Introduction
RCTC is a facility that treats individuals with substance abuse issues and the affected individuals in their lives and helps them in restoration as productive functioning members of society. The paper provides RCTC’s mission, size, programs, services, a brief description of the leadership team, and the organizational structure. Further, the paper explains the issue that RCTC has been facing in recent years and analyzes the issue from the leadership theoretical perspective. In addition, the paper discusses the change approach applied by the leaders of RCTC while determining which features and leadership styles could have led to the issue. The research paper explains which features and styles are necessary to resolve the issue. The paper explains how leadership styles and theories support the leader’s actions. Lastly, the paper analyzes how leadership changes can fit within the organizational context while upholding ethical standards needed for social work professionals.
RCTC’s Mission, Size, Programs, and Services
RCTC is a medical practice firm with its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, United States (US), and was established in 2009. The organization strongly values its mission to provide and assure access to higher quality community-based outpatient health services and supports that are accessible to meet the mental and behavioral needs of adolescents, children, and families. Currently, the company’s revenue size of more than $5 million, and its employees size ranges from 1 to 10 people (SignalHire, 2022). Admission within its scope of care is to the American Society of Addictive Medicine (ASAM) levels. RCTC is at Level 1 of the ASAM program. The facility services provided are structured and organized non-residential services given to adolescents aged between 13 to 18 years who meet the eligibility needs for treatment. The organization offers adolescent outpatient services in anger management and substance abuse therapy. Adolescent therapy happens in a therapeutic group environment that assists participants in comprehending and fighting the problems and issues they are experiencing associated with substance abuse and/ or anger problems. The Adolescent therapy program can last from three to six months.
A Brief Description of the Leadership Team
RCTC has a group of ten workers who are dedicated to offering the required services to its clients. The organization ensures its interdisciplinary strategy for programming is offered via the involvement of qualified addiction counselors. The company engages in a weekly team meeting, which comprises case consultation, training, and peer collaboration to support the interaction of the service team. The management team, program staff, and program coordinators review and evaluate the level where program objectives and goals are being fulfilled using the outcome management system of the organization (Bromley, 2018). The management team uses the information to develop resource allocation resolutions for program support. In terms of the annual budget process, the housing coordinators are engaged in the budgeting process with the leadership team and champion the program’s needs. After the preliminary budget is finalized, each coordinator is offered a chance to offer feedback to the management group based on potential outcome influences of declined line items (SignalHire, 2022). Upon the final budget being approved, the programs’ needs are evaluated monthly at the meeting, and financing of the management team may be altered based on the situations and needs of individual programs.
Organizational Structure of the Agency
RCTC has a flat organizational structure because it has fewer levels of management between the labor force and the top-level managers. Having fewer managerial levels simplifies internal communication and supports faster decision-making where responsibility and power are divided evenly across the organization (Palepu et al., 2020). The employees in this organization report directly to their top managers, implying the middle managers’ role is shared between the employees and the senior-level managers. This structure serves to inspire workers who are more autonomous in the workplace as in the case of counselors (Bromley, 2018. However, the flat structure may lead to a lack of clarity on who is accountable and responsible for given tasks in RCTC.
The Problem RCTC Faces
RCTC’s ongoing issue has been retaining qualified Staff and it looks to be continuous fallout from the employment shortages developed from the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has found it challenging to retain most of the qualified staff because of increasing demands from workers and the current economic crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic that exacerbated the problem. Based on the organizational flat structure the power and influence of employees are high leading them to determine and set their salary. Retention has emerged to be an issue because workers quote a high figure beyond the company that has set a budget and are not ready to compromise (Hom et al., 2019). The management may control the issue of workers quitting the firm within a short time largely, even though cannot put an end to it completely.
Some of the challenges RCTC faces in its employee retention comprise salary dissatisfaction, job opportunities are high in counseling, hiring of the wrong candidate, unrealistic expectations of workers, and lack of job rotation. The company faces a challenge from large organization competitors in the industry who lure its talented and qualified employees with high remuneration (HRD, 2020). Hence, the availability of these lucrative offers makes it challenging to retain their best and most qualified employees for a long. Salary dissatisfaction emerges because employees have high salary expectations and some end up quitting to look for better options available in the market. The problem may be ongoing because of hiring the wrong candidate since recruitment plays a critical role and is the future of a company (Hom et al., 2019). Having the right candidate for a job provides a good future and hiring the wrong candidate may present a bad future for RCTC.
Further, most workers get bored when they do the same work for years. During the initial phase, the work could be interesting and good; however, it might become monotonous. In this situation, the management should go for a job rotation and offer such workers an opportunity to carry out something new. Nevertheless, without job rotation, such workers could search for new job avenues elsewhere (Kaźmierczyk et al., 2020). In addition, when the unrealistic expectations of workers are not fulfilled at RCTC, they are compelled to search for new jobs.
Employee Retention Problem from a Leadership Theoretical Perspective
Leadership in an organization plays a critical role in ensuring either workers leave or remain in the company, hence, it winds up as one of the elements influencing staff retention. Leadership improves employee morale and level of job satisfaction (HRD, 2020). An effective leader may comprehend organizational needs and improve workers to fulfill such needs; thus, leadership is a key determinant of staff retention fulfillment, profitability, and duty (Hom et al., 2019). Leaders with regard from the subordinates have high confidence and are elite in the division whereas leaders without regard confronted highly different grievances to the management, high truancy, and high staff turnover rate.
Companies operate in a highly competitive atmosphere to achieve and retain a competitive edge. Leaders’ role in staff retention is essential because their leadership styles influence directly the feelings of workers about the company (Capkun & Ors, 2021). An organization aims to retain its workforce to prevent qualified workers from leaving the company because it might have negative effects on service delivery and productivity. Hence, retaining workers permits top and line managers to draw and effectively retain dedicated workers for a long time as is mutually lucrative to the employee and the organization (Bromley, 2018). Hence, any company with the aim of growing needs to retain its talented and valuable employees.
Further, executives in companies adopt various leadership styles based on their orientation, which may be influenced by the education system, culture, that a manager experienced, or organizational atmosphere. Therefore, a leadership approach adopted by a given manager has a way it influences staff performance, motivation, and organizational commitment that in turn can influence the decision of workers to either stay or leave with the company (HRD, 2020). Staff retention is significant to the continuing success of a company due to the knowledge and skills that workers accumulate while they work for RCTC. Since the company has a high level of employee turnover rates it experiences the effort and costs of hiring, inducting, and training new workers, having the risk of business disruption while new workers get up to speed on the work (Monica, 2019). Despite the employee retention problem being put to several motivational aspects, comprehending the leadership style perspective on staff retention is critical.
However, with the rates of employment increasing in recent years and the emergence of the gig economy, attaining talented and qualified workers has been becoming a challenging activity for companies. Further, the COVID-19 pandemic disruption has made the space more difficult for many firms including RCTC. While several aspects may influence the problem, most of them may be associated with the approach and style of top leadership in RCTC (Kaźmierczyk et al., 2020). Effective and strong leadership may enhance culture, and workforce engagement, and instill the inspirational and motivational level that can otherwise have been lacking. Leadership is a major aspect in tapping into worker happiness and influencing retention. Leaders who fail to engage their employees will certainly lose them to their competitors in the industry (Hom et al., 2019). Hence, RCTC’s leadership team should create an atmosphere of open communication and honesty, where workers feel respected, have a purpose, and are valued. Workers should feel as if they are supported and may bring their whole selves to the work.
Moreover, leaders should understand that communication is critical in this case and need to be abundantly present to compensate for the possible issues of interacting devoid of co-location. It may be implied that body language and tone of voice add up to 93% of what is communicated during a discussion, and these findings are correct from a leadership perspective (HRD, 2020). Worker trust may be attained and retained by embracing honest and open discussions to feel at ease approaching their leaders. Leadership can influence staff retention when they recognize workers as a key category. It aims at making workers feel appreciated, achieved, and significant to the organization’s overall success. It calls for leaders to understand and establish an organizational culture for continuous employee recognition. Employees who have received much recognition will show fewer efforts in the job hunt for the next six months (Kaźmierczyk et al., 2020). Leaders should also often model their firm’s values where they embody the kind of organizational culture they would prefer their workers to exhibit.
The Change Approach Applied by the Leaders of RCTC
Organizational leadership employs an authoritative leadership style having it which the managers have to report directly to their managers devoid of their supervisors. RCTC management has set strict rules for their workers and is obliged to adhere to them unless one gets fired. The organization’s employees are expected to report to their work on time and as programmed, and inconveniences without proper explanations lead to automatic dismissal. The team framework, which entails the facility and its co-employees relies on employees’ regular attendance. (SignalHire, 2022) If an employee, in any case, fails to report to work at the agreed time, he/she is anticipated to notify the Chief Operating Officer (COO) in advance for plans to be made to cover one’s responsibilities and duties.
Further, the COO needs to be notified within 45 minutes of the employee’s normal start time, apart from the cases of emergencies. In addition, the company does not allow any friends or relatives to call and notify on the employee’s behalf. Staff members are seen to be tardy when they are not in their allocated work area organized to carry out their job duties when their scheduled shift starts. Excessive tardiness or absenteeism can lead to disciplinary action and when staff fail to report to the job for a programmed shift and fails to make a call to the COO or manager supervisor within a day, one will be seen to have voluntarily quit his/her employment with the company. The work schedule policies have contributed to an increased rate of staff turnover because current workers prefer a work-life balance that offers them flexibility and understanding managers or leaders in times of emergencies (SignalHire, 2022). The leadership approach to managing workers has exacerbated the problem of retaining talented and valuable employees because of strict and unbending rules that they end up terminating or losing their qualified workers for issues that could be resolved and retain their workers.
RCTC leaders have embraced task-oriented leadership behaviors, in which they are most about attaining defined targets of the company. They encourage their workers to accomplish their goals by providing them with exact definitions concerning their duties, establishing criteria and objectives for assessment, specifying instructions and directions, setting time schedules, and measuring the ways by which the objectives might be accomplished (Palepu et al., 2020). Hence, they utilize one way of communication strategy with their subordinates concerning their responsibilities and duties and the manner they are anticipated to complete them. However, specifying directions and defining roles for employees can be a motivator for workers based on what sort of staff one is working with and can be a demotivator for other workers leading to quitting. Hence, it depends on the features of a given employee as per the achievement theory of McClelland. It could be the reason the company has experienced an increasing number of workers leaving because of the changing dynamics of the work environment in this digital era (Hom et al., 2019). Employees prefer flexibility over rigidity and permit two-way communications and engagement.
RCTC Change Approach to Address the Problem
The organization should adopt relationship-centered leadership behaviors and transformational leadership styles. In this case, the leaders of RCTC will mostly concentrate on establishing and building interpersonal relationships. Contrary to task-centered leaders, they will adopt a two-way approach to communicating with their subordinates. Hence, the leaders will have a sense of supporting their workers emotionally and socially contributing to enhanced employee retention. The workers in this perspective feel valued and appreciated in their organization (Tian et al., 2020). The change will help their workers feel comfortable at their workplace and establish their careers.
The leaders of RCTC focus on supporting, developing, and recognizing their workers for the effort and contributions they make to the organization. In this perspective, effective leaders direct workers in a way that permits them to contribute to the organization’s overall goal accomplishment (Dwiedienawati, 2020). Integrating transformational leadership along this will aid in enhancing employee retention at RCTC. Leaders at RCTC must execute the traits of a transformational leadership style (Tian et al., 2020). For example, they have to create a compelling vision for workers, concentrate on goal accomplishment, have problem-solving tactics, have a sense of purpose, and take time to train and build the team to improve organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and staff retention.
The contingency theory, demands that different leadership styles must address the various situations to guarantee high rates of retention. Hence, this theory is appropriate for RCTC because it has a stable and formal working environment (Dwiedienawati, 2020). An effective leader enhances employee morale which in turn has a high motivational level and influences job satisfaction of a worker and retention. Further trait theory considers leaders to have superhuman abilities because leaders’ achievement may be empowered with his/her swings and adherents into staff retention. Further, the path-goal theory emphasizes four leadership behaviors such as supportive, directive, achievement-centered, and participative and this aligns with the relationship-centered leadership behaviors approach (Govindaraju, 2018). The leadership theories have summed up that an effective leader improves employee morale which in turn increases motivation and influences employee job satisfaction and retention.
How Leadership Changes will fit within the RCTC’s Context
Transformational leadership style and relationship-oriented leadership behaviors fit into the context of RCTC because they create a positive and valuable change in the subordinates to establish subordinates into leaders. The leadership changes focus on transforming others to support one another and the entire organization (Dwiedienawati, 2020). In return, the staff will respond to the transformational leaders by feeling admiration, respect, trust, and loyalty for leaders and ready to work harder than expected to achieve organizational goals. The staff will be capable of working as a team with a shared goal and leaders need to inspire workers to see ahead with an aim on greater things and operate as a single unit (Tian et al., 2020). By embracing the changes, RCTC will have an opportunity to retain most of its talented and valuable employees and avoid an ongoing high staff turnover rate.
Conclusion
Management and leadership at RCTC should instill an organizational culture that is supportive at the workplace because it contributes to a higher level of employee morale and job satisfaction; hence, decreasing staff turnover or increasing staff retention. In addition, workplace relationship behaviors influence the quality of the workplace, which in turn affects staff retention. However, through the adoption of better leadership styles and approaches such as transformational leadership and relationship-centered leadership behaviors, the company can accomplish better staff retention.
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