Gap Analysis: Riordan Manufacturing

Running head: GAP ANALYSIS: RIORDAN MANUFACTURING

Gap Analysis: Riordan Manufacturing

University of Phoenix

Gap Analysis: Riordan Manufacturing

Riordin is a company founded on innovation and sweat equity from its CEO, Michael Riordin. The company has grown and with it its human resources have become diverse and increasingly difficult to manage. If the company is to realize its future goals of constant growth and innovative solutions for customers it will need to attract and retain the brightest minds in a number of fields.

This is task is easier said than done as most companies of Riordins size are finding out. The diverse work culture creates a variety of needs and wants from a salary and benefit package. For some the greatest needs lie not in monetary payment but investments in the employees future. The human resource professionals and company leadership at Riordin must quickly realize that company loyalty and trust in leadership is earned in a number of different ways, none of them being satisfied with status quo.

Situation Analysis

Issue and Opportunity Identification

Riordan Manufacturing has recently made a number of strategic changes to both its manufacturing and sales methods. The company has seen a dramatic decrease in sales and fluctuating profits over the past two years. This environment has led to the adoption of a customer-relationship management (CRM) system. Each Riordin customer is now serviced by a sales team instead of a single sales person. This sales team is comprised of a sales person, product engineering specialist and a customer service representative. The team is assigned to a specific market segment in order to focus on the customer and drive up sales. The manufacturing departments have taken on new approaches to quality and have restructured the manufacturing plants to a work team oriented process. The company also exported a number of jobs to China to reduce overall cost of production.

Unfortunately [Insert comma] [Insert comma after this introductory word] these changes have not been welcomed and have created a major employee retention issue. The annual employee survey “showed a decrease in overall job satisfaction, particularly in the areas of compensation and benefits” (Riordin scenario 2, 2007). The company is facing a decline in company morale based on the ineffectiveness of the current company benefit system and distrust in the methods for determining salaries and performance rewards.

The current situation provides management with a wealth of opportunities to improve it Human Resource [human resource is not capitalized unless it is part of a title, e.g., XYZ Corp. Human Resources Department ] [Do not capitalize unless part of a title or proper name] Management system, thus increasing employee moral and boosting sales. The employees of Riordin do appreciate certain aspects of the work culture. The majority of employees feel that the overall benefit package is good, providing ample vacation time and a culture where supervisors treat them fairly. This positive outlook has retained many long-term employees and