Investigating a Business Issue – Research

Both turnover intention and person-organisation fit are widely studied in human resource management research. Research on employee turnover shows that there are various factors leading employees to consider other career opportunities, including low job satisfaction, lack of growth possibilities or support of the management and poor work environment (Carmeli & Weisberg 2006; Fleishman & Harris 1962; Lambert, Hogan & Barton 2001; Lee et al. 1996). With respect to person-organisation fit, most researchers define it as the level of compatibility between an employee and their employer (Kristof 1996).

Person-organisation fit proved to have an influence on various human resource outcomes, including job performance, organisational citizenship behaviour, job satisfaction, organisational commitment (Cennamo & Gardner 2008; Hoffman & Woehr 2006; Kristof-Brown, Zimmerman & Johnson 2005). Additionally, person-organisation fit has a moderating role in the relationship between HR practices and various employee-level outcomes (Boon et al. 2011). Because person-organisation fit influences multiple employees outcomes, it also contributes to turnover (Kristof 1996; Cennamo & Gardner 2008; Hoffman & Woehr 2006).

In reflecting on research, it is crucial to consider the nature of the role of person-organisation fit in predicting employee turnover. As evident from the literature review, person-organisation fit has an influence on job satisfaction, which, in turn, can impact turnover intentions. Moreover, person-organisation fit can also be connected to the lack of growth opportunities and the work environment in general. Thus, while research shows the influence of person-organisation fit on turnover, it is likely that this influence is not direct, and the former affects the latter through other outcomes.

References

Carmeli, A. and Weisberg, J. (2006) ‘Exploring turnover intentions among three professional groups of employees’, Human Resource Development International, 9(2), pp. 191-206.

Cennamo, L. and Gardner, D., (2008) ‘Generational differences in work values, outcomes and person-organisation values fit’, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(8), pp. 891-906.

Fleishman, E. A. and Harris, E. F. (1962) ‘Patterns of leadership behavior related to employee grievances and turnover’, Personnel Psychology, 15(2), pp. 43-56.

Hoffman, B.J. and Woehr, D.J. (2006) ‘A quantitative review of the relationship between person–organization fit and behavioral outcomes’, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68(3), pp. 389-399.

Kristof, A.L., (1996) ‘Person‐organization fit: An integrative review of its conceptualizations, measurement, and implications’, Personnel Psychology, 49(1), pp. 1-49.

Kristof-Brown, A.L., Zimmerman, R.D. and Johnson, E.C. (2005) ‘Consequences of Individuals’ fit at work: a metanalysis of person-job, person-organization, person-group, and person-supervisor fit’, Journal of Personnel Psychology, 58, pp. 281-342.

Lambert, E.G., Hogan, L. N. and Barton, S.M. (2001) ‘The impact of job satisfaction on turnover intent: a test of a structural measurement model using a national sample of workers’, Social Science Journal, 38(2), pp. 233-250.

Lee, T.W. et al. (1996) ‘An unfolding model of voluntary employee turnover’, Academy of Management Journal, 39(1), pp. 5-36.

In recent studies, the relationship was also supported by quantitative data. In a study by Zhang et al. (2017), person-organisation fit was associated both with job satisfaction and with employees’ intentions to leave. Similarly, Memon et al. (2018) found person-organisation fit to have a strong influence on turnover intentions through employee engagement. Based on the available evidence, it is possible to hypothesise that person-organisation fit is negatively associated with employees’ turnover intentions. Thus, employees with lower levels of person-organisational fit will have higher intentions to leave than those with high person-organisation fit.

References

Cennamo, L. and Gardner, D., (2008) ‘Generational differences in work values, outcomes and person-organisation values fit’, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(8), pp. 891-906.

Hoffman, B.J. and Woehr, D.J. (2006) ‘A quantitative review of the relationship between person–organization fit and behavioral outcomes’, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68(3), pp. 389-399.

Memon, M. et al. (2018) ‘Person-organisation fit and turnover intention: the mediating role of work engagement’, Journal of Management Development, 37(3), pp. 285-298.

Zhang, M. et al. (2017) ‘Is the effect of person-organisation fit on turnover intention mediated by job satisfaction? A survey of community health workers in China’, BMJ Open, 7(2), pp. 1-8.

To determine the root cause and develop a comprehensive strategy aimed at improving the situation, it is essential to collect more data relating to the factors that could affect employee outcomes in this way. Research suggests that the issues could be related to poor person-organisation fit, which influences various outcomes, including turnover, organisational commitment, engagement and job satisfaction (Cennamo & Gardner 2008; Hoffman & Woehr 2006; Memon et al. 2018). If this is the case, then improving recruitment strategies is essential to decrease the turnover rate and address other problems. Nevertheless, if the root cause of the problem lies in a different factor, these measures will be useless.

In order to develop a deeper understanding of the situation, it would be beneficial to conduct an internal study. The design of the proposed research involves the use of interviews and surveys. Surveys will include the tools measuring person-organisation fit and turnover intentions, whereas interviews will focus on employees’ perceptions of the management style used in the division. Together, these methods will provide in-depth information that will help to clarify the cause of the problems mentioned above and determine the best solution to address them.

The surveys and interviews will be concise, and thus workers will only need to devote 20 minutes of their time to submit their data. The survey will be administered to 250-260 employees of the division, but only four employees will need to participate in interviews. The total amount of work time for the project, including both employees’ time and the researcher’s time, will be about 120 hours. Based on the national median salary, the estimated cost of the project will be £1,800.

The benefits derived from the project will outweigh these costs. With the high rate of turnover, poor morale and other performance problems, the division’s financial performance is far weaker than it could be. For example, turnover-related costs are estimated to be between 30% and 250% of the worker’s annual salary, depending on the position (Hester, 2013). Given the average national salary of £30,420 annually, losing one worker costs the company about £10,000 (Office for National Statistics 2019).

The data resulting from the study could help to reduce the turnover rate by over 50%, thus resulting in significant cost savings in the long term. A strategy based on the results of internal research will also enhance other employee outcomes, resulting in improved performance. Therefore, it is suggested that senior management considers the possibility of carrying out the proposed study to resolve issues in this division and improve organisational productivity.

References

Cennamo, L. and Gardner, D., (2008) ‘Generational differences in work values, outcomes and person-organisation values fit’, Journal of Managerial Psychology, 23(8), pp. 891-906.

Hester, J. (2013) ‘The high cost of employee turnover and how to avoid it’, Nonprofit World, 31(3), pp. 20-21.

Hoffman, B.J. and Woehr, D.J. (2006) ‘A quantitative review of the relationship between person–organization fit and behavioral outcomes’, Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68(3), pp. 389-399.

Memon, M. et al. (2018) ‘Person-organisation fit and turnover intention: the mediating role of work engagement’, Journal of Management Development, 37(3), pp. 285-298.

Office for National Statistics (2019) Employee earnings in the UK: 2019. Web.

In order to measure person-organisation fit, it would be useful to apply a three-point perceived fit scale developed by Cable and DeRue (2002). The scale contains three items measured on a 5-point Likert scale where 1 means “strongly disagree” and 5 means “strongly agree” (Boon et al. 2011, p. 14). The items are: “The things that I value in life are very similar to the things that my organization values,” “My personal values match my organization’s values and culture,” and “My organization’s values and culture provide a good fit with the things that I value in life” (Cable & DeRue 2002). The scale was used in the research study by Boon et al. (2011), as well as in other research studies. The reported face validity and content validity of the scale are high, and the reliability is considered to be about 91-92% (Boon et al. 2011; Cable & DeRue 2002). Thus, this instrument would also be beneficial for the study.

References

Boon, C. et al. (2011) ‘The relationship between perceptions of HR practices and employee outcomes: examining the role of person–organisation and person–job fit’, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(01), pp. 138-162.

Bothma, C. F. and Roodt, G. (2013) ‘The validation of the turnover intention scale’, SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 11(1), pp. 1-12.

Cable, D. M. and DeRue, D. S. (2002) ‘The convergent and discriminant validity of subjective fit perceptions’, Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(5), pp. 875-884.

Oosthuizen, R. M., Coetzee, M. and Munro, Z. (2016) ‘Work-life balance, job satisfaction and turnover intention amongst information technology employees’, Southern African Business Review, 20(1), pp. 446-467.

Hypothesis 1. Person-organisation fit is negatively correlated with employee turnover.

None of the variables was manipulated for the study. For average person organisation fit, 258 responses were recorded, with no missing values. The range of values for the variable is 1 to 7, with the higher scores representing higher person-organisation fit. The maximum level of this variable was 7, the minimum was 1, the mean was 4.510 and the standard deviation was 1.520. Based on the results of the Shapiro-Wilk test and the Anderson-Darling test, the variable is not normally distributed. For average turnover intention, 258 responses were recorded, with a range of values between 1 and 7.

The median was 4.5, the mean was 4.769, the variance was 1.755 and the standard deviation was 1.325. Based on normality tests, the data is not normally distributed. The relationship was tested statistically through linear regression. The results show that there is a slight negative correlation, although, with an r2 value of 0.181, it only explains a portion of cases. While these data support the hypothesis, the influence is minor, and thus turnover intentions could be attributed to other factors.

Hypothesis 2. That women trust their organisation less than men.

With respect to average organisational trust, the scores range from 1 to 7, with 7 meaning a high level of trust. Data from 258 participants were collected, with no missing values, a mean of 3.479 and a standard deviation of 1.854. The results of normality tests suggest that the data were not normally distributed. With respect to gender, the values were 0 and 1, with 0 meaning female gender and 1 meaning male gender.

The frequency of female gender was 234, whereas the frequency of male gender was 24, making the mean 0.093. ANOVA and correlation tests were used to interpret the findings. Based on the results, it appears that gender has only a minor influence on trust, with a 0.175 correlation index and a 0.031 r2 coefficient. In the ANOVA test, F-test results showed 7.909, which suggests that the presence of the relationship is certain, although it only explains a low number of cases. Hence, there is some support for the second hypothesis, too. Detailed results can be found in Appendix 2.

Employees complained about their limited scope of responsibility, as well as about the need to seek approval from their manager for all decisions. Surprisingly, two of the employees also described their manager as supportive, whereas one employee believed that managers used to be supportive in the past. In terms of approachability, the results varied, with one employee noting that their line manager would not listen to anyone’s ideas and suggestions, and the second employee reflecting on her positive experience during induction. Finally, two of the employees agreed that managers used to be more friendly in the past – they knew employees by name and socialised with them regularly.

For the second research question, “What is the impact of the perceived management style on employees?”, four core themes emerged: job satisfaction, coworker relations, organisational commitment and turnover intentions.

Three of the employees showed low job satisfaction, and the last employee did not comment on this theme. Coworker relations deteriorated over the past years, and there are significant generational differences that the managers failed to address to establish a pleasant work climate. Organisational commitment has also decreased, with employees stating that people are reluctant to go the extra mile or show initiative, while also considering leaving the company. Two of the employees showed evidence of turnover intentions in their responses, indicating that they might leave the organisation soon. Annotated interviews, codebooks and matrices can be found in Appendix 3.

1. Conduct a survey to determine the prevalence of transformational leadership behaviours among managers in the division;
2. Research training companies in the area;
3. Create a selection framework to determine the best training option;
4. Implement transformational leadership training for managers of the division;
5. Monitor employee outcomes and leadership behaviours continuously.

One possible risk associated with the intervention is that it will not provide the desired results. Another risk involved is that the project will require more expenses than suggested in the budget below because the lack of information about the organisation prevents from creating an accurate budget. Therefore, the financial contingency risk is considered to be about 50%, as prices of training vary significantly throughout the United Kingdom and employee hours could also cost more due to differences in their salary.

1. Implementing the recommendation would require substantial financial and time resources, although other materials will not be necessary. For all of the estimates, the assumptions are as follows:
2. There are 10 managers working in the division;
3. Managers’ salaries are at the national average level of £862 per week, or £44,824 annually (Office for National Statistics, 2019);
4. Employee and researchers’ salaries are at the national average level of £585 weekly or £30,420 annually (Office for National Statistics, 2019);
5. Transformational leadership training will cost $10,000 for a group of 10 managers.

The full budget flow is presented in Appendix 2. Based on the estimates, implementing the recommendation will cost a total of £14,710, with £10,745 paid for research and training initially, and the rest spaced evenly at 3, 6 and 12 months. The benefits derived from implementing the recommendation will include reduced turnover and absenteeism. At the moment, 15 workers have maximum turnover intention scores, and it is anticipated that the change in management style will keep them in the company. The current total absenteeism is 1352 days, and it is expected that the training will reduce it by at least 50%.

Hence, the net benefits from training at 12 months will be £56,803.60. This estimate does not include benefits from improved work performance because no financial performance-related data was provided. Additionally, there are some benefits that cannot be quantified, including reduced employee stress and burnout, improved coworker relations and leader-member exchange. On the whole, the recommendation would yield many benefits for the company, both financially and non-financially.

References

Arthur, C. A. and Hardy, L. (2014) ‘Transformational leadership: a quasi-experimental study’, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 35(1), pp. 38-53.

Kim, H. (2014) ‘Transformational leadership, organizational clan culture, organizational affective commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior: a case of South Korea’s public sector’, Public Organization Review, 14(3), pp. 397-417.

Office for National Statistics (2019) Employee earnings in the UK: 2019. Web.

Secondly, the assignment also showed me the importance of planning for extra time in case a particular task takes longer than expected. For me, performing qualitative data analysis was more challenging than anticipated, which is why I had to spend more time on this task than on other parts of the paper. In the future, I will try to plan for extra time from the beginning of a project so as not to run into unexpected problems.

In addition to this, the project also helped me to develop a deeper understanding of the research methods used in organisational consulting and management. Although I had some experience in research as part of my academic studies, this assignment included more data and combined the two methods together (qualitative and quantitative) to achieve more in-depth conclusions and provide recommendations. Incidentally, the present assignment also improved my understanding of how data analysis results can be used to generate conclusions and recommendations for organisations.

In the next 12 months, I plan to learn more about the use of various data collection and data analysis methods. It would be particularly interesting for me to improve my knowledge of statistical data analysis methods and their application to different types of variables and data. Moreover, I would like to engage in more management research to learn how to apply research evidence to solve various issues. I believe that developing my research skills would assist me in my future studies and work.