Human resources
Case Study: REINVENTING THE WHEEL AT APEX DOOR COMPANY
Jim Delaney, President of Apex Door Company, has a problem. No matter how often he tells his employees how to do their jobs, they invariably “decide to do things their own way”, as he puts it, and arguments ensue between Delaney, his employee and the employee’s supervisor. One example is in the door-design department. The designers are expected to work with the architects to design doors that meet the specifications. Although its not “rocket science”, as Delaney puts it, the designers often make mistakes- such as designing in too much steel- a problem that can cost Apex tens of thousands of wasted dollars, especially considering the numbers of doors in, say, a 30-story office tower.
The order processing department is another example. Although Jim has a specific, detailed way he wants each order written up, most of the order clerks don’t understand how to use the multipage order form, and they improvise when it comes to a question such as whether to classify a customer as “industrial” or “commercial”.
The current training process is as follows. None of the jobs have training manuals per se, although several have somewhat out-of-date job descriptions. The training of new employees is all on the job. Usually, the person leaving the company trains the new person during the 1- or 2-weeks overlap period, but if there is no overlap, the new person is trained as well as possible by other employees who have occasionally filled in on the job in the past. The training is basically the same throughout the company- for machinists, secretaries, assemblers, and accounting clerks, for example.
Jim Delaney, President of Apex Door Company, has a problem. No matter how often he tells his employees how to do their jobs, they invariably “decide to do things their own way”, as he puts it, and arguments ensue between Delaney, his employee and the employee’s supervisor. One example is in the door-design department. The designers are expected to work with the architects to design doors that meet the specifications. Although its not “rocket science”, as Delaney puts it, the designers often make mistakes- such as designing in too much steel- a problem that can cost Apex tens of thousands of wasted dollars, especially considering the numbers of doors in, say, a 30-story office tower.
The order processing department is another example. Although Jim has a specific, detailed way he wants each order written up, most of the order clerks don’t understand how to use the multipage order form, and they improvise when it comes to a question such as whether to classify a customer as “industrial” or “commercial”.
The current training process is as follows. None of the jobs have training manuals per se, although several have somewhat out-of-date job descriptions. The training of new employees is all on the job. Usually, the person leaving the company trains the new person during the 1- or 2-weeks overlap period, but if there is no overlap, the new person is trained as well as possible by other employees who have occasionally filled in on the job in the past. The training is basically the same throughout the company- for machinists, secretaries, assemblers, and accounting clerks, for example.