The case study highlights employee retention as a problem to an organization and the primary causes of the problem as well as its effects on the organization. As a consultant, I can identify several issues in this case that are related to organization retention. First, the major issue is employee recruitment and retention.
Secondly, there is mass job dissatisfaction from the dealers and sweepers, and lastly, there is an element of negative change in employee behavior due to job dissatisfaction. There are many instances in the case study that show the problems that define employee retention in this organization. From the case, it is evident that despite the casino owner paying his dealers more pay than other casinos give, many of the dealers have left to join the other casinos.
Most of the housekeepers are said to be absent creating a crisis in the organization: Accounting, payroll and other departments have enlisted assistance of permanent employees in periodical clean up of rooms. The director of housekeeping, Andrew Keehn also admits that there is a problem with employee retention by admitting that it is so difficult to find good employees.
Further, the case reveals that the owner of the casino himself knows that there is a problem with retention of dealers. The solution I would give to the owner of the casino would be based on two theories of employee motivation. These are the Maslow theory of needs and Herzberg theory. According to Maslow theory, employee motivation comes only if the employers meet the needs of their employees according to their relative importance.
The primary needs that call for attention are physiological needs, which include hunger and thirst. Following the physiological needs are the safety needs that are concerned with the security and protection of the employee when at his working place (Smith, 1999, p. 120). After the safety needs in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, are the social needs that evoke a sense of belonging to a certain group or being loved.
Above the social needs are the self-esteem and self-actualization needs respectively. Self-esteem and self-actualization needs are concerned with individual recognition of his/her status and pride in their achievements. Considering the case in JC’s casino, the organization has only satisfied the employee’s physiological needs but neglected their safety needs.
Their opinion about their pit boss, Joe, reveals this. The employers describe the character of Joe as being toxic, overbearing, evil and uncompetitive. Moreover, Joe is the casino owner’s stepson, and as a result, he has great influence in the casino, and it would be so difficult reporting him to the owner because he would perhaps take insignificant action if any. This situation makes the workers feel very unsafe.
It is evident that regardless of better pay than their colleagues in other casinos, the dealers prefer going to those casinos at lower pay. The reason behind this rare behavior rests on the fact that, although good pay is also a need, “it is high up the hierarchy of needs and satisfying it without satisfying lower needs like safety needs would serve as a barrier to employee motivation” (Legge, 2010, p.112).
I would, therefore, recommend to the casino’s owner to consider his employees’ safety before other needs like good pay. He should do this by persuading Joe to change his character, transferring him to a section where he would not associate a lot with many employees, or even demoting him. The result would be a better-satisfied employee pool with high motivation.
As a result, more employees would be retained, hence cutting down the cost of employee turnover. The other recommendation that I would give to JC’s casino owner borrows from Herzberg’s theory of motivation. In my recommendation, I would advise the owner to make use of employee empowerment as a motivator to the leaving employees.
According to Herzberg, “employee empowerment means giving the employees more power to make decisions of their own on issues concerning their areas of work without being answerable to anybody” (Barrick, & Zimmerman, 2005, p.35). It is a democratic approach to organizational management, and it works very well on many occasions.
Empowering the employees not only motivates them but also evokes a sense of importance in the organizations. Thus, by empowering the housekeepers, the undue influence from Joe would be a thing of the past. Since this problem is the major reason why most of them were leaving the casino, the move would ensure their retention.
Also, the act of empowering the human resource director would result in him having the ground to confront the owner about Joe’s character. He would also have the express authority to reprimand Joe and recommend a change in his behavior. As a result, employees would not suffer under Joe, and this would act as a motivator to them, and the organization would eliminate the retention problems it experiences.
The possible occupation stressors I can identify in this case include improper treatment of workers by their seniors, overworking and negligence to employees’ needs. Improper treatment of workers comes out clearly through dissatisfaction and exit of dealers because of the intolerable behavior of Joe.
To eliminate this stressor, the organization should empower the Human Resource director who is directly above him so that the HR Manager can be at a position to reprimand Joe’s intolerable behavior. The management should also consider transferring Joe to a section in the casino where not many people will be under him. As a result, they would eliminate his negative effects on people’s motivation levels.
Consequently, the dealers will not see the need for leaving the organization. The owner of the pub is indifferent about Joe’s intolerable behavior and attributes customers’ upset about their being delayed before checking in. However, he does not investigate to know what causes the delay. He therefore probably knows about mass absenteeism from housekeepers, but his negligence about their welfare blinds him against their concerns.
His negligence about the dealers in the casino makes him not to bother about their exit to other casinos. His behavior only serves to worsen the condition at the casino since there is a shortage of employees. To overcome this occupational stressor, I would advise the management to be conscious of the welfare of the employees.
They should also interview them when they are leaving as this would help create a base for solving problems within the casino. Overworking as an occupational stressor comes out when the housekeepers are forced to do extra work due to the absence of their colleagues. A comparison with workers holding similar positions in other casino reveals that even though they are paid similar amounts, the situation at JC’s casino makes them do extra work.
The permanent workers also get subjected to overworking because of the extra work they have to do on behalf of the absent housekeepers. To avoid this occupational stressor, I would advise the management to review the wages of the housekeepers upwards. Job satisfaction is a very important factor that influences employee retention.
Employees with job satisfaction always wish that they “could stay at their places of work because of the high levels of motivation that they experience there” (Smith, 1985, p.141). In the casino case, there is no job satisfaction for most employees. This has caused most of the dealers to leave to other casinos at lower pay. There is mass absenteeism from the housekeepers, which causes a crisis within the casino.
The visitors have to wait before they check in while the casino has to hire a storeman to take care of their luggage. Besides, the present housekeepers have to work for longer for the same pay while some permanent workers have to do a job meant for housekeepers. All these happenings arise from a common problem: lack of job satisfaction.
To curb the problem of lack of job satisfaction, the casino management should provide all the employee needs and an environment free from intimidating characters or individuals negligent to employee’s welfare (Barrick, & Zimmerman, 2005, p.33). The management should also empower the employees to make them feel in control in their working areas (Smith, 1985, p.142).
As a result, the employees would have high levels of motivation making it impossible for them to leave the organization, unless if it is the decision of the management. Counterproductive employee behavior is exhibited by Joe’s intolerable behavior and the mass exit by dealers and absenteeism by the housekeepers.
The intolerable behavior of Joe as a pit boss spoils his relations with both those under him and above him. As a result, many have left while others do not report to work. The absenteeism of the housekeepers is a counterproductive behavior because it causes a crisis within the casino.
Many people work beyond their daily limits while others have to stop their jobs and intervene on those of the absent workers. Since the root cause of these problems is Joe’s intolerable behavior, the first solution I would suggest is an intervention aimed at correcting Joe’s behavior. Moves aimed at taking care of employees’ needs should then follow.
References
Barrick, M., & Zimmerman, D. (2005). Reducing voluntary, avoidable turnover through selection. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(6), 159-166.
Legge, B. (2010). How to Improve Employee Retention. Architects of High Performance Organizations. NewYork: Cengage Learning.
Smith, G. (1999). Creating Pride What Great Managers Do To Improve Retention. Growth and Leadership. New York: Cengage Learning
Smith, E. (1985). Effective Employee Selection is the Missing Link. Improving Organizational Commitment and Retention. Retrieved <www.aha-solutions.org/aha…/RetentionWhitePapeTestSource.pdf>