drainflow case study

7/23/2019 Drainflow Case Study

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Kia Allen

CASE 2: REPAIRING JOBS THAT FAIL TO SATISFY

INTRODUCTION

DrainFlow is a major plumbing maintenance firm who specializes in both residential and

commercial services. For decades, DrainFlow has operated around the United States, using their

specialization strategy to stay ahead of its competitors. Although DrainFlows specialization

strategy has helped reduce its costs, customer complaints have been rising. !ften, the customer

complaints are about response times and costs. Several appointments have been rescheduled due

to the wrong staff members being sent to jobs. Also, some customers have been overcharged due

to more e"perienced and e"pensive wor#ers being sent to perform simpler tas#s that assistants

could handle. $he rising number of complaints has caused many customers to see# services from

a newer competing chain, %ightning &lumber.

'egional manager, %ee 'eynaldo, has been analyzing the problems at DrainFlow and has

predicted possible sources. %ee believes that employees are not motivated enough and that the

job design could be contributing to the problems. As a result, %ee has proposed to use cash

rewards to improve performance among employees. She also wants to find new employees who

are a better fit with the companys new goals. (hether %ee decides to go through with these

proposed solutions or not, a change needs to be in order to help DrainFlow return bac# to its

highly competitive position within the mar#et.

QUESTIONS

Quesi!n "# Al$!u%$ i&s 'lea( e)*l!+ees a(e n! es*e'iall+ sais,ie- .i$ $ei( .!(/0 -!

+!u $in/ $is is a (eas!n ,!( '!n'e(n1 D!es (esea('$ su%%es sais,ie- .!(/e(s a(e a'uall+

ee( a $ei( 3!s1 A(e an+ !$e( e$a4i!(al !u'!)es ass!'iae- .i$ 3! sais,a'i!n1


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!n the contrary, some associations with job satisfaction can result in negative behavioral

outcomes. Absenteeism, turnover, and wor#place deviance all have a negative relationship with

job satisfaction. (hen employees are dissatisfied with wor# and alternative jobs are available,

they will have high absence rates. 0owever, when few alternative jobs are available, dissatisfied

employees have the same low absence rates as satisfied employees 1'obbins, 23. Similarly,

turnover is a result of alternative job prospects. )mployees are influenced by the 8pull4push9

mechanism, the luring of the other job and the unattractiveness of the current job. 0igh human

capital, such as high ability, can even influence employees to consider other available

alternatives. Finally, wor#place deviance causes withdrawal at wor#. )mployees disli#e their

jobs so much that rather than finding the source of the problem, they will control the situation

with different responses. (or#place deviance includes substance abuse, unionization attempts,

and stealing at wor#.

Quesi!n 2# Usin% 3! '$a(a'e(isi's $e!(+0 e5*lain .$+ $e *(esen s+se) !, 3! -esi%n

)a+ e '!n(iuin% ! e)*l!+ee -issais,a'i!n6 Des'(ie s!)e .a+s +!u '!ul- $el*

e)*l!+ees ,eel )!(e sais,ie- .i$ $ei( .!(/ + (e-esi%nin% $ei( 3!s6

+urrently, DrainFlows job design is contributing to employee dissatisfaction. :ot only

are they lac#ing organization, they are lac#ing coordination and the proper #nowledge. $he

2,4employee firm is divided by four basic job categories; plumbers, plumbers assistants,

order processors, and billing representatives. All job categories are dependent on another job

category to perform at their most efficient level. Under the job characteristics model 1uire completion of a piece


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of wor# and are significant in the living or wor#ing conditions of customers. $hey also tend to

generate customer feedbac# upon completion. &lumbers and plumbers assistants must tend to

all of their assigned jobs. 0owever, just because they are assigned to a job, they may not be able

to solve the problem. For e"ample, when the wrong employee is sent to a job that is too comple"

for them, the job must be rescheduled. /y sending the wrong employee, the customer and

employee have wasted their time and in most cases, the customer declines further contact with

DrainFlow. )mployees are then having to deal with customer complaints on the spot and are

having to e"plain that they are not in control of ma#ing appointments. )mployees are

overwhelmed not only with performing their job but also providing customer service. Similarly,

the wrong employee sent to a job can affect the rates the customer has to pay. A highly s#illed

plumber sent to perform an easy tas# li#e sna#e a drain results in a hefty bill.

Although the e"isting job design at DrainFlow seems >uite simple and straight4forward,

employees have become frustrated with having to perform duties outside of their job description.

As mentioned before, the lac# of coordination and #nowledge has led to employee

dissatisfaction. )mployees in all four job categories are not wor#ing together to gain a better

understanding of others s#ills and the proper #nowledge of typical plumbing re>uests. *f * were

given the opportunity to help employees feel more satisfied, * would redesign their jobs using

two distinct methods. $hrough job rotation, * would periodically shift an employee from one tas#

to another. * would most li#ely use this method on plumbers and plumbers assistants, where

they would ta#e on the duties of an order processor. $his could benefit DrainFlow because

plumbers and plumbers assistants already have the #nowledge related to plumbing and #now

e"actly who to assign to each job. $he rotation of jobs reduces boredom and increases motivation

in employees 1'obbins, 23. * would also e"pand jobs through job enrichment. $his method


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increases the degree to which the wor#er controls planning, e"ecution, and the evaluation of

wor# 1'obbins, 23. * believe all job categories would find this motivational and will lead to

greater job satisfaction.


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!rder processors will be rewarded for every 2 successful calls and billing representatives will

be rewarded on the number of completed surveys they receive. $he cash rewards will be

distributed individually where as a category4wide distribution will result in slac#ers and only a

few employees wor#ing hard. $his will motivate employees even more to wor# harder to satisfy

customers.

%oo#ing bac# at %ees initial idea, * would not classify the rewards as small, moderate, or

large. $here is no basis to measure how big the reward should be. $herefore, all rewards will be

of the same amount, whether it is a ?@ bonus or a ? bonus per employee. * believe as long

as everyone is doing their best and are ma#ing an effort to improve customer satisfaction, they

should be presented with an incentive to do even better.

Quesi!n 8# E5*lain $e a-4ana%es an- -isa-4ana%es !, usin% ,inan'ial in'eni4es in a

*(!%(a) !, $is nau(e6 9$a0 i, an+0 *!enial *(!le)s )i%$ a(ise i, *e!*le a(e %i4en

)!ne+ ,!( a'$ie4in% 'us!)e( sais,a'i!n %!als1 9$a !$e( +*es !, in'eni4es )i%$ e

'!nsi-e(e-1

Financial incentives may result in both advantages and disadvantages. $he main

advantage of financial incentives is that they are highly motivational. A program of this nature

would benefit from financial incentives because they would be striving to meet short4term goals.

'esearch suggests that financial incentives may be more motivating in the short term rather than

the long4term. *n addition, financial incentives challenge employees and ma#e them set higher

goals for themselves. $his then improves performance and subse>uently customer satisfaction.

Some disadvantages of financial incentives include the loss of organizational focus. )mployees

may not be able to concentrate on organizational goals and tend to focus more on receiving the

cash reward. For organizations, they will incur higher compensation costs to account for the


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additional bonuses. Finally, financial incentives increase competitiveness within the wor#place

and ta#es away from competing outside the organization.

iven these disadvantages, potential problems may arise if people are given money for

achieving customer satisfaction goals. !rganizations could start losing more and more money if

employees are constantly meeting satisfaction goals. Although meeting these goals are pertinent,

giving money as an incentive becomes costly. Also, employees may put pressure on customers

by always re>uesting feedbac#. * feel that feedbac# should be given at ones ease. $o prevent

these possible problems and any additional problems from happening, other types of incentives

could replace the form of money. !rganizations can use a variety of employee recognition

programs that are either private or widely publicized. For e"ample, DrainFlows regional

managers could announce employee accomplishments or even create a visible employee

recognition wall for everyone to see. $hese are both ine"pensive ways to recognize employee

performance and to motivate other employees. Furthermore, organizations could recognize

employees by giving them rewards of some value. For instance, one month DrianFlow could

decide to ma#e the reward a free pair of movie tic#ets. $his method allows management to be

more creative with their incentives and leaves employees e"cited about their potential reward.

Quesi!n # C(eae a s*e'i,i' *lan ! assess .$e$e( $e (e.a(- s+se) is .!(/in%6 9$a

a(e $e -e*en-en 4a(iales $a s$!ul- '$an%e i, $e s+se) .!(/s1 H!. .ill +!u %! a!u

)easu(in% su''ess1

As regional manager of DrainFlow, %ee 'eynaldo should evaluate the customer surveys

on a wee#ly basis. *t is important that she is aware of the progress of the employees and the

feedbac# from their customers. After roughly 7 months of implementing the reward system, %ee

should assess which individual employees and specific job categories are receiving the most


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rewards. She should continue with this evaluation for every 7 months. /y #eeping trac# of the

employees and job categories that value this reward system, she can see how effective the system

actually is. $his will also help her decide whether the reward system is wor#ing for everyone at

DrainFlow or just within specific job categories. %ee can then decide if she wants to #eep the

reward system, ma#e changes, or get rid of the reward system all together.

*f the reward system is perceived to wor#, productivity and job satisfaction are e"pected

to increase. )mployees will view this reward system as another goal they must reach and when

they do reach it, they become much more satisfied with their job. Also, absenteeism and turnover

rates are e"pected to decrease. )mployees will be even more motivated to come to wor# and

increase their chances of earning the cash reward. $hey will value their job titles and are most

li#ely not to leave their organization. 0owever, turnover could benefit DrainFlow if

underperforming employees leave the organization and can be replaced by someone with the

proper s#ills and that are interested in meeting the organizations goals. +onse>uently, the

success of the reward system will be based on positive customer feedbac#. DrainFlow will be

much more successful if customers are satisfied with their services. +ustomer satisfaction results

in returning customers and possibly new referrals. $he customer feedbac# will be gathered from

surveys and will be #ept on record. $he surveys will measure the success of the employee

meeting its goals by customers using a scale. $he scale to rate the employee will be from to @,

being unsatisfactory and @ being satisfactory. $he customers will be able to rate them on a

number of things and can leave additional comments if they please.


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Quesi!n ;# 9$a +*es !, $i(in% (e'!))en-ai!ns .!ul- +!u )a/e ! ,in- *e!*le ee(

suie- ,!( $ese 3!s1 9$i'$ Bi% Fi4e *e(s!nali+ (ais .!ul- e use,ul ,!( $e 'us!)e(

se(4i'e (es*!nsiiliies an- e)!i!nal la!(1

+onsidering the problems with current employees at DrainFlow, there needs to be a few

changes to find people who are better suited for these jobs. All job categories should go through

a similar interview process but, interviews should be standardized within each job category. $his

allows the general manager to better understand how >ualified a person is for the specific job.

$hey must have the ability to perform all of the tas#s re>uired of that position. Although a

candidate may seem >ualified for a job, they should still go through a 24wee# training session.

$his should ma#e the general manager along with any regional managers at DrainFlow to have

more confidence in their employees performance. $he sessions will cover basic #nowledge

pertinent to the job category, organizational behavior, customer service, and a brief overview of

other contributing jobs at DrainFlow. *n addition, personality tests should be part of the hiring

process. &ersonality traits allow managers to better understand how an individual will behave in

certain situations and how well they can interact with others. /oth aspects are #ey components

when wor#ing at DrainFlow.

*n my opinion, all /ig Five personality traits would be useful for the customer service

responsibilities and emotional labor. +ustomer service responsibilities mostly reflect the

e"traversion and conscientiousness dimensions. $he e"traversion dimension describes someone

who is sociable while the conscientiousness dimension describes someone as responsible and

organized 1'obbins, 23. +ustomer service interacts with customers constantly and need to

#now how to properly communicate with them. $hey are depended upon to handle any issues a

customer may have. Similarly, emotional labor mostly reflects the e"traversion and emotional


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stability dimensions. All employees at DrainFlow engage in emotional labor, a situation in which

an employee e"presses organizationally desired emotions during interpersonal transactions at

wor# 1'obbins, 23. $o be more of an e"trovert, employees must #now how to deal with

customersB whether its through phone orders, at an actual job appointment, or through billing.

$he emotional stability dimension characterizes someone who is calm, self4confident, and

secure. All employees at DrainFlow need to have these >ualities to maintain job satisfaction. An

employee will be better satisfied with their job if they stay positive in regards to their

performance and understand their contribution to the organization.

INTEGRATION OF CONCEPTS

*n addition to the job characteristics model 1


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strength of an e"pectation that will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of

that outcome to the individual 1'obbins, 23. Ceeping the reward system in mind, employees

will more than li#ely improve their performance based on the cash reward they e"pect to receive.

+ompared to other types of rewards, this cash reward system seems very plausible by employees

because of the chance to receive an additional amount of money. *f the reward were something of

lesser value, the outcome is less attractive to the employee and they are not motivated to improve

their performance. $he e"pectancy theory focuses on three relationships; effort4performance

relationship, performance4reward relationship, and rewards4personal goals relationship 1'obbins,

23. *f employees at DrainFlow give their ma"imum effort, the effort4performance relationship

suggests that they will improve their individual performance and will be appraised for doing so.

$he performance4reward relationship suggests that employees will perform at certain levels that

they feel will lead them to receiving organizational rewards. *n this case, the organizational

rewards are the cash rewards. Finally, the rewards4personal goals relationship suggest that

DrainFlow employees will have so much satisfaction from the organizational rewards that they

will create more personal goals that also result in attractive rewards. :ot only have the

employees set their own individual goals or needs, they have even determined what the potential

rewards might be.


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REFERENCES

'obbins, Stephen &. Organizational Behavior. 5th ed. Upper Saddle 'iver, :

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