Microsoft Word - Tare HRD 1 Thinking Outside the Box: The Potential of Management Training for Reducing Turnover in Warehouse/Distribution Environments Alec Michael Tare Human Resource Development Voluntary turnover, or the number of employees that willingly leave a company over a specific period is a costly issue for businesses. Consistently high turnover is a visible problem in the warehousing and distribution industry where annual turnover rates can often exceed 100% for firms (A. D. Ellinger et al., 2003). The Warehousing Education and Research Council (1999), or WERC, reported that for entry level warehousing positions the average turnover rate was greater than 20% (Min, 2004). When comparing the industry’s turnover rates to other sectors, the only industry with a higher reported turnover rate was hospitality (Casper, et al., 2010). About 75% of warehouse workers will leave their jobs within one year of hire creating a revolving door for operations managers (Autry & Daugherty, 2003). In addition to consistently high turnover rates, the industry also contends with an unfavorable perception of its job environment, making it difficult for firms to fill open positions (Keller & Ozment, 2009). Such perceptions, which help to explain why turnover rates are so high, coupled with job burnout create a growing disruptive force within the warehousing industry (Devi, et al., 2019). It is important for business leaders to consider why the problem of warehouse turnover is worth exploring. Stakeholders must understand that retaining experienced workers is mission critical if they hope to meet the demanding customer service requirements of a modern warehouse. Complex distribution tasks such as order processing and fulfillment are labor 2 intensive and require trained workers to efficiently complete them. The high turnover rates along with increased order volumes from a growing e-commerce economy exacerbate the challenges of managing warehouse operations (Chan & Chan, 2011; Min, 2004; Murphy & Poist, 1993; WERC, 1999). Labor shortages also force hiring managers to either leave positions open or hire candidates that they know are below standards, ultimately adding to the labor burden (Autry & Daugherty, 2003). Distribution firms cannot afford the lowered productivity and increased order processing errors that accompany high turnover (Gooley, 2001). To provide solutions for business leaders this analysis will first examine some of the foundational theories of turnover and its financial impact on firms. It will then discuss human resource (HR) devolution theory and provide evidence as to why managers should be the focus of training efforts to reduce turnover. It will next review relevant research and explore several case studies on management training in warehouses as well as the barriers that improved HR devolution currently faces. Additionally, the paper reviews an applied case study from the Mayo Clinic, a medical clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Mayo case study illustrates the implementation of a successful management training program in response to the high turnover rates of its staff. Management training focused on developing the skills of the first-line managers is a cost-effective solution for turnover in the warehousing industry. The theory of HR devolution links strategic HR policy to the first-line manager. The role of the first-line manager is to directly supervise and guide warehouse employees. These operating managers serve as the intermediary agents between strategic decisions and practice (Kehoe & Han, 2019). Through the targeted training of line managers, firms will be able to reach more of their warehouse 3 employees in a significant way. Some parts of the traditional HR function (recruitment, selection, career development, evaluation, and rewards practices) pass on, or devolve to the line manager who has direct engagement with employees on a regular basis. Since line managers will be the most frequent point of contact with warehouse employees, it is important that they clearly understand the firm’s strategic HR objectives (Kehoe & Han, 2019). Management training is a long-term solution to the issues presented because of its sustainability. Attempts to reduce turnover in the distribution industry by increasing wages have not proven effective nor financially sustainable. Despite hourly warehouse employees, such as forklift operators and order pickers, receiving periodic pay raises, there is not much relief for the shortage of labor (Min, 2007). For example, Min (2007) explains that warehouse hourly workers on average earned a wage increase of 3 to 4% in 2000. Regular pay increases at that rate would not be able to keep up with the growing demand for warehousing space requirements (reaching 6.5 billion cubic ft. in 2000) and the additional personnel required to operate such spaces (Min, 2007). Furthermore, even if increasing hourly wages did solve the problem of warehouse turnover temporarily, it would not be a sustainable solution in such a competitive labor market (A. E. Ellinger et al., 2005). Implementing management training and development as a cost-effective solution to the industry’s problem of employee retention is possible; however, successful programs will require a foundational shift in the way companies value and develop their employees (Gooley, 2001). Understanding Turnover Turnover, within a company or within an organizational subgroup, is a measured rate taken by dividing the number of employees that leave an organization throughout a period by workforce size (Hausknecht & Trevor, 2011). The concept of turnover must be explored to better understand its relationship with management training and development. While a great deal of 4 research on turnover has been conducted, HR practitioners need to recognize the concept of voluntary turnover. Voluntary turnover is distinct from unavoidable turnover. Unavoidable turnover is a type of turnover where an employee leaves for reasons outside of their control. For example, an employee’s spouse may receive a lucrative job opportunity in another region of the country and thus the employee resigns to relocate with their spouse. In this case, the reason the employee left is not related to job satisfaction or work environment. This employee is referred to as an unavoidable leaver (Abelson, 1987). Voluntary turnover occurs when the basis is more under the employee’s control. These individuals are known as avoidable leavers. Notable characteristics commonly attributed to avoidable leavers are decreased job satisfaction and organizational commitment accompanied by increased job tension, and the presence of withdrawal cognitions (Abelson, 1987). By understanding these characteristics, firms can develop strategies to counteract avoidable turnover before it occurs. Not surprisingly, quality employees are less likely to be dismissed involuntarily (Hancock et al., 2013). Therefore, when avoidable turnover does in fact occur amongst a firm’s quality employees, it has a greater negative impact than involuntary turnover (Allen et al., 2010). Within the warehousing industry, for example, it is important for firms to understand why employees leave warehouse jobs shortly after being hired. To answer that question, not only must firms understand the differences between employees that remain employed at a firm and those that leave of their own volition (Abelson, 1987), they must have greater insight into the general psychological mechanisms that drive turnover. Mobley (1977) suggests that there are several cognitive intermediary stages that precede an employee’s voluntary decision to resign. No direct decision is made, but rather the decision to 5 turnover gradually occurs through a complex thought process. The model for the withdrawal process includes the following steps: “…evaluation of existing job, experience job satisfaction or dissatisfaction, thinking of quitting, evaluation of expected utility of search and the cost of quitting, intention to search for alternatives, comparison of alternatives vs. present job, intention to quit or stay, actually quits or stays” (Mobley, 1977, p. 238). This process is not binary, all inclusive, or necessarily sequential, but elements of it are present in cases of avoidable turnover in different permutations. By breaking down the stages of avoidable turnover, further empirical research will allow HR practitioners and firms to design specific solutions to address the issue. Concerning management development efforts, the objective is to teach managers how to proactively intercept turnover cognitions expressed by their employees before the intent to quit stage (Wheeler, et al., 2010). The Costs of Turnover in the Warehousing Industry Once turnover has been computed, firms often attempt to establish its financial impact. Considering investments in recruitment, selection, training, and benefits, the total cost of turnover may be much greater than many firms realize. In some cases, the cost is as high as 150 to 200% of the departing employee’s compensation (Daugherty et al., 2000; WERC, 1999). Hancock et al. (2013)’s meta-analysis on the relationship between turnover and firm performance supports the linkage between turnover and its negative impact on a firm. This negative relationship was found to be much stronger in the manufacturing and transportation industries, industries closely related to warehousing and logistics in terms of their purpose, structure, and employee demographics. In addition to examining turnover’s overall impact on firm performance, Hancock et al. (2013) examines a theoretical model of turnover. The 2013 model focuses on turnover’s individual organizational performance consequences within firms. Such indicators included “productivity, financial performance, customer outcomes, and 6 safety/quality outcomes” (Hausknecht & Trevor, 2011, p. 354). Hancock et al., (2013) found that although turnover negatively affected all these aspects of firm performance, the negative relationship was stronger for customer service and quality/safety measures. Within the theoretical model, “customer outcomes” and “safety and quality outcomes” represent varying degrees of “…wait time, customer satisfaction, service quality, time lost, and waste,” respectively (Hancock et al., 2013, p. 575). These factors are all relevant to the warehousing industry’s evolving customer requirements, especially wait time and service quality. Industry stakeholders must consider rising operating costs. In facilities lacking automation and advanced robotics warehousing is one of the highest costing logistical functions due to labor intensity (Murphy & Poist, 1993). For example, order picking, the primary warehouse function defined as selecting and packaging products from storage to fulfill customer orders is one of the most time-consuming of all warehouse activities (Chan & Chan, 2011; De Koster et al., 2006). The challenges created by warehousing’s labor intensiveness stem from modern customer service requirements and increased order volumes. These expectations are likely to expand in the future, further increasing operating costs. For example, in the U.S., the average size of a new or replaced warehouse has increased by 58% between 1998 and 2002 (Min, 2004). These new facilities will of course require additional staff to operate, further adding to the turnover challenges that firms face. With the construction of more and more warehouses older facilities will need to be able to retain their best employees in an increasingly competitive environment. High turnover in warehouses impairs customer service levels through the loss of quality staff, preventing firms from remaining 7 competitive (Murphy & Poist, 1992). Losses in well trained workers result specifically in the loss of knowledge and expertise of those workers. Additionally, turnover can put a strain on remaining staff members until replacements are hired and trained, decreasing team morale. Depending on the time it takes to fill a position as well as the time required for training new staff, the service gaps caused by turnover lead to its negative long-term impact (Daugherty et al., 2000). Firms that can minimize turnover therefore gain an advantage over their competitors. Overall financial outcomes regarding turnover are also a point of issue. For example, Hancock et al., (2013) conclude in their meta-analysis that an increase of $189,111 in profits at the unit level and $24.8 million at the organizational level would be achievable by decreasing collective turnover rates by one standard deviation. The effect of turnover on profits compounds as the organization becomes larger. In 2009 the profits among the top 1,000 Fortune companies increased by $151 million due to just one standard deviation change in turnover (Hancock et al., 2013). Such impactful financial results justify investments in management development solutions to increase retention. Human Resource Management and First Line Management Understanding the issue of turnover is only part of finding a solution to the problem. Again, although there is no single solution for reducing turnover in warehouses, acknowledging how strategic HR plays a role in organizations can help distribution firms develop a feasible strategy for addressing the issue. Leadership must understand the relationship between HR and the warehouse worker through the first line manager if they hope to create successful organizations that reduce turnover. Line managers, or operating managers, are the first point of contact between warehouse employees and the rest of the firm. Included under the umbrella of first-line managers are several positions including managers in customer service, sales, quality, and manufacturing managers 8 (Sikora & Ferris, 2014). Line managers are the source of employees’ most direct experiences with an organization’s HR practices, yet their critical role in the process of HR practice delivery is often overlooked (Kehoe & Han, 2019). Executive leadership may be underutilizing management’s ability to reach employees by classifying managers strictly as messengers for the HR function. In such a one-dimensional approach the manager’s potential to be recognized as an organizational implementer is ignored (Kehoe & Han, 2019). The role of managers as implementers is a part of what is referred to by Kehoe and Han (2019) as HR devolution. HR devolution is the delegation of implementing HR practices to the line managers. It allows managers to directly respond to HR issues at the local level (on the shop floor), while allowing the HR staff to focus on strategic issues (Kehoe & Han, 2019). When leaders and other stakeholders give attention to the HR-line manager relationship they can allow organizational efforts to be implemented by individuals at multiple levels of the firm. The line manager-HR implementation level refers to the degree of functionality between line managers and HR staff (Sikora & Ferris, 2014). A successful relationship between line managers and HR can result in positive employee outcomes that are critical for successful organizations such as “job satisfaction, job performance, and procedural justice perceptions” (Sikora & Ferris, 2014, p. 273). These factors can directly reduce turnover intentions. In this way, line managers can be conceptualized as meaning- makers for helping employees understand what values are prioritized in their organization’s HR strategy (Gioia & Chittipeddi, 1991). Research from several scholars indicates that high performance HR devolution behaviors on the part of line managers, “increase job embedment, organizational commitment, affective commitment (Ang et 9 al., 2013; DeWettinck & Vroonen, 2017; Gilbert et al., 2011; Shipton et al., 2016), and job satisfaction (DeWettinck & Vroonen, 2017), while negatively relating to turnover intentions (Ang et al., 2013; Sikora & Ferris, 2014)” (Kehoe & Han, 2019, p. 114). Furthermore, evidence has shown that employee satisfaction with traditional HR implementation tasks was positively influenced when managers received guidance and training from HR representatives (Bos-Nehles et al., 2013). Despite the importance of the line-HR link for implementing effective strategic policy, organizations often lack clarity regarding HR devolution internally. Even though HR practitioners may push certain strategies, if line managers are unaware of these strategies or unwilling to implement them, it becomes unlikely that such policies will ever reach the organization’s front-line employees. Such discrepancies suggest that HR strategists may believe that there is a greater HR role for line managers than the line managers are aware of, which answers the question of why HR-line management partnership may not be working in some firms (Beeck et al., 2016). In these cases, there are challenges to the idea of devolution to line. Such issues show, “…that line management practice itself may distort, and possibly even undermine, the contribution which HR policies are supposed to make towards organizational success” (McGovern et al., 1997, p.12). Line managers may also be inadvertently contributing to weaknesses in the HR-line link through several commonly held misconceptions concerning their own ability to impact turnover. One of the most common misconceptions held by managers is that employees leave due to dissatisfaction with pay. Compensation is a relatively weak predictor of individual turnover cognitions, especially when compared to organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and leadership in firms (Allen et al., 2010). Another related misconception, 10 common among first-line managers, is the belief that supervisors are limited in their own ability to affect turnover outcomes directly (Allen et al., 2010). Taken together, these two misconceptions reveal the necessity of - and value for- management training. If managers acting as the central link between HR and front-line employees do not understand their role in retention, then firms will not be able to impact the turnover rate. The obvious remedy is to train first-line managers on leadership coaching techniques that impact both job commitment and job satisfaction. Training for Managers in Coaching and Development Although it is regrettable that there is less research on management level training and development available, when considering the paradigm shift by firms towards HR devolution, it is hopeful that further studies will be pursued (A. E. Ellinger et al., 2005). Referring to the Attraction, Selection, and Attrition Framework (ASA Framework), people will stay in organizations in which they find a high degree of match. They will first be attracted to these organizations in recruitment and then be selected by them. The final step, attrition, deals with the likelihood of a turnover event. Because organizations are ultimately reflections of the people in them rather than specific processes or procedures, it is the people who must be changed if turnover is to be reduced (Schneider, 1987). First-line managers are strong candidates for change due to their centrality within organizations and their commonly held misconceptions regarding their own organizational roles. Elmadag et. al., (2008) and Huselid (1995) suggested that by focusing on educating supervisors and pursuing management development, organizations may have a more effective method of reaching front line service employees to increase retention. To encourage additional 11 research on management coaching, and to transition the focus towards empirically oriented research, Hamlin et al. (2006) compares three independent coaching research projects. The comparative study demonstrates that strong coaching skills are highly valued by firms looking for competent managers. Similarly, a study conducted on management training in 316 Spanish firms found compelling evidence for increased effectiveness in firms that trained managers when compared to those that did not. Management’s skill level, innovativeness, and overall involvement with their employees was higher in these firms (Aragon & Valle, 2013). Additionally, WERC (1999) found the average warehouse worker surveyed believed they could be 26% more productive if supported by better management programs. The same survey also revealed that one quarter of workers interviewed thought it was possible to be 50% more productive at work under developed leadership (WERC, 1999). The survey results are particularly noteworthy because they suggest that front line employees themselves would prefer to be assigned to more developed managers within organizations. One model reviewing the analytical findings of a managerial coaching survey proposes that managerial coaching behavior leads employees to be satisfied with their work and thus exhibit increased organizational commitment. Respondents to the survey generally felt more satisfied and exemplified further job commitment when they believed that management provided contextualized learning through coaching (Kim, 2014). Initiating HR policies that facilitate management training encourages managers to engage in coaching behavior. These training policies, which yield increased satisfaction and organizational commitment have the potential to reduce turnover. Such organizational results are generated through what can be described by Ellinger and Bostrom (1999) as a coaching learning episode. During this event, the manager facilitates learning by working directly with their employee which induces triggers 12 and reaction behaviors. With this shared experience, both the manager and the learner have positive individual outcomes which in turn yields greater organizational outcomes. Notable examples of desirable outcomes that can be found after a successful coaching learning episode are stronger relationships between managers and their subordinates as well as improved employee performance (Ellinger & Bostrom, 1999). It is apparent that coaching itself is a complex multi-step process that starts with HR policy and ends with organizational dividends, strengthening the firm’s competitive advantage through its human capital. How does coaching lead to both increased employee satisfaction and organizational commitment? To understand this relationship, we need to understand coaching and the elements that comprise it. McLean et al. (2005) established a coaching scale designed for a business setting. This study, through both content analysis and a factor analysis of empirical data, developed the Four-Dimensional Coaching Model. The study establishes the key aspects of effective coaching skills: the ability to “communicate openly” with others; the tendency to take a “team approach” to problem solving; propensity for valuing people over tasks; and the acceptance of “the ambiguous nature of the work environment” (McLean et al., 2005, p.163). Through the aspects found in the Four-Dimensional Coaching Model, managerial coaches can form positive leader member exchanges (LMX) with their subordinates. LMX is defined by Graen and Uhl-Bien (1995) as the quality of the relationships that supervisors form with their subordinates through interactions in the workplace. LMX has demonstrated a positive correlation with job satisfaction and engagement (Anderson, 2013). Additional analysis determines that LMX is likely to 13 act as a bellwether for the effectiveness of organizational HR management on job embedment. Furthermore, job embedment is a proposed mediating variable between HR management’s effectiveness and turnover intent (Wheeler et al., 2010). LMX also has a strong negative relationship as a predictor of turnover. As a meta-analytic turnover indicator, LMX has one of the strongest relationships (r = -.25), with the only stronger negative predictor being organizational commitment at r = -.27 (Allen et al., 2010; Baur et al., 2007; Griffeth et al., 2000; Phillips, 1998). Ideally, firms that engage in management coaching programs that address the Four-Dimensional Coaching Model will have positive LMX and thus a lower avoidable turnover rate. Leadership is also an important indicator to consider regarding LMX relationships between managers and employees. Although closely related to management, the concept of leadership itself is distinct. Rubenstein et al. (2017) conducted a meta-analysis of voluntary employee turnover and found that leadership is negatively correlated with key aspects related to avoidable turnover such as absenteeism, stress, low job embeddedness, poor performance, work life conflict, and a lack of engagement. Therefore, diminished leadership is likely a strong indicator of high turnover due to low LMX. Hackman & Wageman (2007) suggest programs that develop leadership skills could be invaluable for reducing turnover (Rubenstein et al., 2017). The connection between leadership and turnover in their view is defined by the relationships shared between leaders, subordinates, and high-level stakeholders within the organization (Hackman & Wageman, 2007; Rubenstein et al., 2017). Thus, the quality of a leader’s relationship with their subordinate reflects the leader’s ability to influence a potential turnover decision (Allen et al., 2007). Furthermore, the concept of leadership functioning as a retention tool reinforces Schneider’s ASA Framework by 14 focusing on changing an organization’s people rather than its processes (Schneider, 1987). Case Study: Management Training Program at the Mayo Clinic A case study (McElreth et al., 2005) on how management training and development programs can impact turnover was observed at the Mayo Clinic, a medical treatment and research facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. Mayo’s operation faced some of the same structural problems as the warehousing industry, such as labor shortages and leadership gaps. Throughout the 1990’s the Mayo Clinic experienced increased turnover rates at its rapidly growing medical facility (treating more than 100,000 patients annually). Just as in the warehousing industry, increasing demand and customer service requirements, as well as falling retention rates, put a strain on performance which warranted an intervention. Mayo’s HR department learned through exit interviews and surveys that employee-supervisory relationship issues were leading to turnover. Such issues were a determining factor in employee resignations. The Mayo Clinic had been promoting less experienced staff due to its high growth level and had failed to provide formal training or guidance to these new managers. The newly promoted supervisors had technical abilities, but they lacked seasoned management skills. To remedy the issue, Mayo developed a management training program that had a mix of coaching and formal classroom training. As a result of the program, the number of responses on exit surveys that indicated dissatisfaction with management dropped from 44% in 2001 to 36% in 2003 (McElreth et al., 2005, p. 53). The program also produced a return on investment as Mayo was able to retain at least 90 positions in the first three years of the program. Based on their calculations for every $1.00 invested, the management training program produced $9.78 in benefits 15 (McElreth et al., 2005, p. 54). The Mayo case study reveals how the potential return on investment found in management development can drive organizational performance. Case Study: Coaching in Warehouses One of the first prominent empirical studies on managerial coaching in warehousing reviewed 18 U.S. warehousing operations and provided a pre-cursor for further scholarship on the subject (A. E. Ellinger et al., 2005). In their 2005 study Ellinger et. al. distributed surveys to both managers and employees to determine the quality of coaching employees were receiving. Eight coaching behaviors were examined including: question framing (encouraging employees to think through issues), being a resource, holding back (not providing all the answers), soliciting feedback, setting and communicating expectations, broadening employee’s perspectives (getting them to see differently/the big picture), and using analogies, scenarios, and examples. (A. E. Ellinger et al., 2005, p.624) The mean scores of these eight behaviors revealed low levels of coaching from supervisors, suggesting that little emphasis was placed on coaching and development programs in warehouses (A. E. Ellinger et al., 2005). As one of the few studies available on manager training in warehousing, one of its goals was to conduct an initial sampling of the warehousing industry and to encourage more research on the subject. The study found that supervisory coaching behavior and hours of training were important predictors of job satisfaction, a factor which would have an impact on retention rates due to its negative correlation with turnover cognitions and behaviors. (Abelson, 1987; A. E. Ellinger et al., 2005, p. 632; Casper et al., 2010). Barriers to Management Training With high turnover costs, and relatively strong return on investment for managerial 16 coaching efforts, why are such high potential solutions not more prevalent in organizations? Until recently, there has been a lack of detailed study on managerial coaching in warehousing, although more case studies are being developed with the expansion of the industry (A. E. Ellinger et al., 2005; Min, 2007). Additionally, the expansion of concepts such as HR devolution and LMX have paved the way for study in managerial coaching to gain the attention of researchers. By highlighting the developing role of HR, transitioning from a transactional to a strategic one, management roles have become integrated with HR functionality. Such concepts have positioned managerial coaching to be at the forefront of HR solutions for organizational issues such as turnover. Despite such progress, real barriers in organizational structure may explain the lack of managerial coaching in organizations. These barriers to coaching adaptation also help to explain why until recently there has been little to no scholarship on managerial coaching. Formal management, especially in a warehousing environment, has been relegated traditionally to the command-and-control style, which is significantly more authoritarian than a team-based coaching style. In this paradigm of management, managers hold supreme authority (Ellinger & Bostrom, 1999). Managers adhering to command and control are also significantly task oriented. They are focused on goals that are attainable in the short term such as packaging orders and loading trucks. There is often resistance to coaching and development in firms that do not recognize HR devolution. There is a tendency for managers without training to focus on short term activities as their only objectives, rather than developing and retaining their employees over time (McGovern et al., 1997). A typical justification in arguments 17 made by resistant managers is that time constraints prevent them from considering coaching as a viable management plan (McLean et al., 2005). By focusing on time sensitive tasks and using those tasks as leverage for not embracing coaching, unsupportive managers can produce a firewall against change. Another challenge that serves as a barrier for changing the traditional short term management mentality is a general lack of resources even amongst managers who would be willing to embrace change and development efforts. There may be no training or incentive program available for managers to facilitate the transition. One example can be found in a case study that surveys line managers. One responding manager commented: To me, the single biggest thing you could do to improve management is teach managers how to teach people, which no one teaches in management school or in any business anywhere. No one teaches you how to teach people (A. D. Ellinger & Bostrom, 1999, p. 767). Without an emphasis on training and readily available programs within the firm, it is easier for managers to focus only on the day-to-day tasks rather than long term people management skills, especially where there is no clear definition of management roles (McGovern et al., 1997). Relationships with subordinates do not matter because they are not measured and do not fit into short term goals for the average line manager. Such tendencies are counterproductive for a successful managerial coach who will accept short term disappointment in exchange for significant development over time (A. E. Ellinger et al., 2005). A company at the strategic level may engage in HR devolution, but if there is no attempt to educate line managers through training to motivate them, then devolution to the line will not be realized. Getting managers to buy into managerial training is the first critical 18 step for firms to successfully implement strategic training programs (McElrath et al., 2005; McLean et al., 2005; Yarnall, 1998). Devolution strategies only work if managers are willing and open participants. An important part of getting HR policies disseminated to the workforce is through the training or re-education of managers so that they can intercept turnover cognitions pro-actively on the warehouse floor. The reduction of turnover intentions is where firms can gain ground as the point of actual turnover comes too late for managers to make a successful retention attempt (Wheeler et al., 2010). Conclusion Although this review acknowledges the relatively new nature of the topic and the need for further research, a successful management training program will help firms reduce the high turnover rates in the fast-paced warehousing industry. The changes in strategic HR practices have indeed facilitated a changing role for the line manager based on feedback and coaching. By developing their employees managers can ultimately hope to reduce turnover and build stronger teams. A method for achieving organizational successes can be found in carefully designed management training programs that are actively supported by the firm’s leadership. The labor driven challenges within the warehousing industry require firms to think creatively about leadership if they hope to be successful. 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