Page 650 - Business Principles and Management

C HAPTER 23 A SSESSMENT

CASE IN POINT

CASE 23-1: Did Charles Have a Chance?
Charles Morgan was hired five weeks ago to work in the mailroom of the
Teletron Trading Corporation. His job was to collect mail twice daily from
each office in the building, sort and process outgoing mail, deliver outgo-
ing mail to the post office, and pick up incoming mail from the post office.
He learned the job in one day by working with the outgoing employee,
Tomika Williams. Tomika had been hired by another company and had
only one day left with the company by the time Charles was hired.
After one month, Charles thought that he was doing well. Some of
the first few days had been rather rough, but things seemed to be going
more smoothly now. He rarely saw his supervisor, but when he did the
supervisor always greeted him pleasantly.
A week later he received notice that he was being discharged at the end
of his six-week probationary period. There was no explanation for the dis-
charge, and Charles was not aware of the probationary period. He went to
the human resources office immediately. The employment manager pulled
a folder from the file and began reading notes that had been placed there
during the past month. Charles responded truthfully to each item.
a. An hour late to work on May 15: “My car wouldn’t start, but I called
to say that I would be in as soon as possible. I worked an extra hour
at the end of the day to finish my duties.”
b. Two offices complained that the mail had not been picked up on
the second of the month: “It was my second day on the job, and I
couldn’t remember all of the stops. After the second day, I made a
schedule and I haven’t missed an office since.”
c. The Research Department complained that an important document
was sent by regular mail when it should have been sent by express
mail: “I didn’t know the policy for deciding when and how to send
items until I was told I had done it wrong. I asked the supervisor,
who gave me a procedures manual to study. Tomika Williams had
not told me about the manual.”
Several other similar complaints were included in the file. Charles
readily admitted to but explained each one. According to the employ-
ment manager, Charles was being discharged in keeping with company
policy. The policy stated that any employee who received five or more
complaints about work procedures during the probationary period was
automatically discharged.

THINK CRITICALLY
1. What is your opinion of what happened to Charles? What responsi-
bility should he take for what happened? Justify your opinion.
2. Develop several reasons to justify the probationary and discharge
policy of the company. Describe what you believe the company
should do to improve the policy.
3. Why do you believe Charles was prepared for his job in the way he
was? What role should the human resources department play when
employees receive that type of training? What recommendations can
you make to improve the company’s training procedures?
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