Discussion:
The Inandout Inc. Company provides warehousing and fulfillment services (order receiving and filling) to small publishers of books with small print runs (number of copies of a book printed). After the books are printed and bound at a printing facility, they are shipped to INandOut for handling. The books are initially received by handlers who unload them from the trucks, place them on pallets, and move them via forklifts and conveyors to their assigned storage space in the warehouse. The handlers also retrieve books and take them to the shipping area when orders are received. The shippers package the books, place them in cartons, and load them onto delivery trucks (to take to air or ground transportation providers). Book orders are taken by customer services representatives via printed, phone, or electronic (email, fax) forms. New accounts are generated by marketing representatives, who also service existing accounts. Order clerks handle all the internal paperwork. All these employees report to either the supervisor of operations or the supervisor of customer service, who in turn reports to the general manager. The owner and president of INandOUT , Inc. Alta Fossom, is independently wealthy and delegates all day to day management matters to the general manager, Marvin Olson. Alta, requires however, that Marvin clear and new ideas or initiatives with her before taking action. The company is growing and changing rapidly, along with adding many new, and often larger, accounts. Publishers are demanding more services and faster order fulfillment. Information technology is constantly being upgraded, and new machinery (forklifts, computer assisted conveyor system) is being utilized. The workforce is growing in size to meet the business growth. There are now 37 employees, and Marvin expects to hire another 15-20 new employees within the next year. Job descriptions for the company were originally written by a consultant about eight years ago. They have never been revised and are hopelessly outdated. The job of marketing representative does not even have a job description, because the job was created only five years ago. As general manager, Marvin is responsible for all HR management matters, but he has little time to devote to them. To get a better grip on HR responsibilities, Marvin has hired you as a part time hr intern. He has a gut feeling that the job descriptions need to be updated or, in some cases, created and has assigned the project to you. Since Marvin has to clear new projects with Alta, he wants you to prepare a brief proposal that he can take to her for approval and that suggests the following:
1. Marvin wants to meet with you and discuss each of these points. He wants the proposal to contain specific suggestions and ideas. What exactly would you suggest to Martin.