According to Mawoli and Babandako (2011), motivation is an intrinsic quality that increases workers’ momentum to perform well. Motivation is, therefore, a psychological aspect that directly affects the persistence of behavior and its direction. Empowerment, on the other hand, involves allowing workers to make independent decisions at the workplace. Such freedom prevents time wastage since it may take a prolonged time for managers in a bureaucratic setting to finalize an issue. Empowerment is one of the motivating factors for workers. Since it is in the interests of every manager for operations to run smoothly and efficiently, it would be fundamental for top management at Hillcrest to adopt strategies that empower and, thereby, motivate their workforce.
High staff turnover is the main concern for any organization seeking to succeed in a competitive market. Although the costs are not directly visible, staff turnover causes an employer to incur substantial overheads in training new employees. In addition, poor perception and understanding of the cause of high turnover usually lead the employer to raise the wages of other employees. Such a response increases the labor costs. Reducing staff turnover helps retain a stable workforce. The operations of the organization run without interruptions, thus increasing efficiency (Devadass &Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 2011).
The main cause of staff turnover at Hillcrest Memorial Hospital is job autonomy dissatisfaction. The best approach to counteract the problem is training employees on multiple skills. With multiple skills, employees can be rotated in shifts to different areas of operation, thereby, acquiring experience at different environmental setups within the hospital. Similarly, additional training on areas of specialization boosts a worker’s confidence when making decisions. At the same time, managers should receive specialized training to dislodge their mentalities from traditional management. The training should be focused on enlightening the managers on benefits emerging from cordial relations with their juniors. Successful implementation of an empowerment and motivation program will principally depend on attitudinal change by the managers (Devadass &Universiti Tenaga Nasional, 2011).
A committee investigates a matter to propose mitigation measures. However, implementation is only possible upon endorsement of recommendations by the top management. Participation by the upper management is paramount in order to encourage the lower-ranking managers to accept change. The committee would require devising a strategy to manage the expected change. This would allow it to take care of resistance likely to be faced when extricating managers from their comfort zones. The committee could also trigger success by extensively analyzing the costs the hospital incurs as a result of employee exit, and demonstrating how the program would reduce them. The committee could further enlighten the management on empowerment and motivation strategies that do not embroil incurring extra expenditure, namely, to facilitate the adoption of its recommendations (Mawoli & Babandako, 2011).
The committee could consider conducting employee appraisals in order to identify individual needs. Such an approach would allow the committee to perceive the workforce and cluster the employees in terms of preference. This would allow the committee to identify external and internal factors that can motivate and empower the workers (Hausknecht, Rodda & Howard, 2009).
The Committee only suggests recommendations after deliberating on a given mandate. Adoption and implementation depend entirely on the management. Committee members must keep an open mind since the decision to implement recommendations is not theirs. At the same time, sustainable change comes from within rather than externally. Therefore, it would be inappropriate to seek placement elsewhere. Presence in the organization would act as a driving force towards the search for other viable ways of reducing staff turnover. The exit of one employee is the cause of demotivation to the rest. In addition, it is better to face challenges directly.
References
Devadass, R.,& Universiti Tenaga Nasional.(2011). Employees Motivation in organizations: An integrative literaturereview. 2011 International Conference on Sociality and Economics Development, 10(1), 566-569.
Hausknecht, J.P., Rodda, J.M., & Howard, M.J. (2009).Targeted Employee Retention: Performance-based and Job-related Differences in Reported Reasons for Staying.Human Resource Management, 48(1), 269-288.
Mawoli, M.A., & Babandako, A.Y.(2011). An Evaluation of Staff Motivation, Dissatisfaction and Job Performance in an Academic Setting. Australian Journal of Business and Management Research,1(9), 01-13.