Addressing the Problem of Staff Shortage Report (Assessment)

Introduction

High rates of staff turnover affect a range of companies functioning in the global business setting. Without proper control over retention and turnover rates of staff members within an organization, the threat of a drop in productivity rates and overall performance emerged. The factors underlying the phenomenon of staff shortage are highly variable in their nature, being associated with personal issues, organizational concerns, and internal and external influences.

To improve the quality of employees’ organizational performance and reduce the levels of staff shortage, as well as boost the rates of employee retention, an HR manager will need to insp4ect the issues associated with the organizational environment, career prospects for staff members, and other concerns. To address the problem of staff shortage, one will need to embrace multidisciplinary strategies and analyze the existing factors as the multiple elements of a single system within which employees function. As a result, a coherent solution will be produced.

Due to the necessity to alter employee perception, companies will have to reconsider their organizational values and philosophies as the platform for constructing a dialogue with their employees. As a result, changes in employees’ perception of their roles and responsibilities within the firm will change, and their levels of loyalty toward a company will rise gradually.

Therefore, the approach based on talent management and investment in staff members’ professional and personal development should be seen as the vectors for further progress. By applying the suggested techniques Ito the contemporary corporate setting, one will increase employee retention rates, whereas the problem of high staff turnover levels will be resolved.

Analysis

Employee Retention as a Complex HRM Issue

The problem of employee retention has been affecting a wide range of industries over the past decade. Ahammad and Al-Habil attribute the observed concern to the inability of HR managers to handle diversity in the workplace (66). Causing cultural distance, the lack of skills in meeting the needs of culturally diverse staff has detrimental effects on the rates of retention and increases staff turnover levels drastically.

The process of knowledge transfer within an organization is affected heavily by the “national cultural distance” (Ahammad and Al-Habil 66). Therefore, introducing changes to the corporate culture and the approaches toward managing diversity is an imperative step for further HRM-related improvements.

Since Ahammad and Al-Habil analyze the problem of employee shortage in depth and discuss sociocultural factors impacting it, the article was considered an important addition to the list of references. Moreover, the research methods chosen by Ahammad and Al-Habil are characterized by high levels of trustworthiness and credibility. Thus, the article was deemed as suitable for the analysis.

Factors Affecting Employee Turnover Rates

Job satisfaction

The range of issues that may affect an employee’s choice to quit are numerous and pertaining to both personal issues and external factors. However, among the strongest influences on the levels of employee retention and the threat of staff turnover increase, job satisfaction takes the first place (Terera and Ngirande 484). According to the study performed by Terera and Ngirande, the presence of rewards increases the possibility of building staff retention rates high (488).

The study also points to the need to introduce incentives that could encourage employees to excel in their performance, although keeping the salary rates high is also a crucial aspect to consider. Particularly, the authors ate that “most employees stay in the same institution for a long time because of the economic gains they receive from that institution” (Terera and Ngirande 486). Therefore, the research implies that building a corporate culture based on a reward system is likely to lead to a rise in loyalty levels among employees.

Due to the use of the structured questionnaire as the main data collection tool, Terera and Ngirande have managed to perform a well put-together research. The adoption of the quantitative analysis seems legitimate in the specified case since it allows defining the link between job satisfaction and financial incentives. While the application of the quantitative analysis has limited the possibility of representing the target population fully and the application of a questionnaire has reduced the amount of data, the study has delivered comprehensive and important results.

Organizational commitment

As sown in the study discussed above, enhancing loyalty among employees is a critical step in improving retention rates and reducing the threat of high turnover rates in an organization. However, the need for loyalty enhancement begs the question of whether a change of an HRM practice will lead to a drop in turnover rates. In order to create the setting in which organizational commitment is possible, one should introduce the philosophy of talent management and investing in staff members, especially as far as their health is concerned. Creating the environment in which employees will feel psychologically and physically comfortable is a crucial component of a positive HRM practice (Hassan and Mahmood 23).

The promotion of organizational commitment through the creation of a more inviting setting for staff members to work in will lead to a change in employees’ attitudes toward their roles and responsibilities within an organization. For instance, by offering wellness policies and courses for increasing the range of employees’ competencies, HR managers can reduce the levels of absenteeism among staff members (Hassan and Mahmood 24). The study by Hassan and Mahmood should be incorporated into the analysis since it offers a unique perspective on the issue of employee commitment and connects it to both internal and external factors, including organizational environment and the system of beliefs that staff members uphold.

Experience and competence

Another important aspect of reducing staff turnover rates and increasing their retention involves providing them with a chance for professional and individual growth. Therefore, the HRM practices that a company should consider when addressing the concerns of high turnover and low retention should include the focus on investing in the staff’s growth. The ability to gain new experiences and grow as experts has been proven to have a profound impact on the staff’s willingness to remain committed to their companies (Ekrot et al. 154).

Since the study by Ekrot et al. employed a well-developed analytical method and used a wide range of resources to support its claim, it was deemed as an important and credible source. Adding to the discussion about the factors that affect employees’ choices and retention levels, in general, the study helped to determine the approaches that HR managers could use to manage high turnover rates. Therefore, the study by Ekrot et al. should be seen as an important addition to the analysis.

Career prospects

The absence of opportunities for career development is another issue that defines low retention rates among staff members. Without an HRM framework that would allow employees to advance in their career, the levels of staff retention are likely to drop, according to the existing research on the subject matter (Deery and Jago 456). Deery and Jago extrapolate that providing decent career opportunities for employees is likely to cause a positive shift in retention rates (454).

The methodology of the article can be seen as its key asset since the authors utilize the qualitative research method that allows exploring the connection between a wide array of factors and eliciting a significant amount of information. However, being supported mostly by the evidence provided through interviews, the data collection method is the key weakness of this source. Nonetheless, the authors manage to draw meaningful conclusions about the importance of providing career prospects for employees.

Strategies for Increasing Employee Retention

Competitive benefits

As shown above, the HR-related factors that affect retention levels among staff members mostly concern the lack of emphasis on corporate values and the inability to consider employee-specific needs. Therefore, an HRM framework that will utilize a resource-based perspective and view its staff members as a valuable asset will be required. In their study, Busse et al. claim that, to introduce a sustainable competitive advantage into a company’s HRM potential, one needs to regard human resources as rare and non-substitutable (151). The resulting rise in the levels of loyalty among the staff members, as well as their willingness to accept the corporate ethics and standards, will help ensure that employee retention levels remain high.

Thus, the focus on competitive benefits that a firm offers to its staff members should be seen as a tool for raising employee retention rates and preventing the instances of a turnover increase. The selected article by Busse et al. is based on a well-developed study of the key contributors to the staff retention rates, which makes it a valuable reference to include when exploring the subject matter.

Workplace environment

Shaping the workplace environments to accommodate the needs of a highly diverse team of employees is another HR strategy that will help reduce the rates of employee turnover and build the premises for enhancing retention levels. To address the problem of staff retention and the drastic rise in turnover rates, creating the setting in which the probability of conflict is minimized will not be enough. Instead, it is the task of the HR manager to shape employees’ attitudes toward disagreements in the business setting.

For example, an HR manager may need to introduce the target demographic to the idea of using conflicts as learning points, as Benn et al. posit (498). Instead of focusing on the negative emotions that disagreements cause, staff members will be asked to define the causes of conflicts and use their emotional intelligence to learn what these conflicts say about them and their coworkers.

The key strength of the article is in its ability to embrace a vast amount of evidence. Due to the application of a qualitative approach, the authors create the setting in which different issues can be explored. Although the use of the qualitative analysis does not provide statistically accurate results, it defines the further direction of the analysis. Thus, the research by Benn et al., which suggests an objective approach toward conflict management in the workplace is credible and worthy of being influxes into the list of references since it represents original research and provides an insightful look into the nature of a workplace environment.

Roles and placement

The reason for choosing the article by Ulrich and Dulebohn concerns primarily the quality of research and the unique argument that the author provides (197). The quantitative methodology, which the authors utilize to investigate the case, produces rather accurate results, which can be used to construct a unique framework for addressing the retention issue. The methodological strategy that the authors of the study use contains both advantages and disadvantages since, on the one hand, it expands the scope to a range of different situations, yet, on the other hand, it reduces the precision of the results. According to the results of the study, it is crucial to ensure that all staff members are aware of their roles and responsibilities within an organization to reduce the probability of their resignation.

Staff education

Promoting the idea of their workplace being the source of important knowledge and experiences is another HR device that can be utilized to improve employee retention rates within a firm. According to the report produced by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, it is critical for an HRM manager to create the environment in which the idea of staff education will be deemed as one of the crucial steps toward promoting employee retention and reducing the levels of turnover (para. 2-3).

By investing in the education of employees and providing them with additional opportunities for professional growth, an HR manager is likely to attain a rise in retention rates among employees. For this purpose, the education process should be unceasing and ongoing, with important milestones marking each achievement of employees (U.S. Office of Personnel Management para. 2). According to the report, the described approach toward managing retention rates is likely to lead to a steep increase in the levels of loyalty toward the company in the target audiences (U.S. Office of Personnel Management para. 3). Thus, the further growth of the intellectual property within the organization will ensue.

The report by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management is considered credible and worthy of inclining into the analysis since it offers a unique way of considering the phenomenon of talent management within an organization. The proposed strategy helps to address the problem of staff education, which makes it particularly valuable for the described setting. Issued by a trustworthy organization and supported by an extensive amount of research, the specified resource opens new possibilities for addressing the problem of an employee retention drop from an HR perspective.

Building an initiative

Encouraging the active involvement into corporate issues and concerns among staff members is also likely to cause a significant increase in employee retention rates within a corporate environment. As the study conducted by Liao et al. posits, it is imperative to ensure employees that they7 play an important role in the company’s development and define the further directions of its progress (11). Incorporating the elements of qualitative and quantitative approach, the specified study has contributed to building a framework for managing retention rates within an organization.

The authors of the study do not provide different types of initiatives that could be utilized to enhance retention rates, which is a problem of the research. However, among its advantages, one should mention an all-embracive assessment of the current situation in the corporate workplace setting and the challenges that HR managers face when addressing high turnover levels. Therefore, the analysis factors into the exploration of the employee retention problem and the creation of sustainable methods of addressing it.

Conclusion

The lack of focus on the needs of diverse staff members has affected the current level of employee retention rates, reducing them considerably and causing an impressive increase in staff turnover levels. Therefore, the application of a twofold approach toward managing the issue is needed. By embracing both internal and external factors affecting employees’ decisions, an organization will be able to provide a setting in which every staff member will feel inspired to contribute to the company’s development.

Moreover, by encouraging the unceasing professional and personal growth among staff members through talent management, one will boost the levels of loyalty among the staff, which will, in turn, reduce employee turnover rates significantly. Finally, the assessment of the existing studies has indicated that the creation of a comprehensive framework for a corporate employee initiative will lead to a rise in employee retention levels.

The selected sources are highly credible, being either the research published in peer-reviewed articles or reports published at official government sites. Therefore, the general evaluation of the problem indicates that a shift toward talent management and the enhancement of employee initiative are likely to become the platform for an HRM framework for increasing employee retention.

Works Cited

Benn, Suzanne, et al. “Employee Participation and Engagement in Working for the Environment.” Personnel Review, vol. 44, no.4, 2015, pp. 492-510.

Busse, Christian, et al. “The ABC for studying the too-much-of-a-good-thing effect: A competitive mediation framework linking antecedents, benefits, and costs.” Organizational Research Methods, vol. 19, no. 1, 2016, pp. 131-153.

Deery, Margaret, and Leo Jago. “Revisiting Talent Management, Work-Life Balance and Retention Strategies.” International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 27, no.3, 2015, pp. 453-472.

Ekrot, Bastian, et al. “Retaining Project Management Competence – Antecedents and Consequences.” International Journal of Project Management, vol. 34, no.2 2016, pp. 145-157.

Hassan, Saira, and Babak Mahmood. “Relationship between HRM Practices and Organizational Commitment of $mployees: An Empirical Study of Textile Sector in Pakistan.” International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 6, no. 1, 2016, pp. 23-28.

Liao, Chenwei, et al. “Idiosyncratic Deals in Contemporary Organizations: A Qualitative and Meta‐Analytical Review.” Journal of Organizational Behavior, vol. 37, no. 1, 2016, pp. 9-29.

Shehadah, Abed Allah Momhammed, and Wasim I. Al-Habil. “Factors Affecting the Employees’ Turnover at the Ministry of High Education in Gaza Governorates.” Arts and Social Sciences Journal, vol. 8, no. 5, 2017, pp. 304-312.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management. “Performance Management.” OPM.gov, n.d. Web.

Ulrich, Dave, and James H. Dulebohn. “Are We There Yet? What’s Next for HR?” Human Resource Management Review, vol. 25. no. 2, 2015, pp. 188-204.