Problem identification

 This case revolves around Ashley Wall who had been transferred to LIMA
TIRE plant as the Director of Human Resources.She was a seasoned human
resources professional with over 10 years of experience at Treadway.

 This case study is about job dissatisfaction and its high turnover rate. Many
individuals were highly dissatisfied with how they were treated at a
Treadway Tire Company.

 Ashley Wall aimed at cutting overall costs and improve productivity at the
plant by reducing turnover.

Analysis

 Treadway Tire’s high turnover rate is an example of systematic

failure.  The system in place does not reward or promote hard
working foremen.  Additionally, the work environment is so horrible
that it reinforces such high turnover rate. 
The major problems were due to:

1. Lack of Authority to line foreman

2. Lack of training
3. Overall performance measurement was informal
4. Demanding approach of supervisor.
5. Focus more on cost effectiveness than on employee satisfaction.
6. Management not understanding the unforeseen circumstances
7. Senior junior relationship/ communication gap
8. Hiring strategy

 The line foreman lack the proper training needed to excel and they
have a horrible relationship with their direct superior.
There are two reasons why many line foreman ended up leaving the
company:
1) they didn’t have the proper training to do their job right,
2) there was tension between the line foreman and their superiors.

Instead of handing the foreman the tools and skills needed to

perform the job the bosses just demanded results. The bosses often
threatened the foreman in hopes of getting the job done. The lack of
leadership and a high Mach approach ultimately caused the system
to fail.
 Wall tried to change things around by introducing a few changes

(A)month long rotational training program for the line foremen.

(B)assigning area managers as formal mentors and exposing the new
line foremen to the key processes in the plant like payroll
issues,union contracts etc.

But unfortunately due to budget cuts in late 2007 this program was
put on hold.

 Major problems faced:

1. High turnover : Out of a total of 50 foremen at the lima facility,23 of these

positions had turned over in 2007
2. Self respect:
3. Power distance:
4. Job security:
Solution:
In this case, there were many problems within the Treadway Tire Lima
factory plant. All of the problems were caused by the inefficient system that
was in place. Most of the lower level leaders within the company were
either under trained or not trained at all. Three things that could have been
done to fix the system would be an organized training system within
Treadway Tire, less pressure on the foreman and supervisors for immediate
results on things that were outside their control, and shorter shifts.

In starting an organized training program, the initial training would have to

happen right away for all management from foreman to managers. The
initial training would help all of the leaders to be on the same page.

In addition to the training, it would be important to put less pressure on the

foreman and supervisors for things that are outside their control. They
were seeing an increase in pressure each year and the increase in pressure
was reducing the quality of the performance due to stress.

Line foremen should be given more authority & be well informed about
their rights.

The shifts were not very manageable and thus accounted for poor
performance.The concept of 8 hours shift would serve a better purpose
than the 12 hours shift.

Balanced hiring policies should be adopted like the one proposed by Ashley
Wall i.e.; 60%internal hires,30%college graduates & 10% company
transfers.