Introduction
The paper aims to analyze the case study “Gardens for All Supply Company: Older Workers as a Tactical Advantage for Business” authored by Donna Austin-Hawley and published by Society for Human Resource Management (Austin-Hawley, 2014).
Gardens for All Supply Company (GASC) was formed in 2008 by four partners to provide essential gardening tools to clients. The company has a strategic objective of ensuring 100% customer satisfaction; however, this drive appears to wane as the company brings in new and younger employees. The partners seem not to appreciate the role of the older workers in the company and continue to overlook them. The older and more experienced employees have decided to leave GASC for other start-ups, and the four partners are very disturbed about what contributes to the departures.
The partners have to meet and brainstorm about how the business is doing and ways it could use to attract older employees. They should also create new and preferable career opportunities for veterans. Conversely, it has to set up meetings that foster the exchange of information between the two sets of players, therefore, retaining knowledge in the company. GASC can address its current challenges and pursue strategic, effective growth by utilizing the expertise of experienced employees, particularly those with gardening skills and a strong understanding of the company’s culture.
The Older Employees’ Reaction to the Changes at GASC
When Brian, Mattie, Tom, and Sam started their gardening supply business, the organization enjoyed 100% customer loyalty established by Brian’s grandparents and maintained by the partners. This enables the business to grow exponentially, necessitating the hiring of new staff. The initial employees found a positive business environment and culture that focused on ample training from the partners and a known goal of customer satisfaction. However, as the business has continued to grow, GASC partners have hired many new and young personnel (Austin-Hawley, 2014).
The new hires have not received adequate training compared to the initial employees, and the company has transitioned from having partners perform the training to delegating it to various departmental managers. The new hires also appear to be lacking motivation, resulting in high absenteeism rates and subpar customer service. These factors have compromised customer service quality, resulting in decreased sales, which is a concern for most partners. The partners are also concerned about why older employees are leaving their organization.
Brian is a grandson of the Williams, the local farm owners, whom GASC purchased to set up its work. He has been assigned the responsibility of heading the company’s general operations. A company’s general operations manager oversees the organization’s day-to-day activities to ensure that its mission, vision, and strategic objectives are achieved (Mom et al., 2019). He performs this mandate by supervising managers in day-to-day sales and marketing activities.
Brian has been concerned about expanding the business for the last four months. This has impacted the business negatively since his initial role of training employees was neglected (Austin-Hawley, 2014). Pam, Mac, and Sheila have reacted poorly to the changes, neglecting the customers and refusing to give the older employees the attention and respect they deserve. They also have concerns as they have lost a voice and influence over the organization’s operations.
Pam Santiago’s Reaction
Pam is one of the earliest employees of GASC and joined the company during its start-up phase, playing a key role in its growth. She has been a key customer service employee for the company and is familiar with all the top 100 employees. Pam has not been happy with the recent changes and has asked Mattie, her partner, to plan to leave the company. The working environment at GASC has not been satisfactory, and Mattie and the other partners have always recognized the need to improve it if they want her to stay (Austin-Hawley, 2014).
Pam and her friend, who also happens to be her coworker, Sara, do not feel they can tough it out in GASC’s toxic work environment any longer and want to get out. Pam shares her opinion with Mattie on how the company has stopped holding regular informal and formal gatherings, which have shaped the company’s culture in the past. This, she feels, is a loss and degradation of the strong work ethic that the company previously held. The company has also shifted the habit of recognizing well-performing employees and rewarding them with a decision that Pam disagrees with.
Pam believes that the new GASC employees need to understand what the company stands for, particularly its commitment to achieving a 100% customer satisfaction rate. According to Pam, the meetings helped the new employees get introduced to the company and understand it better. The meetings were also beneficial for the companies’ older employees, as they helped them better understand the new products introduced by the gardening company (Austin-Hawley, 2014).
Pam’s boss, Brian, has replaced the informal and formal meetings with training delivered by a company employee, rather than the partners. Although Pam does not comment on the people who conduct the training, she believes that the argument that the trainers are awesome is incorrect. Pam and Sam are also leaving because of wage concerns. They have noticed that GASC is undervaluing them, and the company has decided to hire new, experienced employees, planning to compensate them more for doing the same kind of work. Eight other experienced workers also share the concerns raised by Pam, and losing those employees with many years at the company could hurt GASC.
Mac Stone’s Reaction
Just like Pam, Mac joined GASC during its initial days and is the first employee to work in the company’s warehouse. Mac is concerned about how the company is currently handling its operations. One of the issues that Mac dislikes is that the company recently hired two new employees to work with him, but has chosen to ignore him. They prefer to raise their concerns with Sam, who has recently been spending less time in the warehouse.
Mac is concerned that the company has chosen to ignore all the initially agreed procedures for running the business. Mac believes that ignorance leads to the company making many shipment and inventory tracking mistakes (Austin-Hawley, 2014). These issues have made him disinterested in the business, as Sam has noticed he is not engaged in his work. The company should therefore take measures to solve some of the issues that Sam is facing if they wants him to be re-engaged.
Sheila Torrez’s Reaction
Sheila has been acting as a salesperson for GASC for four years. She has been reporting to Brian, a partner who has noticed that she excels in her role. Her success in trade is the main reason why the partners choose her. Like the two employees discussed above, Sheila has noticed changes in how GASC operates, prompting her to consider retirement.
Sheila is critical to the company, and the partners would love her to stay with them for the next three years. Sheila loves gardening, a passion that led her to return to it after retirement. However, the increased turnover in the company has made her question the decision to return (Austin-Hawley, 2014). The lack of adequate training among new employees has resulted in other employees having to do extra work to cover for them.
Sheila also has a negative reaction to hiring employees with little gardening experience. The inexperienced new workers offer substandard services, and the partners are not keen on making them aware of a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee. Sheila has been forced to work extra hours because of these problems, and the changes have contributed to her desire to quit.
Ways to Attract and Maintain Older Employees
Several benefits could be added to the benefit packages to retain older employees. These benefits could be similar to those received by the younger workers or could be unique to attract the more experienced ones. Some financial benefits that could be added to attract them include offering them Pension schemes, compensating them in the form of shares, advancing travel loans to older workers, giving them maternity and paternity leaves, as well as advancing various bonuses and giving them health benefits packages and well-being packages such as sick pay, gym memberships, sick pay, flexible working hours, and offering them private medical insurance packages.
Offering Pension Packages
GASC could motivate and keep the older employees in the organization by offering them attractive pension packages. Studies show that organizations that offer pension packages are more likely to retain employees than those that do not (Kinicki & Williams, 2020). Pension plans are more influential for older employees who are nearing retirement than for younger workers, who don’t see the immediate impact of pension benefits on their lives.
The management of GASC should communicate clearly the terms and policies of their benefits packages. Apart from ensuring that it keeps older employees advancing, pension benefits also result in tax deductions, benefiting the company financially. If GASC had pension benefits, it could increase its chances of retaining and attracting workers like Pam, as well as attracting older workers from other organizations that do not offer pension benefits.
Rewarding Older Employees with Shares
GASC could retain older employees by fostering a culture that rewards them through stock options or shares. When employees are compensated using shares, they are more likely to feel part of the company’s ownership and thus reduce their chances of leaving (Kinicki & Williams, 2020). Share-based compensation also helps foster strong employee relations, as employees play a significant role in shaping how clients perceive the company (Kim & Baker, 2019). The partners need to revive regular informal and formal gatherings where they can discuss the compensation package they would like most with employees, both young and old.
Compensating workers with shares can cause share dilution and potentially harm the company. However, managers should also recognize that this form of compensation leads to employees working more effectively and being more loyal to the company. The partners must find the optimal trade-off that ensures employee compensation through shares while also being mindful of avoiding share dilution. Adopting the same compensation and reward method throughout the company will also help retain older workers, as they feel a sense of belonging and connection. Rewards given in the form of shares also result in the gardening organization expanding in valuation.
Offering Travelling Loans
Older and more experienced employees prefer having breaks and could be retained and attracted to the organization by being offered traveling packages. Studies show that giving employees breaks contributes to a positive outcome for older employees, helping them become happier and healthier (Kinicki & Williams, 2020). The happiness of inexperienced workers could then be transferred to the younger workers, thus contributing to the company’s overall well-being.
Older workers are also more effective when offered flexible work arrangements, as they consistently value a good work-life balance (Kelliher et al., 2019). The company should also allow older and more experienced employees to have tours with the rest of the company members. The company should pay for the travelers to ensure they make their own decisions in the work environment.
Offering Free Training Packages
The relationship between employee training and development and their attraction and retention remains positive. By offering regular training programs, older employees can acquire skills essential to the company’s growth and development (Chams & García-Blandón, 2019). The partners could utilize retention and development programs to enhance the skills of experienced employees or transfer their existing skills to newer workers through these programs. First, upskilling these workers’ skills will help them perform their roles more effectively, and therefore, they will be less likely to quit due to tiring work. The experienced workers will also view the training programs as a means for the company to recognize and appreciate their good work.
Giving Appreciation Tokens
Showing appreciation is one of the simplest and most effective ways to attract and retain older employees within the company. The company could use various techniques to help older workers understand its values. The company could offer the training and development programs discussed above to older workers at no cost, thereby appreciating them while also enhancing their careers.
The partners could also show appreciation by sending handwritten notes to thank older employees for their contributions to the organization. The four partners should also recall the regular formal and informal meetings and use them to appreciate all the older workers who have made significant contributions to the company. This will result in increased morale, and since the older workers, in most cases, are the leaders, the feeling will be transferred to the rest of the workers in the organization.
Private Medical Cover Package
The company can promote a healthy work environment by offering older workers private medical coverage at no cost. Promoting a work culture that fosters a healthy work-life balance will lead to the attraction and retention of top talent. Older employees are more likely to stay and join a work environment that prioritizes their well-being and promotes a work-life balance (Jaharuddin & Zainol, 2019).
When an employer promotes work-life balance in the work environment, the employees will experience fewer burnouts, more efficiency in their work, and reduced absenteeism (Mom et al., 2019). Older employees are particularly interested in organizations that promote health and well-being. Establishing the workers ‘ well-being takes time, and the partners and managers responsible for it should take their time to understand the choices and preferences of each worker and find a way to provide benefits to them.
Paying for Good Decisions Made
GASC could retain the older employees by compensating them whenever they make a good decision. First, the partners must demonstrate to the older employees that they value their input by asking them to share their opinions on various matters. Then, the partners must compensate them whenever they provide a helpful suggestion to the organization.
The partners at GASC have been making business decisions without asking for the views of senior managers and older employees. Some older employees, such as Sam, view this move as disrespectful and the decisions made as poor. The choices made by the partners have made these employees feel useless and have led them to consider leaving the organization.
The partners could solve this problem by setting up regular meetings with the company’s older employees, proposing their strategy, and using their insights in the decision-making process. Meetings are easy to hold and consume few resources (Claus, 2019). The method nevertheless plays a key role in boosting workers’ morale, as it gives them a sense of ownership and power within the organization. Involving these workers in decision-making helps attract and retain older employees who want to work in an environment where they have a say. Providing them with monetary gifts could also enhance the company’s ability to attract experienced talent from other organizations.
Career Options to Retain the Leaving Experienced Workers
Making Them Serve as Mentors
The world is undergoing a significant transformation, and millennials will soon comprise the largest portion of the workforce. This generation, however, requires additional skills to navigate the workplace successfully, and managers must devise a plan to transfer knowledge from older employees to younger ones. The best way to retain and preserve the knowledge of experienced employees who are considering leaving would be to offer mentorship programs.
For mentoring to be effective, the mentors must incorporate various skills, including active listening, counseling, and encouraging development (Byars-Winston & Dahlberg, 2019). Mentorship is a great way to ensure that skills are shared between older and younger workers, and can move in either direction. In most cases, skills are transferred from older workers to younger ones by having them work in proximity. Modern forms of mentorship, however, involve both the mentor and mentee sharing information, so that both older and younger employees benefit from the program.
Offering the Experienced Employees New Career Options or Role Changes
GASC can retain its departing employees’ new career advancements or career changes if the partners are aware that the employee is pivotal to the organization and possesses skills that the organization is not yet ready to relinquish. Employees must be innovative when initiating role changes, and older employees should be assigned new roles that they are passionate about, experienced in, and familiar with in the organization. If the new role is appealing enough, the employee considering leaving may change their mind and continue working with the organization.
Role changes benefit the company as they help it save the costs associated with recruiting new, experienced employees and reduce the costs of training new hires. Since most retiring employees typically pursue personal goals, the company must be willing to compromise and allow them to work part-time (Sullivan & Al Ariss, 2020). Their roles should involve training and working closely with new employees who need transferred skills.
Creating Supervisory Positions for the Older Employees
The partners could encourage Pam, Sheila, Mac, and other managerial employees to stay with the gardening company by creating supervisory roles for them. Mac and Sam would enjoy being the ultimate decision-makers in the inventory and sales departments. This autonomy of controlling how things run would encourage them to stay longer with GASC. If Mac is given the power to decide how the warehouses operate, he could set up systems that minimize shipment errors and create an accurate inventory tracking system.
Sheila should change her role from operating the retail stores to training and bringing a committed attitude to the new team. Since she is showing signs of burnout, which has led her to consider leaving, her role should be adjusted, and she should be allowed to work as a part-time employee. The company can only keep its talent and expertise in retail stores by offering these new terms.
Mattie, the partner who held the customer service management role, has recently been involved in growth and is struggling to find new employees for her department. She knows she needs to hire people with gardening experience, but cannot find the talent and thinks she has exhausted her sources (Austin-Hawley, 2014). However, Mattie is overlooking Pam, who has been with the company since its start-up phase. She could reap many benefits by creating a new customer service manager post and assigning it to her.
The partners must be careful about the compensation packages and should give her remuneration similar to the industry average. In the past, the company has concealed information about the compensation of new workers, and exiting employees are likely to be very disappointed if they discover this kind of discrimination. Pam will likely perform better than other external hires who need to learn GASC culture and the regular business running.
How GASC Could Retain the Knowledge of Experienced Workers
The company can initiate a formal knowledge transfer program that aims to transfer the expertise and know-how possessed by experienced workers to new employees. A knowledge transfer plan would be necessary as it provides a detailed guideline for onboarding new workers. Transferring knowledge should begin by identifying the needs and what needs to be passed along.
GASC should prioritize passing the knowledge in a systematic and easy-to-understand manner to ensure the new employees are manageable. Therefore, knowledge must be gathered and transferred in a scholarly manner, from the most basic principles to the most complicated procedures. After the transfer process, management should evaluate the transfer plan and ensure everything goes according to plan.
Conclusion
For GASC to mitigate its current problems and ensure strategic and practical expansion, it must leverage the expertise of older employees with gardening experience and those who understand the company’s culture. Current changes, however, are prompting the company’s older employees to consider leaving, which could negatively impact the company. Therefore, partners should utilize benefits packages and non-monetary compensation to retain and attract older employees. New career options, such as management and mentorship, need to be offered to Pam and Sheila to attract and retain them. The company should also initiate a knowledge transfer program to retain the expertise of older workers who will eventually leave the company in one way or another.
References
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