Riordan Manufacturing Problem Solution

Problem Solution: Riordan Manufacturing

Riordan Manufacturing, a global plastics company and a Fortune 1000 company is finding itself non-exempt from the issues of low employee satisfaction, increasing turnover, and employee dissatisfaction. Over a period of 10 years, increasing innovation, non-recognition of teamwork and its value, failure to reward employees equally while motivating has caused employees to question their loyalty to the organization. Many employees who feel underappreciated eventually leave. Those staff members who are continually overlooked are likely to become disengaged and cease making contribution-robbing their companies of valuable insights and expertise (Messmer, 2006). While Riordan has made several changes in the in its products and marketability, the leaders need assistance in the area of keeping the employees satisfied. When surveyed the employees are most dissatisfied with the compensation and benefits structure. Riordan also finds itself lacking a functional human resources department. While Riordan does have a Director of human resources, she is not being used to capacity. There are others issues facing Riordan and its leadership team. This paper will address those issues and suggest possible opportunities that can come out of those issues. Stakeholders and their rights will be identified along with their values. Finally the end state goals will be identified.

Situation Analysis

Issue and Opportunity Identification

The first issue with Riordan is the increasing turnover rate among the employees. Increasing turnover rates are not only good for the reputation of the organization but also affect production and the movement of new products and services. Andrew Edelmen identified twelve strategies to nurture a positive organizational culture while retaining key employees. These strategies are to encourage and reward workers who are willing to go the extra mile, maintain open lines of communication at all levels, reduce or eliminate micromanagement, maintain competitive salaries and benefits, encourage ethical decision-making at all levels of the organization, mission-driven leadership rather than ego-driven, downsize with dignity and professionalism, make low turnover rates the goal, show them the money and the freedom, build and maintain a superior reputation for excellence, value people as equally as process, and finally never stop learning. If Riordan as a whole incorporates these strategies and more into the organization from the President to the Janitor, employees will feel a sense of cultural togetherness. A survey among the employees revealed that this is the area employees are most dissatisfied with. While compensation and benefits should not be the most important aspect of a job, it does reveal that an organization does value its employees and will compensate them fairly based on experience, while also staying with the industry median. Other surveys have determined that top performers' wants and needs differ from under achievers' wants and needs. Top performs want flexible working arrangements, a higher match on savings contributions, incentive pay, pay for performance, and tougher performance reviews to weed out the non-performers. Top performers also seek more dialogue opportunities directly with senior management and more information about company strategy, financial results and career development (Sinickas, 2001) Armored with this information, Riordan will understand that employee's value things other than pay. Another issue within Riordan is the compensation and benefits. The third identifiable issue with Riordan is low employee morale. Low employee morale can spill over into job performance and ultimate affect the mediocre production of the organizations goods and services. All managers and leaders within Riordan should be trained in how to spot low employee morale and what to do in the event an employee is displaying low morale. Riordan should also benchmark to find out ways other company's within the manufacturing industry boosted their employee morale. Riordan can turn this into an opportunity by allowing managers to put into place practices that encourage employee motivation to perform important behaviors (Dreher & Dougherty, 2001). Gathering employee input is also important in that it will give employees an opportunity to voice their opinions as to what will keep them happy. With a non-functional human resources department, Riordan has no structure or backbone. A human resources department helps other departmental managers make vital decisions that impact the organization as well as helps departments in meeting those goals that are in line with the company's vision and/or mission. Human resources should be seen as a valuable commodity. Managers who view human resources as a valuable contributor don't cut them in tough times, they rely on them. They don't consider human resources as a cost, but rather as an investment. And they see that human resources can and will help an organization win (Ulrich, 2006). This issue can be turned into an opportunity for Riordan to develop a fully functional human resources department which will work side by side with the leadership team to meet the needs of employees as well as the organization. Once the leaders fully understand the value of a relationship with human resources, they will realize what they have been missing out on.

Stakeholder Perspectives/Ethical Dilemmas

Many individuals within and outside Riordan are considered stakeholders and will directly and indirectly be impacted by the decision-making processes. The first stakeholders are Riordan's employees. They hold the most stakes in the organization in that they are the front line workers and ultimately impact the outcome of goods and services. Without the employees the work just would not get done. The employees are interested job satisfaction, employee incentives, fair and comparable compensation based on experience, not seniority. The employees value fairness, respect, integrity, and honesty. The employees' rights and interests could possibly conflict with those of the leadership team. The leadership team is mainly interested in reaching new customers, low employee turnover, increasing innovation and increase in profits. One conflict is restructuring the compensation and benefits structure, which could possibly make the company re-align its budget for compensation and benefits. Future employees are also considered stakeholders in Riordan. Their rights include job satisfaction, fair and comparable compensation and incentives. All the research Riordan does now can impact future employees and their success within the organization. Finally, Riordan consumers are stakeholders in that