The meeting I had the students take was set in a Korean manufacturing company with factories in three countries. The company makes toys, has 20% market share, has clean, safe, comfortable, efficient and modern factories, and they pay above average salaries. But there's a problem: after six months, 25% of the workers will have left, after 1 year 50% have moved on. In other words, high employee turnover. The meeting is to work out some solutions. (Too much for freshmen English majors to handle? It doesn't seem so.)
The meeting cards I used were these:
You are:
The Personnel Manager
Chairing the meeting: You chair the meeting and make sure everyone joins in. Organize the meeting in the following way.
First, discuss why employees stay such a short time with the company. Ask each participant to explain the reason for the problem. Discuss each point of view.
Second, together find ways of improving working conditions and employee’s motivation. Choose three suggestions. Discuss.
Finally, together make a concrete decision on a course of action to be taken.
Your own point of view: you think it is obvious that employees stay so little time because there is no real advantage in staying. You suggest letting the employees have four weeks paid holiday per year. (Currently the employees have two weeks paid holiday per year.) The workers would like this, and it will make a good public image for the company. But you think the company should be careful: if the company is too generous for no reason, the workers will start asking for more and more benefits and bankrupt the company!
Together you must decide:
how to improve working conditions
how to give more motivation to the workforce
how to increase average length of stay of employees to three years.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
You are:
An Operator (Korea)
You want something that will really increase worker motivation on the job and in the factories. This is the only real way to encourage employees to stay, and improve quality. Long holidays each year are too far away and won’t make workers from day to day. It will be better to make the factories nicer places to work in, and really look after the workers.
You should:
- reduce noise levels at work
- let workers take ten-minute breaks every hour
- allow free medical care by opening a doctor’s surgery in the factory
- let workers vote in company decisions, including decisions about pay rises.
Together you must decide:
how to improve working conditions
how to give more motivation to the workforce
how to increase average length of stay of employees to three years.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
You are:
A Technician (Portugal)
You are certain the staff in your factory don’t stay with the company very long because they have no career prospects. For example, operators needs only one day of training to learn how to work their machines, and then they only ever work on that one machine. You would suggest giving training and promotion to workers who choose to stay for two years. You also think staff who are 50 years old can have early retirement (with benefits)
Also, four weeks holiday per year is not a good idea. Instead, staff can have two weeks plus two extra days for every year of work. In that way, new employees have two weeks paid holiday at the end of the year, and after three years of work, they could have three weeks of paid holiday, and so on. Another thing is, it would be nice if the company built a gymnasium in the factory. Workers could use it for a variety of physical activities.
You don’t think workers should vote on company decisions. They’ll just waste a lot of time talking about things they don’t understand.
Together, you must decide:
how to improve working conditions
how to give more motivation to the workforce
how to increase average length of stay of employees to three years.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
You are:
The Production Supervisor (Mexico)
Productivity and quality are not bad in your factories, and in your opinion the factories are spacious and pleasant to work in. Most important is no decision should disrupt production. Taking breaks from work, or taking long holidays will disrupt production. You think workers don’t need to talk about company decisions, but they can meet to talk about production methods. This would satisfy the workers and make them feel more involved in the direction of their work. Also, they might have good ideas.
Any decision we make should not reduce work time or change the work conditions. But sports facilities can be installed. Maybe a soccer field would be popular. Also, why not let the company subsidize the canteen and make the meals cheaper?
Together you must decide:
how to improve working conditions
how to give more motivation to the workforce
how to increase average length of stay of employees to three years.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
You are:
A Sales Representative (Mexico)
We should not damage the company’s reputation. You are worried that if the company is too generous to the workers, the customers will wonder why you still ask high prices for your goods. They will say you are generous with the workers, but not generous to the customers. Also, if the company is generous now, the customers will think you were not generous in the past, and they will call you a bad employer.
Something out of the ordinary could be very motivating for the employees, and look good to the customers. For example, the company could give the workers headphones and while they work they could listen to the radio, or to some CDs they like. In fact, the company could create a company radio station for the workers to listen to and take part in.
Together you must decide:
how to improve working conditions
how to give more motivation to the workforce
how to increase average length of stay of employees to three