From the given scenario, it is evident that the high employee turnover results from employee dissatisfaction with their jobs. In this case, job dissatisfaction can be attributed to numerous factors, longer working hours included. From a business perspective, the company staff is facing low workplace morale, a phenomenon that could spell doom for the company’s financial prospects. From an ethical standpoint, the company is disrespecting employees for subjecting them to a 60-hour long week. In denying the skilled workers ample time for them to spend on their own, the employees are bound to be less motivated in the job. As a result, they become susceptible to other employers who offer better working conditions.
Possible causes
Far from the long workday, I would suggest to the CEO to prompt for further causes of the attrition. Such may include:
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Feelings of not being appreciated: As the HR director, I would kick-start a study to establish how valued the employees feel. I would use several means of obtaining information on how they think they should be treated and appreciated.
Opportunity for growth: Could it be our seasoned employees leave because they do not see any options for career progression? I would also probe to establish whether the company has systems to ensure employees are confident of their career, like transparency in vertical career progression.
Supervision and training: Possibly, the high turnover rate could be a result of perceived poor management. Maybe the senior software engineers left because project managers failed to provide a sustainable working environment? In finding such answers, I will be able to advise the management on the best way to remedy the attrition.
Ethics at the workplace: On top of the considerations above, I would also establish a state of ethics in employee relations. For instance, are the senior staff protected from unfair workplace policies like discriminatory promotions? Are they accorded the privacy they need? Are they rebutted for raising positive criticism on issues like working hours or workplace decision making?
Virtue Ethics
The virtue ethics approach to employee relations is one of the most effective in resolving the given scenario’s crisis. The approach states that the right act is the action a virtuous person would do in the same circumstances (Banister, 2017). That is to mean, the best way to improve society is to help people behave properly, rather than build apprehensive systems. Given that virtue ethics is a normative approach, it goes beyond the workplace’s basic legal requirements. Additionally, it works towards ensuring that transcendent expectations and values are communicated to managers and employees alike. In so doing, virtue ethics will promote a culture of justice, openness, fairness, and diplomacy. The values will then act as a conduit in harmonizing the employees’ expectations versus offers and commitments of employers.
In the corporate environment, the virtue ethics approach enables the administration to achieve moral virtue by sustaining business values such as profitability, efficiency, and welfare. Meglich (2017) reasons that value ethics promotes business success by enhancing individual moral virtuosity. While he argues that business success and success in achieving moral virtue are independent, he posits that the two have demonstrable congruence. Ideally, I envision that if a hiring team is cognisant of virtue ethics propositions, the team will naturally gravitate towards promoting communication, understanding, and fairness. As such, employees who feel uncomfortable will be gladly listened to, and their opinions are taken into consideration. Eventually, the problem of high employee turnover might subside.
Methods of improving employee morale
Having determined that the company is facing a high employee turnover because of low morale, multiple techniques can then be employed to fix the problem.
Promote an excellent work-life balance
It is universally agreed that employees are more productive when they have a great social life outside the workplace. That means one thing for the employer – make their time at work as productive and as brief as possible. One intuitive way to implement that is by implementing a work-from-home policy. The policy could allow employees to carry out some tasks from home, effectively reducing office hours by about ten a week. Doing so endows employees with a degree of liberty, which enhances productivity.
Create opportunities for career advancement
A LinkedIn survey found that one three in five people who quit their jobs are in search of more significant opportunities. Of the three, two were sure they would never make any career growth in the next two years (Tarallo, 2018). From that, I learn to create sustainable internal mobility, which lets employees know of internal opportunities. As an HR director, I would also seek to innovate ways to get more people into leadership of some sort, known to help in talent retention.
Show employee appreciation
The LinkedIn survey further details that of the employees quitting their jobs, one in five was because they did not feel appreciated. Surprisingly, however, 39% of US employees feel unappreciated, while 65% admit that ‘emotionally cold employees are the reason they have low loyalty (Tarallo, 2018). Therefore, as an HR director, I would set up a quality department or institute programs for employee motivation. Part of the motivation includes verbally praising them when they do exceptional work. Besides, employees must be treated with respect, and conflict resolution must be diplomatic and not autocratic. Also, the company should enhance autonomy. That way, they will be in charge of most of their projects and progress, and that should eliminate the problem of supervisors fond of micromanaging workers. Also, a simple initiative to ask for reviews and feedback would inform employees that their employers value them. Eventually, the business’ staff will be motivated, and hopefully, employee turnover will subside.
References
Banister, C. (2017). “Work Ethic, Turnover, and Performance: An Examination of Predictive Validity for Entry-level Employees.” Dissertations. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/705
Meglich, P. (2017). “Virtue Ethics in Employee Relations.” Handbook of Virtue Ethics in Business and Management . 72, 1207-1215.
Tarallo, M. (2018, September 17). “How to Reduce Employee Turnover Through Robust Retention Strategies.” Society of Human Resource Management. Retrieved https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/how-to-reduce-employee-turnover-through-robust-retention-strategies.aspx
