Arthur Reed Case

Arthur Reed – Case Study In this essay, I am going to discuss the staff management problem Arthur Reed faces every summer. Arthur Reed, a supervisor at the Blue Grocery Stores, has an issue with hiring temporary workers in sufficient numbers to cover the sick and vacationing workers for the summer months. As warehouse supervisor in charge of two shifts on the shipping dock, Arthur usually manages to run the shifts smoothly every year except in the summer months. During the summer months, Arthur faces a shortage of staff when most of his senior staff call in sick or take vacation. Arthur runs into this problem every summer and does not look forward to the frustration of trying to hire sufficient temporary workers this summer. Although Arthur
has earned the respect within the industry and has 20 years experience in the grocery industry, when it comes to dealing with staff shortage, Arthur does not know how to manage the problem. If Arthur knows he will faces this problem yearly, then why does he not plan ahead to avoid the frustration? Perhaps Arthur is not managing his staff as well as he can because he is lacking in supervisory skills; otherwise, he would not have run into this problem every summer. What are the problems?
Staff management and on-call workers are the problems. In my opinion, Arthur is having a problem managing his senior staff because he is not communicating with them effectively regarding scheduling vacation and call-in sick days. The reason he keeps having the same problem every summer is that there are no guidelines for the staff on how to submit their schedules for time-off. Perhaps implementing guidelines will enable Arthur to manage the problem more effectively because it will allow him sufficient time to hire temporary workers. In addition, it will enable the senior staff to schedule their vacation periods in advance so that they can book trips and/or travel at a discount. The other issue is the on-call workers. On-call workers only offer a temporary solution to the problem. Arthur requires a permanent solution so that he does not have to face the same frustration again next summer. In addition, it is not efficient to hire on-call workers because the company has to pay them even if they do not
work. When is the problem most apparent? It is obvious that during the summer months, Arthur seems to have the most trouble because the senior staff is either on vacation or calling in sick. Not having sufficient help can affect the business because it will slow down the productivity of the company. Besides the holidays, summer months can be the busiest for most businesses, and keeping the production lines operating successfully on the shipping dock is important. Where is the problem? Since Arthur is working in a shipping dock warehouse, it is apparent that loading and unloading inventory is the area most affected. The shortage of staff can compromise the shipping and receiving of supplies. There is a possibility that the company's performance will slip, they may lose their capability to fill orders, and as a result, the company to lose its customers. After discussing and focusing on the problems, I have come up with the following solutions.
The first solution I suggest is for Arthur to communicate with both shifts of his senior staff to establish guidelines for scheduling vacation. These guidelines will allow his senior staff to schedule their personal time off during the summer months. Perhaps Arthur could set up a schedule plan to demonstrate how his senior staff should spread their vacations throughout the summer without overlapping each other's vacation time. For example, depending on how many senior staff are in both shifts, he could approve no more than two vacations during the same week. The employee could only take one week at a time. Since seniority has its privileges, the employee with the highest seniority will take his or her vacation first, and an employee with the least seniority will get to choose to go on his or her vacation last. Moreover, the staff may only be allowed to call in sick once a month, unless it is an
emergency. The second solution that I think may help is that Arthur has to submit a proposal regarding this issue and set up a meeting with upper management to address it. In the proposal, Arthur should state in detail what the problems are and provide suggestions that he thinks it will help him solve the staffing issue. For instance, he could request upper management to allocate a budget that will enable him to contract out temporary workers. Having a contract with a temporary agency will help Arthur resolve the problem permanently. A temporary agency not only will help to resolve the problem during the summer months, but it will also help throughout the year, for example, during holidays or peak periods. Furthermore, using a temporary agency is more efficient than hiring an on-call worker. If upper management wants to keep the company in business and operate efficiently, then they must provide support and be willing to invest in any way they can contribute; otherwise, they are putting the company in jeopardy. In conclusion, if Arthur wants to avoid another frustrated summer, it is important that he plan ahead. It is crucial for Arthur to communicate and set up vacationing guidelines for his senior staff. Whether it is business or personal, setting up ground rules and having effective communication is a key to any success. In addition, Arthur should meet with upper management every fiscal year to propose a budget for using a temporary agency. If Arthur adopts these recommended solutions, he should be able to resolve his problems permanently and manage the hiring more successfully.