Reference no: EM132871552

Case Study:

Welcome to the Jungle

Jason was excited about his first day of work at Jimmy's Jungle Gym. As a second-year kinesiology student, this job would provide Jason with the opportunity to work with young children and teach them about active and healthy play.

Jimmy's Jungle Gym was a play centre targeting three-to-six-year-olds and provided numerous types of "play pits" and equipment for these youngsters to use. A café was also located on-site where parents could visit with each other, grab a snack, and wait for their children to burn off some energy. Located in a local strip mall, the Jungle Gym had opened three months ago and employed one manager and twelve general employees. During each shift there would be five or six employees on-site, with each person expected to welcome guests, collect cash, manage the café, and interact with the children in the play pits.

Jason arrived for his first day and introduced himself to Bob, another employee who had been working at the Jungle Gym since it opened. The manager, Todd, eventually arrived and appeared surprised to see Jason. Todd then told Jason to go into the back staff room and spend an hour or so reading through manuals that described safety protocol and explanations about how the equipment in the play pits worked. Jason was concerned about this, as he was more of an active learner and found it difficult to learn new material merely by reading. However, as a new employee he did not want to rock the boat. After about 90 minutes Bob told Jason that he "was on" and to join the other five employees working.

Things were chaotic, to say the least. The children (over 50 of them) were loud and boisterous. As well, there was a long lineup in the café and parents were becoming agitated as they had to wait for some service. Jason asked Bob about how to use some of the ropes on the climbing wall and was told, "Figure it out. We are all expected to be competent and you were hired for your knowledge." Todd was also yelling at Jason to get to the café and help serve coffee to the adults. Jason had no idea of how to use the special coffee maker, and when serving a latte burnt his hand on the steam. For the rest of his six-hour shift he ran back and forth between the play pits and the café trying to keep children and parents happy. Ten minutes before his shift ended, a child was "lost" and all employees ran around in a panic trying to locate the youngster, who was eventually found hiding under a table in the café.

As he was leaving, Jason wanted to talk to Todd, but Todd was in his office and there was a "Do not disturb" sign posted on the door.

Jason walked home. His hand and head hurt! This was not what he had envisioned, and he wondered whether he should even bother showing up for his next shift tomorrow.

1. Who should be in charge of orienting new employees at the Jungle Gym? Why?

2. What tools and resources might be used in lieu of manuals to orient new employees?