Case Analysis: Employee’s Unexpected Change of Behavior

Treetop’s rating for a package of lumber products has dropped due to customer loss to competitors. Treetop has six departments: the boom, the sawmill, the planer, the packaging, the shipping, and the maintenance. Except for the packaging department, all departments have assigned supervisors. It was a performing department 4 years ago. To compensate for the lack of a supervisor, the company needs to pull two different supervisors from other departments that will work on different shifts. These efforts do not help the department to provide quality product output. Backlogs were rampant and several occasions of unproductive over time.

Treetop Forest Products Inc. Is a sawmill operation in Oregon that is owned by a major forest products company but operates independently of headquarters. The company was built 30 years ago and completely updated with new machinery five years ago.

The unionized employees are paid the hourly rate specified in CBA, whereas management and support staff are paid a monthly salary.

The lumber industry is very price-competitive but differentiation occurs in product packaging and presentation. Buyers will look closely at the packaging when deciding whether to buy from Treetop or another mill.

Westboard sponsors a monthly package quality award. Westboard Company is a large marketing agency that represents all forest products mills owned by Treetop’s parent company. Over the past 4 years, Treetop's forest products won Westboards package quality award several times and started to decline over the past year or two and several clients have complained about the appearance of the finished product.

The packaging department’s productivity has been declining in recent years, resulting in a large backlog of finished products stockpiled outside the packaging building. Because the packaging departments’ morning shift cannot keep up with the combined production of the sawmill and planer departments, the unpacked output is left for the afternoon shift. Because the afternoon shift packages fewer products than the morning shift, the backlog grows. The backlog increases the company’s inventory costs and raises the risk of damaged stock. To deal with the backlog, the company added Saturday overtime shifts as well as extra hours before and after the regular shift for the packaging department employees.

The employee in the packaging department’s behavior deteriorates as well. They tend to extend their lunch by 10 minutes and coffee breaks by 5 minutes before the end of the shift. Employees temporarily assigned to the packaging department seem to participate in this time-loss pattern after a few days. Although they are punctual and productive in other departments, these temporary employees soon adopt the packaging crew’s informal schedule when assigned to that department

Unlike the packaging department, the sawmill operation set a new productivity record in a single day. Planer operation increased productivity to the point where last year it reduced operations to just one shift per day. Boom, shipping and maintenance department productivity level remained constant. These improvements are due to better operator training, few machine breakdowns, and a better selection of raw logs.

How can the company improve the packaging department’s productivity?

Areas For Consideration:

1. Supervisor. Having a leader who manages the communication between the company leaders and employees can help uncover the real problem.
2. Employee Motivation. The company is generous enough to offer both monetary and non-monetary benefits to its employees, such as compensation and health breaks. If none of these options work, it may indicate that the employee requires something other than what is currently provided.
3. Collective Bargaining Agreement. The company could discuss with the labor union what steps could be taken to assist the employee’s negative behavior in the packaging department.

Courses of Action

1. Impose a progressive discipline system in the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Habitual neglect of duty, wilful misconduct and disobedience are possible just causes for termination. The company could use severe measures of discipline if the employee fails to correct his or her conduct after having been given a reasonable opportunity.
2. Assign a dedicated leader who can supervise the packaging department. Having a leader who takes a transformational approach to leadership, focusing on emotions, values, ethics, standards, and long-term goals could help improve the work ethic in the packaging department. The costs of hiring competent supervisors are less than the costs incurred due to the poor performance of the organization.
3. Conduct Employee Assemblies. The company is generous enough to offer monetary compensation and health benefits, if none of these works, this could imply that they are seeking human interaction rather than monetary compensation.

Recommendations

Review and express in a Collective Bargaining Agreement the disciplinary action on its employees who violates company policies to safeguard the company interests and assign or promote an employee who can supervise the department.

There could be a reason for the company not appointing a dedicated employee to oversee the department. The department is underperformed over the last two years. This is probably due to poor leadership or a lack of employee discipline and motivation. Employee motivation to work decreases, as demonstrated by low work quality, longer breaks, and early completion times. Managers must recognize that each employee has a unique set of motivational drives, needs, decisions, and behaviors.

Why would a supervisor from another department cannot fully replicate their efficiency and effectiveness? Because every supervisor is different. They may have a track record of improving department processes, but that does not guarantee that they will perform similarly in the packaging department. People’s interactions, positive responses to individual processes and feedback, and a positive culture and environment are all factors in the success of their respective departments, and these factors are difficult to replicate. And because the supervisors do not know the packaging team members personally, it puts a strain on the supervisors’ authority and the trust that the supervisors and members have in each other.

1. Promote an employee who can supervise the department.
2. Review Supervisor Job description. This will ensure that the new role is equipped with the current challenges.
3. Review employee performance results of the existing member of the department. Get someone who is familiar with the department’s employees and has a positive track record.
4. Discuss the current challenges and goals of the department.
5. Express in the Collective Bargaining Agreement the potential consequences of habitual violations of the company policies. This could address the early time-off and extended breaks of the employees.
6. Additional clause to limit overtime pay and the creation of output-based incentives.
7. Improve employee engagement with its team member. The packaging department may be looking for human interaction rather than monetary compensation, given that they are in a different building.

“Existential Flex,” or the ability to make a massive strategic shift in an entirely new direction to advance the cause, as defined by Simon Sinek is necessary for the company. It’s a significant offensive move for the employee in terms of changing employee habits. This type of change rarely inspires or rekindles the employees’ passion for the organization.

A copy of the case can be accessed here at Treetop Forest Productions by Steven L. McShane, The University of Western Australia, and David Lebeter