Reference no: EM132880616

Human Resource Planning Case Study

Maple Leaf Shoes Ltd. Is a medium-sized manufacturer of leather and vinyl shoes located in Wilmington Ontario. It began operations in 1969 and currently employs about 400 persons in the Ontario plant and some 380 more employees in more in offices and warehouses throughout Canada and internationally.

The cost of production at Maple Leaf Shoes has been rising slowly but steadily. Labour costs currently account for over 53 percent of manufacturing costs and have been increasing rapidly. The productivity levels of the employees have not shown any significant increase in recent years. Concerned with the situation, Maple Leaf Shoes' management has been attempting to introduce more sophisticated technology in its various plants. More capital intensive, automated production processes are being considered by the management as part of the solution to the productivity challenge facing the firm.

The company is now in the midst of a strategic reorientation. As part of the exercise, Robert Clark the president has asked Jane Reynolds, Special Assistant in the human resources department in the firm, to prepare a human resources forecast for the company.

Reynolds examined the company records that were likely to help her in her task. To her dismay, she found that very few plans or systematic procedures existed that will assist her in human resource planning. She decided to begin her analysis with the division in charge of shoes for children and youths (commonly - and half humorously called the "juvenile division" in the company). It currently employed fewer than 150 persons in total and seemed to have the most complete records related to employee hiring, transfers, exits, and training. But even here, production and labour statistics for several years were incomplete or inaccurate.

Her survey of company records resulted in the information given below. Reynolds also met with key managers in the firm (including Clark) several times to find out more about their goals and action plans for the immediate future. Her findings are also summarized below:

1. All of the juvenile division's manufacturing operations were located in Ontario. Reynolds considered that there were four distinct Manufacturing stages: cutting, shaping, assembling, and finishing. (Of course, each of the stages contained several tasks; for example, "shaping" involved several subtasks such as bending the leather, vinyl, or plastic; making lace holes; attaching reinforcers, padding and so on.) Reynolds also found that the operations progressively became more complex, from "cutting" to "finishing". Workers were normally hired as cutters and then progressively moved up to do shaping, assembling, and then finishing as they gained experience.

2. Cutting and shaping were more repetitive and boring while assembling and finishing required greater attention and expertise and therefore were more challenging. Despite this, a few workers who were doing assembling chose to do shaping since the latter almost always fetched them more overtime work (and significantly higher earnings). No one doing final finishing has so far asked for reassignment to shaping or cutting. Employee movements during 2015-2016 among the four operations are shown in Table 1.

3. The firm's labour productivity has not shown any significant improvement in the recent past. This has also been true of the juvenile division. Table 2 shows the productivity and staffing records of the entire division.

4. Through the introduction of computer integrated technology and automated work systems, the firm expects to increase the division's productivity level by 25 percent in 2017 over its 2016 record. Much of this will be achieved by automating much of the cutting operations. It is expected that automations will reduce the need for 33 percent of cutters. The productivity of other operations (namely shaping, assembling and finishing) is also expected to increase but at lower levels than in the case of cutting. The productivity improvement in theses operations is expected to be equal. Workers who lose their jobs as a result of automation and computerization will receive severance pay.

5. Compared to other divisions, the juvenile division has an aging workforce. (on average, 3 to 8 percent of the division's workforce retire each year). For calculation purposes, Reynolds is planning to use a flat 5 percent retirement figure. Table 1 figures do not include exits through retirement.

6. There are 10 persons in sales and order processing associated with the juvenile division products. Another 15 clerical staff are involved in a variety of related activities (such as billing, product movement, and so on) in the division. There are four managerial persons in the division.

7. As a cost-cutting measure, two of the above managerial positions will be eliminated in the next year. Because of the computerized billing initiated recently, the productivity of the clerical staff is expected to increase by 50 percent, making some of the clerical positions redundant. Where possible, the displaced workers will be transferred to other divisions or trained to do other activities in the firm.

8. The firm plans to open two new sales outlets in the next year. It is estimated that each outlet will require one supervisor and two sales assistants initially.

9. The percentage of female workers in the four operations were as follows: cutting, 72 percent; shaping, 70 percent; assembling, 63 percent; and finishing, 61 percent. Females account for 68 percent if the sales assistants and 55 percent of the clerical staff. No females occupy a managerial position in the juvenile division.

10. A number of women in the past have requested job sharing and flex time work arrangements. The firm currently has no provision for non-traditional work arrangements.

11. Estimated production (based on projected market demand for shoes) for 2017 is 98,000 pairs of shoes. As is the case with several shoe manufacturers in this country and the U.S., footwear production has declined each year due to international competition.

Case Questions:

1. Preapre a human resource plan for the juvenile division for 2017.