What actions could Paul have taken to prevent the problem?
There are a number of things that need to be addressed in the scenario. The first and foremost thing which needs to be addressed is that Paul did not properly train the employees enough before the installation of the new technological system. This resulted in poor production and even employee turnover because of unfamiliar changes in the organizational work plan. To prevent this problem from happening, Paul should have done a training needs analysis on the organization, and he should have held a training workshop prior to introducing change in the organization so that everyone could be familiarized with the new technological equipment.
The other thing which should have been done before the installation of the new equipment is proper planning. For the installation of the new equipment, Paul should have taken help from experts and professionals regarding improving the design of the workstations. The employees were habitual of working in the orthodox ways, and the design of the workstations was perfect for the previous methods. But upon installation of the new machinery, changes should have been made in the workstation to incorporate and adapt to the changes introduced in the system. This would have been more productive as the employees would realize the potential they could have with the incorporation of the new technologies. Inviting inputs from the employees and empowering the supervisors by motivating them could have also reduced the chances of failure in the organization with the introduction of change through the new machinery.
What steps should Paul take now to deal with the problem?
There are a number of things which should be done quickly to deal with the problem. The first and foremost thing to do would be to call a meeting and inform all the supervisors and other staff members about the condition they are going through. In the meeting, Paul should let everyone know that all the issues which are being communicated by the supervisors have been taken into consideration and they will be resolved as soon as possible. Communicating with the organizational staff will put everyone on the same page.