Writers, especially those who seek to pass some knowledge or recommendation, rely on the ability to capture the attention of their audience and win their trust. When readers choose business or self-help books, they expect that the writer would be convincing enough to quench the need that made them keep opening the pages. Authors are thus employing the use of ethos, pathos, logos, telos, Kairos and/or style to give their content the persuasive feature. Noam Wasserman, in his book, “The Founder’s Dilemma,” convinces his readers by bringing forward facts backed by research to answer questions of every start-up business owner. Such an example is how business books are trying to lead their readers into inspired compliance.
In this rhetorical analysis, the study “Leadership’s Role in Employee Retention” goes under examination to unveil the various methods that the authors used to create the quality of persuasion in their research. The study is a collaboration of four scholars - Gary Covella, Vikkie McCarthy, Belal Kaifi, and Daniel Cocoran. The paper, published on the Business Management Dynamics, targets an audience made of business managers. The audience can extend to leaders or individuals who are or wish to oversee and ensure employee retention in their respective organizations. The central claim of the paper is that leadership plays a vital role in employee work engagement and, thus, turnover rates. Through research, the authors bring forth arguments that leadership tenets are required to enhance retention and prevent high turnover rates. A leader in an organization, give a sense of direction and influence employees towards the achievement of a particular goal. Proper leadership they claim, should involve the development of interpersonal skills of the employees, addressing their problems. Taking into account the delivery of the assertions, the authors present a compelling argument backed by the use of ethos, pathos, and logos.
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Business books influence its readers more when the audience can confirm the credibility of the author and their experience in the subject of writing. Among the many accomplishments of Gary Covella, the most outstanding concerning the subject of the study is that he is currently the Military Personnel Appropriation Man-day Program Manager. The position can potentially convince readers that he qualifies to give some advice to managers considering his experience. Vikkie McCarthy is a professor of Management and Marketing at Austin Peay State University with a Ph.D. in Organizational Leadership. Apart from “Leadership’s Role in Employee Retention,” she has collaborated with other authors in the study, “Organizational trust: Employee-employer relationships, An American Society for Quality Human Development and Leadership Primer” (Starnes et al., 2010) a subject close to employee retention. Belal Kaifi completed post-doctoral studies on management and marketing, a doctoral degree in Organization and Leadership, and has researched areas such as organizational behavior, diversity management, and strategic leadership. The qualifications of these authors bear a significant, influential weight when presented to the readers.
The use of pathos in the study is evident from the beginning. The authors chose a title that captures the attention of the reader. The title is supposed to advertise the content of the book. By including “leadership” in the title, the authors are communicating a solution to the problem of “employee retention.” The strategy creates a desire in the reader to read the research as it focuses on one possible solution to the issue under inquiry. Progressing to the introduction, the authors try to elicit an emotional response from the reader that the argument is worthy of their attention considering the severity of the problem of loss of employees. They used the statements, “The unexpected loss of employees is recognized as a global issue that affects overall business performance regardless of industry. The cost to the organization of losing these employees and consequent search for suitable replacements presents an immense challenge to firm resources.” (Covella et al., 2017). The inclusion of the terms ‘global issue’ and ‘immense challenge’ appeal to the readers’ emotions and try to convince them that the subject of high employee turnover is of consequence and, therefore, worth investigating. Such a strategy possibly keeps the reader hooked up to the findings and recommendations. The authors present an appealing argument in terms of rationality and clarity on the flow of the research paper. Logos comes in play in how they introduced the areas of study at the beginning of the article by asserting, “This study also addresses key gaps in literature concerning the role employee work engagement has between person-job and turnover intention while addressing leadership-member exchange (LMX) and its role in mediating the employee work engagement/turnover-intention model” (Covella et al., 2017). The statement directs the readers on the answers to wait for at the end of the study. The systematic formulation of hypotheses, selection of study variables, respondents, survey instrument, conducting an analysis, and presenting the results all logically connect. After testing the hypotheses and discussing the findings, the authors give the conclusion including signpost phrases in statements such as, “First, this study fills in gaps in research concerning the role of social exchange in long-term employee decisions leading to either remaining or departing the organization. Finally, this study will also will provide business leaders with key insights on sustaining a skilled workforce for the long-term and minimize turnover based on revised hiring practices that attempt to match employee skills with the requirements of the organization.”(Covella et al., 2017) The statements further help the reader follow the authors’ line of reasoning.
In its use of rhetorical appeal, the study supports its claim that leadership has a vital influence on employee retention. Through their systematic inquiry and discussion of findings, the authors provide enough evidence that leadership helps mold employee work engagement, a crucial requirement for employee retention. Additionally, the presentation of hypotheses to be tested implies an inquiry approach, which is appropriate for research. The systematic flow of ideas ensured the study provided answers to each of its research questions.
References
Covella, G., McCarthy, V., Kaifi, B., & Cocoran, D. (2017). Leadership’s role in employee retention. Business Management Dynamics , 7 (5), 1-15.
Starnes, B. J., Truhon, S. A., & McCarthy, V. (2010). Organizational trust: employee-employer relationships. A Primer on Organizational Trust .
