Case Study Of Root Of The Problem Landscaping Company

Root of the Problem Landscaping is a small yard maintenance company founded in 2006 by Daniel Black. Company basically provides following services.

• Small-scale operations
• Installing and maintaining flower beds, hedges and lawns.

Company has approximately five site supervisors and thirty groundskeepers. Nowadays, Company is facing a lot of problem which are not only affecting the reputation but also monetary part as well. Key Issue: Possibly the key issues that are prevailing in the current situation of the company are:

• Decline in Growth Rate/Sales.
• Difficulty in maintaining employee-employer relationship.

Solution:

• Prepare a job analysis before hiring new employees.
• Maintain a job responsibilities sheet based on employee’s abilities and skills.
• Proper knowledge and training should be given to the supervisors (Theoretical and Practical both).
• Discuss the issues that employees are facing and there should be feedback form from customer as well.
• Teach the staff and the customers about best practices of work.

ABOUT THE COMPANY AND ITS SITUATION

Root of the Problem Landscaping was basically stated in Halifax, Nova Scotia based on providing the services related to landscaping. There has been a significant growth as company moves forward to serve the New Brunswick Area. Black, Founder is himself involved in most of the work operated on site and is the sole negotiator of terms with clients. But the current situation of the company is very critical as there have been significant decline in the sales of the company. The main reason of this decline is sales is the customer dissatisfaction from work done by the company. Also, there have been a lot of complaints from the employees which proves that there have been bad management in maintaining employee-employer relationship.

Internal Factors:

• Training of the employees: There is a lack of knowledge about the work the employees generally do. Firstly, Supervisors should be practically and theoretically trained by Daniel Black and then supervisors should further train groundkeepers.
• Dissatisfaction among employees: There have been lack of proper equipment and proper management of inventory by the supervisor and most of the employees are suffering from a lot of health issues. This often results in least attachment towards work and hence when Black himself is not present, employees do not care about the work.

External Factors:

• Competition: Prevailing a lot of competitors in market and customers generally compare the services between each other could be a factor for the dissatisfaction and decline in sales.
• Hiring the wrong people: Having right people for right job is must. But while recruiting Black should look for the individuals that are physically and mentally prepared to do the job and are motivated to do the work rather than just looking for money.
• Low quality services: Because of the work delay due to lack of management in inventory and least concerned workers might affect the quality of service.
• Poor management strategies: Placing the right person at right job is the key characteristics for management. Supervisors lacks in managing the people and equipment and is also least concerned about the employee’s Health and Safety.

Company ‘s Brand: From Customer Prospective: At present, the customers are really dissatisfied from the company services which lead to loss of projects. From Employee Prospective: Employees are dissatisfied from the type of conditions they are working in and found the company practices very unprofessional.

Strengths: Employees are always the strength of an organization but hiring a right employee at right time for a right place is must. One of the biggest strengths of the company is Black’s knowledge and hard work to perform the work, but it should be provided to his employee’s as well.

Weaknesses: Weakness in this company is the lack of communication and understanding as well as no proper analysis and a job description which clearly outlines the company standards and deadlines. Threats or risks: Two biggest threats which are associated with this case are:

1. Company shut down because of the major loss in contracts due to its reputation. Also, the significant decline in sales can put the organization in debts.
2. Not concerning about the employee safety could be a big threat to the company resulting in paying high insurance and can also lead to court cases which could penalize the employer for not providing enough safety gears.

Things that are Working: When the employer himself (Black) is present at the site, things are working quite smoothly and rapidly. Things that are Not Working: From the observation it is clearly seen that all the employees only work under the strict supervision, also there is no motivation seen in employees. In addition to it, Black’s constructive feedback make them demoralize and non-respectful. Gap: Employees being a key feature in the growth of the organization, Daniel Black must have a proper recruiting pattern which should include the proper job responsibilities and have a superior knowledge in the field of land-scaping. However, on boarding process should also be included.

KEY ISSUE: Human Resources issues faced by the organization are:

1. Recruiting of right/motivated Employees: Motivated/Right employees generally work good with or without supervision. Also, putting some behavior and situational questions in selections process helps to find the right person.
2. Employee Training and Development: Employee should know about the type of work they are doing and what are the possible outcomes and injuries that might occur and training them for the best work practices is must.
3. Management Strategies: Clearly seen that there are lack of management strategies in terms of inventory or in terms of placement of people at job. There should be a proper set of strategies which comply with the company’s goal and each of the supervisor and ground staff must follow it.
4. Missing Feedback policy: Because of the lack of communication and not teaching the employees upon their mistakes generally held the company in decline in sales and customer dissatisfaction. There should be proper feedback policy from both employee and employer end so that scenario runs smoothly and free sailing birds (employees) should be punished.
5. Company does not comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Employments Standard Code: Employees working with no gloves, backaches and pains are the example that company does not know about the laws and can lead to serious loss. Also, provincial rules must be followed to avoid court cases and penalization. Employer is totally responsible for employee’s health, safety and working conditions.

Legal Considerations Alternatives:

• Should maintain a proper review checklist, job sheet that is what work is to be done at that day and should form teams in which each supervisor must take care of 5-6 ground workers and it’s the duty of that supervisor to get that work done.
• Should appoint an individual that is responsible for all inventory and stocking of things to avoid delays. Also, a proper software should be used as in this world of technology, company should use proper software to maintain inventory.
• Proper townhalls or group meeting should be held with the supervisors and ground staff for feedback and feedback should be given in such a way that it motives them rather than demoralize them. Advantages of the alternative:
• Will resolve the current issues and will helps to get the work done on time.
• Increase productivity and sales.
• Maintain reputation, competition in market and helps to expand the business. Costs related to the alternatives:o More increased paper work could increase the financial costs.
• Buying a new software for maintenance could be a one-time investment.

Disadvantages of the alternatives:

• Expensive and some of the supervisors might not appreciate to do paper work.
• Getting everyone at right track could be the biggest challenge.
• Using and getting handy to software tools might be time consuming.

Recommendations: A blend of all the three options should be used, initially townhall meetings should be arranged where both employees and employer can discuss what is happening wrong. Also, proper placement of workers should be done after proper training. Appointing one responsible person to maintain the inventory through software will also lead to resolve the issues and delays. Matrix: Total number of projects - No. of projects completed on time. Comparing the sales/feedback of current stage with the one after using these alternatives.