Case study – how work resources are incorrectly allocated in a company when procedures work poorly
In the retail sector, the efficient allocation of labour resources is one of the most critical factors in determining both customer satisfaction and the profitability of a company. However, when internal procedures don’t work properly, even the best employees face a chaotic work environment. I will share my experience from a consulting practice. Where a poorly prepared procedure causes employees to redistribute their activities incorrectly.
A procedural document is necessary for a specific worker to perform assigned tasks clearly and consistently. In this case, the document must clearly and specifically define the specific position’s activities and functions. Read more about the preparation of procedures in this article.
A procedural document drawn up in a general way is of little use and is not followed by staff. Example: A person in charge of a specific retail outlet has a very high workload, while other employees are not overloaded and have free time.
How does it happen that the person responsible for a branch or a specific trading point becomes in a hurry, very busy, and during the holidays, the phone of this person does not fall silent? Let’s take a look at the main causes of unemployment and work overload.
1. Problems for allocating resources could be of unclear procedures
In the case of an incomplete and unclear procedural document, it becomes unclear how to allocate work to specific employees. Unclearly defined instructions for a specific function cause problems for allocating resources. In this case, the manager in charge seems to complete a specific task faster than she would have to explain to the employee how to do it.
A 5-minute task becomes simpler and faster than spending 20 minutes training an employee. As a result, each employee can perform the work as he understands. In this case, there is a threat of errors.
Another problem that may arise is task duplication, which can lead to the company wasting employees’ time and resources. The worst thing that can happen is that the task may remain undone because the employee will not know how to perform the assigned or delegated task specifically.
2. Lack of training
Let’s take a look at how vague and unspecific procedures affect the knowledge available to employees. We are well aware that a newly hired employee must be trained. If there is no detailed document for the procedure, then it becomes unclear what we need to train the newly hired employee. In the organisation I consulted, the newly hired employee was trained by the employees of a specific point of sale, and in exceptional cases by the manager herself.
During the training, information is shared in a way that the teacher understands—in this case, the information may not meet the organization’s standards or practical guidelines. The organisation I consulted had about 300 trading points. How do you think the organization’s standards can be followed in such cases when, at each point of sale, the teacher will teach the employee in a way he understands?
Another case is that in the absence of a procedural document, information is transmitted from word of mouth and therefore it is distorted, and the skills of the employees become different. Presenters then become devoted to spending a lot of time to correcting mistakes instead of thinking about optimising their work.
3. Sharing activities
Without a detailed document, it becomes unclear how to share the work and functions at a particular point of sale. In the organisation I consulted, the manager was excessively involved in information distribution and document management.
Meanwhile, with a very clear description of the functions, it would be possible to divide the work and train the employees according to the document. The supervisor often gets involved in small tasks because of the lack of a system for distributing and delegating work.
4. Lack of effectiveness of activities
In many cases, the works are planned in response to a specific situation and not according to a pre-planned plan for their performance and distribution. In this case, the day’s productivity is lost, and often, it is said, “I can’t guess,” “not now.”
Or the worst option happens: the work being done is stopped, and the next work is attacked. In this case, employees forget where they stopped the work, which causes mistakes or leaves tasks unfinished.
Activities become inefficient when employees spend time searching for information or tools instead of helping customers. In my example, the employee wasted time at the trading point because he processed goods incorrectly and lacked knowledge.
5. Shortage of staff
Recently, when consulting organisations, I have often encountered a lack of regulations and a need for them. Employees who come to the organisation are highly demanding and want clear instructions, references, or training. Every employee who comes to work in a specific organisation wants to perform the tasks assigned to him in the best way. Without detailed and clear documentation, employees fall into a vicious circle of endless work and stress.
The worst case happens when a worker ends the day with bad emotions caused by chaos and stress. I have noticed that employees avoid chaotic organisations or leave them quickly after starting work. In this case, managers complain about staff shortages and claim the market lacks available employees.
This is not true—it means the organisation lacks structure to help new employees perform tasks smoothly.
In this article, I have shared information about a specific trading point. However, the same applies to a specific unit. It doesn’t matter at all whether it is a trading point or a division of the organisation. Very clear procedures will only help the organisation function correctly and in an orderly manner. Orderly documentation will encourage standardised and unified training and an effective system for delegating tasks.
This article is the intellectual property of the author. You must provide a reference to the article’s source and name the author when citing any passage from this article.
You can learn more about the author’s competence, Dr. Diana Satkutė, here.
