Business Records Management

A document imaging, mobile shredding, and record storage business with offices in Clearwater and Tampa Bay is called Business Records Management. Recently, the business has seen some growth in its operations, which has put some pressure on its courier drivers. Therefore, this report analyzed the situation at the company and provided a strategic solution to the problem. Following the analysis of the situation, the report recommends that the company should hire a part time driver to assist in reducing the workload. While this is the most suitable solution, the company wage bill is expected to rise, but this will be offset by the increased morale and maintenance of high-quality services that the company provides.

Introduction

An Overview of the Company

Business Records Management is a document imaging, mobile shredding, & record storage company, based in Clearwater and Tampa Bay. The company is responsible for picking up clients’ shredded documents for destruction or delivering records that kept on file at one of the warehouses. Business Records Management has been in business for over 40 years and continues to expand every year.

The Opportunity

The Current Situation

Last year the company’s sales were up 125% from the previous year and work has been very steady. The situation is that the company runs very lean and only has the bare number of workers to get the job done. The company has three couriers, who pick and deliver documents to and from the warehouses. However, in the last 6 months, the couriers’ routes have been getting longer and further due to an increase in the number of clients. Even though it is good that the company is landing so many new clients, this has also placed a lot of stress on three people, who have to service hundreds of clients from as far north as Hudson to Sarasota and as far east as Orlando. The stops are stretching the company’s resources, especially because the company is only based in Tampa Bay. Therefore, if one driver calls out or takes a vacation it puts tremendous stress on the other two drivers. The operations manager often stresses on finding someone to cover the route that that the absent driver covers. Evidently, Business Records Management is expanding too fast for workforce we have to handle the demand.

Based on the amount of overtime that the three couriers receive, on a weekly basis, due to the high demand of operating the different route, it is evident that an opportunity to hire a fourth courier driver is available. One driver averages approximately six hours of overtime every week. When this is spread across the three drivers, the company pays for approximately 18 overtime hours. Bearing this in mind, it is evident that the company can hire a new driver in a bid to reduce the number of overtime hours each of the three drivers accumulates. However, if the company could not feasibly hire another full-time employee, they should hire a part time driver to fill in on days where the couriers do not have sufficient time to cover all the stops done. The benefit of hiring a part-time employee part-time employee is that the company would incur lesser costs. A part-time driver would be cheaper than paying time overtime every week for three people.

Key Success Factors

While assisting the clients Business Records Management has learned that the success factors of the company are dependent on three major factors: product/service, people, and solution.

Up-to-Date Service

In the contemporary society, businesses are in constant need for products and services that can meet their challenges (Nasir 23). The dynamic market requirements and expectations, due to increasing competition, as well as advances in technology, have created a need for document storage space and disposal needs for digitized documents. Business Records Management noticed the gap in the market for such services and started a company that has picks and destroys shredded documents. The company also stores in a warehouse and delivers them to clients when necessary. These services are in high demand as companies embrace technology, thus destroying old records. Additionally, companies that do not want to destroy their records but have insufficient space can also use the company’s services. Since the business is in the early stages of its lifecycle, the competition is low and the potential for growth is immense, thus making it one of the success factors for the business.

Value Added Services

Over the years, the company has realized that the complicated services of record management require additional levels of service to support to benefit consumers and encourage new consumers to use the service. The management team of Business Records Management assessed the market and realized that most of the clients were receptive to the idea of having their record picked and delivered when needed. As such, the company added a new courier service, whose purpose was to collect shredded documents for destruction and other documents for storage. The courier drivers were also required to deliver documents to the clients when needed. The value added service ensured that the company gained from other regions outside Tampa, thus increasing the number of clients as well as the market share.

Integrated Solution

Another reason success factor in the business is that the company provides a solution to the problem of record management without involving the clients in the intricate nature of the operations. Therefore, it is imperative that the company maintains the good services because the customers are more interested with the totality of the solution provided rather than the nature of the operation.

Analysis of Alternatives

The company has options to ensure that they remain competitive and continue providing the quality of service required.

Option One: The first option is to maintain the three drivers and continue paying their wages as well as overtime the overtime.

Option Two: The second alternative is for the company to hire a new driver on a full-time basis and the other three drivers would not accumulate any overtime in a given week.

Option Three: The last alternative is for the company to hire a fourth driver, who will work part-time and cover for any of the drivers, who take a day off work or leave of absence. As such, none of the drivers would accumulate any overtime.

Currently, the company pays its drivers $25 per hour. The normal working hours for each driver is 8 hours per day for five days a week. The company only allows drivers to work two hours of overtime in a day, due to the demanding nature of the work. Overtime is paid at 150% of normal rates. The part-time driver will be paid at the prevailing hourly rate and will take on the extra duties that the other drivers are required to take when one of them.

Analysis of Option 1

If the company decides to take the first option, the courier drivers’ total wages per week will be approximately $3675 (Refer to Table 1). The main assumption in the calculation is that the drivers will accumulate 6 hours of overtime per week and work for 40 hours each week. Even though the three drivers might manage to perform their tasks and gain overtime wages, the task of delivering documents and records to and from clients would be tedious if the company opts for option 1.The hectic weekly schedule would lead to exhaustion among the drivers, thus affecting their morale and consequently their performance. A lower performance index would mean that the client are not getting the quality of service they desire and the company may lose its market share. Table 1 below shows the weekly wage structure of the company if they opt for option 1



Table 1: Weekly Wage Structure for Option 1

No of full-time drivers

Pay/Hour

Overtime Rate

No of hrs./week/driver

Overtime hrs./week/driver

Total Wages/Week ($)

3

25

37.5

40

6

3675



Analysis of Option 2

A decision to adopt Option 2 would have the company pay total weekly wages of approximately $4000 (Refer to Table 2). The main assumption is that by hiring the fourth driver, the workload for the other drivers would decrease. Another assumption is that all the four drivers would be paid at the current rate of $25/hour and each of the drivers would accumulate 1.5 hours of overtime per week. Therefore, each driver would operate in their designated routes without extreme interruption. Hence, the work would be less strenuous and the driver’s performance would remain at the current rate, which has overseen the rapid development and increase in market size of the company. Table 2 below shows the weekly wage structure of the company if they opt for option 2.

Table 2: Weekly Wage Structure for Option 2

No of full-time drivers

Pay/Hour

Overtime Rate

No of hrs./week/driver

Overtime hrs./week/driver

Total Wages/Week ($)

4

25

37.5

40

1.5

4225

Analysis of option 3

If the company chooses option 3, the total weekly wages paid would be approximately $3825 (Refer to Table 3). This figure is based on the assumption that the part-time driver would reduce the workload for the other drivers significantly but not as much as a permanent driver would. Therefore, each of the drivers is expected to accumulate approximately 2.5 hours of overtime pay per week. The basic pay for all the driver would remain at $25/hour and the overtime rate would be 150% of the basic pay. All the drivers would operate their routes with the part-time driver stepping when needed. Hence, the courier routes would not be strenuous and the drivers’ performance would not take a hit. Table 3 below shows the weekly wage structure of the company if they opt for option 3

Table 3: Weekly Wage Structure for Option 3

No. of full-time drivers

No. of Part-time Drivers

Pay/Hour

Overtime Rate

Hrs./week/FT driver

Hrs./week PT driver

Overtime hrs./week/driver

Total Wages/Week ($)

3

1

25

37.5

40

18

2.5

3825



Comparative Analysis of the three Options

As seen in figure 1 below, option 1 is the cheapest option. However, if the company chooses option 1, the drivers would be strained to the limits because the company is growing rapidly. Each driver would work 6 hours of overtime per week in order to cover the additional routes. The strain and pressure of taking extra routes and working overtime would contribute to exhaustion and loss of morale, which would, in turn, translate to poor performances and quality of work. In the long run, the three drivers would be unable to deliver or receive the records to all the customers, thus lowering the utility the clients receive from the company’s services. For this reason, option 1 is not a viable alternative.

Option 2 is the most expensive option. This option has various advantages and disadvantages. The main advantage of opt3 is that it would increase the efficiency of the company, as the work of the drivers would be less strenuous. Additionally, the overtime per week would significantly reduce from 6 hours to 1.5 hours. Hence, the drivers would deliver the quality of work required by the company. Despite these merits, option 2 is not ideal because the company would incur high wages per week.

Option 3 is moderately expensive but offers more advantages than option 1 and 2. The drivers of the company would have to work for lesser hours, thus reducing the strain of overtime. Even though the number of overtime hours for option 3 is higher than option 2, this is offset by the fact that the company would have to pay less. Figure 1 below shows a bar graph comparing the cost that the company would incur for each of options.



Figure 1: Comparison of Weekly Wages for the Three Alternatives

Strategic Solution Option

After analyzing the three alternatives, the strategic solution for the company is option 3. It would be logical for the company to choose option 3 because it provides equilibrium between employee welfare and saves the company costs. Not only does the option ensure that drivers do not have to take spend more hours at work and take extra routes, but it also ensures that the company can save costs and continue to provide the value added service as well as the integrated solution. Scholars are of the opinion that, quality of service and good employee welfare ensures the continuity and success of an organization in the market (Schein 105; Zaman 3). Similarly, by adopting option 3, the company would ensure employee satisfaction, quality of service and consequently gain success in the market.



Benefit and Risk of Strategic Solution Option

Although the solution is viable and relevant to the current situation of the company, it as both benefits and risks.

Benefits

The expected benefits of the strategic solution include:

An improvement of employee morale – it is expected that hiring a part time driver would reduce the routes as well as the number of hours that each employee works per week. Consequently, the drivers’ morale and productivity is also expected to improve significantly

Reduce company costs – while the solution is expected to increase the general expense that the company would incur, it would be ideal because the part-time driver would receive lesser payment than hiring a full-time driver. Therefore, the company would have saved a significant amount, which can be used in other areas of the company.

Risks

The expected risks for adopting this solution would include:

Business stagnation – hiring a new part-time driver is only ideal if the company market share and revenue keeps increasing. Hence, stagnation in the company’s growth may lead to losses, as the new part-time driver would be earning while the company revenue is not growing.

Poor performance – there is also the risk of the part-time driver not delivering the quality of work expected of him or her. Hence, the company would be unable to satisfy its clients.

Final Recommendation

Implementation Plan

The implementation strategy would entail allowing the current drivers to maintain their routes and schedules. However, the part-time driver would not have a fixed schedule and would be required to cover for the full-time drivers when they take a leave of absence or a day off work. The full-time driver would also have to be flexible enough to work extra hours in order to avoid overworking the three full-time drivers.

Recommendation

This report recommends that the company should maintain the services of the part-time driver as long as the company keeps growing. If the growth of the company proceeds further and the need for another driver arises, the company can hire the part-time driver on a full-time basis and employ another part time driver to assist in minimizing the workload.



Works Cited

Nasir, Süphan. Modern Entrepreneurship and E-Business Innovations. Hershey, PA : Business Science Reference, 2013.

Schein, Edgar H. Organizational Culture and Leadership. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2016.

Zaman, Nadeem, Uz. Cadbury's Employee Relationship Management. Munich: Grin Verlag, 2013.