Project Description
It is known that employee engagement increases retention rates in organisations. Research indicates that intrinsic and extrinsic rewards increase employee’s satisfaction level and reduces the intention to leave an organisation (Soni 2014). Google is one of the top IT companies that use employee engagement to create a productive workforce.
It uses a combination of extrinsic (attractive benefits) and intrinsic methods (inclusion and transparency) to attract and retain skilled employees (Durmaz 2013). It has a ‘people analytics’ unit charged with the responsibility of determining the workers’ benefits and compensation based on career needs and productivity level. It also provides an atmosphere of trust, inclusivity, and transparency through regular feedback on pertinent issues.
While statistics indicate that the program improves productivity, its effect on employee turnover is unclear. The proposed research will examine whether the engagement strategy motivates employees to stay longer at the company.
The study comes at an opportune time because findings will help Google reverse its currently high turnover rate. It is worth noting that certain engagement programs do not work for particular employees (Haid & Sims 2009). This stems from the fact that workers have different career needs and skill levels.
In addition, due to generational differences, the effectiveness of an engagement strategy is affected by age of the employees. Ideally, firms should use a different engagement strategy for a particular class of workers based on their needs, skill level, and age to increase retention.
It is known that organizations that have good engagement programs have lower turnover rates. Engagement strategies commonly employed include monetary rewards for good performance, recognition, training and development opportunities, and promotions (Haid & Sims 2009).
Google can adopt multiple extrinsic and intrinsic approaches to increase its retention rate. Being a technology company, a retention scheme that motivates (intrinsic) and rewards employees can reduce turnover.
Key Stakeholders
Husted and Allen (2010) define stakeholders as the people “who contribute to a company’s wealth-creating capacity” and potentially influence or are affected by the organisation (p. 12). The key stakeholders who may be affected by or have an interest in this study include Google’s HR managers, employees, shareholders, and directors.
HR Managers
According to the Bradfield Group (2010), the HR role affects all managers and workers and thus, engagement or communication should be tailored to meet each employee’s needs. The HR managers may be interested to know how the firm’s engagement strategy addresses the diverse needs of the employees. This will help them design engagement programs (intrinsic and extrinsic) that reflect the diverse needs of workers to curb the rising turnover rate.
Employees
The study will examine whether Google’s engagement programs fail to meet employees’ career expectations, forcing them to leave the firm. Their views about the programs will help reveal the causal factors that underlie the high employee turnover rate.
Shareholders
Employee turnover affects the productivity of organisations resulting in huge losses. Shareholders often measure a company’s growth potential based on its current sales volume and assets, such as its human resource. Thus, they often seek to know a company’s retention rate. For service-based companies, such as Google, attracting talented employees gives them a strong competitive advantage in the industry.
Directors
Directors may be interested in knowing which engagement programs are effective and worth investing in. As the people who influence decisions at the highest level, knowledge of the inefficacies of the current programs in preventing turnover can help them make better HR decisions.
Sources of Secondary Research
The study will consult multiple secondary research sources to enhance its credibility and evaluate alternative perspectives. The key secondary sources will include industry and company reports, academic papers, and professional publications. Industry reports will provide information about the turnover rate within the IT services industry.
In contrast, company reports will give specific statistics regarding the number of employees leaving the firm per year. Company reports are important HR data sources (The Bradfield Group 2010). They reveal the period an employee works in a firm before leaving as well as the reasons for his/her departure.
The study will also consult scholarly papers examining the link between employee engagement and turnover. Unlike company reports, academic publications are objective and peer-reviewed papers authored by distinguished scholars. Professional publications will be another important source of secondary data for this research.
They will give insights into employee motivation dynamics in the contemporary business environment. The secondary research will complement the primary data obtained through first-hand inquiry.
Secondary sources of information describing the work environments and an assortment of methods that Google uses to encourage their employees to stay will also be consulted. Technology firms assign employees special projects to engage them and encourage them to be creative and innovative.
Thus, the researcher will rely on company reports on successful projects to draw secondary data. These approaches may be oriented towards job satisfaction or empowerment of the employee by imparting requisite skills or giving an opportunity to skilled workers to develop innovative products. Thus, technology projects utilise the skills of employees and at the same time serve as an engagement strategy.
Methods of Primary Data Collection
The study will use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to collect primary data. The primary methods that the study will use include questionnaires, observations, focus groups, and interviewing (semi-structured).
Questionnaires – quantitative data will be collected using survey questionnaires administered on a sample of the current employees. The data will help reveal how employees rate Google’s intrinsic and extrinsic engagement methods. The questions will be structured in a way that they measure the effects of engagement.
This will enhance the instrument’s content validity (Creswell 2009). Responses will be ranked on a five-point Likert scale. The participants will answer the questions on a voluntary basis. Both structured and semi-structured questions will be used to collect qualitative data from the participants.
Observational research – the researcher will observe the respondents’ behaviour and attitudes towards the organisation’s engagement strategy. This will indicate their trust/loyalty to the organisation and its mission. Participant observations will enrich the data collected through the other methods.
Focus groups – this method will yield qualitative data related to the respondents’ opinions about Google’s engagement programs. Since they allow interaction within a group, focus groups are an important tool for obtaining people’s experiences and views on a particular program (Creswell 2009). The interaction between the participants will give insightful qualitative information about the level of engagement in the company.
Interviewing method – the study will use semi-structured interviews to collect qualitative data. The interviewer will ask a number of leading questions followed by minor ones to probe into different issues. Respondents will be interviewed on issues such their preferred engagement method, their satisfaction with the current program, and the period they expect to remain in the firm.
The researcher will interview current and past employees and managers of the company. Additional data, in the form of respondents’ non-verbal cues, will be collected during the interviewing session. The intention is to collect as much data as possible for cross-validation purposes. The interviews will be conducted at the convenience of the respondents.
The researcher will sample the employees using surveymonkey.com online tool. This approach will minimise the ethical issues related to confidentiality of personal information. The participants will indicate their preferred mode of engagement in online and answer a few survey questions.
Survey forms will be mailed to the respondents to collect the data in a fast and cost-effective manner. The respondents will be required to share their personal data, including age, gender, level of education, and career prospects. The information will help the researcher to determine whether the participants receive intrinsic or extrinsic engagement from the corporation.
It will also reveal their perceptions regarding the efficacy of the methods employed in meeting their career aspirations and dreams. The turnover statistics available in the company’s reports indicate how much the firm is losing in terms of human resources. Turnover is related to employee dissatisfaction and the absence of opportunities for career growth.
Therefore, the researcher will relate the turnover statistics with the employee’s responses on satisfaction with the engagement methods. This will reveal their willingness to leave or stay in the organisation. A cross-case comparison involving Google and other technology firms in the IT industry will be done.
Their engagement strategies and turnover rates will be compared to identify the most effective extrinsic and intrinsic approaches. However, before collecting the data, an evaluation will be done to determine if it will be possible to collect the type of data from the firms. The researcher will formally request the firms to allow him to access the turnover data for the study.
Given the sensitivity of the data, the researcher will keep the information confidential. The researcher will use the student’s t-test to compare the cases and draw conclusions regarding the efficacy of the engagement strategies employed by the different organisations. The aim is to compare Google’s engagement methods with those used by similar firms to determine the best approaches for the industry.
A permission letter will be sent to the VPs of Google and the other firms asking them to allow the researcher to use the turnover data of the respective firms for the research. In the analysis, it is expected that a difference in the engagement strategies used will result in different turnover rates. Additionally, since the companies belong to the same industry, the turnover rates are expected to be comparable.
Presentation of Findings
The study’s findings will indicate the impact of Google’s employee engagement strategy on retention. The results will be presented using summary reports and verbal presentations. The report, as outlined in the diagram below, will summarize the study’s findings and implications on employees and the management.
It will briefly highlight the areas that the managers should change to improve the effectiveness of the firm’s engagement strategy in preventing turnover and improve productivity (Marchinton & Wilkinson 2012). These may include training, competitive packages, or promotions. According to Stewart and Rigg (2011) training and development is among the most effective employee engagement strategies with regard to productivity improvement.
The report will also contain the aims and methodology used in the study as well as a conclusion. It will end with recommendations that will help the company overcome the turnover problem.
The researcher will also use the presentation method to share the study’s findings. He will present key information to the stakeholders verbally using a PowerPoint presentation. This method is a quick way of disseminating findings to stakeholders. The researcher will present the findings in a formal meeting or a conference involving all stakeholders.
The aim is to highlight the key challenges of the current engagement strategy and offer recommendations on how to respond to the high turnover rate. By comparing the engagement strategies that the corporation uses with the turnover statistics, the researcher will be able to determine the most effective methods for engaging employees.
It will identify extrinsic and intrinsic methods that yield the most benefits for the organisation. Additionally, the researcher will compare Google’s engagement strategy with similar firms in the IT industry. The cross-case comparisons will help determine the most effective strategy within the industry.
The findings will be useful in improving the organisation’s current corporate approach with regard to employee recruitment and retention. The engagement approaches in use in each organisation will be compared with its turnover rate in the industry to rank the best methods for use.
References
Creswell, J 2009, Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, Sage Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA.
Durmaz, L 2013, Employee Engagement: How 3 Top Companies Increased It. Web.
Haid, M & Sims, J 2009, Employee Engagement: Maximizing Organisational Performance. Web.
Husted, B & Allen, D 2010, Corporate Social Strategy: Stakeholder Engagement and Competitive Advantage, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Marchinton, M & Wilkinson, A 2012, Human Resource Management at Work, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, London.
Soni, S, 2013, ‘Employee Engagement: A key to Organisational Success in 21st Century’, Voice of Research, vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 51-55.
Stewart, J & Rigg, C 2011, Learning and Talent Development, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, London.
The Bradfield Group, 2010, Introduction to Workbook – Improving Organisational Performance, Bradfield Consulting Ltd, London.