Leader: Tabañag, Ram Date: July 14, 2021

Members: Sched: M-F 7:30-9:30 am

Japay, Jelle Aaron Subject: MA 3101
Pogoy, Albion Course & year: BSMA III
Gonzales, Warrione Teacher: Harries Andaya
Almirante, Jocelyn
Tolo, Jessafel Monette
Reducto, Bennette
Solomon, Lester Jhone

Case Study 1
How a UPS Manager Cut Turnover
Questions:
1. In dollars-and-cents’ terms, why did Katriona Roeder want to reduce turnover?
As the district manager for UPS's operation in Buffalo New York, Katriona Roeder
was responsible for $255 million in revenue, 2,300 employees and processing of 45,000
packages per hour yet a turnover rate of 500% for part-time employees was
experienced during her leadership. The company's operations heavily relied on their
part-time employees since they are the ones that load, unload and sort packages and
they compose about half of the company's workforce. She wanted to reduce the high
turnover rate because she analyzed that the company's annual savings would increase
due to the lowering of hiring costs. She figured that by applying her strategies and
resolving the issue will most definitely lead to more productivity and less costs for the
company.

2. What are the implications from this case for motivating part-time employees?
Since Katriona Roeder faced a high turnover rate as a serious problem in one of
UPS’s operations wherein she was designated the district manager, motivating part-time
employees had become an imperative for the district’s survival before improvements
started to show up in the first quarter of 2006. One major implication from this case
which helps indicate Roeder’s desire for motivating part-time employees was her
inclination to support whatever interests her employees which had kept them working at
UPS. Specifically, she offered computer-skill development classes and career-planning
discussions to college students who also worked as part-time employees mainly for
enhancing skills deemed necessary for their respective careers. Moreover, she made
the effort to ease the intimidation felt by her newly hired employees by improving their
warehouse’s lighting conditions, making them more user-friendly. With the help of her
supervisors, she also was able to provide more guidance to her new hires through
training sessions done during their first week of working for the company, not to mention
her initiative to install more personal computers to provide her employees with easier
access to training materials and human-resource information.
All these actions were part of Roeder’s drive to motivate part-time employees on
account of her awareness that all those who were longing for full-time and/or executive
positions must start off as part-time employees. Therefore, she acknowledged the
necessity of motivating her employees to encourage them to stay. Aside from Roeder’s
desire to polish further the skills of these part-time employees and let them know their
efforts are well-attended, she wanted to secure that the future core employees of the
organization is properly taken care of in order to establish good relationship among
them which could ultimately motivate them to work harder for the best interest of both
parties.

3. What are the implications from this case for managing in future years when there may
be a severe labour shortage?

Several things can be suggested from the case about handling labor shortage in
the coming years. One major point made in preventing employees from leaving the
company later on boils down to a modified hiring system in which applicants are to be
picked carefully. It allows the company to know early on whether one is serious or not
about taking the path of becoming a full-time employee. In this way also, instead of
having a small workforce because of the few full-time employees, more initially part-time
employees would continue and fill the responsibilities required for full-time hours of
labor when the time comes. Another modification, which centered on a communication
style rooted in data analysis, made way for the right classification of employees and the
discovery of their specific needs and interests. This just goes to show that by studying
the workers' information, the management learned how to approach them, laying down
activities meant to motivate and keep the employees from wanting to leave.

The physical aspects of a workplace environment have a direct impact on the

employees’ productivity, performance, concentration, and job satisfaction. Providing
employees a comfortable working environment is one way of enticing or preventing
them from leaving the company- hindering severe labour shortage . In this case, the
district manager improved the lighting throughout the building and upgraded break
rooms to make them user- friendly. Also, Roeder installed more personal computers on
each floor to provide convenience or easier access to training materials and human
resource information on the company’s internal network. Thus, this results in
re-engaging current staff and boosting employee morale. When it comes to supervisory
training, pairing a new employee with a mentor is a great component to the overall
employee retention outlook and team’s job satisfaction. The company can greatly
benefit from mentor- mentee relationships. In this case, Roeder turned some of the best
shift supervisors into trainers to help new employees adjust and expand training so
supervisors had the skills to handle increased empowerment. This promotes a win-win
situation since it provides an avenue for the new team members to learn from
employees with a wide range of experience while the new team members give new
viewpoints for the mentors.

Given these improvements being realized, the resulting drop of attrition rate at
6% years after certainly puts the company in a good position. Therefore, it can be
concluded from the case that managing the possible shortage of manpower in the future
will not be as difficult as before the take-over took place, for the implementation of or the
steps taken under Roeder’s comprehensive plan proved to be effective in reducing the
once out of control turnover.

4. Is it unethical to teach supervisors “to demonstrate interest in their employees as

individuals”? Explain.
No. The group believes that it is not unethical for supervisors to be taught “to
demonstrate interest in their employees as individuals.” This is because in order to fully
help the employees, it is just reasonable for supervisors to build a deeper connection
with them but not to the point where it creates an uncomfortable working environment. It
is only up to the extent where they know the capacities, capabilities, related matters and
some personal stuff wherein the knowledge of such could potentially help the supervisor
manage the part-timers more effectively and efficiently. We believe that in order to work
with people, it is okay to demonstrate interest in the part-timers whilst considering
boundaries in order for the supervisors to properly assess them and react effectively in
the right scenarios while knowing the facts that need to be known.
Supervisors are allowed to show interest because they need to know what kind
of people they would have to work on and to work with and whether or not they will “do
the right thing” in specific scenarios. Basically, knowing the part-timers to a little more
personal level, while maintaining boundaries, wouldn't be considered unethical as they
would help both parties in a way that effective assessment and help could be given by
the supervisors while the part-timers could work cooperatively with the supervisors
since they now know their other sides such as hobbies that could possibly help them
grow further in the workplace.
5. What facts in this case support the argument that organizational behaviour should be
approached from a contingency perspective?

Facts that support the argument that the approach of organizational behavior is
from a contingency perspective are evident in the case. It was obvious when Ms.
Roeder was analyzing the information in the database. By doing so, she knew the
different groups – differentiated by ages and stages in their careers – who were working
under her. As part of reducing the turnover, she improved the communication style and
motivation techniques to align with the groups’ interests and needs. For example, she
gave skills and career development classes to her college student workers since these
could be applicable in their future endeavors and would keep them working at UPS
longer; improved conditions in the warehouse and buildings since there were workers
who were intimidated by the spacious warehouse; and finally expanded supervisor
training to equip the assigned supervisors the skills in assessing difficult management
situations they might encounter as well as help the new hires adjust to the new working
environment. As the district manager, Ms. Roeder managed to identify what was the
best method or action for every group and it helped her in achieving her plan in cutting
the turnover rate.