CASE EXERCISE

Bonne Bell Factory Employees Average Age 70

The morning shift at the Bonne Bell plant in Lakewood, Ohiocomposed of 86 assembly line workers
packed and boxed 10,800 tubes of lip stick. Anything over 10,000 is considered good. In addition to
meeting their production goals, whats unique on this assembly line is that the average age of these
workers is70. The oldest just turned 90.This seniors-only production department was launched in 1997,
not as some grand social experiment, but as a practical business decision. The company needed workers,
labor markets were tight, and seniors were available. The companys president, who himself was 76,
suggested the idea. His executives in-charge of manufacturing and packaging were skeptical. They
thought older workers would be too slow and costly or be misfits in a high-tech world. They worried that
seniors would complain they could not do the work or that they needed breaks or were not feeling well.
The companys president refused to accept these stereotypes. Although he did not know of another
company that had a senior department, she said, Lets try it and see if it works. Work it did. Retirees
now account for close to 20 percent of Bonnie Bells workforce of 500. The group handles work that once
was outsourced, saving the company more than $1 million in its first four years and effectively silencing
the skeptics. Shipment goals are set and met. Turnover is almost nil and the company has a sizeable
waiting list of seniors who are interested in taking jobs when future ones become available. Seniors have
proven to be an ideal source for new employees. Not only have seniors proven to be productive and loyal,
they also help keep costs down. Since most receive Social Security, they do not rely on their jobs to fully
support themselves. They do not need $15 or $20 an hour jobs to make ends meet. They seem more than
happy to accept pay rates that start at $7.50 an hour and move to $8 after a year. Additionally, the
company saves by providing these employees with no health benefits. Most of these workers are covered
by a spouses medical plan or Medicare and say they do not need extra coverage.

Questions
1. Do you think these older workers would perform as well if they were integrated into a department
with younger workers? Support your position.
2. Do you think that success that Bonne Bell has had with hiring older workers is transferable to other
companies? Why or why not?
3. In which industries in India you can apply this?
4. For your own industry, can you think of any such groups that you could be employed for specific jobs
and could mean affirmative action and also answer to your problems.
Notes:
It is indeed a unique initiative, So what are some of the benefits of hiring the older workforce?
They are free as no one else is hiring them so no competition and hence an available resource.
Cheaper resource
No distractions or competitive responsibilities, so more focused and less leaves
More responsible life learning and less opportunity

So, why not shift to 100% older workforce, why only 20%
Many things that may require physical effort so not fit
Many may require dynamic follow up of competition
Many may require innovation and keeping up with change
Many may require leading change

So while the senior citizens in this case may be fit for a kind of job (repetitive and less strenuous) they
may not be fit for other jobs.

So are older people not fit for any higher order jobs?
Of course they are, for example for jobs that may require expertise in a domain or wisdom. Knowledge of
past and its implications for future.

Conclusion: In conclusion we can say that

2. not everyone is fit for every job. We need to carefully pick people for specific jobs
3. person-job fit is essential
4. many times it is essential to break the stereotypes and find new solutions

How do we make these decisions?

We need to understand what are requirements of an organization and job. We also need to have the
expertise to understand what kind of people would be best fit. So understanding of human behavior is
essential. Then estimating these peoples needs to keep then engaged and motivated.
So all this requires us to know how people behave individually, in groups and how groups and
organizations impacts group and individual behavior.
This is no longer an intuitive decision. There is research and science that helps us make better decisions.
This subject is about learning from evidence based theories and not just intuitive wisdom.

Learning:
1. Diverse groups/ individuals bring different strengths to an organization. So selecting the right
people is important. Just any age or any group would not work for all.

2. Different organizations have different needs. So important to know your own organizational
needs.
3. Innovative and creative solutions is what differentiates an extraordinary manager from a regular
manager. Decisional Entrepreneurial, resource allocation role. Function planning. Skill
conceptual skills. Independent variable ind commitment and motivation ans skill managed thru
innovative recruiting to manage org produvtivity.