a brief training needs analysis for those in need of training in your answer to (b) above.