Problem Definition There is a low level of job satisfaction at the Lima Tire Plant that is causing a high rate of employee turnover, specifically in the foremen position.

University Degree Business and Administrative studies

Treadway Tire Company Case Study

Background

Treadway Tire Company is a major North American supplier of tires to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and replacement tire markets. They currently manufacture Treadway Primo, Treadway Performance, and other private tire brands.

Treadway’s Lima Tire Plant, based out of Lima, Ohio is considered one of the company’s top plants for productivity and quality ratings. A continuous operations plant – operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week with four rotating shifts – the Lima Plant produced approximately 25,000 tires per day in 2007 alone.

There are over 1100 employees at the Lima Plant location – 970 hourly and 150 salaried. The hourly employees are unionized by the United Steelworkers (USW) and are directly supervised by the salaried line foremen. The foremen possess a large bulk of the responsibilities at Lima, supervising all phases of production and quality assurance work as well as dealing with a variety of personnel, resource and administrative duties. They are often pulled in conflicting directions by the hourly employees, the union regulations and upper management. According to Brandon Bellingham, the plant manager at Lima, “Meeting performance goals is the most important duty of the line foremen.” However, the lack of proper training does not allow the foremen to successfully handle situations causing them intense pressure and a feeling of inadequacy.

In the past year, the Lima Plant has experienced a high rate of foremen turnover with 23 of the 50 foremen leaving their post. Ashley Wall, the Director of Human Resources, is determined to improve Lima’s 46% turnover rate. She plans on performing a thorough analysis of the root cause complete with corrective actions.

Problem Definition

There is a low level of job satisfaction at the Lima Tire Plant that is causing a high rate of employee turnover, specifically in the foremen position. Morale and productivity are also suffering as the foremen are under immense pressure to produce results in a sink or swim environment.

Relevant Theories and Models

An important theory illustrated at the Lima Tire Plant relates to the three components of attitudes. The foremen’s cognitive component of attitude is the belief that they own too many responsibilities within the plant, yet not enough authority to effectively deal with them. They are expected to meet or exceed operational targets regardless of their day to day challenges. An employee satisfaction survey displayed the foremen’s affective component of attitude. They felt powerless against the hourly employees who were protected by the union and felt unsupported by upper management who expected them to just get the ...

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Relevant Theories and Models

A major job attitude that is affecting the employees at Lima is job dissatisfaction. Departing foremen showed solid discontent in the plant and highlighted concerns about the foreman position. Frankly, the upper management did a poor job of psychologically empowering the foremen by not allowing them to feel like major contributors to the company. Bellingham admitted foremen “feel that their contributions are undervalued and their concerns ignored.” The perceived organizational support (POS) was nonexistent as responsibilities increased, training was put on hold and promotions were slim to none. Consequently, an exit interview revealed that the foremen were not satisfied with their training, working conditions, supervisors or advancement opportunities, thus leaving the position to seek other opportunities.

Due to the level of job dissatisfaction, the mood structure of the foremen was focused on a high negative affect and a low positive affect displaying pure degrees of stress, fatigue and tension. The emotional labor of the foremen was highlighted in several incidents that occurred between them and the hourly employees. After a worker arrived back late from his break, a foreman lashed out at him continually screaming without allowing explanation. Additionally, a comment from a salaried employee was that foremen “would be more successful if they could treat their people with courtesy and not have such negative attitudes about them.” It is evident that the foremen were no longer able to surface act and their bottled up feelings of frustration and resentment eventually led to burnout causing them to eventually quit.

Alternatives

The old management style of sink or swim at the Lima Tire Plant is inefficient. According to the employee satisfaction survey, over 75% of foremen feel they are not prepared to accomplish the duties of their job. The foremen are thrown into their job with little guidance and little preparation. However, most do not have college degrees and without formal training or educational background, lack the skills necessary to navigate the job. As a result, Ashley Wall should implement a formal, organized training program that will emphasize all aspects of plant operations and labor education.

The advantage of implementing a training program is that the foremen will be better equipped to do their job more effectively thus heightening their psychological empowerment and increasing job satisfaction. The disadvantage of the training program is the cost to the company. Tire manufacturers have already seen raw material costs skyrocket so adding additional expenditures could lead to a loss in profits.

Another alternative that Wall could implement is an increase in job advancement. Although supervisors are promoted from foremen positions, it is understood that no new salaried positions would be created at the Lima Plant in the following year and as one supervisor indicated, “My line foremen just don’t see any way to move up at Lima.”

An advantage to this approach is that the foremen will feel they are positively contributing to the company if their work is recognized by a promotion. Knowing that there’s opportunity for advancement at Lima will boost employee morale and increase POS. However, a disadvantage to job creation would again be the additional costs expended by the company that may lead to layoffs in the future.

A third alternative is to eliminate some of the intense pressure placed on the foremen. They are required to complete detailed reports daily and if the results are below forecast they are subject to strict disciplinary action. However, the foremen aren’t always equipped with the proper resources to meet efficient results. Hourly workers often called in or came in late causing the foremen to scramble for last-minute personnel changes. Moreover, equipment issues from previous shifts also caused delays in production, potentially decreasing actual performance levels.

If the foremen are only held accountable for actions they can control, their mood would change from high negative affect and low positive affect to high positive affect and low negative affect decreasing the tension seen between the foremen and the hourly employees and increasing productivity. However, the disadvantage to eliminating pressure is the possibility of the foremen slacking off, blaming others for their lack of productivity instead of holding themselves accountable and not completing the job efficiently. This could essentially lead to a higher involuntary turnover rate.

Solution

After evaluating all of the possible alternatives, the most effective way to boost employee morale, increase job satisfaction and reduce employee turnover is to implement a formal, organized training program. A 30 day program should be put into place for new hires as detailed in Appendix 1. The initial training should occur immediately with a week long refresher training course taking place annually. At the conclusion of each training session, the employees should be asked for feedback about the program so that it can be enhanced by further development to meet the evolving needs of the company. In addition to the required month long training session, at least one job opening should be created each year for the employee with the most long term management potential.

Although profits will most likely take a hit if training and additional headcount are implemented at Lima, the hit should be minimal and temporary. Moreover, the creation of just one additional headcount could cause increased pressure to perform perfectly, possibly leading to more employee error or skipped steps. The advantage to providing appropriate training will ultimately lead to increased quality and productivity and decreased employee turnover. By attending a structured training program, the foremen will now possess the necessary tools to succeed in their role which will in turn lighten the mood of a stressful work environment. Furthermore, promoting the foremen to higher positions will show the foremen that upper management believes they are capable of doing their job and doing it to the best of their ability.

Appendix 1

Lima Tire Plant

New Hire Foremen Training Readiness Program

March 1-30, 2008