Reference no: EM133497809

Case: Yard Service is a small-yard maintenance company that got its start in 2014. The company specializes in smaller projects, including installing and maintaining flower beds, ponds, hedges, and lawns. The company employs six site supervisors and approximately 30 grounds-keepers. The owner, Robert Wilson, is himself involved in the work performed at most sites and is the sole negotiator of terms with clients.

Originally serving only Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, the company has grown to accommodate clients as far away as the Sudbury, Ontario, area. Now in its sixth season of operation, however, Wilson has noticed a decline in his company's rate of growth because the gains associated with opportunities afforded by new clients have been offset by the loss of older ones and also because he is having difficulty maintaining lasting employer-employee relationships.

You have been hired on a consulting contract by A1 Yard Service to investigate why business growth has stalled. You begin by interviewing Wilson and his site supervisors to establish what, if any, customer feedback they have received, to find out what qualifications both Wilson and the supervisors have, and to investigate the state of employment satisfaction.

Some negative customer feedback is associated with lack of knowledge and skills on the part of both the supervisors and the groundskeepers. Clients have noted that there have been instances where flowers have been removed that should not have been and weeds have gone unnoticed. In addition, there have been some instances where trees and shrubs were not properly planted and cared for. There has been a lack of attention paid to sun/shade and/or depth considerations, so some plants did not survive the winter. Most negative feedback that has resulted in a lack of repeat business is associated with job sites where Wilson had little or no involvement in the actual landscaping

You notice a tendency for Wilson to attribute customer dissatisfaction to the customers' own personality flaws as opposed to anything his company may be doing wrong. The supervisors can provide little or no additional information because, as instructed by Wilson, they rarely communicate with clients. Your interview with Wilson has revealed that he has extensive knowledge and skills associated with landscaping as a result of a lifetime of hands-on experience. He is also passionate about his work. You also notice that he doesn't know where his knowledge came from and sometimes thinks specialized knowledge that he has should be common sense to others.

Wilson's employees have limited knowledge of landscaping compared to Wilson's knowledge, and what they have seems to have been gained by learning on the job with A1 Yard Service. You have noticed that many of the employees seem to be dissatisfied with their workplace environment, and some report that they find Wilson to be unprofessional and inconsiderate as an employer. Jobs are often interrupted or delayed because of a lack of proper inventory procedures, resulting in frequent trips to hardware stores, etc. You notice some employees having difficulty with lifting tasks and the operating of machinery. Some employees are working with two gloves and others with only one or none. Some employees seem to be suffering from aches and pains, and you can see bad sunburns on their bodies because of a lack of sunscreen use. Some older and less agile employees seem to be attempting physically demanding tasks while the younger, fitter employees are engaged in less strenuous activity.

You have been observing A1 Yard Service both when Wilson is there and when he is not. When Wilson is present, the job seems to get done, but you notice he often has to go back and work on tasks that were not completed properly by his employees. When fixing a problem, he tends to complain to the employees but does not instruct them on how to do it properly in the future. You observe instances where Wilson is unduly harsh in his criticisms of the employees and seems to lack some people skills. There is evidence that the employees do not have respect for Wilson and his business when you observe them "cutting corners" on the job when he is absent.

Suggestions for assessing this case study:

Do not repeat material that is in the case, unless you are highlighting certain key points and how they should be addressed.
Remember to think of this case as a Recruitment and Selection problem!

• How would you go about improving the quality of the people that Wilson is hiring?
• Why are the current employees not performing well?
• How would you go about recruiting and selecting future groundskeepers?
• What are some of the key skills and/or knowledge that new employees should have?
• What skills, etc. should the supervisors have that would improve business?
• How would you identify what skills the groundskeepers and supervisors should have?
• Do you think that all of these issues can be resolved by better R&S procedures?