Student 1-

How you would redesign the airline x-ray job to make it more interesting and motivating?

The first thing I would do is invest in training all of the security team involved with x-ray screening.  I would do this to make sure that everyone knew how to operate the x-ray machine. I feel like this will help tremendously because the x-ray personnel after looking at the screens for many hours will make mistakes and allow things onto the plane that should not be there.  I believe that this strategy will help us in the long run with the loss of competition to the fast-food jobs, that everyone will know how to perform these tasks so we can easily backfill with a new person once they are trained.  Next thing I would do once all of the staff are trained in all of the areas; I would make sure that as a part of the job design that all of the screeners are paid adequately.  This is an important step in the job design because people like to know that they are paid adequately for the type of work that they are doing.  Another step I would take to make sure that the jobs were not boring and mundane where all staff members were just doing the same task all day every day over and over, is to come up with a routine that will be effective where the staff rotates their posts every 2 hours.  Being that everyone knows how to do each job, it will be easier for them to rotate jobs.  It will also ease the tensions of them having to sit behind the x-ray machine for long hours or standing at the conveyer belt. Giving them an opportunity to rotate around will give them a sense of seeing something different, which should help out the inefficiencies of having a tired person work the x-ray and missing items.  It will also help out the person who is stressed out from being at the front of a long line of angry passengers who want to get through the screening areas. A fresh set of eyes to any situation always helps out in a positive way. Another thing that I would do that would go hand and hand with the training that the staff was learning was to upgrade where possible the technology that we had available to use.  I think this will help to make each position more efficient which should shorten the time to get the customers from the beginning of the screening process to the end of the screening process.  Being that they worked in a stressful job I would find a way to celebrate the successes no matter how big or how small.  I feel like making these subtle changes will help the job so that it could be more rewarding for the employees and help to increase the safety awareness while people are doing their jobs to ensure that they are helping to make a safe traveling environment. 

Student2-

How would you redesign the airline x-ray job to make it more interesting and motivating?

The first thing I would do to redesign the x-ray job is create a rotational system with those that check documentation, direct lines, handle directions for the x-ray machines, do luggage checks, and do patdowns. With there being multiple tailored jobs in so small a place, it would be more interesting for workers to switch off between multiple roles. Since none of the roles are particularly complex, training everyone on all roles will be relatively cheap and allow for rotations to cover for absences and breaks. I would also create some sort of promotional track for a supervisor role that pays slightly more, so there is incentive to do well. On an incentive front, I would also increase the pay to be more competitive with fast food restaurants. The liability for airlines should something happen should be enough of an argument for higher pay. If increasing everyone’s pay is not realistic, a spot bonus program for enthusiasm and customer service could be a good middle ground. I would also find mental health and wellness resources for employees to deal with the high stress nature of their job. If employees feel like their airports invest in their wellbeing, they may be more motivated by their benefits.

Student 3-

Ch.9,p.293 Question 1 What are the similarities and differences between training and development?

Training: “Providing an employee with skills that can be used immediately on the job.” (William P. Anthony, 2010, p. 274)

Development: “Providing an employee with knowledge that may be used today or in the future.” (William P. Anthony, 2010, p. 274)

Both training and development are used to leverage and grow talent. Training is utilized to teach on-the-job systems or steps to improve performance based on the current role and its responsibilities. Development is a broader approach that influences future performance. Training tends to be job specific, whereas development focuses more on career advancement.

Both training and development can be leveraged by an organization to reduce turnover, increase promotion from within and build institutional knowledge. Training tends to be focused on the present, designed to teach the employee the skills and traits required to be successful in their current role. Training tends to be leveraged in the short term, whereas development is an ongoing process with a focus on the career of the individual.

Student 4-

1. What are the similarities and differences between training and development?

Training helps employees develop skills that can be used immediately on the job by providing instruction. Organizations use training mechanisms to yield fast results. Development has a broader scope, aiming to provide information that can help with both short and long-term organizational goals. Development is harder to measure in the short-term (Anthony, Kacmar & Perrewé, 2010, pg. 274). Both training and development include on and off-the-job programs that help employees develop skills and knowledge to better help their performance and advancement opportunities. Training and development initiatives often tie in closely with the firm’s HR strategies, including performance evaluations, compensation systems, and promotion tracks.

Anthony, William P., Kacmar, Michelle K., Perrewé, Pamela L. (2010) Human Resource Management: A Strategic Approach, (6th Edition) Cengage Learning.

Student-5

7. What factors influence whether an employee who is a marginal performer is trained or fired?

Marginal performers are not considered employees that an organization will terminate. There are so many factors as to why an employee is not performing above standards from personal to lack of skills and knowledge of their specific role. The first step to getting the employee on track is to have a one-on-one discussion with them to get an understanding of why they are coming short in their performance. Once that is established a plan of care should go in place, whether is providing concise directives for the employee to follow, a better understanding of what is expected from them, or providing in-house training or sending them out for training.

Student-6

7. What factors influence whether an employee who is a marginal performer is trained or fired?

            One factor that can contribute to the value of retraining an employee is if they are open and willing to change.  If an employee’s attitude is causing the marginal performance, it is probably best to fire the employee.  If an employee is performing poorly due to lack of engagement, management should evaluate if this is due to boredom.  Often, improving a skill or learning a new one can motivate employees and increase their engagement; and therefore performance.  When deciding to train or fire an employee, the company should also determine what is the more cost-effective decision.  HR should analyze the cost of training vs the cost of terminating an employee and then recruiting onboarding and training a replacement.  If an employee has been successfully retrained in the past, training may prove to be a good solution.