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| Manufacturing Company* |
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Background
This company is a large manufacturer of high-quality single-use products for the foodservice, retail, and food packaging industries. The company has locations throughout the world. One of its California locations is a 24/7 manufacturing facility with 800 employees.
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Challenges
In 2003, this California facility was in crises. The manufacturing facility of about 800 employees found itself in the midst of a divisive labor union campaign when its supervisor of more than 30 years left and an HR manager was hired. The new HR manager saw immediately that there was work to be done to enhance the work environment and mend damaged relations with the workforce caused by previous management.
Employees reported to the company that it had unfair wage and hour policies, autocratic manufacturing supervisors, no bilingual representation for the overwhelming number of bilingual workers, and no consistent HR practices. All of this had manifested into low morale, lack of trust in management, and a turn-over rate of about 67 percent.
After a thorough evaluation, company executives and HR staff saw numerous problems with HR procedures. The most troubling of which was the lack of trust the employees seemed to have toward management in general. This distrust led the company to conclude that its managers were in need of management training.
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Solution
The company hired Puente to conduct an assessment of the issues and to recommend and implement solutions. It was important to the company that its employees knew that it was their opportunity to be heard and bring up their grievances without fear of firing or retaliation. Puente and the company agreed that no management would be present at the interviews with employees.
Puente developed a customized employee questionnaire and presented it for review by management. Puente made numerous presentations in English and Spanish. A “brown box” was set up for deposits of the surveys, which focused on wage and hour, and other HR issues. Puente did its work in three phases. In the end, the vast majority of employees completed the questionnaire and asked to be interviewed by Puente.
Puente conducted one-on-one, private interviews with employees in both English and Spanish. Some of the interviews were conducted during off-hours in order to provide flexibility and access to employees working various shifts. Puente also provided employees on leaves of absence and former employees with an opportunity to submit questionnaires.
Several bilingual members of Puente’s staff conducted the interviews. Management found that the Puente team was able to create the environment of trust they wanted to convey to employees. “Patti and her team kept the employee side in perspective the entire time. They were approachable and got the employees to open up in the interviews,” said the Director of Human Resources.
When the interviews were finished and questionnaires analyzed, Puente presented its final analysis to the company. The verdict: Puente found numerous wage and hour issues and discrepancies in employee relations procedures that were leading to employees’ low morale and high turn-over, among other issues. Puente found that the employees were unhappy with the ways in which the former management team ran the company, citing unfairness, capriciousness, and rudeness as common behaviors. Puente made recommendations about HR policies, procedures, and wage and hour practices to ensure proper payment of wages (including payment of back wages).
Management quickly went to work on the issues based on Puente’s recommendations. They met with each employee and addressed their concerns. The discrepancies discovered were explained in English or Spanish. Employees were given pay they lost in unrecorded overtime, lost time for lunch breaks, and a past penalty system that was found to be unfair by the new management. Formal training and a comprehensive communications program were started, and wage and hour issues were rectified.
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Results
As a result of working with Puente, the client reports that:
- The company avoided a class action lawsuit from its employees regarding claims that it failed to pay them for overtime and reduced lunch breaks. Instead, employee issues were individually and fairly analyzed and all employees who were owed back wages were paid for that time.
- Employee turn-over has decreased from 67% four years ago to 28% today.
- Management finds that morale has increased, creating a more productive and happier work environment. Employees report that they feel as if management really listens to them and are concerned about them. Many of the employees and several managers give Puente credit for helping to create this new environment of mutual trust and open communication.
- The company recognized the value of using a third-party trained in employment law and HR for its internal investigations, HR and compliance trainings, and English/Spanish programs. It continues to use Puente to build on past successes. In fact, Puente has also participated in providing extensive management training on a variety of HR, employment law, employee relations, and business topics.
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| Client Quote: "[We continue] to use Puente for its compliance trainings and we couldn’t be happier. Patti Perez and her staff do an excellent job,” said R.M., Director of Human Resources. “The trainings not only provide me with peace of mind regarding our company’s compliance with state laws, but Puente always provides valued guidance that helps us to continually improve our HR policies and develop our greatest asset: our employees."
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| * Disclosure: Because of the highly sensitive nature of some of our work, we honor the confidentiality of our clients who want to provide testimonials and case studies about our performance in anyway requested.
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