The New Lumber Yard Employee:
Terance graduated from high school and his plan was to work and save enough money to start college in a couple of years. His high school football coach helped him land a job at the local lumber company. He started in the lumber and sheetrock sheds and was progressing nicely but was soon moved to the plywood and siding shed due to personnel shortages. Terance was a hard worker, picking up things quickly. His primary responsibilities included working with the other shed employees to bundle ticket orders for truck deliveries as well as assisting walk-in customers with their individual orders. The work was honest and there was a sense of camaraderie among the guys such that they had each other's backs and had fun joking around, but when it was time to get to work, everyone pitched in to get it done. Terance learned how to handle customers, bundle deliveries, and operate the equipment, such as the forklifts.
Cliff was Terance's foreman and he noticed the young man had potential when he was hired; he just lacked experience. So, Cliff brought him along slowly at first helping him learn the different products and their uses and then putting his limited knowledge to use pulling together and bundling orders several times each day for truck deliveries. As Terance gained product knowledge, he was given more responsibility for truck orders and additional interaction time with walk-in customers. Cliff believed Terance was really getting the hang of it. He noticed of all the employees, Terance received the most positive customer comments.
Terance felt more confident in his job and showed a willingness to continue to learn. Since Terance's knowledge and skills were quickly improving, Cliff believed it was time for him to take the next step. By far the most difficult skill to learn was how to handle the plywood and siding using the forklift without damaging the product. Cliff taught him how to use the lift to pull and load small orders. In order to prepare a large order, Terance would have to deal with several challenges:
(1) Expertly maneuver the forks between the pieces of plywood so as not to crimp or splinter the sides;
(2) effectively balance various siding (some slippery and flexible like lap siding as well as firmer Hardie board siding, etc.) on the forks when moving around the yard;
(3) properly lift, balance, and load the large trucks while also knowing which products to place where for optimum hauling; and
(4) efficiently manage time and personnel to move orders quickly.
Cliff began teaching Terance the skills necessary to become an effective forklift driver during slow periods on the job. Terance's willingness and smarts enabled him to progress nicely. Cliff felt like he advanced beyond the skills of a novice so he could be counted on to pull and load small to medium jobs, but he was not ready to proceed without supervision on the large jobs just yet. Cliff let Terance manage large loads under his watchful eye and believed after another month or so he could handle most types of jobs on his own.
One late Friday afternoon just before the yard was closing, a “rush” ticket was sent over for a large truck delivery that had to go out immediately so it would be on the job first thing in the morning. The yard superintendent sent the order to the yard supervisor to be filled who was already in the middle of another large order for an important customer. The yard supervisor was concerned because they were shorthanded since Cliff left to go to the doctor at 3:00. That left three available employees in the shed: Calvin, Kenny, and Terance. Calvin was blind in his right eye and recently injured his leg so he wasn't the best person to put on the lift. Calvin would need to assist the walk-ins until closing time. That left the two new hires and Terance received the most training from Cliff on operating the lift. So, it was decided Terance would drive the lift and Kenny would assist him.
The order was coming along fine. Terance made few mistakes, and when he got in a little trouble, Kenny was there to assist, demonstrating good teamwork. So far, they loaded the lower level of the truck bed and now it was time to load the top. This was going to be the hardest part of the order because several bundles of lap siding had to be placed on the top since they would be crushed on the bottom. Terance was a little anxious because he had less training with the lap siding and this product tended to be harder to handle, but he was determined to give it his best. Kenny and Terance loaded all the siding for the job on the lift and proceeded towards the open yard to load the truck. Terance pulled the lift up to the right side of the truck as he and Kenny discussed the best location to place the siding. They decided Terance would lift the siding all the way up and lean it forward so it rested on the top of the plywood and lumber bundles. Kenny would then maneuver each siding bundle separately into its proper position. Afterwards, they would be ready to tie the load down for delivery. Sounded like a good plan.
The driver was becoming impatient and urging Terance to hurry. He had to get to the job site before dusk and had plans for later that evening. Time was of the essence, so Terance began inching the lift upwards and slightly forwards; Kenny waited. As the lift reached its maximum height, Terance could feel “it” before Kenny saw “it”—the siding began sliding, coming off the lift and crashing to the ground. The driver started cussing at Clarence, “You idiot, I'll have to make another trip in the morning just because of your dumb***! He angrily jumped in the cab, gunned the engine, and headed out of the yard. As the driver left the gate, the yard supervisor headed around the corner and saw thousands of dollars of lap siding busted in the middle of the yard. He told Terance, “This isn't good. That load is for one of our best and biggest customers. Son, the best thing for you to do is go ahead and clock out and when your foreman is back in the morning we'll discuss how to handle this situation.”
Terance felt sick to his stomach. He didn't know how Cliff was going to react. Terance knew he screwed up, but he tried his best; he didn't mean to mess up. The worst thing about it was he knew he let Cliff down.
QUESTIONS:
How would you describe Cliffs approach to developing Terance using Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Theory? What styles were evident in the case and what job readiness levels did Terance exhibit? Do you think Cliff did a good job matching the right leadership style(s) with Terance's job maturity level(s)? Discuss.
Using Hersey and Blanchard's Situational Theory, what type leadership style did the yard supervisor use with Terance? What style should he have used?
Put yourself in Cliff's shoes, how do you handle the situation with Terance tomorrow morning? What approach would you take? Why?