Introduction and Purpose
In recent months, I conducted fieldwork research to gain insight into possible triggers for employee turnover at a youth detention service. I worked with the HR team of the Louisville Metro Youth Detention Services, using enabling objectives to establish the terminal objective of reducing employee turnover. The purpose of this paper is to discuss my experience during the fieldwork and document the learning experience that occurred. I will document a reflection of the fieldwork experience using the four stages of the Experiential Learning Cycle.
Concrete Experience
From my fieldwork experience, I evaluated why employees leave by conducting exit interviews from the company from the past two years. I conducted an assessment of the exit interviews to determine some of the possible reasons why employees leave. The previously identified issues included poor management styles, poor work culture, overworked staff, lack of trust, and mismatches of job descriptions. I liaised with the HR team to identify the job qualities that are suited for employees to attract proper candidates for the job. The findings of the assessment were aimed at giving the HR team recommendations for phone and face-to-face interviews. The assessment was also useful in creating questions on why employees stay.
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From the assessment, I figured that the organization lacked an employee assisted program. The detention services would benefit more from an employee assistance program that aids in figuring out employee grievances to prevent high turnover rates. I urged the HR team to focus on the personal and mental issues that could be affecting employees such that work pressures could not increase their reasons for leaving the organization. I recommended a team member survey to be conducted after approval by the management. The activity would help identify the right conditions for the employee’s well-being. In the fieldwork, I spent many hours conducting interviews with employees and HR to get perspectives from both sides. My supervisor provided great support for my research.
Observations and Reflections
During the fieldwork experience, what worked well was assessing exit interviews of previous employees to determine why they left. I found that there were many reasons which were mostly tied to the organization which increased employee turnover. Through my assessment, I found that the organization was not very clear about the job description during hires. The assessment was eye-opening to the HR team to be clear about job descriptions during hiring to prevent employees from leaving soon afterward. The assessment also proved the need for an employee assisted program, which would take care of the employee’s needs. I found that the employee assisted program was lacking in smaller organizations such as the detention services as it had no return on investments as expected. The budget for an assisted program was also an issue for such a small organization. The small budget means the adoption of the program is highly unlikely, and the HR manager would have to find more feasible ways of reducing employee turnover.
Concepts and Generalizations
During the fieldwork experience, I found it perplexing that the management did not find the stated reasons for employees leaving in the exit interviews puzzling. The findings of my analysis proved that the employees did not have many positive experiences working for detention services. The organization failed to provide proper job descriptions as well as lacked a proper organization culture, which decreased employee’s enthusiasm for the job. Conflicts between employees' well-being the management duties created friction, which led to high employee turnover. The company also faced other challenges including logistical and financial implications. The low budget for managing the organization led to the many problems experienced by employees and the organizational culture.
A challenge I faced was convincing the HR management that an employee assisted program would be beneficial to the company. The HR decided against discussing the recommendation further as they did not want to get the employees hooked on the idea of benefiting from an employee assisted program, which would air their grievances. After reflection, I was able to understand the HR position on the issue. The limited finances of the organization prevent it from providing quality services both to detention juveniles and employees.
Active Experimentation
From the reflection of the fieldwork, I have learned that omission of critical information can be detrimental to the participation of individuals in activities. I also learned that a poor work culture leads to work dissatisfaction. I can use this knowledge in other areas. I can use my experience from this fieldwork in other personal projects. I can use knowledge from this experience to develop enabling objectives for achieving a terminal objective. This was, my projects can be more thorough, descriptive, and have a greater chance of being completed on time. I can use the knowledge acquired from the fieldwork project to manage my steps in the next project to provide better results as well as to better convince management of organizations of what can work and what may not.
Conclusion
The fieldwork was a challenging and productive experience for me. It increased my professional skills and helped me advance my career. I feel empowered to do more projects and find feasible solutions for various challenges. The fieldwork project gave me a chance for practicing professional work through conducting interviews, making analyses using PowerPoint presentations, and working among other professionals. The fieldwork experience gave me the confidence to become a person that can be consulted to identify problems and offer recommendations for solutions.
