Employee Retention: Problematizing Write-up

Subject: Employee Management
Pages: 7
Words: 1891
Reading time:
7 min
Study level: PhD

Introduction

The success of any organization along with the realization of the organizational goals is depended on the amount of input from the employees, as well as the management itself (Khanfar, 2014). However, most organizations lack strategies and programs that can enhance employee development and satisfaction, to ensure a high rate of employee retention. As such, an organization should come up with methods and programs that are necessary for realizing the organization’s goals through developing the employees. Such strategies should be aimed at maintaining and retaining its employees. This write-up focuses on the problematization of the issue of employee retention in an organization.

Problematizing Process

The problem, in this case, revolves around the subject of employee management and their subsequent retention. This follows the concept that the development of employees plays a significant role in the satisfaction of human resources. The problem thus is that most organizations lack employee development programs. However, in a situation where some organizations have developed programs, it happens that they are inadequate and do not help in increasing the rate of retention of employees or their satisfaction. Such a scenario occurs when an organization establishes programs, such as development and training, which are only focused on the general fitness of the employees and tend to overlook the management of the workforce. Martins and Michael (2009) point out that the management of any organization also requires some development and training since the effectiveness of the management determines the performance of the organization’s employees. As such, organizations ought to develop management to be able to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. The reasoning behind such a strategy is that the management’s workforce through development opportunities gets knowledge on how it can best maintain satisfied employees, who are productive in their assigned tasks in their place of work.

Organizations should aim at strategies and development programs that focus on the development of the entire organization. Technological advancement and the onset of human resource development that tends to follow modern management have had a lot of impacts on the development of human resources in the modern world. The process of upgrading workers in the organization should, therefore, adopt the form of training, development, as well as education, with the organization’s goal being the focus (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Such active strategies ought to be implemented as part of any organization’s human resource development department since it is the one concerned with the company’s human resource development department that does the annual calendar employee retention tactics.

Literature Review

The problem of lack or inadequate employee management development programs in most organizations and human resource development is long overdue. Many organizations enact policies that cater for employee training and development. However, very few organizations have concentrated their efforts to train employees at the management level (Hamersley, 2003). There is a general assumption that managers are more informed, flawless and that they do not require further training. In addition, the assumption adds that for anyone to receive a promotion from the general employee level to a manager, he or she must have portrayed a certain degree of mastery and experience. Hence, the assumption considers training irrelevant. On the contrary, employees at the management level require more training and development. Managers and other employees need to have their energy rejuvenated through the upgrading of their skills. Managers are required to supervise and evaluate fresh employees who bring in new technology and ways of doing things in the organization.

Insights

From the foregoing, it is evident that there is a need to adopt strategies that will help in the realization of an organization’s goal. As such, a robust employee management program is inevitable. Through training, organizations are in a better position to deal with issues related to employee and management incompetence. This can be done through employee/management evaluation programs (Sawitri & Muis, 2014). Training is tailored towards the specific job that an individual employee does. Usually, the managers of any organization are faced with several challenges such as the problem of coping with the changing technological world, the allocation of duties, their supervision, as well as the general employee evaluation. For this reason, there is a need for any organization to keep pace with the changing world, and this can only be achieved through employee management development programs that involve continuous employee training, with the main focus being to impart knowledge and practical skills.

Problems Redefinition & Reframing

The problem, in this case, is the presence of inadequate employee development programs in an organization, as well as the lack of employee development programs in some organizations. However, such a scenario can be redefined and reframed to feature a case where the lack of adequate employee development programs is seen as an opportunity for any organization to implement development programs not only for the employees but also for the management itself. This should also feature the change of an organization’s old programs to others that feature the changing technological world. In this case, the problem will be an absence of trained and developed managers who can help the employees improve their performance while they remain satisfied at their workplace.

Reframing initial research question

As evident from the reading, research questions serve as a guide to the realization of the objectives of any research project. For this reason, it was necessary to reframe the initial research question to adopt another one that would help in the realization of the research aims and objectives.

Reviewing methodology

Just like the research questions, the methodology of any research project is important. As such, it is important to adopt a methodology that helps in the collection of quality data about the subject under study. For this reason, management research ought to adopt secondary and primary research methods. Such a combination is significant in that it will help in establishing original, as well as relevant data through the use of the primary research method. Moreover, the secondary methods help in gathering information that features current and broad analysis on the concerned subject (Gill & Johnson, 2010). Evidently, the use of both the secondary and primary research methods is effective and efficient since it reduces the expenses of conducting a research project, while at the same time focusing on reliable information about a given subject under study (Creswell, 2013). In this case, it is easy to minimize the expenses of the research project, while addressing the contemporary issues under study.

Personal Reflection and Observation

From the foregoing, it suffices those employees are very important in any organization. Despite this, their input in the organization is what makes them an essential part of any given organization. As Bryman and Bell (2011) point out, the managers can only perform effectively if they are given the necessary training and education on how they can handle, and develop other employees to ensure that they are satisfied within the workplace while working towards the achievement of the organization’s goals.

The productivity of employees is thus important in ensuring that the goals and objectives of any organization are achieved. For this reason, the management of any organization should nurture its employees to be high-performing and productive in their tasks. However, this should be accompanied by strategies aimed at ensuring that the employees have a better working environment, are motivated, and are treated as expected. Such strategies are important in enhancing employee satisfaction and overall retention (Zwick, 2015).

In the aspect of developing human resources such as the management and the employees, there should be a form of treatment according to the employees that see employees as partners to the realization of the organization’s goal. Additionally, they should be seen as a driving force behind production and efficiency in organizations. The rationale is that the administration needs a pool of talents. Some of these managerial abilities can only be achieved through learning and development.

As seen from the literature review, the development of employees is vital in that it prepares them for the achievement of an organization’s goals. In addition, it was evident that employee management development plans are necessary for any organization since they act as a driving force towards the enhancement of employee job satisfaction. The rationale is that satisfied employees, as well as the managers, show a high level of job commitment, which is necessary for the realization of the organization’s goals and objectives. In addition, just as Corbin and Strauss (2008) point out, it was observed that it can be challenging to manage human resources in a case where they are not satisfied. Such a scenario calls for the participation of Human Resource Development (HRD). As such, well orientation of the human resources in any organization can be achieved through training and development. Therefore, training and development make employees wholesome.

Conclusion

Practical skills and knowledge are some of the key issues that are paramount to employees since they play a significant role in ensuring that employees meet the organization’s goals and objectives. From the reading, thinking as well as discussion, it was evident that there was a need to redefine the research questions to enhance and the achievement and the evolution of the desired outcomes for the research project. As such, it was necessary to focus the research on the extent of management development programs and their effect as opposed to narrowing only on the employees.

A review of literature on the subject of employee and management development programs was instrumental in answering the questions of the research project.

In any research work, there are different research methods that the researcher adopts. As well, in this project, it was necessary to consider both secondary and primary research methods. These types of research methods are recommended in any project since they help in data collection, analysis, and presentation. However, the different research methods are advantageous, as well as disadvantageous in different aspects of their application. The advantage of the primary research methods is that they deal with first-hand data, and thus they target a given research area. In addition, the data collected by the use of the primary research method is often reliable. However, the primary research methods are disadvantageous in that they are time-consuming and capital intensive. Secondary research methods, on the other hand, are advantageous in that information is easily accessed at a significantly low cost. However, the limitation is that such methods tend to compromise the quality of information gathered and that there are no avenues for research specification.

As such, primary research methods would be highly significant since they offer first-hand information about a particular area of study as opposed to the secondary ones, which do not attain the specification of research (Gill &Johnson, 2010). In making the research project decisions, it was ethical to consider research methods that would help in answering the research questions. However, the decision on the research method to use should be guided by the research topic and the participants. In the case of management research, it becomes necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of any research method before applying it to the actual project. This is because it might be challenging at times to obtain information from people or organizations without their consent. In addition, it is necessary to have clear information concerning the research topic as it helps in evaluating, designing, reporting, and executing the research subject, questions, and objectives in the best way possible.

Reference

Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2011). Business research methods. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Corbin, M., & Strauss, A. (2008). Basics of Qualitative Research, Techniques, and Procedures for Developing Grounded Theory. London, United Kingdom: Sage.

Creswell, J. (2013). Qualitative inquiry and research design: choosing among five approaches. London, United Kingdom: Sage.

Gill, J., & Johnson, P. (2010). Research Methods for Managers. London: Sage.

Hamersley, M. (2003). Ethnography: Principles in Practice. London: Routledge

Khanfar, M. (2014). Training and its Important in the Efficiency of Employees Performance in Five Star Hotels in Jordan. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 6(2), 137-158.

Martins, B., & Michael, S (2009). Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Sawitri, D., & Muis, M. (2014). Human Resource Management: A Strategic Theoretical Perspective. International Journal of Organizational Innovation, 6(3), 6-20.

Zwick, T. (2015). Training older employees: what is effective? International Journal of Manpower, 36(2), 136-150.