Foundation Course –
I. Introduction
Employee retention is an important issue for business today. Employee retention is a vital factor in successful Human Resources Management at all organisations, it is defined as “the implementation of integrated strategies or systems designed to increase workplace productivity by developing improved processes for attracting, developing, retaining, and utilizing people with the required skills and aptitude to meet current and future business needs” (Hausknecht, Rodda, & Howard 2009, p. 3). Management theory emphasizes how modern organisations must produce a culture that aims to decrease employee turnover. High rates of employee turnover reflect poorly on the organisation and cause real problems such as understaffing, the time and expense of recruiting, and all issues associated with training new employees and managers. This group case study examines lower-level employees at IKEA Swedish Food Market who quit their jobs. Two of the most common reasons for employee turnover at this level are accepting a new job at a different organisation and returning to school for additional education and training.
II. Background
A. Literature Review
In order to retain lower-level employees at IKEA Swedish Food Market, the company must consider two important aspects of the jobs: motivation and job satisfaction.
1. Motivation
Theorists in management studies such as Edwin Locke and Gary Latham, cite the element of motivation as key in employee retention, they write, “The concept of motivation refers to internal factors that impel action and to external factors that can act as inducements to action” (2004, p. 388). In order for employees to remain at the same company and be productive over time, they need to be motivated. Mark Friend and James Kohn utilize “Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory” in their handbook that describes best practices of safety and health issues which are directly related to food workers and others (2007, p. 237). In order to retain these employees, organisations need to provide employees with a decent salary, job security, and a Human Resources department that is skilled at professional and interpersonal communication strategies. Herzberg's motivational theory is related to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Abraham Maslow created a paradigm in the 1940s that is still being taught today as a way to understand motivational factors for managers and leaders. The theory is useful in breaking down the ways in which employers should understand how to full-fill their employee’s needs. Employees must feel secure on a physiological level and feel safe and stable in their work environment. Employers who want to retain good employees should create an environment in which their workers feel that they belong. This enhances worker self-esteem and worker respect for the organisation and colleagues. Finally, self-actualization needs such as personal growth are an important part of the process (Martin & Loomis 2007, pp. 72-75). 2. Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction is another important aspect of HR Management that experts monitor in order to maintain a low employee turnover rate. Organisational psychologist Edwin A. Locke is often quoted in discussions about job satisfaction, he wrote that employees who are happy at their jobs are ones who experience “pleasurable or positive emotional states resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experience” (Ilies & Judge 2004, pp. 367-368). British social scientist Enid Mumford has also examined job satisfaction. She contends that there is a correlation between an organisation’s needs and employee's wants, as well as a correlation between what employee’s seek and what they actually get. According to Mumford, those connections between the organisation and the employee can be organised in five groups. The follow is an excerpt from Enid Mumford’s 1991 work titled, “Job Satisfaction: A Method of Analysis.”
If these relationships are respected, there will be a mutual satisfaction between the organisation and its employees. However, if there is a failure, the employee may want to leave or the employer may seek new employees.
III. HR practices at IKEA
IKEA Swedish Food Market suffers from high employee turnover; too many young low-level employees leave the company after a relatively short period. They quit their jobs in order to return to school or because they find a better job. That indicates that job satisfaction at IKEA Swedish Food Market is low and that these employees are not motivated to stay. The lack of internal promotion is the most important reason that job satisfaction at IKEA Swedish Food Market is low. Motivation theories such as Herzberg’s explain how promotion and personal growth have an important influence on an employee’s motivation to remain in the same job. Mumford’s job satisfaction also applies to these workers; when psychological needs at work are not met then employees are unlikely to remain with the company. Low wages is another possible reason employees leave IKEA Swedish Food Market. High rates of turnover in the food worker industry mean it is not difficult for these employees to find another job. In the case of low-level employees, wages are very important. In fact, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Herzberg’s theory on motivation, and Mumford’s theory on job satisfaction all emphasize wages and salary as motivators for employee happiness in the workplace. Lack of job satisfaction leads to a work environment that will push employees to leave the company.
IV. Conclusion
References
Friend, M. A., & Kohn, J. P. (2007). Fundamentals of occupational safety and health. Lanham, Md, Government Institutes.Hausknecht, John P., Julianne Rodda, & Michael J. Howard. 2009. "Targeted Employee Retention: Performance-Based and Job-Related Differences in Reported Reasons for Staying". Human Resource Management. 48, no. 2: 269-288.Ilies, R., & Judge, T. (2004). An experience-sampling measure of job satisfaction and its relationships with affectivity, mood at work, job beliefs, and general job satisfaction. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. 13, 367-389.Locke, E. A., & G. P. Latham. 2004. "What should we do about motivation theory? Six recommendations for the twenty-first century.” Academy of Management Review. 29, no. 3: 388-403.Martin, D. J., & Loomis, K. S. (2007). Building teachers: a constructivist approach to introducing education. Belmont, CA, Thomson/Wadsworth.Mumford, Enid. (1991). Job Satisfaction: A Method of Analysis. Personnel Review. 20.
