Proposal No F-0001 For American Greets
American Greetings
LaShumbie Crayton
Business Writing
April 25, 2014
April 25, 2014
Mr. Dave Ring
American Greetings
1400 Ohlendorf Road
Osceola, Arkansas, 72370
Subject: Proposal No F-0001 for American Greetings
Dear Mr. Ring
American Greetings has provided a place of card making and selling for over 100 years. It is our mission to create Happiness, Laughter and Love (AG, 1997). In order to keep our consumers happy we need to productive and efficient. Unfornately, we have fallen behind in our manual field department. There has been a number of complaints on the efficiency of the order fillers in this particular department. There is too much loitering between …show more content…
the employees. Another issue is the Ecard services we offer online. Customers can print cards for free, which means they don’t have to purchase the card in-store. It is my job to provide an effective solution.
Background
Each employee must make a standard of 480 per week equaling out to 100% order filling, with an acceptance of 90% for the week. Fillers should also have no errors with an acceptance of one error per one hundred cards. All orders should be accurate according to the consumers pick list.
We thought it would help the company if we had a way for customers to access cards via internet. Ecards are free and you can design them yourself. They can be printed or sent via email.
Proposed Approach and Work Plan
In our first approach we will observe the fillers in this department to make sure that loitering is the only underlying issue.
We do not have a problem with employees socializing, but there is a job to be done. If our consumers are not satisfied with our delivery then that puts the company in a hard place. We are falling behind, which causes us to lose money. Employees must be able to complete the work required of them in order for our business to remain steady. The issue that we are having is not with all of the employees, but it is effecting everyone.
Each filler will have to check their orders before taking them to the line. After the orders are placed on the line, a QC checker will recheck the order to make sure it is correct according to its specific pick list. Since the orders are being double checked there should be little to no errors. The point of checking the orders more than once is to cut down on the number of errors in each order. The way the employees are working will also be observed. I think it would be best if we put someone on the floor they are unfamiliar with rather than their team leader or a supervisor. Most times when employees see authority they change their routine so that it is pleasing in the eyes of the supervisor. The person that we put on the floor will be able to observe them for a week. At the end of the week he/she will report to us and we will go further from …show more content…
there.
Performance management does not always require disciplinary action.
Some employees lack the training and development required to perform their job duties to the high standards of their employer (Scott, 2014). If this is the case, it is the employer and human resource responsibility to produce an action plan to help the employee develop the skills necessary to improve job performance (Scott, 2014). It is important that you address performance issues as they arise and pursue a progressive approach to discipline (Rutgers). If the report from our source reveal that loitering is the main issue, we will then conduct a department meeting. In the department meeting we will discuss the issue with the employees. We will also discuss how it is effecting the company. After the discussion, we will tell them the consequences of not performing their job duties to the best of their ability. If standard is not met in the week, they will receive a write up. After they receive three write ups the employee will be terminated. Disciplining employees is a difficult part of supervision and management
(Rutgers).
Our customers enjoy the Ecards. I don’t feel we should stop the free services, but they should be limited. All of the cards should not be free. I know the goal is to draw in more customers, but the goal is also to make money. I think we should offer a certain amount of free Ecards when the customers sign up and when they recommend the website to other people. I think if we take this approach we would earn more money. We may lose some customers, but I think in the end we would still profit.
Conclusion
The graph displayed is just an example of the possible projections of our employees. The numbers are displayed as a single number but it is actually in hundreds. Each week their standard progresses. We hope the actual projections are better because these are just average.
Our goal is to make our consumers, customers and employees happy. In order to make this happen we need to work together. If we have employees that are willing to work and be productive, our company will continue to grow. Employee motivation is suppose to be a good way to get employees to do what you want them to do, according to Ed Parr. It is important to get to know your employees. Showing and being concerned about your employees motivate them, which produces better production. A strong and healthy work environment is always needed no matter what kind of business you are operating. When you find out what your employees interests are it is good to use them as positive reinforcement. The more personalized the incentive is the more motivation you will achieve and the greater the productivity (Parr, 2004).
The employee recruitment is also when we have to make the right selections that will benefit the company. Getting know your employees are important, but you do have those employees that are just outright stubborn. You just have those people that just don’t want to work (Stone, 2014). It will be up to human resources to come up with some vital information to help with the interviewing of the potential employees. I believe that with proper information our employees will benefit as well as the company.
I think we would also need to conduct an observation of the Ecards on the website after the proposed changes. Since the customers are not being charged for the first set of Ecards it will make them want to purchase more cards. Consumers enjoy free gifts and discounts.
I hope that the information that I have provided with will be beneficial to the employees, consumers and the company. We strive to satisfy anyone who benefits from our company. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding the terms of this proposal.
Sincerely,
LaShumbie Crayton
Enclosure
References
AGINTERACTIVE. (1997 – 2014). American Greetings. Retrieved from: www.americangreetings.com
Kokemuller, N. Work Ethic and Job Performance. (2014). Demand Media. Retrieved from: work.chron.com/work-ethic-job-performance-3267.html
Parr, E. Dealing with Employees: Improving Factory Production. (2004, June 29). All Experts. Retrieved from: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Dealing-Employees-1641/improving-factory-production.htm
Scott, S. About Employee Discipline. (2014). Demand Media. Retrieved from: smallbusiness.chron.com/employee-discipline-1897.html
Staff Employee Disciplinary Action: When and How to Take It. Rutgers University Human Resources. Retrieved from: uhr.rutgers.edu/uhr-units-offices
Stone, D. (2014, April 29). Personal Interview.
LaShumbie Crayton
Business Writing
April 25, 2014
April 25, 2014
Mr. Dave Ring
American Greetings
1400 Ohlendorf Road
Osceola, Arkansas, 72370
Subject: Proposal No F-0001 for American Greetings
Dear Mr. Ring
American Greetings has provided a place of card making and selling for over 100 years. It is our mission to create Happiness, Laughter and Love (AG, 1997). In order to keep our consumers happy we need to productive and efficient. Unfornately, we have fallen behind in our manual field department. There has been a number of complaints on the efficiency of the order fillers in this particular department. There is too much loitering between …show more content…
the employees. Another issue is the Ecard services we offer online. Customers can print cards for free, which means they don’t have to purchase the card in-store. It is my job to provide an effective solution.
Background
Each employee must make a standard of 480 per week equaling out to 100% order filling, with an acceptance of 90% for the week. Fillers should also have no errors with an acceptance of one error per one hundred cards. All orders should be accurate according to the consumers pick list.
We thought it would help the company if we had a way for customers to access cards via internet. Ecards are free and you can design them yourself. They can be printed or sent via email.
Proposed Approach and Work Plan
In our first approach we will observe the fillers in this department to make sure that loitering is the only underlying issue.
We do not have a problem with employees socializing, but there is a job to be done. If our consumers are not satisfied with our delivery then that puts the company in a hard place. We are falling behind, which causes us to lose money. Employees must be able to complete the work required of them in order for our business to remain steady. The issue that we are having is not with all of the employees, but it is effecting everyone.
Each filler will have to check their orders before taking them to the line. After the orders are placed on the line, a QC checker will recheck the order to make sure it is correct according to its specific pick list. Since the orders are being double checked there should be little to no errors. The point of checking the orders more than once is to cut down on the number of errors in each order. The way the employees are working will also be observed. I think it would be best if we put someone on the floor they are unfamiliar with rather than their team leader or a supervisor. Most times when employees see authority they change their routine so that it is pleasing in the eyes of the supervisor. The person that we put on the floor will be able to observe them for a week. At the end of the week he/she will report to us and we will go further from …show more content…
there.
Performance management does not always require disciplinary action.
Some employees lack the training and development required to perform their job duties to the high standards of their employer (Scott, 2014). If this is the case, it is the employer and human resource responsibility to produce an action plan to help the employee develop the skills necessary to improve job performance (Scott, 2014). It is important that you address performance issues as they arise and pursue a progressive approach to discipline (Rutgers). If the report from our source reveal that loitering is the main issue, we will then conduct a department meeting. In the department meeting we will discuss the issue with the employees. We will also discuss how it is effecting the company. After the discussion, we will tell them the consequences of not performing their job duties to the best of their ability. If standard is not met in the week, they will receive a write up. After they receive three write ups the employee will be terminated. Disciplining employees is a difficult part of supervision and management
(Rutgers).
Our customers enjoy the Ecards. I don’t feel we should stop the free services, but they should be limited. All of the cards should not be free. I know the goal is to draw in more customers, but the goal is also to make money. I think we should offer a certain amount of free Ecards when the customers sign up and when they recommend the website to other people. I think if we take this approach we would earn more money. We may lose some customers, but I think in the end we would still profit.
Conclusion
The graph displayed is just an example of the possible projections of our employees. The numbers are displayed as a single number but it is actually in hundreds. Each week their standard progresses. We hope the actual projections are better because these are just average.
Our goal is to make our consumers, customers and employees happy. In order to make this happen we need to work together. If we have employees that are willing to work and be productive, our company will continue to grow. Employee motivation is suppose to be a good way to get employees to do what you want them to do, according to Ed Parr. It is important to get to know your employees. Showing and being concerned about your employees motivate them, which produces better production. A strong and healthy work environment is always needed no matter what kind of business you are operating. When you find out what your employees interests are it is good to use them as positive reinforcement. The more personalized the incentive is the more motivation you will achieve and the greater the productivity (Parr, 2004).
The employee recruitment is also when we have to make the right selections that will benefit the company. Getting know your employees are important, but you do have those employees that are just outright stubborn. You just have those people that just don’t want to work (Stone, 2014). It will be up to human resources to come up with some vital information to help with the interviewing of the potential employees. I believe that with proper information our employees will benefit as well as the company.
I think we would also need to conduct an observation of the Ecards on the website after the proposed changes. Since the customers are not being charged for the first set of Ecards it will make them want to purchase more cards. Consumers enjoy free gifts and discounts.
I hope that the information that I have provided with will be beneficial to the employees, consumers and the company. We strive to satisfy anyone who benefits from our company. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding the terms of this proposal.
Sincerely,
LaShumbie Crayton
Enclosure
References
AGINTERACTIVE. (1997 – 2014). American Greetings. Retrieved from: www.americangreetings.com
Kokemuller, N. Work Ethic and Job Performance. (2014). Demand Media. Retrieved from: work.chron.com/work-ethic-job-performance-3267.html
Parr, E. Dealing with Employees: Improving Factory Production. (2004, June 29). All Experts. Retrieved from: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Dealing-Employees-1641/improving-factory-production.htm
Scott, S. About Employee Discipline. (2014). Demand Media. Retrieved from: smallbusiness.chron.com/employee-discipline-1897.html
Staff Employee Disciplinary Action: When and How to Take It. Rutgers University Human Resources. Retrieved from: uhr.rutgers.edu/uhr-units-offices
Stone, D. (2014, April 29). Personal Interview.