How Can the Human Resource Department Improve the Retention of Skilled Employees - Research Proposal Example

Research Proposal Introduction: Human Resource Management is assuming a vital role in today’s globalized context, where knowledge management is an integral aspect of competitive advantage for an organization. The knowledge possessed by a firm is largely in the domain of expertise and experience possessed by the employees of the firm. Effectively managing the resources and knowledge that employees bring to the firm is the function of the human resource department of the firm. Recruitment of skilled and qualified employees is a vital strategy for a company to function successfully in the global environment. Retention of those skilled employees is equally important because such specialist personnel are in short supply and it is difficult for a Company to replace the experience and training of individual employees, especially the more skilled personnel. Research Topic: The Human Resource Department has a very important role to play in today’s globalized context. The recruitment of skilled employees enables an organization to benefit fully in the knowledge economy. Retention of these employees is equally important, because they are not easy to replace. It is the responsibility of the HR department to ensure that skilled employees are retained within the organization. Thus, the topic of this research study is: How can the Human resource Department in an organization improve the retention of skilled employees? Background: There is a great deal of research that exists on techniques that are effective in successful recruitment of employees, as well as research on how skilled employees can be motivated by the HR department to join a firm. According to Buchen (2006), HR professionals are described as those individuals who are in a leadership position, with the responsibility for recruitment and retention of employees, staff training and structuring of organizational strategy. Marrow (1993) has defined employee commitment as his or her desire to remain associated with the organization. But employee commitment is an area where more research is required, with more professionals, so that there is more generalized validity to the studies. (Carmeli and Freund, 2004). Earlier studies have mostly focused upon the personalities of leaders and how they impact upon their followers, rather than focusing upon how the HR department can improve services within the firm. While leadership does play an important role in the success of an organization, and impacts upon employees, the continuance of employee commitment can be enhanced through the Human resource Department. Research studies have touched upon the subject of employee commitment, but there is a gap in the research in defining how HR services influence the commitment of employees. This study will seek to address this gap by defining the HR role in this area. Problem Statement: Companies may also invest time and effort in training employees to perform efficiently for the maximum optimization of company performance. But when those employees leave the firm, it may represent a great loss of time and investment. Moreover, skilled employees are not easy to recruit, because they are in demand in the knowledge economy. After recruiting such employees, the failure to retain them can produce losses for the organization, which can however be mitigated if the Human resource Department takes steps to improve retention of employees. Purpose of this study: This is a quantitative research study and its purpose is to provide useful information about Human resource practices, especially in examining how effectively an organization can retain its employees and what are the techniques it is utilizing to do so. Assessing the role of HR services in improving employee commitment is an important objective of this study, which will also identify the limitations in the organization’s approach, in order to suggest improvements. The theoretical underpinnings that will guide this study are research on staff commitment and how this may be improved through motivation. Human resource services that will be particularly relevant in this regard and which are proposed to be assessed in this study include recognition on the job passed on to employees through rewards and bonuses. The leadership styles used within organizations and their impact upon employees will also be assessed in this study. The participants in this study will be drawn from among HR professionals and employees in the IT field, in order to provide scope for feedback and participant views to be gathered from both. The study will target firms in Doha in the state of Qatar. Research Questions: This study will examine the problem of retention of skilled employees within the context of IT organizations in Doha. The research questions posed are therefore as follows: (a) What are the measures currently being implemented within each of the participant organizations to enhance retention of employees? (b) What are the HR services that can be improved within these organizations? (c) Is there a relationship between the kind of HR services provided and the levels of staff commitment; if so, what is it? Hypothesis: The null hypothesis proposed in this study is: There is a relationship between the HR services provided in the organization and staff commitment. On this basis, should the null hypothesis be disproved in this study, the alternative hypothesis would be: There is no relationship between HR services provided and staff commitment. Fundamental theories: The theoretical underpinnings of this study are focused upon staff commitment and how this can be improved through motivation. This proposal will specifically explore theories pertaining to motivation of employees, because the objective of this study is to examine how the Human resource department is handling retention of employees and how it can improve performance in this area. This study will also examine theories pertaining to recruitment and the role that organizational leadership has to play in inspiring staff members to remain committed to the organization. Methodology: The Methodology used in this dissertation is quantitative, because quantitative methods lend themselves well to those studies where general trends among the population are to be discerned through the use of large numbers of participants and numerical analysis of data (Troachim, 2001). A comprehensive literature review of human resource practices of retention of employees is taken up in this study, in order to provide the background information needed to assess the research questions. This forms the secondary data that is used as a part of this project. The primary data is collected from the questionnaire/survey. The questionnaire is a favored tool of many of those engaged in research, and it can often provide a cheap and effective way of collecting data in a structured and manageable form” (Wilkinson & Birmingham 2003). This study will collect data from both HR professionals as well as IT employees in organizations in Doha targeted to participate in this study. Data will be collected from these individuals by way of a survey questionnaire on (a) the kind of services which are currently being provided by the HR department and (b) how satisfied the employees are, with such levels of service. The SPSS statistical software will be used to carry out an analysis of the results. Scope and Delimitations: The scope of this study is to identify the levels of employee satisfaction with the HR services provided in their organization, especially the kind of services related to bringing about an improvement in staff commitment. The delimitations of this study are (a) examining service by HR professionals who have a minimum of five years of experience (b) limiting the sample used in this study to the city of Doha in the state of Qatar (c) the professional experience of HR personnel in the field, to ensure exposure to the study under review. Dependent and independent variables: The research instrument this study will use is a survey questionnaire to be circulated among employees. The independent variable will be retention, while this will be tested against several dependent variables such as (a) wages and bonuses (b) recognition on the job (c) team work and (d) availability of training, among others. Literature Review: High employee turnover is one of the reasons for decreased organizational productivity. Between 1997 and 2000, employee turnover increased in all industries (Martel, 2002). In the case of skilled employees, one of the most commonly used methods used by employers to attract the best candidates to their firm is to offer good monetary rewards, such as high salaries, signing bonuses and attractive benefits (Pfeffer, 1998). Hewlett Packard has included compensation benefits such as banquets, stock options and personal computers for project leaders who demonstrate entrepreneurial behavior (Schuler and Macmillan, 1984: 249). On the other hand, flexible human resource policies and an inclusive culture constitute non monetary rewards that are likely to provide a higher motivation for employees to join an organization and to remain in it. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory (1970), which is a five tier system, an individual has two kinds of needs – the lower order needs which are satisfied externally, such as physiological and safety needs, and the higher order needs which are satisfied internally such as social needs, esteem and self actualization needs. Herzberg argues that employees are more likely to be motivated by factors such as achievement and the work itself rather than simply money. (Herzberg 1968). According to Macmillan (1983), the gaining of competitive advantage involves an understanding of barriers to response, intelligence and infrastructure systems and requirements, general management challenges as well as extensive planning practices. Several companies have successfully achieved a competitive advantage through the restructuring of their human resource management systems, as pointed out by Schuler and Macmillan (1984). In the Bairnco Corporation, bonuses were linked to performance for top level executives and the company was able to almost double its sales from $270 million to $442 million in the short span of two years. In the case of Lincoln Electric, workers receive a share in the profits, which imbues workers with a high motivation to produce. Schuler and Macmillan (1984) also identify two specific HRM thrusts that could be useful to a firm. The first is a cost efficiency thrust, as in the case of Lincoln Electric mentioned above, where the efficiency of production is enhanced through the compensation system. The second is the differentiation thrust, in which HRM practices are used to improve efficiency of production with the ultimate aim of lowering product cost. One example of this is the case of PepsiCo, which provided management and merchandise training to its distributors, thereby gaining a competitive advantage in the market through a lowering of the cost of its product. As pointed out by Kransdorff (1996), while the advantages of frequent job turnovers are seem as bringing fresh creativity and new ideas to the organization, with the expertise of incoming employees compensating for those who are leaving, the reality is that the organization’s investment in the outgoing individual in the form of experience and knowledge possessed by that individual is suddenly lost. There is an increasing tendency for employees to change jobs, for example British employees change employers an average of seven times during their lifetimes, with employees taking about twelve months to settle into their new jobs and become fully productive, which further shortens the effective working span of the average employee. Hence it is in the interests of an organization to retain its employees. According to Fuller (2004), it is the way that an organization functions which can influence employee decisions on whether or not to remain with it. If employees feel like outsiders, or inferior and unworthy, then it is likely to have a negative impact upon the employees’ physical, psychological and spiritual well being and they are more likely to leave the organization. CPA Consultant Steve Erickson recommends ten techniques to aid firms in hiring and retaining employees.(Annonymous, 2007). These include (a) making recruiting a year round process, engaging both employers and employees (b) building an employee referral network (c) differentiating the firm, by building unity within the firm and having a clear focus on internal and external service categories (d) working on the good clients by evaluating them and allowing employees to work with the good ones to motivate them (e) creating a culture of success and helping employees to feel successful due to being associated with such a firm (f) consistent communication which results in benefits for everyone (g) defining success for every employee by ensuring that each employee knows where the firm is going (h) setting up a reverse mentoring program, whereby the leader/manager takes the initiative to gather feedback from the employees (i) reducing the levels of internal competition for resources by ensuring that there is an efficient system of governance and (j) by eliminating all negative talk within the firm and promoting a positive attitude in solving staffing issues. Murphy and Burgio-Murphy (2005) have laid out five important aspects which every firm should know about employee retention. Firstly, some employees in the firm are more valuable than others, therefore the greater the degree to which a firm focuses on retaining the high performing employees and eliminating the low performing employees, the higher its level of success. Secondly, different employees may be motivated by different things, therefore it is only by asking the employees that a firm can determine what those motivating factors are and act accordingly to motivate them to stay with the firm. Thirdly, the initial 90-day period after an employee joins the firm is the period where he or she is most likely to leave, therefore if the leaders/managers focus on building bonds with the new employees during this period, then there is a greater likelihood of retaining those new employees (Murphy and Burgio-Murphy, 2005). Fourthly, a firm should not be quick to allow a good employee to resign. Most employees who want to resign are looking to leave quickly and painlessly, but the manager should ask them to consider it for 24 hours and take the time to question them about why they want to resign, so that efforts can be made, if possible, to provide the employee with better conditions or benefits that will alleviate the reason for leaving in the first place. Lastly, if an employee cannot be retained and is intent on resigning, then an effort should be made to ensure that the employee leaves in good spirit and retains a good impression of the firm. Sending periodic updates about job openings is also advised in case employees wish to return or refer others to the firm (Murphy and Burgio-Murphy, 2005). Research map: The time frame for this study is estimated to be about two and a half months in all. Week One will be set aside to identify the participating organizations. During the next two weeks, the literature review will be carried out to gather available information from research on the issue of retention of employees. Weeks four and Five will be devoted to circulating the survey among as many employees as possible from the participating organizations. Analysis of the results obtained from the data will be carried out during the next three weeks. The last two weeks will be devoted to writing up the research report. Significance of research: This research is significant, especially in the context of retention of employees. This study is likely to throw some light on the factors that may influence retention within the IT context and what is the role played by HR service sin influencing such retention. The study will also throw some light on leadership issues, since HR professionals are placed in a leadership role over employees and can have an impact on the employees’ affective commitment to their jobs and employee turnover. (Goleman et al, 2002). Limitations of this study: Since the scope of this study is limited to the city of Doha in the state of Qatar, the results arising out of this study may not be generalizable to organizations in other countries. The response rates obtained in the study may not be as high as the levels desired, due to the fear employees may have of participating in the study and being dismissed on the basis of the views they express. Background/expertise of researcher: The researcher is qualified to carry out this research study as an individual who is well acquainted with human resource practices and has also studied this area in great detail. The researcher also has access to previous research carried out into human resource departments in organizations and their role in improving retention of employees. Furthermore the researcher also possesses the communication skills required to interact with and collect responses from employees of IT firms. As a result, this study may prove quite useful in providing further insight into the issue of retention of employees and the role of the HR department in improving it. Bibliography * Annonymous, 2007. “Ideas that really work to recruit and retain staff”, Journal of Accountancy, 204(2):19 * Carmeli, A and Freund, A, 2004. “Work commitment, job satisfaction and job performance: An empirical investigation”, International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior, 7(3): 289-310 * Fuller, R.W., 2004. “Somebodies and nobodies: Overcoming the abuse of rank”, Canada: New Society Publishers * Herzberg, F. (1968) One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees, pp 85-95 in Harvard Business Review: Breakthrough Ideas: 15 Articles That Define Business Practice Today: Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston USA * Kransdorff, Arnold, 1996. “Succession planning in a fast changing world”, Management Decision, 34(2):30 * Martel, L, 2002. “High Performers: How the best companies find and keep them”, San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons. * Maslow, A.H, 1970. “Motivation and Personality” 2nd Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. * Murphy, Mark and Burgio-Mark, Andrea, 2005. “The Deadly sins of employee retention”, Leadership IQ Press. * Pffeffer, J, 1994. “Competitive Advantage through people.” MA: Harvard Business School Press * Schuler, Randall S and Macmillan, Ian C, 1984. “Gaining competitive advantage through Human resource Management Practices”, Human resource Management, 3: 241-155 * Trochim, William, 2001. “The Research Methods Knowledge base” (2nd Edn) Atomic Dog Publishing * Wilkinson, David and Birmingham, Peter, 2003. “Using research instruments: A Guide for researchers”, Routledge Read More