Question #2 : Interview

In order to discuss the work experience and organizational structure of a company, I interviewed Jennifer Wentz of Weis Markets. We discussed her career as an architectural draftsperson and I asked questions about her boss, the way Weis Markets runs, and what motivates her to accomplish her work. Throughout the interview I learned a lot about her career and the way her organization is structured. In this post I will describe the organizational theories that correlate with Ms. Wentz’s career and the changes in the organization since she first began at the company.

Weis Markets is a chain of grocery stores with a majority of locations in Pennsylvania. Ms. Wentz’s occupational title is an architectural draftsperson or as it is now considered, a computer aided drafting (CAD) operator. She works in a special building where she and a group of people draft store remodels and new store construction plans. She first began her career with Weis markets fourteen years ago. At this time she was completely in charge of her own project, which she drew by hand from conception of the idea until the completion. Ms. Wentz said that drafting by hand was more of an art and it required artistic skill. Some people were very good at it and others were not. However, the drafting career has changed tremendously since the use of computers.

Currently Ms. Wentz uses her computer to formulate plans. Nothing is drawn by hand anymore and she says that there are very few people that would want to revert to drawing by hand now that computers are so efficient. Instead of the need for artistic abilities, a vast knowledge of computers is needed so that you can put appropriate parts of the plans together. You now need to know what you have to draw as well as how to make the computer do that task in the most efficient way.
Another difference in her job from when she first began is that a CAD operator does not see a project through until its completion. Now the operator lays out the basic floor plan of a store and then sends it to a consultant that does the entire project. Ms. Wentz says does not like this current trend because she then has to go back through the project and check all of the consultant’s work, which she does not enjoy. This brought up the question of productivity and conditions in the workplace.

Ms. Wentz clearly stated that Weis does not treat its workers in an extra caring manner in order to increase productivity. She says that they always want to quickly change store plans and does not give the CAD operators enough time to fix them. In addition, the large workroom used for creating the building plans was separated into small cubicles a few years ago. This means that many people are highly productive and focus on the plan they are supposed to be doing. Opposing this positive point, others use their cubicles to cover up the work they are not doing. Disregarding those that misuse the cubicle, they were created to keep workers focused and productive.

The Weis architectural department has a hierarchy of workers. Hierarchy “refers to the vertical arrangement of power and authority that distinguishes managers from employees.” The architect of the department has to be licensed by the state the building is being built in and is the boss of the department. Then the department is divided into people working on new grocery stores and those working on remodeled stores. Each branch has an overseer. The operators that work in these departments are the lowest in the chain.

Weis Markets follows the human relations approach when dealing with their employees. Though there are no great efforts made to treat their workers exceedingly well, there are some attempts at an employee and boss relationship. When the CAD operators are pressured to redo a drawing at a moment’s notice, the boss advocates for them. He or she knows how long it will take a project to be redrawn, and lets the main boss know. This creates a relationship between he or she and the operators. Though plans are drawn on the computer, it is not a routine task like those that follow the classical management approach. Weis employees are told what to do, but they must also use their knowledge and individual skills to carry out a project. Overall, the attempt to increase worker productivity is superficial, which is a major theme in the human relations approach. Walls that are used to separate employees from each other and to give the office a home-like atmosphere, though Ms. Wentz says it is far from home-like. It is an extremely superficial way of satisfying the employees. The employees do not have a direct say in what goes on in the office like in the human resource approach. Rather, they are expected to increase their productivity because of the office environment, though that is often not the case. However, Ms. Wentz says that when people are not productive, it is their own choice to do so.

After my interview with Ms. Wentz I realize that there are definite strengths and weaknesses in the organizational theories of this chapter. Mainly I see that employees are trying their best to be productive in their careers even though their environments are not always inviting or inspiring. De-skilling a task to be so routine that you need absolutely no skill is not something that would inspire productivity or life happiness out of someone. A job should be interesting to the employee and offer some sort of emotional reward. I feel that Ms. Wentz’s job does offer her satisfaction after designing a project. Even though the environment is not designed for team work or a work place democracy, it is usually a place of productivity. The job technology andn approach has changed since she first began, though it is still something she enjoys.