How Ups Manager Cut Turover

What is organizational behavior? Case study No.1 How was a UPS manager cut turnover? In 1998, Jennifer Shroeger was promoted to district manager for UPS’s operations in Buffalo, New York. She was responsible for $225 million in revenue, 2,300 workers, and the processing of some 45,000 packages an hour. When she took over in Buffalo, she faced a serious problem: turnover was out of control. Part-time workers who load, unload, and sort packages and who account for half of Buffalo’s workforce –were leaving at the rate of 50 percent a year. Cutting this turnover rate became her highest priority. The entire UPS organization relies heavily on part-time workers. In fact, it has historically been the primary inroad to becoming a full-time employee. Most of the UPS’s current executives, for instance, began as part-timers during their college years, then moved into full-time positions. Additionally, UPS has always treated its part-timers well. They’re given high pay, flexible work hours, full benefits, and substantial financial aid for college. Yet these pluses didn’t seem to be enough to keep workers at UPS in Buffalo. Shroeger developed a comprehensive plan to reduce turnover. It focused on improving hiring, communication, the workplace, and supervisory training. She began by modifying the hiring process to screen out people who essentially wanted full-time jobs. She reasoned that unfulfilled expectations were frustrating those hires whose preferences were for full-time work. Given that it typically took new part-timers six years to work up to a full-time job, it made sense to try to identify people who actually preferred part-time work. Next, Shroeger analyzed the large database of information that UPS had on her district’s employees. The data led her to the conclusion that she had five distinct groups working for herdifferentiated by age and stages in their careers. And these groups had different needs and interests. In response, Shroeger modified the communication style...