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Employee Dilemma Case Study

What outcomes does Maggie seem to want to achieve by addressing wages? In other words, what are her goals?

Maggie wants to address the lack of motivation in her employees. She is aware that the employees feel disgruntled and demoralized due to the lack of wage increases over the past two years. About 15% of her employees are currently underperforming in their job roles. She believes that increasing the wages will encourage the employees to put more effort into their jobs.

2. Besides wages, what else could Maggie do to increase organizational commitment and job satisfaction among her lower-performing employees?

She can reward and recognize the performing employees. She can have an employee of the month award where the best employee that month receives a small bonus. The employees will feel that their efforts are appreciated by the company. This initiative will encourage more employees to perform better and will, therefore, increase the organizational commitment of the lower-performing employees (Nelson & Quick, 2011).

She can also increase the level of employee engagement in the company. She can provide the employees with work goals and allow them to choose how they will achieve them within a specified time frame. The employees will feel valued and respected by the company, and this will increase their job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

She can also provide a better work environment for the employees. Maggie states that she already works long hours, which means that her employees work long hours as well. She could provide a positive work environment, allowing the employee to balance their work and personal life. Could you explain this? She will experience fewer absentees from employees like Jay and will see their performance improve. Having such a working environment will make the employees feel valued by the company thereby increasing their organizational commitment and job satisfaction.

3. As a consultant to Maggie, would you advise her to give a raise to all, to none, or to the deserving minority? Explain your reasoning.

I would advise her to give pay raises according to the quality of the work given by the employees. All the employees should receive a raise; however, the committed employees should get higher raises. Giving pay raises to all employees will ensure that the low-performing employees remain committed to the company and will reduce inventory theft by the employees. However, giving an equal pay rise to all employees may demoralize the high performing employees since they will feel underappreciated by the company (Nelson & Quick, 2011).

4. Imagine yourself as a high-performing employee at House and Home. As a high-performing employee, how would you feel if only high-performing employees received raises? Conversely, how would you feel if all employees received a raise? Why?

I would be happy if only high performing employees were given a raise, since it would show that the company appreciates our work. I would feel motivated to continue working at the company. I would be content if all the employees received a raise, but only if the high performing employees got a higher raise. Getting a higher raise than the rest would motivate me to continue working hard for the company.

5. Thinking about your answer to the previous question, do you think your answer is in line with equity theory? According to equity theory, how would high-performing employees feel if only they received raises versus if everyone received raises?

The equity theory infers [states] that employees are motivated when there is a balance between their input in the company and the benefits they receive. If their input is greater than their output, the employee will be demoralized and disgruntled (Nelson & Quick, 2011). The answer is in line with the equity theory. Having higher pay raises for the high-performing employees will recognize their higher input in the company and will leave the employees satisfied with the company. According to the equity theory, the high performing employees would feel that it is fair if only they got pay raises because they recognize that they have more input in the company. If all the employees receive an equal pay raise, they would feel that the company is unfair since the pay rise does not consider the higher input that the employees had in the company.

Reference

Nelson, D. & Quick, J. (2011). Organizational behavior: science, the real world and you. Australia Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.