Reference no: EM1369987

At the present time the Ballarat Dry Cleaning Company has no formal induction or training policies or
procedures. The owner, Jennifer Carter, believes this is one reason why the standards to which she and her
father, Jack would like employees to adhere are generally not maintained.

The Carters would prefer that certain practices and procedures are used when dealing with customers at the
front counter. For example, all customers should be greeted with what Jack calls a ‘big hello'. Garments they drop off should immediately be inspected for any damage or unusual stains so these can be brought to the customer's attention, lest the customer erroneously blame the store when picking up the garmet. The garmets should then be placed immediately in a nylon sack to separate then from other customers' garmets. The ticket should be carefully written up, with the customer's name and telephone number and the date precisely and clearly noted on all copies. The counterperson is also supposed to take the opportunity to try and sell the customer additional services such as waterproofing, or simply notify the customer that: ‘Now that people are doing their spring cleaning, we're having a special on curtain cleaning all this month.' Finally, as the customer leaves, the counterperson is supposed to make a courteous comment like ‘Enjoy your day' or ‘Drive safely'. Each of the other jobs in the stores?pressing, cleaning and spotting, periodically maintaining the coin laundry equipment, and so forth?similarly include certain steps, procedures and, most important, standards that the Carters would prefer to see upheld.

The company has also had other problems, Jennifer feels, because of a lack of adequate employee training and induction. For example, two new employees became very upset last month when they discovered that they were not paid at the end of the week, on Friday, but on the following Tuesday (as are all employees). The Carters use the extra two days in part to give them time to obtain everyone's hours and compute their pay. The other reason they do it, according to Jack, is that ‘Frankly, when we stay a few days behind in paying employees it helps to ensure that they at least give us a few days' notice before quitting on us. While we are certainly obliged to pay them anything they earn, we find that psychologically they seem to be less likely to just walk out on us Friday evening and not show up Monday morning if they still haven't got their pay from the previous week. This way they at least give us a few days' notice so we can find a replacement.'

Other matters that could be covered during an induction, says Jennifer, include company policy regarding paid holidays, lateness and absences, and general matters like the maintenance of a clean and safe work area, personal appearance and cleanliness, time sheets, personal telephone calls and mail, company policy on substance abuse, and eating or smoking on the job. Jennifer believes that implementing induction programs would help to ensure that employees know how to do their jobs the right way. And she and her father feel that it is only when employees understand the right way to do their jobs that there is any hope their jobs will be done the way the Carters want them to be done.

1. Specifically, what should the Carters cover in their new employee induction program and how should they covey this information?

2. In an HRM course that Jennifer took, the textbook suggested using a task analysis record form to identify the tasks performed by an employee. Should they use a form like that for the counterperson's job, and if so, what would the filled-in form look like?

3. Which specific training techniques should Jennifer use to train her pressers, her cleaner-spotters, her manager and her counterpeople, and why?