Improving Employee Satisfaction at MEC

Introduction 

Employee satisfaction is one of the most significant aspects of the organization alongside the health and wellbeing of the company management. A business with proper employee satisfaction is likely to experience substantial growth and reduced running costs. With properly satisfied employees, a business is likely to record increased retention and an excellent internal and external image. Job satisfaction and enabling working environment are the product of employee satisfaction, which helps any organization to advance its agenda for long-term and sustained growth. From the time of its creation to date, MEC has conducted several surveys and set don several strategies that seek to improve employee satisfaction at the company (Charlton, 2019). We believe that MEC would receive several benefits by maintaining employees who are satisfied with their jobs and who find their dream working conditions with us. We believe that employees ought to be happy and contented in their positions or role within any company thereof, and these positions should fulfill the needs and desires of work for the employee. It is for this reason that we put down these reports to address the problem of employee satisfaction at making by developing practical recommendations to mitigate the problem. 

Background Information 

According to Business Insider, an estimated range between $450 and $500 is lost from the economy of the United States of America and Canada alone due to employee disengagements. This means that companies that fail to address the problems which lead to employee dissatisfaction experience financial losses amounting to millions, if not billions of dollars every year. The financial loss due to employee dissatisfaction adds on to the time lost when making a fresh recruit for the same position and the underperformances of a new employee due to lack of immediate acclimatization (Charlton, 2019). For this reason, Mountain Equipment Company needs to focus more on strategies of improving the wellbeing of the employees by addressing strategies and mechanism which would improve employee turnover. As we are going to see in the course of this paper, having a stable base for employees, with no worries that one or two vital positions in the company would remain vacant anytime, is likely to improve work outcomes and the general face of the company. 

Job satisfaction remains one of the most widely studied areas in corporate governance strategies. This is because of the roles employees perform in every organization or company. For instance, the various employees of a company are tasked with all company operations, including production, sales, and related or supporting activities. This puts employees at the center of the success of every company. Employee satisfaction gives companies several benefits since it works to improve the perception of employees about the job. Employees who take a positive outlook or perception of their respective positions within a company often work harder, and they sacrifice more time and energy to the competitiveness of the company. This creates a strong relationship between job satisfaction and employee productivity, customer satisfaction, and ultimately the profits which the company makes every single day (Charlton, 2019). In essence, the relationship between job satisfaction and performance follows the equity theory that performance attracts rewards. Also, employee satisfaction provides a long term solution to the problem of employee turnover since no workers would leave companies that meet their professional goals and objectives. Job satisfaction also reduces employee absenteeism, level of unionization, and job stress, and related accidents. 

Problem Statement 

The last few years have seen several high profile employees leave Mountain Equipment Company for its rivals across the country. This has significantly affected the day to day operations of the company. This is because most of these employees were experts in various areas, which are vital to the wellbeing of the company. The losses have not been limited to operational challenges, but MEC has spent several thousands of dollars on activities related to the acquisition and recruiting of employees. Reduced staff performance also affected their productivity, and this directly translates to reduced total output. This sequence of events ultimately resulted in the company to meet the demands of the customers, hence making the MECs customers lose trust with the ability of the company to meet their orders on time. For this reason, the customers seek alternatives from the large pool of competing firms and consequent loss of business for MEC. Having observed these trends, we (the leadership of MEC) developed a team of independent investigators to investigate the cause of this sustained employee exits from the company. Several factors pertaining to organizational wellbeing were surveyed to provide insightful information on this topic. Job satisfaction was pointed out as the primary reason for this employee departure. Hence, we set out to develop ways of improving employee satisfaction in the company. 

Overview of the Company 

Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) is a Canadian consumer cooperative that retails on a wide range of commodities majorly clothing and outdoor recreational gear. The company’s market base exclusive to its members or owners, who can become life members by paying $5. Technically, this buys the member one share in the company. The majority of its corporate members come from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian military, search and rescue organization, and park agencies. Since its creation in 1971, MEC has transformed to become one of the biggest outdoor retailers in the country, with at least 5.4 million members within Canada and globally (Mountain Equipment Co-operative. 2019). The company has also expanded from a single operating point in Vancouver, British Columbia, to serve a wider range of customers through its 22 branches, which are distributed nationally. Also, MEC has group sales stores and the corporate which handle larger orders. Currently, MEC is lauded as one of the most environmentally-conscious companies in the world. It runs several environmental management campaigns. 

Improving Employee Satisfaction at MEC 

Employee Satisfaction Drivers 

The performance of a company is highly dependent on employee satisfaction. The human resource at MEC has the responsibility of using different employee satisfaction drivers to stop the flow of employees from the company to the competing firms. A change in management and new great leadership will be one of the key drivers that MEC will need to retain their employees. With the right leadership in place, the employees will be able to air out their complaints to the management (Clapon, 2017). It will also help in creating a good relationship between the employees and the management. With a positive relationship between the two, it will be easy to identify what they need and implement such changes. Through that, there will be employee satisfaction that will make them work hard to achieve the goals of the company. The organization culture is also a major driver to employee satisfaction that MEC should put in place. The company should ensure they come up with a culture that will offer an ample working environment for the employees (Clapon, 2017). The culture should create a room where the employees can grow their skills and become better employees. 

However, the low rate of employee retainment in the organization is an indicator of toxic company culture. The management should set a new company culture that employees will find satisfaction working in. The employees’ interests and business needs should be at the center of the company culture. Recognition is also an employee satisfaction driver that MEC should work on. Every person requires an appreciation for the personal value that they contribute (Clapon, 2017). When the company can come up with strategies that will aim at recognizing their hardworking employees and giving them the needed compensation, they will be able to retain most of their employees. The employees will feel appreciated and even have the urge to continue working hard to receive the bonuses attached to the appreciation. Motivation should be given to low performing employees. This can be done through training. The company will thus be striving to make their employees better by improving their skills. Most employees will feel satisfied with the recognition and become loyal employees of the organization. Recognition is closely attached to employee development (Clapon, 2017). They are both drivers to employee satisfaction that MEC can use to solve their current predicament. Employees will feel valued and rewarded when they see the efforts of the company investing in their development. They will have no reason to leave MEC when all the key drivers discussed above are provided to them. They will work hard to achieve the company goals as the success of the organization will directly benefit them. 

Sirota Factor Theory 

The Sirota three-factor theory can be used in achieving employee satisfaction at MEC. Providing better pay for employees is not the only way of retaining employees. They need motivation that will keep them loyal and satisfied to work for the organization. The Sirota three-factor theory shows three factors that can be applied together to create enthusiasm within the employees. The three elements are achievement, equity, and camaraderie. When MEC can find a way of applying these three factors, they will be able to satisfy the needs of their employees. The employees will find the needed motivation to work hard in meeting the company goals. The three factors aim at making the employees feel that they are being treated fairly, they will feel that they will be accomplishing company goals and they will also enjoy the positive relationship with people at work (Mindtools. 2019). MEC should, therefore, invest in their human resource management in teaching them how they can apply the theory while dealing with their employees. 

Being that it is the human resource that deals with the employees, they should know how they ensure equity is applied to all the employees. They should strive to make the employees feel that they are equal. It means that no favor should be given to any employee (Mindtools. 2019). When there is unfairness, some of the employees will feel not appreciated, and they will end up leaving the company. MEC has lost some valuable employees because of inequity. Achieving employee satisfaction through equity entails respecting fundamental human values. Every employee wants to achieve something while at job. Most of the employees care about their paycheck. It is the way that they will feel appreciated. It is the compensation they receive that gives them the motivation to work even extra hours to meet the company objectives. However, greater achievement is attained when the employees are empowered to do something remarkable. MEC should empower its employees to become more significant and have the achievement feeling (Mindtools. 2019). MEC needs to provide an enabling working environment for the employees that will give them an opportunity to achieve. Employee satisfaction is also achieved through culture and an environment that encourages interaction and team building. The company in wanting o to achieve employee satisfaction should create an environment where the employees can interact and become friends. MEC can achieve this by promoting team exercises. There is a lot in common that the employees have to achieve. Building friendships at work will help in creating employee satisfaction at the workplace. 

The people performance model 

The people's performance model can be used as a tool for achieving employee satisfaction at MEC. The model aims at having a simple assessment and representation based on the mixture of types in any workgroup. The human resource can use this model in wanting to have an overview or get to know the perspective of the group profile of their employees (Song, Won & Kim, 2019). Through this model, the company will be able to make an informed investment decision on their employees. It acknowledges that people have different levels of performance in a working environment. The human resource can identify the best performing employees and the employees that are still weak in their skills (Song, Won & Kim, 2019). They should then encourage them to work as a team trying to help each other in their strength areas to become better employees. Through this, the employees will grow together. No employee will feel left out or marginalized. It will, thus, be easy to achieve job satisfaction. It can also be the basis for identifying the training needs of the employees. The management, therefore, needs to work more closely with the employees to learn their strengths and weaknesses (Song, Won & Kim, 2019). It will provide a platform to identify the skills that different employees need to be trained to make them better employees. Employees will feel satisfied when they see the investment the organization will be made to ensure that they become great at what they are doing. 

Employee engagement drivers 

Job satisfaction at MEC can be achieved through employee engagement drivers. MEC should recognize that the better employees are, the better the organization will perform. Having quality candidates to employ is always hard. The management, therefore, has the duty of growing its employees and making them productive. They also have the duty of making the employees loyal through employee satisfaction. The management at MEC, therefore, must play defense when they want to maintain a strong and productive workforce. Retaining employees will mean optimizing their value and engaging them to make them feel they value at the organization (7 Drivers of Employee Engagement eBook. (2018). Employee engagement, therefore, is a key driver for providing job satisfaction among the employees. One key employee engagement driver that MEC should use is purpose alignment. This means making the employees have an idea of the business and not making them build products and worry about the purpose behind their activities. This should be done by making the employees know the mission and vision of the organization in detail and also the values of the employees. This matters a lot because the employees will feel like part of the organization. 

They will become committed to achieving the goals of the company. They will be drawn to the purpose of their work (Clapon, 2017). They will be inspired by the cause. Another employee engagement driver that MEC should focus on to retain their employees is the progress inertia. The logic of this is that people who are in motion will always be in action, and that will be hard for them to ditch the company to other competing firms (7 Drivers of Employee Engagement eBook. (2018). According to the behavior psychologists, when people realize momentum, they believe that they are part of the journey to achieving the needed goals, and that makes them have a deeper feeling of engagement. It will make the employees get interested in the process, and they will have the urge to see it through the end of it all (Hall, 2019). It, therefore, means that when employees at MEC is set in motion, they will be able to see what they have achieved in both the organization and individual level and be compelled to see it through the end. To make this happen, the management should refrain from only talking about the vision but showing the employees where they are from and the far that they are going. The management should also be aware of the things that threaten to kill the progress inertia and have the best ways to stop them. 

Recommendations 

MEC still has the opportunity to acquire and retain competent employees as part of their workforce. This can be done through different strategies that aim at accomplishing the interests of the employees. The employee needs and the business needs should be intertwined to create job satisfaction at the work place. The first strategy that MEC can use to solve their challenge of employee transfer to the competing firms is through incorporating health policy, training and leadership initiative in the company (EmployeeConnect. (2016). Such an initiative will promise employees that they are appreciated and valued at the organization. The health policy provides cover to the employees. MEC can also extend the cover to the basic family member of their employees. With such an initiative, the employee will be compelled by the good conditions of the organization to remain a loyal employee. He or she will feel that he/she is valued. It makes the employee to feel part of the company and thus strive to give the best in achieving the mission and vision of the company (EmployeeConnect. (2016). 

Training and leadership program is also one way that the organization can use to retain their employees. As discussed above, employees will always want to feel that they are given the chance to grow and become better employees. This can only be done when the management can identify their weak areas and offer training that will equip them with the best skills in becoming better employees. There should be promotion offered to employees that have proven to have advanced their skills. This should be in terms of leadership positions. With such kind of a system in the company, employees will always strive to give their best for the promotion. The training will also help in transforming the employees to becoming great employees (EmployeeConnect. (2016). With improved performance from the employees, the organization will notice a general improvement in the performance of the company. A better performance of the company will reflect on increased revenue which will also reflect on how the employees will be compensated. There will be higher compensation that will even motivate the employees to remain in the company and work even harder. 

Conflict resolution measures should be enhanced in the organization. MEC should conduct seminars and training teaching their employees how they can solve conflicts among themselves. They can enlighten them of the right steps that they should take when a conflict arises (Bianca, 2017). Through this, there will be an enabling environment where employees will work as a team. In case of a disagreement, they will be confidence in their system to know the right approach and be confident that equity and justice shall be served in the resolution process. There should be strict policies that forbid harassment and discrimination at the workplace. The policies should serve to protect the rights and freedom of the employees in the working environment from any person including the top management. The company culture should make it easy for the employees to report any harassment and discrimination case that will happen at the company. Through this, it is no doubt that the employees at MEC will be satisfied and will be happy to be part of MEC. 

Employee external needs and personal issues should be put into consideration for employee satisfaction. MEC should provide day offs to the employees and at least a month leaves. This will be the time for the employees to spend with their families and do their personal things. The organization should never make the employees feel that their whole life revolve around the company operations. Employees will achieve satisfaction when they see the efforts of the organization to also support their external needs (Bianca, 2017). Personal relationship can be established among the employees and the management where the management can offer advice to external issues that are affecting the employees. It makes the employees feel valued and appreciated for being part of the organization and thus continuing to be loyal employees. 

References 

7 Drivers of Employee Engagement eBook. (2018, August 3). Retrieved December 4, 2019, from https://www.jobvite.com/7-drivers-of-employee-engagement/ 

Bianca, A. (2017). Workplace Conflicts Between Employer and Employee. Retrieved December 4, 2019, from https://bizfluent.com/info-8089041-workplace-conflicts-between-employer-employee.html 

Charlton, D. (2019, May 20). This Invisible Problem Is Costing Employers $500 Billion Per Year. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/don-charlton/this-invisible-problem-is-costing-employers-500-billion-per-year.html 

Clapon, P. (2017, October 7). The Top 3 Employee Engagement Drivers. Retrieved December 4, 2019, from https://gethppy.com/employee-engagement/the-top-3-employee-engagement-drivers 

EmployeeConnect. (2016, August 26). 8 Recommendations to Improve Employee Job Satisfaction. Retrieved December 4, 2019, from https://medium.com/@EmployeeConnect/8-recommendations-to-improve-employee-job-satisfaction-3713f02088e1 

Hall, B. (2019, November 19). 10 ways to improve employee satisfaction. Retrieved December 4, 2019, from https://www.interact-intranet.com/blog/10-ways-to-improve-employee-satisfaction/ 

Mindtools. (2019). Sirota's Three-Factor Theory. Retrieved December 4, 2019, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_57.htm 

Mountain Equipment Co-operative. (2019). Mountain Equipment Co-op ? MEC ? Shop climbing, cycling, running, yoga and more. Retrieved from  https://www.mec.ca/en/ 

Savaneviciene, A., & Stankeviciute, Z. (2012). Human Resource Management and Performance: From Practices Towards Sustainable Competitive Advantage.  Globalization - Education and Management Agendas . doi:10.5772/47800 

Song, I., Won, S., & Kim, D. (2019). Developing a Performance Measurement Index of Convenient Facilities Facilitation Project for People with Disabilities in Gyeongsangbukdo: Application of Logic Model.  The Journal of the Korea Contents Association ,  19 (5), 115-127.