Re-write problem Statement.

Doctoral Study Prospectus

Employee retention is the dream of human resource managers, and this is especially if these individuals are also self-motivated and competent (Paludi, 2012). Replacement and retraining of a new workforce are always expensive and destabilizing, and the organization might lose opportunities as it concentrates on the remaining inadequate staff (De Clercq, Mohammad Rahman, & Belausteguigoitia, 2017). James (2016) has identified unresolved disputes as one of the main reasons why the turnover rate is still significantly high among US-based organizations. The proposed study is the ‘influence of dispute resolution on employee retention,' and it will have a positive impact not only just on the business community but also on the society in general. Obviously, conflict within an organization manifests itself according to the hierarchical, top-down power nature that is found within a business, which affects how people view and interact with others, how relationships develop, etc.

Problem Statement

The average employee turnover rate in the United States is over 15%, and it is over 20% in Canada. At least 63% of these employees leave upon resignation, and another 30% get fired. Such drastic measures are direct consequences of unresolved disputes (Allen & Bryant, 2012). According to Santos, Uitdewilligen, & Passos (2015), there is yet some significant number of workers who are demoralized to the extent of being underproductive. Therefore, the organization is still losing as a result of escalated disputes even if the employees choose to stay. But, as part of Allen and Bryant (2012) research into conflict in organizations, the authors view organizational conflict as a "Conflict of Needs" based upon the "Fight or Flight" response. They actually are working on an ebook regarding just this. The proposed study is geared towards enabling organizations to half their turnover rate every quarter until it is less than 5%. Effective dispute resolution mechanisms would not only motivate employees but also dissuade the workers from opting to resign (Santos et al., 2015; Torchia, Calabrò, & Morner, 2015). The proposed study is geared towards establishing the steps which the management would take to ensure that a positive work environment is maintained.

Purpose Statement

Everyone has certain needs based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which explains that all human beings have certain needs that they wish to have met, people (even if unknowingly) desire the ability to secure these needs. Similarly, employees also often have needs which failure to get met triggers disputes and conflicts among them (Aamodt, 2006). Disputes are expensive, time-consuming and damaging. They need to either be prevented or resolved as early as possible. The study seeks to establish the correction between such follower characteristics as agreeableness, competence, openness, and focus of control; leader characteristics like agreeableness, extraversion, contingent reward behavior and transformational leadership; as well as interpersonal relationship factors like self-promotion, assertiveness, perceived similarity, leader’s trust with the consequences (Tong et al., 2018). The, in this case, is role conflict, role ambiguity, affective commitment, and turnover intentions. This is a quantitative study of United Health Group Inc. which is a Minnetonka-based firm with over 270,000 employees spread across thousands of locations in the country (James, 2016; Torchia et al., 2015). The findings will reveal how firms can save resources, time and focus on the issues which matter as far as sustainability is concerned. To achieve the kind of goals desired, there has to be a settlement rate of at least 85%.

Nature of the Study

The mixed method of research facilitates a much broader understanding of the issue at hand. Business research will certainly make conclusions recommending focus of attention and investment towards a particular direction. Therefore, the study methods to be used in this study will include in-depth and mixed methods. Besides, there will be an enhanced involvement of stakeholders as opposed to merely treating them as statistics. The study is also correlational and it is hoped to reveal strong relationships. Since the pattern of behavior will be uncovered, it will be possible to make predictions (Presbitero, Roxas, & Chadee, 2016). The research intends to include large size research respondents in this study since this will help to increase the validity and reliability of this study (Creswell, 2013). There is also the chance to show how one kind of behavior could happen in the presence of another. For instance, Oleksiiovych (2018) notes that once the employees have resolved to leave, they are likely to do it in a few months, even if their grievances are addressed. This is because threating to resign is the mark of severe desperation. The goal is to resolve complaints way before when such kind of desperation has emerged. Papenhausen & Parayitam (2015) opine that most employees will turn a blind eye during the first few instances of disagreements and only get concerned if it becomes a persistent pattern. The study is meant to come up with a framework which would help solve problems before it escalates and cause bitter separation either through firing or resignation.

Central Research Question and Hypotheses

The research questions are about the three categories of factors with the most significant influence on employee retention. The hypotheses are based on the research question. The hypotheses state the relationship between variables precisely.

The Research Questions

a. In what ways do the follower characteristics increase employee retention?

b. To what extent do the leader characteristics solidify employee rate of retention?

c. How do interpersonal relationships facilitate employee retention?

Interview Questions

i. Have you ever found yourself in a fight with your fellow colleague and what did you do to solve the fight?

ii. What are some of the issues you sometimes experience that stress you up at your place of work?

iii. What can do if your supervisor quarrels you because of coming to work late?

iv. Would you decide to quit your place of work when you realize your fellow colleague was added salary but yours was not added?

v. Have you ever thought of fighting your manager if he/she calls you names?

The Research Hypothesis

i. If the follower characteristics are improved, then the rate of employee retention would rise.

ii. If the leader embraces the right characteristics, then employee retention would be increased.

iii. If certain interpersonal relationships are put in place, then the rate of employee retention could improve.

Conceptual/ Theoretical Framework

Some managers prefer using the dual concern model of conflict management to solve conflicts between their employees. The dual concern model is defined as a conceptual perspective that focuses of personal preferred methods to resolve conflict with regards to the two main themes which include empathy and assertiveness commonly referred to as concern for others and concern for self respectively (Raines, 2013). Conflict management refers to the practice of identifying and handling conflicts in a fair, sensible, and efficient manner. An organization has to have people who understand and know how to deal with disputes (Raines, 2013). According to K.W. Thomas and R.H. Kilmann, there are five main styles of responding to and resolving conflicts. The management must start with a situational analysis to understand the most appropriate one in regards to ascertaining the employees’ success (Papenhausen & Parayitam, 2015). In essence, the leaders and followers' characteristics, as well as the interpersonal relationships; would inform if accommodating, competing, avoiding, collaboration and compromising and this would be the best conflict resolution approach. The envisioned framework will help understand how stakeholders can engage while focusing on events and behaviors, identify the areas of disagreement and agreement, and prioritize on the regions of the conflict. It is a development of the plan to work on every aspect of the conflict (Camelo-Ordaz, García-Cruz, & Sousa-Ginel, 2015).

The significance of the Study

This study would add new knowledge on the existing ones about the organizational conflict management because conflicts often begin an unhealthy dynamic that affects a person's perception of the other and begins to activate their "Fight-or-flight" response mechanism; this will ultimately affect how they respond to the conflict is solution is not found at the right time. The choice to either remain with the organization or quit is based on how satisfied one is with their place of work (Baker & McKenzie., CCH Australia Limited & Macquarie University, 2010). This happiness is significantly influenced by how disagreements and are handled; and, indeed, a significant number of employees would be loyal to their employers in spite a couple of hiccups, as long as they can preserve a brighter future (Matitz & Chaerki, 2018).

Contribution to Business Practice

Organizations stand to gain if their workforces stabilize. Frequent turnover means that the cost of retraining goes up, and there is also the challenge of orientation and keeping the new employees motivated. Any employee who joins an organization which is infamous for a high employee turnover would be worried. They would not optimize their potential since they would always be searching for much better opportunities than the ones they possess. Such organizations cannot attain and maintain their leverage (Knights & McCabe, 2016). Therefore, finding an effective way of keeping these employees with their employer would be invaluable to the business community. This is the goal of the proposed study.

The implication for Social Change

If the employees have a comfortable working environment, they would be satisfied (Finnegan, 2012). They would go home having the joy of having accomplished their responsibilities in the best manner possible and also feeling supported. Such happy employees would become happy fathers, relatives, members of their community, and the citizens. As a consequence, a lot of conflicts at home and with friends would be mitigated (Matitz & Chaerki, 2018). Therefore, the proposed research has the advantage of influencing social change positively.

Review of Literature

Gough (2010) argues that most conflicts originate from human behavior dynamics, especially as it scales in size. The bigger the organization becomes, the more bureaucratic the management echelons become, and the more important competent managers become. Corporate management probably looks relatively simple to, say, an engineer or mathematician, who are adept dealing with concrete laws and theories who can be proven. According to Matitz & Chaerki (2018), conflicts are always expensive. This is because instead of concentrating on work, the employees participate, try to avoid, and seek to manage pointless disagreements with their peers. Papenhausen & Parayitam (2015) opines that Americans are spending 2.1 hours per week (or a day in a month) dealing with conflicts. This translated to over 385 million workdays or a loss of about $359 billion annually.

Paludi (2012) on the other hand, believes that the causes of conflict are as numerous as there are stars in the sky. Fortunately, the remedies are equally abundant albeit less obvious. Skilled managers and leaders are the keys to success, according to the author’s opinion. A capable leader is not obsessed with conflict management in itself; rather, they realize it can actually serve as a springboard for meaningful change. Every organization, big or small, will stagnate if the change (which is often viewed as conflict) is avoided at every turn. Torchia et al. (2015) note that conflicts in the workplace is to blame for over 25% of the reported cases of absenteeism and sickness. Also, 9% of project failures are attributed to conflicts, and Presbitero et al. (2016) argue that 33% of the employees are quitting or getting fired as a consequence of unresolved disputes. According to Tong et al. (2018), other costs include disorienting the clients who witness the conflicts. These clients can decide to source their goods and services elsewhere.

In regards to the turnover rate, Presbitero et al. (2016) highlight, it is imperative to recognize that the cost of replacement is high. It disorients the organization significantly, and the sales lost during such instances of turbulence are irreplaceable. Consequently, it is imperative to recognize not only the conflict but also the need to have it addressed. De Clercq et al. (2017) insist that management must find the ways and means of rallying the workers behind a common objective. As they do so, they also need to convince these workers of the need to consider the views of one another (De Clercq et al., 2017; Presbitero et al., 2016).

Allen and Bryant (2012) argue that change is often equal to conflict. According to the author, human beings often like to talk about change all the time, yet it tends to remain in the land of the theoretical where it is quite comfortable for employees to cope with. Real change, however, induces far more stress into the system (Finnegan, 2012; Gough, 2010)). This stress, paradoxically, is the real secret ingredient to the organizational recipe. Too much or too little can actually be lethal to the organism we call an “organization” leading to lots of babbling up there. But do any of them actually name the precise types of conflict; Finnegan (2012) believes them to be far more numerous than his poor fingers and overworked brain cells could possibly list off.

Raines (2013) names two: “Human behavior” and “Growth” as the main source of stress within various organizations and argues that an organization whether large or small must experience growth and the inherent stresses hidden within. Rapid growth sounds great, but it will also induce unforeseen stresses into the system. These stresses will have a trickledown effect on everyone right from the CEO to janitor thus the alternative to growth is becoming extinction even though that also sounds stressful. Fortunately, Baker and McKenzie., CCH Australia Limited., and Macquarie University (2010) opine that leaders and managers often know how to keep the little fires contained so that the whole organization does not burn to the ground. They also realize the importance of keeping the small fires lit, as complacency is the death of innovation. They realize that stress causes anxiety, which causes conflict. They also realize we need a healthy dose of anxiety to bring out the best in all of the employees. This balancing act is the holy grail of business management.

Camelo-Ordaz et al. (2015) argue that some conflicts are caused by incompetence, and hence the need to consider making enhanced hiring decisions. For instance, an organization can engage the services of a consultant who conducts personality together with competency tests. It is also essential to consider calling the references indicated (Oleksiiovych, 2018). Valuable information could be revealed if such decisions are made. According to Knights & McCabe (2016), a culture of training is also motivating. It makes the employees feel that the organization is planning for a long term relationship with them. The training must include the strategies towards handing conflicts.

Conclusion

Once the appropriate framework is established, it must become a central pillar of the organization’s handbook. The handbook might need to highlight the unacceptable behaviors; and these include bullying, respect, privacy, and gossip. In essence, the system for dealing with the conflict must be clearly outlined, and the stakeholders must embrace a proactive approach in handling disagreements when they arise (De Clercq et al., 2017; Knights & McCabe, 2016). The authors believe that fear of not getting needs met, fear of being seen as "wrong" or inadequate and fear of having things becomes more difficult are among the major reasons why employees might sometimes feel stressed up. Another reason is the capacity to perceive others' points of view which are often referred to as "emotional intelligence" (EI) or simply "empathy." A common barrier to EI and empathy is a belief that if we see the other person's viewpoint, we will have to do something about it. This might make us believe we will have to give up our own perspective (and therefore our own needs and wants in the situation), or we might believe that we will be perceived as weak if we demonstrate empathy - again, each person has some variation on their fear of showing EI / empathy thus leading to organization conflict. However, to resolve these conflicts successfully, the organization management must embrace dialogue and open door leadership where all employees are given the opportunity to raise their complaints, get heard and their issues solved.

References

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Aamodt, M. G. (2006). Industrial/organizational psychology: An applied approach. Princeton, N.J: Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic.

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Allen, D. G., & Bryant, P. C. (2012). Managing employee turnover: Dispelling myths and fostering evidence-based retention strategies. New York: Business Expert Press.

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Baker & McKenzie., CCH Australia Limited., & Macquarie University. (2010). Australian master human resources guide. North Ryde, N.S.W: CCH Australia.

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Camelo-Ordaz, C., García-Cruz, J., & Sousa-Ginel, E. (2015). The influence of top management team conflict on firm innovativeness. Group Decision & Negotiation, 24(6), 957–980. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10726-014-9424-4

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Finnegan, R. P. (2012). The power of stay interviews for engagement and retention. Alexandria, VA: Society for Human Resource Management.

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Gough, J. A. (2010). Consultants & consulting organizations directory. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale / Cengage Learning.

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Knights, D., & McCabe, D. (2016). The “missing masses” of resistance: An ethnographic understanding of a workplace dispute. British Journal of Management, 27(3), 534–549. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12170

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Paludi, M. A. (2012). Managing diversity in today's workplace: Strategies for employees and employers. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.

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Papenhausen, C., & Parayitam, S. (2015). Conflict management strategies as moderators in the antecedents to effective conflict and its influence on team effectiveness. Journal of Business & Management, 21(1), 101–119

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Tong, S.F., Ng, C.J., Lee, V.K.M., Lee, P.Y., Ismail, I.Z., Khoo, E.M., … Abdullah, A. (2018). Decision-making process and factors contributing to research participation among general practitioners: A grounded theory study. PLoS ONE, 13(4), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0196379

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