Bus 642 week 4-a1
salne1
week_3_model_paper_1.docxRunning head: RESEARCH 1
RESEARCH 7
Research Project
Student
BUS642: Business Research Methods & Tools
Instructor: Dr. Jon Webber
Date
Research Project
Background Information
XXX. is a provider of educational services for its two subsidiaries. XXX employs several thousand people in admissions and student services roles. Due to a decline in total enrollment in XXX, XXX leadership instituted a reduction in force, primarily within the student services roles XXX, 2015). The recent layoffs included several management positions coinciding with the firm’s intention to create a leaner management structure. The reduction of management positions and the lack of growth are limiting growth opportunities for employees.
Management Dilemma
XXX leadership faces the challenge of retaining current employees. Tang and Fuller (1995) noted, “After a layoff, surviving employees often experience significant changes in corporate loyalty, job satisfaction, and job performance” (p. 12). While justified, XXX leadership has created a situation that will increase employee turnover. Nolan (2015) stated that mentoring and advancement opportunities influence millennials’ perception of job satisfaction and loyalty to the firm. The lack of promotional opportunities may cause employees to consider changing employers. Leaders must create a strategy to maintain these factors or the firm will incur the additional expense of hiring and training replacements (Tang & Fuller, 1995).
Research Question
What is a viable strategy to maintain employee loyalty and performance without increasing salaries?
Hypothesis
XXX can maintain employee loyalty through perquisites such as flexible working conditions because employees highly value their work life balance.
Literature Review
Increasing employee retention is a commonly researched topic. Nolan (2015) researched retention strategies that applied to employees classified as millennials. Nolan noted that of primary concern to many millennials is the establishment of a good work life balance. She suggested implementing “flexible work arrangements” as one means to establish this balance (Nolan, 2015, p. 72). Nolan also found the employer benefits in factors such as reduced absenteeism.
Several factors may contribute to employees’ job satisfaction and intention to stay with their employer. Idris (2014) while researching Malaysian bank employees, also observed that employees value a work life balance facilitated through “flexible working practices” (p. 71). Indeed a work-life balance is now considered a basic right or necessity by many workers. While valued by most employees, the increase of women employees in the Malaysian banking sector has highlighted the relationship of flexible working practices to a favorable work-life balance. Idris found that flexible work practices contribute to employee retention.
Implementing flexible working conditions will not influence every employee’s decision to persist. Hyland, Rowsome, and Rowsome (2006) studied several types of flexible working conditions and compared the results among employees that have a greater or lesser desire for separation of life and work. In some situations, employees that value a closer integration of work and life, found that practices such as a compressed work week increased their desire to quit their job.
Ethical Concerns
This study will utilize secondary data so the researcher must consider the ethical aspects of utilizing this type of data. Any data gathered from employee records must be treated in a way to ensure anonymity. To ensure employees confidentiality, information must be stored in a secure way. Anonymity will ensure that the data is not linked to the individual employee. To ensure employee data remains safe it will be stored in a secure area of the company’s computer system. Access will be restricted to the researchers and encrypted for additional safety. Williams (2012) noted that data collected online creates additional possibilities for ethical breaches. Landrum (2014) noted that manipulation of data by researchers is possible if the data does not support the preferred hypothesis. If instituting flexible working conditions does not provide a significant increase in employee retention or is found to cause negative consequences, a different approach should be investigated.
Types of Secondary Data
This research project will utilize secondary data. Dobson stated that secondary research can be collected from within or outside of the organization (as cited in Landrum, 2014). One possible source of internal secondary data is past surveys administered to employees. XXX administers a yearly Gallup survey that measures employee satisfaction and loyalty to the firm. Employees typically respond at a 60% or better rate each year. This data is useful as it directly relates to employee satisfaction. By promoting a greater work life balance, an increase in employee satisfaction supports the hypothesis.
An additional source of secondary data within the firm is human resources records. This data can provide numerical data on the number of employees that chose to leave the company. Human resources data can be examined to determine if flexible working practices contribute to employee loyalty. Leadership has completed a yearlong pilot of the compressed workweek within the student services department. The pilot ran from March 2014 to March 2015. A comparison of turnover between pilot and non-pilot employees is then possible. This data is significant as it measures actual turnover within a department with the variable present in about a quarter of the employees. If exit interviews were completed, turnover not related to job satisfaction can be filtered out further strengthening conclusions.
Scales and Benchmarks
The scale utilized will differ by data type. Data from the Gallup survey is in the format of the Likert Scale. Landrum (2014) explained that Likert data is considered to exist within the ordinal scale. Using the ordinal scale numbers correspond to a specific value, but the interval between numbers varies. To support or reject the hypothesis, a benchmark is necessary for comparison. Pike (2013) stated, “Criterion validity would be represented by the relationship between benchmark scores and other measures” (p. 150). A benchmark may be established as the 2014 Gallup survey, or an average of several past years or a comparison of the same survey from other firms within the industry. The other measures to establish a criterion validity, is the data gathered from human resources on employee turnover. The turnover data is measured on the ratio scale, as zero would indicate that no employees quit, and any other ratio indicated the actual number of employees that quit. Benchmark data follows the previous pattern either collecting the previous year’s data, or averaging multiple previous years.
Utilizing scales and benchmarks is necessary to lend validity to the study. Benchmarks provide the basis for comparison of employee satisfaction and turnover rate, in relationship to flexible working conditions. If employee satisfaction decreased or turnover increased, for employees participating in the compressed workweek, the hypothesis is not supported.
References
XXX Education, INC. (2015). 10-Q Report. Retrieved from http://s1.q4cdn.com/718184649/files/doc_financials/2015/XXXForm10Q_Q315.pdf
Hyland, M. M., Rowsome, C., & Rowsome, E. (2005). The integrative effects of flexible work arrangements and preferences for segmenting or integrating work and home roles. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, 6(2), 141-160. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/196729963?accountid=32521
Idris, A. (2014). Flexible working as an employee retention strategy in developing countries: Malaysian bank managers speak. Journal of Management Research, 14(2), 71-86. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1554602948?accountid=32521
Nolan, L. S. (2015). The roar of millennials: Retaining top talent in the workplace. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 12(5), 69-75. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1764139209?accountid=32521
Pike, G. (2013). NSSE benchmarks and institutional outcomes: A note on the importance of considering the intended uses of a measure in validity studies. Research in Higher Education, 54(2), 149-170. doi:10.1007/s11162-012-9279-y
Tang, T. L., & Fuller, R. M. (1995). Corporate downsizing: What managers can do to lessen the negative effects of layoffs. S.A.M. Advanced Management Journal,60(4), 12. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/231228606?accountid=32521
Williams, S. G. (2012). The ethics of internet research. Online Journal of Nursing Informatics, 16(2). Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=b8d3245c-f132-4662-b697-4dada89651d%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4113
