Reference no: EM132993702

Case study

Tom Beene had been the manager of Food and Beverage at the Birdwood Inn for 18 months. During this time he had many positive changes within the department, but some of his decision had had a negative impact on certain employees. Specially, he had found it necessary to demote the Equipment Director, John Sullivan, who in his two years in the position, had supervisory authority over the entire dishwashing staff of the hotel. Mr. Beene reassigned that responsibility to kitchen Staff Supervisor, Ed Ackridege.

All of the dishwashers were happy with Ed's appointment as supervisor. Ed created permanent schedules, allowed the workers to complete their tasks with a minimum of supervision on his part, and held periodic meetings with all of his staff. Under Ed's direction, the department seemed to flourish. Cliff, one of the dishwashers, reported that it seemed as if fewer accidents occurred on the job, and everyone seemed to complain less. In essence, their new boss took his workers' needs into consideration and treated them with respect. He allowed the dishwashers to monitor their own work flow and asked them for their suggestions when determining peak times for regular dishwashing service and deep cleaning in the kitchen.

Following several months of conflicts with the union, Tom Beene resigned. The Food and Beverage Department then underwent a period of upheaval that resulted in the adjustment on many position in the department. Prior to his resignation, it was rumored that Mr.Beene had planned to fire John Sullivan. After he left, however, John was reinstated in his former position as Equipment Director and again assumed control over the dishwashing staff.

Most of the dishwashers were dissatisfied with John's reappointment as their supervisor, particularly Cliff, who did not feel that John should have ever held a supervisory position. Cliffs belief that the majority of promotions at the hotel were seniority based, rather than contingent upon managerial skills, job knowledge, or organization skills, was confirmed when John was reinstated. The dishwashing staff was again demoralized by the return to the chaotic schedules and autocratic demands that had characterized John's previous supervision. Although Cliff was unhappy with the situation, he felt powerless within the organization to change it. Without the support of someone such as the previous Food and Beverage Manager, Cliff dismissed the idea of filing a grievances with the union as he did not think it would be effective.

Instead of filing a grievance, cliff attempted to talk to John about the situation and explain how well the dishwashers had been performing with permanent schedules. John brushed off the complaint but said he would look into the matter. The next posted scheduled had irregular hours for all of the dishwasher. Cliff was scheduled for three different shifts, often eight hours less between work assignments. Not wanting to appear belligerent with John, Cliff decided to work the hours as posted for the next several weeks and not complain.

Cliff knew his work process very well and took pride in his performance. Less than a month after John reappointment, he noticed more breakage occurred on his shifts and that he was more likely to slip on the slick kitchen floor. Cliff again approached John to discuss his observation and ask him to readjust the schedules. As in their first encounter, John told him that he would look into it. Cliff was accustomed to working during the third shift and deep cleaning at that time because there was little activity in the kitchen. Although he was still responsible for the deep-cleaning function, John scheduled him from 2:00 P.M. to 10:00 P.M., during which the kitchen staff was still preparing meals. Cliff work was constantly interrupted, and the kitchen was not as clean as it was once was.

Cliff's frustration led him to complain, more strenuously, to john. The two of them had a shouting match at work when the next schedule was posted. Cliff felt that John was not listening to him or the rest of the dish machine operator (DMO) staff.

Feeling thwarted in his attempts to resolve his problem through John. Cliff approached the Human Resource Director, Ron Cole, and explained the entire situation. Describing his own experience, Cliff noted the problems that had resulted, both at work and home, from John's erratic scheduling of the DMO staff. Cliff reported that he frequently worked three different shifts within one week, some less than eight hours apart, and that he was often unable to get more than three hours of sleep a night. Chronically fatigued, he explained, he has had more breakage on job and noticed a decrease in his overall performance. He had also become irritable at home, and his wife told him that he had been short-tempered with his children.

Ron offered to discuss the situation with John but could not promise any results. Although Cliffs problems remained unresolved, Ron was happy that the staff was finally coming back to the Human Resource office with their problems rather than just filing grievance with the union.

Questions

1. By assessing the situation above what are the Major issues?

2. What morale effects john had when he return as a supervisor and what are the reason for it?

3. What are the other cost involved with the decision to reinstate John?

4. Is seniority the best criterion for making staffing decision?

5. What other criterion could been used?

6. What advice or recommendation would you give to following persons below?

a. Ron

b. John

c. Cliff

d. HR

e. The Dishwashing Staff.