Judging from these methods of research, I have come to the conclusion that the best way of conducting the research necessary for making my recommendations would be in the form of a questionnaire and quotation method. The questionnaire that I would conduct would be reliable in contrast to the other available methods, and it can cover a wide range of topics. The questions could be multiple-choice, which would suit the staff more, but would not be effective for extracting results. Open questions would be more of a benefit for me therefore, but would cause more pressure on staff.
I would have to combine these two features in the questionnaire as a result, choosing the most appropriate feature for the appropriate question (e. g. a question on the wages of staff could be multiple-choice, as they may not want to share their answer on this). For the quotation method, I would have to receive feedback from staff on their opinions and views on the way they are treated at Hamptons, the possible factors that promote staff turnover, the management of the business, and how they relate to the methods such as industrial relations and payment systems.
From my research, I should be able to relate the results to the factors represented in the SWOT analysis of Hamptons. I will be aiming to target about 4 people with my questionnaire and aiming to get opinions and views from about 2 people. Once I have obtained my results, I will present them in a suitable form. The suitable forms of presenting the results that are available to me are: In the questionnaire, 4 people were questioned about their views on their company regarding their management.
The results from the questionnaire are shown on the following pages. It is evident from these results that most of the employees that were used for this research were happy with their job 75% were happy with their job. Contrary to popular belief, it is also proven that staff turnover is not always due to the amount of wages that is being offered. Job opportunities were the least factors that were being offered by the companies that the employees worked for. It never went above the satisfactory level, but was below the level most of the time.
The most likely factor that was believed by the employees to affect staff turnover was the factor of industrial relations. This was for staff that were of the same level as the employees themselves, and it gave a general overview. The most likely factor to affect an employee in this research was the factor corresponding to job opportunities. The most likely factor that kept staff was the factor relating to job satisfaction, and an overall sense of acceptance from the business also persuaded staff to stay.
This meant that the relations staff had with employees should be good, and they were. Rewards and maintaining good relations with staff were also quite common. From the quotations, it can be seen that some staff are happy working because they are fulfilling a need for consumers by providing their services to them. This makes them feel ‘special’. The unnecessary need for wages to stay at the firm could be explained by the motivation theory.
It is a basic need, and is also a hygiene factor – therefore this does not keep the staff that were used for research staying at their job. Most of the staff were happy with their jobs, but this may have been due to the fact that they may not have wanted to share this experience, so they just stated that they are happy. The fact that job opportunities affected staff turnover greatly according to these employees was probably because they may have felt demotivated if it was a real life situation.
If they are told that they are working, and there is no chance of opportunities to attain the highest motivation need (self-actualisation), then staff may leave as a result. Employees that were researched thought that industrial relations might play a major role in staff turnover. This was probably because they would not want to be working inappropriate hours and in bad conditions. Industrial relations is also a hygiene factor, and this could lead to employees being demotivated if they are not met.
The most likely factor that would keep staff was job satisfaction, and this was probably because job satisfaction would ironically provide job opportunities for staff. If staff were offered job opportunities, then they would receive more pleasure out of their job. From these results, it can be seen that a lack of job opportunities play a major role in staff turnover. Job satisfaction was the most likely factor to keep staff, and this was probably because it would satisfy all the needs of staff, including providing the missing job opportunities.
My report to the shareholders so far regarding staff turnover at Hamptons would thus be that there are not enough job opportunities for staff at Hamptons. In order to retain staff, more job opportunities such as a chance of promotion or a chance for an employee to show their skills and be proud of their job should be offered to employees at Hamptons, Alternatively, more methods of motivation could be put into practise, and some of the strengths Hamptons had in the SWOT analysis could also be elaborated on.
Hamptons would also have to offer the good factors with which it is associated with too, including job satisfaction which it may initially provide for its employees, and there could be more rewards offered for staff through the method of cash bonuses (although it has been established that staff are not affected by their wages much at Hamptons), fringe benefits and the privilege to have certain services provided for them. Regarding their management in the business, most employees thought it was good, and may hint that the Personnel department is doing about average.
The costs of these factors, especially the reward, may also have to be taken into consideration, as Hamptons should be aiming to achieve its objectives, and the sooner the problem of staff turnover is solved, the better it is for the business to be successful. Conclusions and evaluation The strength of the information that I have gathered is that I have carried out more than one method of research, which allows me to obtain various opinions of employees. Most staff were comfortable with the questionnaire, as it seemed much more convenient. The weaknesses of my research were that I did not manage to get a lot of people’s opinions and views.
The questionnaire seemed to be a major part for me in being able to present my results. However, question four could have had three categories instead of five, so that the answers received from the employees could easily have been associated with the relevant category. This would eliminate the problem of employees having different opinions for each category (e. g. one employee may be more lenient than others, and may put down bad, whereas another employee may be too strict and put down terrible). However, offering a wider range of categories can also allow me to see the distinction between one employee’s answers ands another’s.
The other limitation in my research was that I only used two places to carry out my research, reducing the variation in my results. If I were to complete my research again, therefore, I would consider researching more places. I would also try to get some opinions of senior workers, and then relate them to the opinions of the primary workers, identifying the variation in those results, and analysing the results to see whether senior and primary employees share the same needs. I have already decided to include in my report the problem of not enough job opportunities being provided by Hamptons and that hard working employees are not rewarded.
Hamptons have established good factors too, and they are that the relationship between employees and managers were good, and never bad (probably because of superior communication in a flat structured organisation), and that most of the employees were satisfied with their job, (although this does not mean they are motivated or achieving any higher needs). Hamptons should therefore solve these problems before growing larger, as the organisational structure of the company might change, bringing even worse consequences.
