Vanraj Mini Tractors

Mr. Mike Valenti is considering the option of increasing wages for his employees after two years of freeze during the global downturn.

‘House, Hearth and Home’ has lost Cad$4 million in sales this year and profit margins are low. However, expenditure and inventory cuts can release funds to bring a 2.5-3% wage increment. Employees are impatient and their moral levels are low, hence a pay hike will assuage any propensity for mass mutiny, exodus or theft. Mr. Mark is also equally inclined to reinvest the surplus in business operations, which includes renovation, security system up-gradation, and debt repayment. Since the markets are still gloomy, a growing business may ensure a good wage raise in the coming year.

At House, Hearth and Home, employees frequently take leaves on false medical pretences and are distracted during work hours. Since there were no layoffs even during the slowdown, employees are relaxed about their jobs. These characteristics resemble a lax working environment. Mr. Mark and Mr. Simon are well aware of the situation, however, no measures have been taken to either check incompetent behavior or dismiss underperforming employees. Hence, employees consider management as gullible and non-authoritative. Since Aaron individually handles HR issues, there is also a constraint on employee communication. There is a need for more customer oriented employees like Kyle; however, the current work culture may even degrade the work ethics of dedicated employees.

Mr. Mark is keen about retaining his key employees and rewarding them for their value addition. However, personal encouragement cannot reach all the employees and there is a need for better reward system like monetary awards and group acknowledgements to motivate employees.

Mr. Mark’s interaction seems to be limited to individuals who have direct visibility in the organization- floor manager, accounts personnel, yard

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