Critical Incident 3-5 The Contingent Worker Spud Jones has worked steadily at Mo

Question

Critical Incident 3-5

The Contingent Worker

Spud Jones has worked steadily at Morrell Industries during the past four weeks. He works 4 to 10 hour days at a variety of tasks. Sometimes he inspects and cleans parts, and other times he may sweep the floor. Spud receives a regular paycheck but is not eligible for vacation days, holidays, or medical insurance.  

Sput is not, however, a permanent employee of Morrell. He is a member of the contingent workforce-people hired by firms to cope with unexpected or temporary needs. He received his paycheck not from Morrell, but from the temporary services agency. If Spud's job at Morrell ends, he might find work at one of the agency's other clients.

Morrell Industries supplements it's forty permanent core employees with temporaries during peak periods. When an opening occurs, it is filled by an employee selected from the pool of temps. Morrell has also used temps to fill in for employees on sick leave or vacations. This practice allows them to smooth out the peaks and valleys in demand for their products. By doing this, they avoid having to hire permanent workers to meet peak demands only to lay them off when demand drops. By having a contingent pool of workers, Morrell can quickly adjust to payroll cost during economic downturns

The economy has not recovered the way that some expected, and so all temps received notices that Friday would be their last day at Morrell.

A. Based on your first impressions, what do you think of Morrells' practice of using contingent workers?

B. When considering hiring a full-time employee, which is most important; (a) the way the individual will fit in with the other employees in the department. or (b) the work performance of the potential full-time employee?

C. If Morrell has an opening for a full-time position, what criterion would you use to make the decision?

D. If you were Spud Jones, what would you do to improve your odds of being hired by Morrell when a job opening occurred?

Explanation / Answer

A. I think Morells' practice of using contigent workers is defintely a good practice viewing it from the company's point of view as this way they can hire temporary employees as per the demand of the business and lay them off when the demand is over. Be it a seasonal demand or due to absence of permanent employees, contigent workers can be hired avoiding the disturbance in the productivity. It can help in saving additional costs and increase efficiency. It can provide job security to the permanent employees if they leave the services temporaryily in case of emergency. It also gives a path to the temporary employees to prove themselves and get an opportunity for the permanent job in the company and the company to evaluate the perforamance and select easily from the contigent workers for permanent selection when they have an opening.

B. Though both the factors are important for an employee who works for full time in a company as his liasing with the other employees will make his position in the company and the results from the teamwork both positive and the work performance will give actual results required from him but I feel that more important is his work performance as that is what will contribute in the productivity of the business. If he does not fit in with the other employees methods can be used to improve that but if his potential does not fulfill the job requirements then he will just be a cost burden for the company.

C. If Morrell has an opening for a full time position I will make the selection from the contigent workers based on the job requirement and the potential of the workers working on temporary basis. I will first note down what exactly is expected in the job position and then the qualifications and capabilities of the contigent workers who have worked for the company. This will make me get a clear picture of which employee can suit the job position in the most suitable way.

D. If I was Spud Jones, I would improve my odds of being hired by Morrell on permanent basis by giving them an honest performance at my job. I would prove to them that hiring me would be the right decision as I have been working in their company for a period of time with full honesty and dedication taking up all the jobs that the company needed to be done at that time. Being dedicated to my work by showing regularity in it and taking up variety of tasks as per the requirement of the time are my positive attributes which i will prove to Morrell for selecting me when a job opening occurs.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse C
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.