Organizing, Researching and illustrating your material
This part is about gathering the necessary information to begin the process of determining the root cause of the problems that Phoenix advertising is facing. To sum up the issue at hand, the company is losing clients because of the Virginia branch and both the customers and employees are unhappy at the way things are turning out in the branch. My job is to gather enough information about the problem and in this section; I will attempt to detail the methods that I would use to research and organize the information.
First, I have to prepare myself for the visit to the branch and for this I need to create a list of employees that are working there and who would be in a position to give me information regarding the issues that they are facing. I can access the names of the people that I want to interview and I have to remember to tell them to keep the interview and the material that would be discussed in the interview confidential.
As part of my interview process, I have to ensure that the company is meeting all its contractual obligations and that it is fulfilling the regulatory and compliance policies in this regard. This would include the questions about why the company is not paying employees for overtime and who is overseeing the employees at the branch office. These are the basic questions that I intend to seek answers for. Further, the question that why not all employees are complaining needs to be answered as well. As a HR manager, I have to find out if there are other reasons for employees quitting and since the process of attrition comes under the HR manager’s competency as well, I need to find out and take appropriate steps to stop the flow of employees leaving the organization.
After I have framed the questions, I have to prepare a questionnaire of sorts and then take it to the employees of the branch office and get their answers to the same. Finally, as part of the researching assignment, I have to design surveys to be used by the employees. Now comes the part where I have to organize the material and this would require merging the answers from the employees by collating all the responses and then consolidating the information that is given in the surveys.
I have to list down the problems that are being faced by the employees and then find the solutions for each. It would help if I can list down the problems in a bullet point format and create a matrix where the solutions are listed against the problems that have been described so far. After the surveys and the collection of data, I need to find solutions to the problems that have been described. This calls for meetings with the other stakeholders and I may have to interview people at the head office as well.
Once I am through with organizing and researching data, I have to begin the process of illustrating the data and using it to produce charts and graphs that would be necessary to explain the problem along with the possible solutions. This would consist of iterations where the problems and their solutions are consolidated and then for each of the problems, the solutions are presented in both a written report form as well as by using charts and other pictorial representations.
Finally, I need to revise my draft and iron out the differences if any between the different versions of the solution matrix. This would conclude the part of organizing, researching and illustrating the data.
Writing the report
- Outline
- Introduction
- Description of the investigation
- Possible causes
- Proposed solutions
- Conclusion
Introduction
This report is intended for Mr. Gregory Forest, the President of Phoenix advertising. The purpose of this report is to find out the reasons for the high attrition levels in the Virginia branch office of our company and the results of my investigation that I undertook in this regard. This report is based on my observations along with answers to the surveys and the questionnaires that I distributed among the employees.
Description of the investigation
One of the main reasons for preparing this report was the fact that Phoenix advertising was losing clients and employees in large numbers and as the HR manager, I was entrusted with the task of finding out the reasons for the same as well as any solutions that I might propose in the process. The report is written based on my field trip to the Virginia branch office and contains the results of my investigation into the reasons for the issue being discussed.
Possible causes
I found out from the employees that new accounts were being taken with an intention to increase the revenues of the company without taking into consideration the working hours of the employees and the current workload that they are having. This has led to a situation where employees are being asked to work overtime without overtime allowance and this has led to heartburn and lower morale among the employees.
The other possible causes of the issue at hand is because of a mismatch in the skill sets of the employees with the work that they are doing and hence this has led to a situation where employees are being suffocated at work. Finally, the other cause is the lack of recreation and leisure activities at work as well as need for some team building activities.
Proposed solutions
As a HR manager, one of my duties is to ensure that all the regulatory laws and policies are being complied with. Hence, I wish to state in this report that we have to pay overtime allowance for the employees and that this is necessary from a legal point of view as well as an ethical perspective. Hence, the first recommendation is to pay overtime to all the employees and compensate them for the extra hours.
Further, I propose that employees be given work that matches their skill set and that there need to be team building activities that should go along with the fun and leisure at work. As such, the issues that are being faced are people related and hence these steps would go a long way in addressing the issue.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would like to draw the attention of Mr. Forest to the fact that we need to treat our branch offices much in the same way as we treat our head office. Hence, it becomes necessary to inculcate a professional attitude in the branch as well. I end my report with the hope that my findings would be implemented.
Reference
Turner, Robert. Organizing, Researching and illustrating your material.
Turner, Robert. Writing the report.