Reference no: EM132985235
CASE STUDY:
Nathan McPherson contemplated the safety record for the retail division of his company. While the figures were not too far above average for the company, the increase of 17 per cent in 'lost time' hours over the previous three months was concerning. 'The retail area is not really a dangerous place,' thought Nathan to himself. 'Especially when compared to the production division. I know, I'll ring John up, he'll give me some answers.' John's phone rang for some time before it was answered by Shirley, one of the customer service assistants.
'No, he's off sick,' said Shirley.
Nathan asked for one of the supervisors. 'Well, Amelia is the only one on, but she is tied up with two customer complaints at the moment,' she replied.
Nathan thanked her and hung up. John was the assistant manager, and having him away as well as two of the supervisors was unusual. With a flash of intuition, Nathan used his computer to call up the sick-leave records for the retail division. A quick analysis of the data showed that the sick leave in the retail division had increased over 20 per cent in that past six months.
Looking at the daily sick leave report, Nathan was amazed to see that Fridays and Mondays were the most 'popular' days for sick leave, with one memorable Friday having 42 per cent of the staff in the division away.
'That's a staff morale problem,' he thought, remembering his studies in human resource management. 'Well,' he mused, 'I had better do something about that. Perhaps a revamped version of the induction workshop would do. That would raise their awareness of the importance of high sales to the company. Aw, hang on, I had better do bit of a training needs investigation I suppose.'
Thinking about his options, Nathan thought that some interviews would be the best approach. They would allow him to sense any complex issues and he could also probe deeper into issues if needed. He didn't think that focus groups would be much good, as people might not wish to disclose information in front of each other. And questionnaires at this stage would be useless. He needed someone else to help him. Perhaps Jennifer. She did not have much experience with interviewing, but she would soon pick it up. Yes, that would be the way. In quickly, interview about six or seven-about 12 per cent of the staff in the retail division, check to see if the induction workshop material would cover the concerns, and then start the programs off.
'Right, I had better see who is around to interview,' he thought. 'Oh, I had better see if Jennifer can come down with me first.'
QUESTIONS :
- What has Nathan decided is the key problem causing employee absenteeism? What are the assumptions that Nathan makes in his quick analysis of the situation?
- What are some of the 'other' possible reasons for the increase in sick leave in the retail division? Will a few quick interviews be sufficient enough to determine what the real issue is? If not, why?