Situations, Issues, & Learning Points

Situation 40 – A test pilot training program is being implemented in order to reverse the shrinking market share trend

Issue: how to best evaluate the training program? What comparisons should be used?

Learning points:

An effective evaluation should include:

• the best approach to evaluating the effectiveness of any training program is to follow a pre-test, post-test, control group methodology

• the previous results of those who took the training (pre-test)

• the results of those who took the training (post-test)

• the results of those who didn't take the training (control group)

Situation 41: there is a need to plan for an increase in turnover due to an ageing workforce, however senior management is not current concerned about this issue.

Issue: Do I need management's buy in before moving forward? Do I wait until management says something?

Learning points:

• succession planning needs to be proactive and not reactive

• an analysis needs to take place before the implementation of any programs

• senior management needs to be involved from the beginning

Situation 42: You have just heard that a candidate we are about to hire was given the questions to the interview prior to the interview by one of the interviewers.

Issue: How do I address the allegation? How do I move forward to select a candidate? Who needs to be involved?

Learning points:

• it is important to involve the accused's manager in addressing the serious allegation

• When a selection process goes awry and there are qualified candidates, re-interviewing (2^nd interviews) can be an option. If there are no qualified candidates or the qualified candidate opts out, it is best to start over

Situations, Issues, & Learning Points

Situation 11 – two employee's are caught being unsafe at work

Key points:

• you witnessed the event

• the employees are both conscientious workers

Issue: Should the employees be disciplined ?

Learning points:

• safety is a manager's responsibility

• proving due diligence requires that the employer discipline employees when safety procedures are not followed

Situation 12 – an employee you hired 3-month's ago is not working out. He has been previously warned on two occasions. Another employee who desires to fill the position is also disgruntled and not cooperating.

Issue: Is there sufficient evidence to terminate the new employee with cause? Should the disgruntled employee be given an opportunity to fill the position?

Learning points:

• there must be enough groundwork laid in order to terminate with cause

Situation 13 – After a manager is let go, he claims that his manager said he'd be compensated for overtime, even though it is stated in his contract that he is not.

Issue: Should he be compensated for the overtime? Should the money be deducted from his pay-in-lieu notice?

Learning points:

• first step - substantiate the claim

• a written contract does not override a verbal contract, if the verbal contract is made in good faith

• the pay-in-lieu was provided in good faith and should not be taken away

Situation 14 – you are on an open-ended contract at a reduced rate. You have been paid up front and are charging for the hours as worked. It has been four years and the organization still has a credit.

Key points:

• your rate has increased

Issue: should you charge the company at your new rate?

• It would be unethical not to honour the terms of your contract

Situations, Issues, & Learning Points

Situation 6 – you need to create a communication strategy to keep anxiety down and maintain morale of employee's during the company merger

Key points:

• 75% of staff either speak little or no English

• large manufacturing plant with employees distributed in 5 locations

Issue: How to communicate the message to employees in all locations and so that they understand?

Learning points:

• communication method should suit the size of the company

• it is not important that the method of communication be consistent, as long as the messaging is consistent

Situation 7 – you are developing a comprehensive learning strategy for a Government Department

Issue: How do I create a learning environment?

Learning points:

• There are 5 characteristics that describe a learning organization:

1. Systemic problem solving

2. Experimentation to support innovation

3. Learning from experience through action learning

4. Learning from others by benchmarking others in the industry; and

5. Transferring knowledge throughout the organization through such things as rotational assignments

Situation 8 – There is a high turnover of part-time staff because they are led to believe they can obtain full-time position fairly quickly

Key Points:

• morale is decreasing

• training costs and service disruption is increasing

Issue: How do I deal with this false perception among PT employees? How do I fix the hiring process for future PT employees?

Learning points:

Think about the order of things (ie first step)

• listen to and address employees concerns

• deal with misperceptions about career mobility opportunities

• assess potential solutions

• discipline hiring manager for misleading candidates

Situation 9 – An employee survey has indicated some areas which need improvement

Key points:

• target the one that needs the greatest attention

Issue: Which area needs the greatest attention? How do we improve that area?

Learning points:

• the smaller the standard of deviation, the more people that agree with the statement

• make sure enough information is gathered before moving forward with a strategy

Situation 10 – In a company of unionized and non-unionized staff, the unionized staff receive a $500 signing bonus.

Key points:

• non-unionized staff are currently ineligible for any bonuses

• non-unionized staff are unaware of the bonus

Issue: Do we tell the non-unionized staff about the bonus? What if the non-unionized staff find out about the bonus? How will we deal with the situation?

Learning points:

• communication in a proactive manner is critical in order to manage the situation in a positive manner.

• it is important to at least match the gains made by unionized employees

• tying a larger bonus to performance is a good strategy to reinforce achievement

Situations, Issues, & Learning Points

Situation 1- an employee has been hurt and damage has been done to production as a result of an unsafe action

Key points:

• employee is long-term with a good record

• employee belongs to a union

Issue: What disciplinary action should be taken? Who should be involved?

Learning points:

• always ensure the safety of the employee first

• always involve a union representative in the investigation for union employees

• discipline the employee to show due diligence

• file a report with appropriate regulatory authorities

Situation 2 – a minority employee is breaking a rule and claiming he is being discriminated against if disciplined

Key points:

• the supervisor has met with the employee

• the unwanted action is still taking place

Issue: Can we discipline the employee without the employee successfully filing a Human Rights claim?

Learning points:

• make sure an investigation is done to substantiate any false claims

• don't involve the whole team unless the investigation shows the practice is wide spread

Situation 3 - employees are telling off-color jokes but nobody's complained.

Issue: do you approach the individuals or the company, as a whole?

Learning points:

• since there was a group of people involved, it is better to address the whole company

• you need to get buy-in from the top. Start with the leader.

Situation 4 – an employee on STD was denied LTD and wishes to return to work on a PT basis

Key points:

• the company has not facilitated PT work requests in the past due to legitimate operational reasons

Issue: does the company need to accommodate the employee's request?

Learning points:

• the organization has a responsibility to investigate the possibility of accommodation without undue hardship

Situation 5 - a candidate a filed a complaint based on the decision that she was not hired because of her lack of typing skills despite it not being a requirement

Issue: is the employer justified in its hiring decision?

Learning points:

• there must be a bona fide occupational requirement for candidates to function successfully in areas being tested