Homework answers / question archive / MGMT 4402 HR EXERCISE #6: Examining Job Applications for Inappropriate Questions This exercise must be typed and completed individually

MGMT 4402 HR EXERCISE #6: Examining Job Applications for Inappropriate Questions This exercise must be typed and completed individually

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MGMT 4402 HR EXERCISE #6: Examining Job Applications for Inappropriate Questions

This exercise must be typed and completed individually.  Evidence of group work on this exercise will be considered a violation of our academic integrity policy. Furthermore, you are strictly forbidden from sharing your answers (i.e. write-up) with anyone currently enrolled, previously enrolled, or to be enrolled in this course in the future.

 

Required Length

There are no specific length requirements for your write-up.  Generally, a well done write-up is probably about 2-3 pages (double-spaced).

Required Formatting

Generally, documents in Size 12, Times New Roman Font with 1” margins that are double-spaced are easiest for me to read. If you use references, they must follow the rules detailed in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition. Please see our formatting document for this exercise in Canvas and prepare your answers accordingly.

Due Date

This exercise must be submitted/uploaded through our LMS on or before the due date (11:59 p.m., ET) listed in the course schedule on your syllabus, unless approved otherwise by the  instructor. 

 

Learning Objectives/Goals

 

1. Upon completion of this exercise, you will be able outline the components of a good orientation program.
2. Upon completion of this exercises, you will be able to critically evaluate the ways an organization might prepare supervisors to provide high-quality orientation for their new employees.

 

General Instructions

 

Read the situation below and answer the following questions:

1. What types of orientation should supervisors provide at the work site?
2. What are the fundamental problems in this situation?  What would be required to address these problems?
3. What training methods should be used to train the supervisors assuming approval of the proposal?
4. What written materials should the supervisor provide for new letter carriers in light of what Ms. Burgess already provides?
5. In addition to the written materials discussed above, what else should the supervisor do to orient new letter carriers?

 

Situation

 

               Carol Burgess is a letter carrier and a part-time trainer of letter carriers for the U.S. Postal Service in a major city on the west coast. She trains all new letter carriers in her service area, which encompasses the northern half of her state. Over the past five years she has trained 318 new letter carriers. Typically, the training is offered prior to the new letter carrier’s entry onto the job, although sometimes it occurs shortly thereafter.

               The training program typically encompasses both the orientation of new employees to the U.S. Postal Service and the development of specific skills needed by the new letter carrier. The latter involves practice in casing mail (i.e., sorting) to appropriate locations of a case in preparation for delivery, reading maps, determining appropriate sequencing of delivery, and customer relations. The total training program takes three full days (one day of orientation and two days of skills training).

               The orientation part of the training program encompasses both an orientation packet and a discussion of various Postal Service policies and procedures. The orientation packet typically includes information about employee benefits, holidays, copies of certain standard forms (i.e., IRS withholding forms), outline of emergency and accident procedures, key terms used in the U.S. Postal Service, copies of the health and life insurance options, and telephone numbers and locations of the personnel department and other important offices. In addition, an explanation of the U.S. Postal Service operation and purpose is provided. This explanation includes the training to be received, the letter carrier’s duties and responsibilities, job standards and expected production levels, Postal Service rules and regulations, and the chain of command for reporting purposes are also provided. Burgess concludes her orientation with an offer of help and encouragement for the future.

               The assumption built into the orientation is that it will be supplemented at the job site by the direct supervisor who will provide all the necessary information about the particular facility, the personnel at the facility, the area covered by the route or routes to which the new employee will be assigned, and the additional written information such as the employee handbook and the union contract. According to Postal Service policy, each new letter carrier should get three days of on-the-job training, of which one is paid for by the training division and two are charged to the supervisor’s production. Burgess learned from subsequent conversations with her former trainees over the past five years that the orientation provided by the direct supervisor varied from practically nothing to fairly extensive. In some stations, the supervisor greeted the new employee, introduced the person to one other employee, and explained their own expectations regarding attendance, personal conduct, and productivity. Then, the employee was given an assignment and allowed to ‘‘sink or swim.’’ Several supervisors were known in the Postal Service to be ‘‘SOBs.’’ While 83 percent of new hires have survived their probationary 90-day period over the past three years, less than 20 percent survived in certain stations.

               Last night Burgess received a telephone call from Edith Jones, one of her former trainees who finished training ten weeks ago. Jones is a single parent with two school-age children who had left her job as a secretary and taken the letter carrier job in order to make more money. Jones was in tears as she described her experience at her station. Her supervisor had given her no written materials, introduced her to only one other employee, and has shifted her from route to route over the ten weeks she has worked at the facility. No help or support of any kind has been offered, but the supervisor has continually berated her for the number of hours she has taken to case and deliver routes. She had tried to study maps during her days off in order to learn the various areas covered by various routes, but this only helped a little.

               Each route had to be delivered in a particular order and it took time to learn the sequence. The other letter carriers were all stressed and working overtime themselves. Consequently, they ignored her and offered no assistance. Jones told Burgess that she was on the verge of quitting.

Burgess told her to ‘‘hang in there because it does get easier with time.’’

               As a result of all the complaints she had received from former trainees (some of whom survived the 90-day probationary period), Burgess decided to recommend to the area post- master a program to train supervisors as to how to orient new letter carriers. However, she was not sure what specific items the supervisors should include in their new employee orientation and how to train them.

 

Grading Rubric

 

Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor
4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
You have met the learning objective(s). Your performance demonstrates mastery of this exercise’s learning goal(s).	You have met the learning objective(s). Your performance demonstrates partial mastery of this exercise’s learning goal(s).	You are approaching the learning objective(s). Your performance provides some evidence of meeting this exercise’s learning goal(s).	You have not met the learning objective(s). Your performance provides little to no evidence of meeting this exercise’s learning goal(s).

Notes:

You are responsible for reviewing the debrief that accompanies this exercise when it becomes available.  This debrief explains the key takeaways for our exercise and serves as my overall feedback to you.  If you have specific questions about your grade for this exercise you must contact me within 7 days of our debrief becoming available or within 7 days of receiving your grade (whichever occurs last).  You will need to explain to me, based on your submitted work as contrasted with the exercise debrief, why you believe your work should be graded differently.

There is a “duty to perform” clause attached to this document.  You must complete this exercise in full (with meaningful effort) and meet its minimum requirements by its due date.  If you fail to submit a fully completed exercise by its due date, there will be a 3.5% reduction to your final grade in the course (in addition to earning a “0” for the exercise itself).  Obviously, incomplete and/or late work will not be accepted.