CASE 40 Getting a Fair Hearing Background Information Jerri Evans generally liked supervising the Telephone Services Department of the National Building and Supply Company. Jerri supervised a staff of 10 service representatives. The reps averaged almost four years in their current jobs, and Jerri was pleased with their performance. "Part of the reason they're good,” Jerri often thought to himself, "is that I'm such a stickler for following rules. They get in on time and meet their quotas, or else. That's the only way to run things here." In the two years that Jerri had been in charge of Telephone Services, he had never experienced any major problems with the staff. However, he had not been particularly close to them either, and his relationship with them was a formal one. ‘One day, shortly after lunch, Bill Hatter, a supervisor in a nearby depart- ment, came to Jerti’s office with information that had the potential 10 change how Jerri related to his staff. Jerri liked Bill and they often talked together. He was a fine and trustworthy colleague. Jerri was sitting at his desk when Bill walked in and closed the door. Bill wasted no time in getting to the point: "I just got through hearing an interesting conversation in the Junch room, It involved four of your employees and you should hear what they’re saying about you." Jerri looked puzzled and concerned. "What do you mean? I mean, er, how do you know? How did you hear?" "Well," Bill said, "I was sitting at an out-of-the-way booth with my back to them and was kind of hidden by a poster display someone recently put up. I don’t think they knew I was there." Jerri was growing impatient. "OK, OK, but what were they saying?" "T wasn’t paying any attention at first, so I'm not sure quite how things got started," Bill replied. "But in any case, when I finally began to listen, it seemed the first part of the discussion concerned a warning you gave Delores about be- ing lat In fact, earlier that day, Jerri had issued a written warning to one of his em- ployees, Delores Jones, about her periodic lateness, Delores had to take public transportation to get to work and had a tendency to arrive 10 to 15 minutes late on a regular basis. Bill continued: "I think at first it was just Delores and April Browner who were involved. Evidently they were comparing notes about how often each ofFifty Case Studies for Management & Supervisory Training them was late and how you treated them. They were joined by two other em- ployees, Chris Wilkins and Randy Barry.” Bill explained what happened. The other two employees, learning of the topic, chimed in, After awhile, they were all complaining about how Jerri did not treat them fairly and how unfairly they were paid. They openly discussed their salaries and how wrong their job descriptions were. It was a major gripe session, and these employees were very upset. 'T got the impression that this was not the first time they had this conversa- tion,” Bill observed. "I also got the impression that a lot of other employees in your unit felt the same way. "The thing that really got my ear, though, was when Delores said something like,: ‘How much longer are we going to put up with this stuff? We should do something.’ Everyone there agreed." Bill explained that he stayed in the cafeteria longer than he should have and had to return to his department. “Tried to be careful when I was leaving, so that they wouldn't see me, but I think I was noticed, Then I came right here.” CASE QUESTIONS 1. Does Jerri have a problem? If so, what is it? 2. What actions, if any, should Jerri take?Case 40: Getting a Fair Hearing ———_—_—_ CASE DISCUSSION: Getting a Fair Hearing Summary Jerri Evans closely supervised the 10 service representatives in the Tele- phone Services Department. He set rigid standards about getting 10 work on time and meeting established performance quotas. While he never had any ma- jor problems with his staff, he supervised them rather formally. Shortly after lunch one day, a fellow supervisor, Bill Hatter, came into Jerri’s office and indicated he had just overheard several of Jerri’s staff carrying on a conversation in the lunchroom. The immediate cause of the conversation involved an employee to whom Jerri had given a warming about being late for work. She was comparing her lateness with that of the other employees at the Junch table. According to Bill, all the employees there were complaining about being tweated unfairly by Jerri. They talked about their salaries and poor job descrip- tions. This was evidently not the first time these topics had been discussed. One employee finally asked when "they" (the employees) were going to do some- thing about the situation. Answers to Case Questions 1, Does Jerri have a problem? If so, what is it? Jerti does appear to have a morale problem with some, if not all, of his employees. This kind of situation could blow up into a larger problem unless Jerri takes constructive action to deal with it. 2. What actions, if any, should Jerri take? The discussion, as reported by Bill, could be construed as part of initial efforts by employees to engage in "protected concerted activity.” This means employees were taking steps to act collectively on their concerns regarding the terms and conditions of employment. Even though there ‘was no explicit mention of unions, the nature of the discussion might fall under the protection of the National Labor Relations Act. For this reason and others, Jerri should not act to discipline, terminate, or otherwise sin- gle out the people involved. Even if it were legal, Jerri would only be re- acting to a symptom, not the problem. The basic problem appears to be how Jerri’s actions are perceived by his employees. In short, Jerri has gained and/or earned the reputation of treating his employee unfairly. He needs to take action in such a way that he can deal directly and effectively with those concerns. He needs to contact Human Resources and/or seek the help of experienced labor re~ lations counsel. A further complication here is that if Jerri meets with his employees, whether all of them or just those whom Bill identified, to discuss theit grievances and negotiate a resolution, he may give a de facto recognition 403Fifty Case Studies for Management & Supervisory Training of union status to the employees, which could further extend labor law protections to all future interactions ‘Therefore, Jerri needs to begin correcting the problems without appear- ing to do it in response to employee pressure. In fact, this is exactly the way any supervisor should approach this type of problem. There are several steps Jerri should take: 1. Working closely with Human Resources, he should review the compensation of his employees to determine if there are any in- equities, either between employees or in terms of how they com- pare to an outside labor market price. Any significant internal in- equities should be resolved quickly and quietly. 2. He should have Human Resources review job descriptions. This review could be portrayed as a request from Human Resources to update descriptions which HR suspects may be dated. One-on-one meetings with each employee to analyze their jobs could also be used to casually listen for any other concerns employees have. 3. Jerri should also consult with Human Resources regarding company policies and the policies he enforces. Is he insisting on policies that run contrary to organizational policy? 4, Jerri might want to consider some kind of employee opinion survey ‘a8 a way to gather information about employee concerns. If he did this, he would be in a good position to identify with employees what those concerns are and what he will do to address them. 5. _Jerzi probably needs to examine himself more closely. Is he being too hardnosed and inflexible in dealing with his employees? He should look for opportunities to move from an adversarial, authori- tarian posture to one which is more consultative and participative. ‘One major opportunity would be to reconsider the recent warning he gave Delores Jones for lateness. While he may technically be correct, insisting that she report to work on time when she is using, public transportation may, in practice, be misplaced. This is espe- cially true when he might be able to make an adjustment that could actually improve his unit’s performance. For example, Jerri could work out an informal flex-time schedule with Delores, in which she would agree to stay past normal quitting time to make up the time she missed by being late. He could ask to meet with Delores to indicate that he has thought more about the warning and wonders now whether there might not be a better solution, which he could propose as an informal flex schedule. If she agrees, he would agree to rescind the warning.