CASE 40 Getting a Fair Hearing

Background Information
Jerri Evans generally liked supervising the Telephone Services Department of the National
Building and Supply Company. Jerri supervised a staff of 10 service representatives. The
reps averaged almost four years in their current jobs, and Jerri was pleased with their
performance.
"Part of the reason they’re good," Jerri often thought to himself, “is that I’m such a stickler
for following rules. They get in on time and meet their quotas, or else. That’s the only way
to run things here."
In the two years that Jerri had been in charge of Telephone Services, he had never
experienced any major problems with the staff. However, he had not been particularly
close to them either, and his relationship with them was a formal one.
One day, shortly after lunch, Bill Hatter, a supervisor in a nearby depart- ment, came to
Jerri’s office with information that had the potential to change how Jerri related to his staff.
Jerri liked Bill and they often talked together. He was a fine and trustworthy colleague.
Jerri was sitting at his desk when Bill walked in and closed the door. Bill wasted no time in
getting to the point: "I just got through hearing an interesting conversation in the lunch
room. It involved four of your employees and you should hear what they’re saying about
you."
Jerri looked puzzled and concerned. “What do you mean? I mean, er, how do you know?
How did you hear?"
"Well," Bill said, "I was sitting at an out-of-the-way booth with my back to them and was
kind of hidden by a poster display someone recently put up. I don’t think they knew I was
there."
Jerri was growing impatient. "OK, OK, but what were they saying?"
"I wasn’t paying any attention at first, so I’m not sure quite how things got started," Bill
replied. "But in any case, when I finally began to listen, it seemed the first part of the
discussion concerned a warning you gave Delores about be- ing late."
In fact, earlier that day, Jerri had issued a written warning to one of his em- ployees,
Delores Jones, about her periodic lateness. Delores had to take public transportation to get
to work and had a tendency to arrive 10 to 15 minutes late on a regular basis.
Bill continued: "I think at first it was just Delores and April Browner who were involved.
Evidently they were comparing notes about how often each of
40.1 Fifty Case Studies for Management & Supervisory Training
them was late and how you treated them. They were joined by two other em- ployees, Chris
Wilkins and Randy Barry."
Bill explained what happened. The other two employees, learning of the topic, chimed in.
After awhile, they were all complaining about how Jerri did not treat them fairly and how
unfairly they were paid. They openly discussed their salaries and how wrong their job
descriptions were. It was a major gripe session, and these employees were very upset.
"I got the impression that this was not the first time they had this conversa- tion," Bill
observed. "I also got the impression that a lot of other employees in your unit felt the same
way.
"The thing that really got my ear, though, was when Delores said something like,: ‘How
much longer are we going to put up with this stuff? We should do something.’ Everyone
there agreed."
Bill explained that he stayed in the cafeteria longer than he should have and had to return
to his department.
"I tried to be careful when I was leaving, so that they wouldn’t see me, but I think I was
noticed. Then I came right here."
CASE QUESTIONS
1. Does Jerri have a problem? If so, what is it?

2. What actions, if any, should Jerri take?

40.2 Case 40: Getting a Fair Hearing

CASE DISCUSSION: Getting a Fair Hearing
Summary
Jerri Evans closely supervised the 10 service representatives in the Tele- phone Services
Department. He set rigid standards about getting to work on time and meeting established
performance quotas. While he never had any ma- jor problems with his staff, he supervised
them rather formally.
Shortly after lunch one day, a fellow supervisor, Bill Hatter, came into Jerri’s office and
indicated he had just overheard several of Jerri’s staff carrying on a conversation in the
lunchroom. The immediate cause of the conversation involved an employee to whom Jerri
had given a warning about being late for work. She was comparing her lateness with that of
the other employees at the lunch table.
According to Bill, all the employees there were complaining about being treated unfairly by
Jerri. They talked about their salaries and poor job descrip- tions. This was evidently not
the first time these topics had been discussed. One employee finally asked when "they" (the
employees) were going to do some- thing about the situation.
Answers to Case Questions
1. Does Jerri have a problem? If so, what is it?
Jerri does appear to have a morale problem with some, if not all, of his employees. This
kind of situation could blow up into a larger problem unless Jerri takes constructive action
to deal with it.
2. What actions, if any, should Jerri take?
The discussion, as reported by Bill, could be construed as part of initial efforts by
employees to engage in "protected concerted activity." This means employees were taking
steps to act collectively on their concerns regarding the terms and conditions of
employment. Even though there was no explicit mention of unions, the nature of the
discussion might fall under the protection of the National Labor Relations Act. For this
reason and others, Jerri should not act to discipline, terminate, or otherwise sin- gle out the
people involved. Even if it were legal, Jerri would only be re- acting to a symptom, not the
problem.
The basic problem appears to be how Jerri’s actions are perceived by his employees. In
short, Jerri has gained and/or earned the reputation of treating his employee unfairly. He
needs to take action in such a way that he can deal directly and effectively with those
concerns. He needs to contact Human Resources and/or seek the help of experienced labor
re- lations counsel.
A further complication here is that if Jerri meets with his employees, whether all of them or
just those whom Bill identified, to discuss their grievances and negotiate a resolution, he
may give a de facto recognition
40.3 Fifty Case Studies for Management & Supervisory Training
of union status to the employees, which could further extend labor law protections to all
future interactions.
Therefore, Jerri needs to begin correcting the problems without appear- ing to do it in
response to employee pressure. In fact, this is exactly the way any supervisor should
approach this type of problem.
There are several steps Jerri should take:
Working closely with Human Resources, he should review the compensation of his
employees to determine if there are any in- equities, either between employees or in terms
of how they com- pare to an outside labor market price. Any significant internal in- equities
should be resolved quickly and quietly.
He should have Human Resources review job descriptions. This review could be portrayed
as a request from Human Resources to update descriptions which HR suspects may be
dated. One-on-one meetings with each employee to analyze their jobs could also be used to
casually listen for any other concerns employees have.
Jerri should also consult with Human Resources regarding company policies and the
policies he enforces. Is he insisting on policies that run contrary to organizational policy?
Jerri might want to consider some kind of employee opinion survey as a way to gather
information about employee concerns. If he did this, he would be in a good position to
identify with employees what those concerns are and what he will do to address them.
Jerri probably needs to examine himself more closely. Is he being too hardnosed and
inflexible in dealing with his employees? He should look for opportunities to move from an
adversarial, authori- tarian posture to one which is more consultative and participative.
One major opportunity would be to reconsider the recent warning he gave Delores Jones
for lateness. While he may technically be correct, insisting that she report to work on time
when she is using public transportation may, in practice, be misplaced. This is espe- cially
true when he might be able to make an adjustment that could actually improve his unit’s
performance. For example, Jerri could work out an informal flex-time schedule with
Delores, in which she would agree to stay past normal quitting time to make up the time
she missed by being late.
He could ask to meet with Delores to indicate that he has thought more about the warning
and wonders now whether there might not be a better solution, which he could propose as
an informal flex schedule. If she agrees, he would agree to rescind the warning.
40.4