Case Analysis: Retaining Employees in the Workforce

I.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Every company faces the problem of people leaving the company for better pay or

profile. Factors to consider why employees leave the organization are: the job or work place was not as expected, the mismatch between job & person, too few growth & advancement opportunities, feeling devalued & unrecognized, stress from over work & work life imbalance, loss of trust and confidence in senior leaders.

If you're losing good people, look to their immediate boss... Immediate boss is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find humiliation the most intolerable. The first time, an employee may not leave, but a thought has been planted. The second time that thought gets strengthened. The third time, he looks for another job. When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. By omitting to give the boss crucial information. Different managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling, too suspicious, too pushy, too critical, but they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents. When this goes on too long, an employee will quit - often over a trivial issue.

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My recommended plan of action is to provide team-based programs, employee and manager toolkits focused on productivity improvements, and flexibility tracking for employees. In the meantime, give them the appropriate recognition by means of praise, thanks, opportunity,

Retaining EmployeesA Challenge

and respect. This will encourage and motivate employees to love their work which leads to employee retainment. II.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Reason # 1: The job or work place was not as expected Reason # 2: The mismatch between job and person Reason # 3: Too little coaching and feedback Reason # 4: Too few growth and advancement opportunities Reason # 5: Feeling devalued and unrecognized Reason # 6: Stress from over work and work life imbalance Reason # 7: Loss of trust and confidence in senior leaders

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Retaining EmployeesA Challenge

III. CAUSES OF THE PROBLEM

Reason # 1: The job or work place was not as expected Newly hired employees expect to their workplace; and if those

expectations are not met, these tend to be a problem.

Reason # 2: The mismatch between job and person A typical reason why employees do not perform well in the workplace.

Maybe during the process of hiring, the HR didnt screen the candidates very well for their respective positions.

Reason # 3: Too little coaching and feedback Employees need mentor and motivators. This helps the workforce to be

productive.

Reason # 4: Too few Growth and Advancement Opportunities Employee empowerment (i.e., leadership trainings and team buildings)

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which help boost employees confidence, competence and personality development.

Reason # 5: Feeling devalued and unrecognized

Retaining EmployeesA Challenge

Employees need to be recognized and feel important in the organization so

that they have the zeal to still continue their quality of work.

Reason # 6: Stress from over work and work life imbalance This tends to be the hindrance why employees do not perform very well

in the workforce. Like for instance, the boss pressures too much, just to let his subordinates meet the given deadline of a task.

Reason # 7: Loss of trust and confidence in senior leaders People follow leaders whom they deem capable. But when they see

something unusual or they dislike (i.e., too much comparing of ones self to another and competition/favoritism)

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Retaining EmployeesA Challenge

IV.

DECISION OF CRITERIA AND ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS

Time Content Viewpoint as an HR Manager at present time

Statement of Objectives 1. Must Objectives Find ways that is based on the current situation. Create SMART objective of the company. Improve the relationship of the management and their employees through leadership and management trainings. Employees will do their job regardless of any hindrances in the organization 2. Want Objectives To create solutions to the problem which are time-bound and based on the current situation. To improve companys reputation. To have a better working environment.

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Retaining EmployeesA Challenge

Employees are motivated to do their respective jobs. Should improve loyalty to the company and break down the them and us barrier.

Central Problem How to retain employees in the organization?

Areas of Consideration
External Environment 5.1.1. Threats Employees may transfer (from the date of their resignation effectively) to

another company which happens to be a competitor. Another expense and time for the company to hire another one for the

vacant position that leads to companys loss reputation. The performance of the company in terms of being competitive.

5.1.2. Opportunities Learn about employees workplace aspirations. Assess their ability and desire to work effectively with little supervision. Coach them on what they need to do to achieve their goals. Offer learning opportunities that will help them reach those goals. Increase their freedom in incremental stages as they demonstrate their ability to work well on their own.

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Retaining EmployeesA Challenge

Internal Environment 5.1.1. Strengths There is an HR Department. People with knowledge retains within the organization No need to invest for money to find new employees Current employees know the system of the company, so no need to exert efforts to instruct them 5.1.2. Weaknesses Poor Management Lack of career growth and advancement opportunity Poor channels of communication Office politics Lack of Recognition Poor Senior Leadership Lack of training and knowledge sharing Excessive workload/multi-tasking Lack of infrastructure and technology

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Retaining EmployeesA Challenge

Lack of teamwork

Alternative Courses of Action

1. Powerful compensation solutions that help attract, motivate and retain employees. 2. Give employees recognition, to be able for them to love their work. 3. Establish team-based programs, employee and manager toolkits focused on productivity improvements and flexibility tracking 4. Combination of ACAs #2 and #3

I.

ACA #1 Advantages: i. ii. iii. iv. Simple and easy to use for businesses Increases speed of work and therefore productivity Encourages loyalty to a company so employees may stay for longer Helps meet a workers human and social needs

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Disadvantages: i. Workers may resent being paid the same as a colleague who they feel is

not so productive

Retaining EmployeesA Challenge

ii.

Workers do not concentrate on quality of work as emphasis on speed of

work iii. Workers may ignore company rules, such as Health and safety issues, in they try to speed up output iv. v. Widespread use to a majority of employees will increase costs sharply it does not promote teamwork and can lead to workers feeling they are treated unfairly if colleagues are awarded more vi. Often only available to senior managers so can cause resentment among

other staff. vii. Often the cash gift is gone in seconds on an elaborate night out or used to

pay off debt. Once its gone, the employee often doesnt feel like theyve gained anything and in fact, may think they should be paid more money. Cash is not always the best idea.

II.

ACA #2 Advantages: i. Giving awards as a token of appreciation of the hard work put in

employees is always a good thing as when the employees know that they are being appreciated they will work with more enthusiasm and this motivation at

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the end will be of benefit to the company. ii. iii. Investing in employees always pays off and is more profitable. This will not only make them work harder but will also motivate the others to work harder and work towards achieving the award.

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Disadvantages: i. Apart from recognition, it motivates employees to perform better; however if the processes are not transparent, it may be de-motivating. ii. It helps to attract and retain talent, yet it can never be a substitute for monetary rewards. iii. It could also result in unhealthy competition amongst the employees.

III.

ACA #3 Advantages: i. Innovation everyone has something to contribute and new ideas keep on popping up. ii. iii. A team encourages innovation and creativity When employees find success by working as a team, they become more confident in their abilities and become more productive and satisfied in their role. iv. All employees have their own strengths and weaknesses, so they can take those qualities to create the best outcome possible.

Disadvantages:

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i.

Some of the team members don't even care about someones contributions and just ignore him/her.

ii.

Even if you come up with a good idea, which carries points, and the other team members don't take it seriously, its not guaranteed effective.

Retaining EmployeesA Challenge

iii.

Not all tasks are good for team work, some of them are better carried out by individuals, mainly because team work takes up so much time (so, deadlines are a consideration).

IV.

ACA #4 Advantages: i. The combination of ACA 2 advantages and ACA 3 advantages

Disadvantages: i. The combination of ACA 2 disadvantages and ACA 3 disadvantages

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Retaining EmployeesA Challenge

RECOMMENDED SOLUTIONS, IMPLEMENTATION AND JUSTIFICATION

Detailed Action Plans

The following are the proposals to be created by the HR Department (as to be approved by the top management) for retaining employees in the organization:

Team-Based Programs 1. These programs focus on delivering business results through the use of flexibility. Flexibility is offered to all members of a team regardless of their individual needs. When initiating a team flexibility program, the team determines productivity improvement goals in advance, and works collectively to reach their goals while participating in flexible work arrangements. This approach can be highly successful because it empowers

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employees to take ownership of their work. A team based flexibility program can also help identify inefficient processes and generate innovative solutions to improve performance. Such programs can significantly decrease absenteeism and overtime costs, and measurably increase employee engagement while improving customer service.

Retaining EmployeesA Challenge

Employee and Manager Toolkits Focused on Productivity Improvements 2. Many of us have toolkits to assist managers and employees in setting up a flexible work arrangement. Toolkits should include guidelines on how employees can track productivity while using flexibility. Focusing on measuring productivity will assist employees in using data to support the business case for flexibility. Employees will no longer need to justify the request for flexibility with personal reasons; rather, the justification will be better business results. Measuring productivity will help assure managers that flexible work arrangements maintain or increase work efficiency.

Flexibility Tracking 3. Once a process is in place to track flexible work arrangements, we can start to analyze the data related to performance and link it to flexibility. We can also measure changes in employee engagement and customer service. Finally, tracking data assists with the measurement of culture change. Flexibility is here to stay. Demand will continue to increase as greater numbers of Gen-Y employees, who want more control over how, when and where they perform their work, continue to enter the workforce. Tying flexibility to productivity allows employees the freedom to be their most efficient while reassuring managers that the job is getting done. However, flexibility must be woven

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throughout a companys culture if its going to help the company successfully attract and retain talent, and sustain long-term productivity results.

Here are a few things we can do to ensure that we offer recognition that works:

Retaining EmployeesA Challenge

 Make sure employees feel like you are seeing and acknowledging them. Look for ways to simplify. You dont have to be cleverjust sincere. Assess all tangible awards for recognition potential. Just because the incentives, perks, and celebrations arent in and of themselves recognition doesnt mean you cant add an element of recognition to make them more meaningful. Post some materials in the office for more ways to make their day!

FINAL DECISION MATRIX

PROGRAM
APPROPRIATENESS

EFFICIENCY 5 3 4 4

RELIABILITY 3 4 3 3

ACA #1 ACA #2 ACA #3 ACA #4

5 5 5 5

TIME FRAME 2 4 4 5

TOTAL POINTS 15 16 16 17

Final Decision
For all the proposed courses of action that has shown above, the final decision would be, ACA # 4. Since, it showed that it is for the benefit of both employees and the company.

ACTIVITY
Give employees recognition, to be able for them to love their work and establish team-based programs, employee and manager toolkits focused on productivity improvements and flexibility tracking

PERSON RESPONSIBLE

PLAN OF ACTION OUTPUT

TIME FRAME During business operations

Head, HR Department

Retainment of employees

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EXTERNAL SOURCING
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7349059/Attractng-and-retaining-employees http://www.scribd.com/doc/16170075/Retaining-Employees

Retaining EmployeesA Challenge

http://www.scribd.com/doc/49282177/Diversity-Journal-Aligning-Workplace-Flexibility-toBusiness-Productivity-Jan-Feb-2010 http://www.scribd.com/doc/6756787/Retaining-the-Employees http://www.scribd.com/doc/14113556/Make-Their-Day-Second-Edition http://www.scribd.com/doc/51775417/7-HIDDEN-REASONS-WHY-EMPLOYEES-LEAVEBOOK-REVIEW http://www.scribd.com/doc/48568864/WHY-EMPLOYEES-LEAVE-ORGANISATIONS http://www.scribd.com/doc/26101400/Why-Employees-Leave

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Retaining EmployeesA Challenge