Case Summary

Carter Cleaning Company does not have any formal orientation and training programs. However, Carter wants its employees to follow certain practices and procedures while dealing with customers but employees are not trained accordingly. Thus, Jennifers employees are not maintaining standards as she expected. For example, Jennifer wants her counterperson to greet customers with a pleasant hello, collect the garments from the customers, place all the garments in nylon sack, write up a ticket and provide a copy to customer, provide information to customer about upcoming offers and additional services, use courteous comment like have a nice day or drive safely when the customer leaves. Other jobs in the store like pressing, cleaning and spotting contain certain steps and procedures along with standard preferred by Carter. Due to lack of adequate training and orientation, employees face certain issues; the new employees are ignorant about their weekly payment day, company policy about paid holiday, health and medical benefits and general matters (clean work area, personal appearance and cleanliness) and so on. Jennifer believes, if formal orientation and training programs can begin, then employees will know what Jennifer and her father wants from them and they will do their job in the right way that is the Carters way. Question01: What specifically should the company cover in their new employee orientation program, and how should they convey this information? Answer to Question Number 01Orientation program refers to the process of providing with basic information to the new employee about the company or employer. This procedure ensures that new employees get the knowledge required to do the job effectively. Dessler (2009) said Orientation is a procedure of providing with basic background information about the firm.

Orientation program helps employees to get a brief idea about the organization along with the task they need to perform. So it increases the productivity of the employees as they are well aware about the job. Normally HR department of a company is responsible to welcome new employees with orientation program. But supervisors complete the orientation process by introducing new employee with the co-workers and others concerned with the task.

At the time of a new employee orientation Program Company should cover some of the basic contents like- Information on employee benefits

Personnel policies

The daily routine

Company organization and operations

Safety measures and regulations

Information on employee benefitsAccording to the law it is the right of the employees to receive certain benefits. Employee benefits refer to the non-wage compensation allowed by the employer to the employee other than their normal wages or salary. Employee benefits may include sick leave, paid holidays, health and hospitalization, housing, pension, vacation, profit sharing etc. So, at the orientation program employer should clearly mention the benefits employees will enjoy during their career with the company.

Personnel policies

Personnel policy some time called as employee handbooks. This policy includes some of the statement which explains the expectation of the employer from the employee and what should an employee expect from employer. Personnel policies should cover at orientation program.

Daily routineEmployees should get clear idea about the task he or she needs to perform at daily basis. It helps the employee to get prepared for the task and this procedure increase the efficiency of the work. So, there is no alternative other than mentioning the daily routine of the employee at orientation program.

Company organization and operationsAll the companies do not perform same task. The nature of the work varies from company to company. What kind of operations a company performs is totally depends on the type of business they do. So, top management of the company carefully review the mission and vision statement of the company and then set the activities or operations they need to perform to achieve company goal. So, in the orientation program it is very important to mention the activities and operations perform by the company and how they perform it.Safety measures and regulationsWhat are the policies and regulations available to help the employees when they face any unwanted situation like accident should also mention in the orientation program by the employer. It helps the employee to feel safe at workplace and motivate them to work efficiently. To convey information in proper way, a successful orientation should accomplish some procedure for new employees: At orientation ensuring that employees feel welcome to the company.

Giving a clear idea about the company to the employee so that they can recognize the organization in a broad sense.

Clearly explain the expectation of the employer from the employee.

Question02: In the HR management course Jennifer took, the book suggested using a job description sheet to identify tasks performed by an employee. Should Carter use a form like this for the counterpersons job, and if so, what would the filled-in form look like?Answer to Question Number 02According to the case, Carter Cleaning Company wants it counterpersons to behave in a cordial way with their customers, check the clothes for an defects, promote their upcoming offers and end with a pleasant gesture when they leave. This is how; Jennifer and her father want their customers to be served in Carter Cleaning Company. Based on this criterion, the following filled-in-form is created:

Steps:Key Points

1) Greet customers with a pleasant helloNone

2) Collect the garments from the customersCheck for existing damages or stain, if found let customer know immediately

3) Place all the garments in nylon sackClothes of different customers are not mixed with each other

4) Write up a ticket and provide a copy to customerEnsure that the customers name, telephone number, date are precisely and clearly written

5) Provide information to customer about upcoming offers and additional servicesProvide up to date information with proper details

6) Use courteous comment like have a nice day when the customer leavesNone

The employees must be trained to handle any unpleasant and unexpected issues. In case of complaints, each customer may have to be handled differently. This is something, which needs to be encouraged to be learnt while on the job.Question03: which specific training techniques should Jennifer use to train her pressers, her cleaner-spotters, her managers, and her counter people, and why?Answer to Question Number 03Pressers/cleaner-spottersAs these jobs are technical in nature, on the job training through coaching method could be advised. Existing employees can teach the new employees their relevant tasks and follow up with them to check if there are any concerns or problems. Also once the employee is sufficiently well versed with his/her work, job rotation can also be done to ensure that the employees develop other skills. This can be useful in times when there is shortage of employees due to reasons like illness, vacation. Job Instruction Training sheets can also be used as these jobs have a standard procedure and this would hence avoid mistakes. ManagersOn the job training can also be used for managers. Their main work would include handling employees and customers along with the business. This can be learnt directly from Jennifer or other managers. Also when any manager is about to leave, then the apprenticeship approach can be used where the new manager will be trained under the manager who is about to leave. CounterpersonMost of the tasks included in this job are standardized, and hence job instruction sheets can be used. On the other hand, sometimes counterpersons have to behave differently with different customers, it is better to train using on the job method. This can be done as the employee can learn it from Jennifer directly how they should be behaving or can also go and clear any doubts with other senior employees when required.Conclusion

As referred to the case, Carter Cleaning Company does not have any formal training and orientation program. In this case analysis, we are providing an outline of a new employee orientation program, assisting to create job description and roles of a counterperson in Carter Cleaning Company and finally identifying the required training programs for pressers, cleaner-spotters, managers and counter-people.References:Websites:01. Bacon, C. 1999. Guiding principles for managing outsourcing relationships. AURISA/ 1999 Conference Proceedings, refereed papers, Dunedin, New Zealand. 1-7.02. Bender, P. 1999. Cashing in on competition. Outsourcing Journal. www.outsourcingjournal.com/issues. (Dec.):1-3.

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