Problem
Read the following case and discuss the questions that appear at the end of the case.
A CASE APPLIED: Reinvention of the wheel at Apex Door Company (Dessler, G (2009). Human Resources Administration. Cap 8, p. 326)
Jim Delaney, president of Apex Door, faces a problem. No matter how many times he tells his employees how to do their jobs, they invariably "decide to do it their way," leading to arguments between Jim, the employee, and the employee's supervisor. An example is the door design department, where designers are supposed to work with architects to design doors that meet specifications. While it's not "rocket science," as Jim claims, designers invariably make mistakes (such as using too much steel, a problem that can cost Apex thousands of dollars in scrap, when you factor in the number of doors that, for example, are in a 30-story office tower).
Another example is the order processing department. Jim has established a specific, detailed, multi-page form for writing orders, but most employees don't understand how to use it. They simply improvise when it comes to detailed questions, for example, whether to classify the client as "industrial" or "commercial". The training process they use is as follows. None of the positions have a separate training manual, although several have descriptions that are somewhat outdated. All training for new staff takes place on the job. Typically, the person leaving the firm trains the new employee for a period of one to two weeks, but if the old employee and the new employee do not coincide in the organization, other colleagues who have sometimes held the position train the new worker. the best possible. Training is the same throughout the company (for example, for machinists, secretaries, assemblers, engineers, and accounting clerks)
Task
• What do you think of the Apex training process? Could this explain why employees "do things their own way"? If yes, how?
• What role should job descriptions play in Apex training?
• Explain in detail what you would do to improve the Apex training process. Please be sure to provide specific suggestions.