EMPLOYEE TURNOVER AND ITS EFFECTS ON REMAINING COLLEAGUE MOTIVATION

EMPLOYEE TURNOVER AND ITS EFFECTS ON REMAINING COLLEAGUE MOTIVATION

Problem Statement

Employees in any given company may choose to quit their job by resigning/retiring, or the company may choose to let them go by firing them (Ton & Huckman 2013). An estimated 65% of businesses fail when the employees are not well motivated because the quality of their work diminishes or they just quit altogether (Cooke, J. 2014). The general problem is that most businesses that are coming up lack the proper ideas on how to properly motivate their employees to make them want to stay in the company. The specific problem is that some managers lack the appropriate skills and techniques to lead by example regarding showing the employees how the job can be done and the different ways they can motivate them to stay.

Purpose Statement

The primary objective of this case study which is qualitative was to understand how the managers in the human resource departments were handling the issue of employees quitting their posts, and what they were doing to motivate the employees who remained in the company. The targeted population was small-scale business managers in different convenience stores in Nevada. Most people in Nevada (say over 75% of the population) depend on smallscale businesses. The implication for positive social change was for the managers to improve on the ways they treated the employees, and come up with better and new methods of motivation they had never tried before to strengthen the relationship with the employees. Positive social change in business enterprises helps foster unity (Einstein, M. 2017) between the employer and the employee, and the work done will be of great produce.

 

 

Nature of the Study

This study chooses the qualitative method because it looks into the problem at hand by engaging in conversation via dialogue to get to the real cause of a problem, and the solutions that can be attained. Qualitative methods such as an interview make one interact with the subject at hand one on one and learn of their experiences openly (Postmus, J. 2013). I used qualitative methods because speaking to the managers as well as the employees on the issue of employee turnover, gave me a lot of answers as to why employees had left the stores in such a short period. This method of study does not have a predetermined answer (Yin, 2014). One can get to deduce specific themes and styles that may be implored by the managers to motivate their employees to stay by using qualitative methods. A qualitative approach was appropriate because I got an idea of why the employees were not happy in the given stores I chose, and I communicated the same to the managers who noted down to improve on the same for maximum yields. A quantitative method is not appropriate for this research because it is mostly used when one has to analyze numerical data that is already provided.

This study paper takes the multiple  case study design because a case study is about being involved in the real-world problems that people face, and being able to collect sufficient data regarding the norm that is in existence (Yin, 2014). A case study is the most appropriate when one is trying to find the answers to research questions that they cannot guess or come up because the problem is happening in real-life. An ethnographic and phenomenological study was not appropriate in this study because one cannot understand the issues that are affecting the managers and the employees clearly which seems to be the cause of the high turnover. The multiple case study was thus appropriate because I conducted research on operating convenience stores, and engaged with both the manager and the employees.

Research Question

This study encompassed two research questions:

1. What reasons lead to the employees quitting?
2. What motivation techniques do business managers use to reduce employee turnover?

Interview Questions

1. Why do you think many employees are quitting their posts?
2. What motivation techniques have you adopted to make them stay?
3. How would you describe your motivation techniques?
4. Why do you think the techniques are not working?
5. What would you describe a challenge in implementing the techniques?
6. What responses do the employees give when asked where the problem is?
7. Why are there no planned boot camps planned to motivate the employees?

Conceptual framework

The business framework I used in this study was transformational leadership theory, which follows a leader-follower approach by the employees following what the leaders do and propose them to do (Bass, 1985). The method encompasses the role of managers as being leaders, and that they develop the employees regarding being positive influences on them. Managers are also the drivers of any successful business entity because they have to check whether the objectives of a business are being attained. The employees are expected to be accorded the necessary respect they deserve to run their duties effectively. Motivational factors have to be considered such as promotions and paid trips so that the employees can have the zeal to perform more on their assigned tasks. The managers are expected to have a vision and guide the employees to meet the organizational goals (Youngwirth, 2013). The central concepts of the transformational leadership theory are (a) need fulfillment, (b) self-determination, (c) self-efficacy, and (d) following a vision (Kovjanic et al. 2012). Transformational leaders work with the employees to bring in the much-needed change in an organization and execute the change together as a team. Employees will most likely stay at an organization where they feel that their leader is valuing them by being given promotions and awards.

In this study, it is essential to use such a theory because the employees quitting can be attributed to the leadership style that the leaders use. The motivation that comes from a place of appreciating the work and efforts done by employees is very encouraging to the employees, and their input in workstations will be seen in positive results. It was essential to use this theory because I wanted to establish what the leaders were doing wrong to make employees quit, and what they were doing to make right to make the employees stay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Cooke, J. (2014). Management by Self-Motivation. In Agile Productivity Unleashed: Proven approaches for achieving productivity gains in any organization (pp. 159-172). IT Governance Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt7zsxks.17 on June 20, 2018

Einstein, M. (2017). Buying a Better World: From Cause Marketing to Social Innovation, Can Consumption Create Positive Social Change? In Hyman L. & Tohill J. (Eds.), Shopping for Change: Consumer Activism and the Possibilities of Purchasing Power (pp. 183-192). Ithaca; London: Cornell University Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt1x76d81.19 on June 20, 2018

Kovjanic, S., Schuh, S. C., Jonas, K., Quaquebeke, N., & Dick, R. (2012). How do transformational leaders foster positive employee outcomes? A self-determination-based analysis of employee’s need as mediating links. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 33, 1031-1052. doi:10.1002/job.1771

Postmus, J. (2013). Qualitative Interviewing. In Fortune A., Reid W., & Miller R. (Eds.), Qualitative Research in Social Work, Second Edition (pp. 241-263). Columbia University Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7312/fort16138.13 on June 20, 2018

Ton, Z., & Huckman, R. (2013). Managing the Impact of Employee Turnover on Performance: The Role of Process Conformance. Organization Science, 19(1), 56-68. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25146163 on June 20, 2018

Yin, R. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and methods (5th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Youngwirth, J. (2013). Taking leadership seriously. Journal of Financial Planning, 26(7), 24-25. Retrieved from http://www.fpanet.org/journal/ on June 20, 2018