1. Comment on the role of the selection steps in hiring a floor sweeper. Do the same for hiring a welder.

2. Why should a company concern itself with the general health of its employees

3. List and explain the four (4) E's of a good safety program

4. Discuss the necessity for some arbitrary definition of accidents

5. Should a company store or cafeteria be operated on a profit basis? State your reasons.

6. How can an employer be certain that a new benefit or service fulfills a need?

7. Some companies have been accused of hiring new employees based on their ability to play sports so as to strengthen the company team. Would you call this a good or poor practice? State your reasons.

Lucas Products, Inc.

For the past 10 years Mr. Paul Millis, the industrial relations director of Lucas Products, Inc., has been computing employee turnover according to the formula

number of replcaements/average number on payroll x 100

The computation was made on a monthly basis, and the average number of employees on the pay­roll was determined by averaging the number on the payroll the first day of the month with the number on the payroll the last day of the month.

Mr. Millis felt that this formula for employee turnover gave him a reliable indication of the overall efficiency and performance of industrial relations in the Lucas organization. He took pride each month in showing the general manager the current employee turnover figure and comparing it with the results of the last several years. And the record did look good. During the ten-year period, employee turnover had never exceeded 10% and in recent months had been running about 5%. Mr. Willis was careful to point out each month that he claimed no personal credit for this record but that the efforts of everyone, in particular the foremen and supervisors, made the record possible.

Yesterday a clerk gave Mr. Millis the turnover figure last month and it showed a sharp rise to 9.6% from 4.3% for the previous month. Needless to say, Mr. Millis was shocked and imme­diately went to work to determine the causes. He knew he would have to do a lot of explaining when he next saw the general manager.

Questions

1. In searching for causes for the sharp rise, what types of things should Mr. Millis look for?

2. Should Mr. Millis feel on the defensive concerning the sharp rise in employee turnover? Explain.

3. Was Mr. Millis correct in placing so much faith in this computation of employee turnover as a measure of overall efficiency and performance of industrial relations? Explain.

4. Can you think of any improvements in the calculation so it would more closely accomplish what Mr. Millis expected?

5. Would you agree that the turnover record of Lucas Products as described was a good one? Explain.