Challenges and Changes

RR Feeds Inc. Challenges and Changes

RR Feeds Inc. has been plagued with economic issues over the past few years. The economic trials have led to other problems within the company. This paper will discuss the challenges of RR Feeds Inc. This paper will also give recommendations to get the company back to the status of being a great place to work.

Challenges

The challenges facing RR Feeds may have started with the economy; however, these problems have bled to different areas within the company. Perceptions and lack of motivation are now factors the family owned business are experiencing with the employees.

Perceptions. Some employees are of the perception that preferential treatment was being given to certain employees in the company. This perception of favoritism led to poor performance from the employees. Preferential treatment leads a list of misconducts observed by employees. (Mantell, 2011). Perception can seem very real to employees and should not be taken lightly. Insisting on management maintaining equality and not allowing any employee to receive any type of special consideration should be a standing policy at RR Feeds Inc. Perception may be eliminated based upon these policies.

Motivation. The morale at RR Feeds is low, quite possibly due to the layoffs, restricted spending, and cut bonus. Employees, particularly new employees, work ethic has changed and they are doing as little work as possible. Employees' lack of motivation has resulted in a passive attitude toward the job. Motivation is being strangled due to the factors the company is facing. The lack of resources within the company gives the employees little to look forward to or strive for. Motivation may be an internal process but the work environment can play a major part in. Motivation that's geared toward something or someone means the behavior is expected to be a certain way. As with this case, preserving motivation based upon something or someone may become problematic if the internal or external becomes a threat (Goldman, 2012).

Suggested Changes

Mentoring. Mentoring new employees may motivate and change the culture of the company. Many of the new employees may not be aware of the organizational culture of the RR Feeds Inc. The only thing the new employees are privy to is the hardships that are being faced right now along with the current culture. The one hundred year history of the company is important and says a lot about the company. Pairing a new employee with someone who has been a part of the organization for an extended period of time could possibly give new employees a positive outlook on the company and the future of the company as well. Mentoring has been known to increase the retention rate, improve morale, increase organizational and job satisfaction, accelerate leadership development, build stronger team cohesiveness, and heighten individual and organizational learning (Zachary, 2005). RR Feeds Inc. could benefit from the mentoring process for new and old employees alike.

Job Redesign. Job redesign could be a start of reviving RR Feeds Inc. The goal of job design would be to increase work quality and productivity. Job redesign includes job rotation, job enlargement, and job enrichment. Each job design approach is important in implementation. Job rotation is a reassignment. Employees move from one job to another; gaining additional skills with each move. Job rotation puts RR Feeds in a better position because employees can rotate throughout the company