Executive Synopsis
HighChem is a corporation engaged in the production of pharmaceuticals. Although it is headquartered in Texas, its products are distributed globally. The business has witnessed substantial expansion during the past two decades. It has, however, been experiencing a significant migration of its staff to rival companies. The majority of individuals who leave enroll in postsecondary institutions of higher education to advance their careers. Others are just interested in part-time employment. HighChem's work environment is characterized by inconsistent hours, heavy workloads, and lengthy order backlogs, prompting management to return staff from their leaves and time off. It is impossible for the company's employees to improve their careers. This paper advocates, based on the nature of HighChem's work environment, the adoption of WLB policies that allow employees to improve their careers as part of a professional management program, which can also increase their retention rates.
Recommendation
The nature of work at HighChem is unpredictable. Depending on order deadlines, employees are frequently expected to work overtime and may even be called back to the office during their leave or spare time. In certain circumstances, the workload must be raised in order to satisfy order deadlines. From the perspective of human resource management, increasing the workload indicates that employees who remain after their coworkers have left are likely to be disengaged owing to the unfairly increased obligations. This condition may generate imbalances between employees' outside lives, such as time to improve their careers, and the job itself.
Due to the work-life imbalance of the surviving employees, DiMeglio and Piatek (2010) conclude that a single attrition has the potential to result in many attritions. The only practical solution to this self-replicating problem is to seek employee retention measures. The desire to retain personnel inside a company encourages management researchers to investigate numerous ideas that can serve as a guide for achieving this objective (Revels & Morrism, 2012). Some of these methods include developing motivation, coaching, and even choosing a work-life balance for employees. It is strongly recommended that HighChem seek out measures to improve work-life balance, as doing so may increase work motivation and job satisfaction, hence reducing turnover intentions and/or actual turnover due to a lack of time to participate in career development and progress.
The corporation should invest $1,000,000 in the hiring of more personnel. This amount corresponds to 40 percent of the cost of managing current employees and conducting employee training and development initiatives. This increase will allow current employees to devote more time to other life priorities, such as self-career development. It will also prevent disputes between HighChem and individuals' private life. The objective is to promote work-life balance to encourage individuals to engage in self-career development.
Justification in broad strokes
Small, medium, and big firms place a significant emphasis on attracting and maintaining outstanding people. Retaining personnel determines a company's competitive edge through higher productivity and customer relationship management. Employee turnover raises the expense of recruiting and training new workers to replace the voids left by departing workers. In their study on employee turnover, Cegarra-Leiva, Sanchez-Vidal, and Cegarra-Navaro (2012) argue that firms seeking to leverage cost competitiveness as a success strategy should manage the turnover process proactively. Considering the detrimental effects of excessive staff turnover, many businesses, like HighChem, seek to increase employee retention rates.
Work-life balance is a strategy for boosting employee retention (Hayman, 2009; Lockwood, 2010). The recommendation to change organizational policies to promote work-life balance as a program for ensuring career management at a HighChem is justified by the fact that career management is a self-monitored, lifelong process of planning one's career by establishing and setting specific goals and developing strategies for achieving them. This objective cannot be achieved if HighChem's job conflicts with its workers' personal life to the extent that they are unable to engage in self-career development.
The inference is that individuals do not acquire new skills and information through continued schooling. Due to the unpredictability of the nature of the work at HighChem, employees are compelled to postpone their personal career growth goals and ambitions at the expense of their overburdened workload. Investment in training and development as a means of preparing personnel for promotions to higher positions promotes upward career mobility (Lewis & Heckman, 2006; McCauley & Wakefield, 2006). This strategy will result in high levels of employee engagement and work satisfaction. The result is an increase in retention rate.
Kramar and Syed (2012) investigated Work-Life-Balance (WLB) by conducting interviews with Japanese, South African, and Indian people. The new economy emphasizes the emergence of work intensification as a global trend. Therefore, working long hours is indicative of employee dedication to an organization. For instance, one of the South African participants advised Lewis and Heckman (2006) that working long hours effectively contributed to organizational differentiation. According to the researchers, a management consultant in India stated that working long hours "had become so ingrained, particularly in the new economy where people are required to work hard and literally sacrifice their personal lives" (Kramar & Syed, 2012, p.388). This scenario generates an individual-life conflict comparable to that encountered at HighChem. The conflict limits professional advancement.
Background
Origins of the Problem
In order to comprehend the company's history and current position, this study solicited the opinions of numerous employees who have direct knowledge of the challenges the company has been facing. Since participation was voluntary, however, workers were required to complete a consent form (see Appendix 1). Consequently, this part describes the company based on the responses of all respondents.
HighChem has been manufacturing medicinal goods for more than two decades. The company has expanded from employing 30 people at its inception to employing more than 1000 individuals. This progress has occurred as a result of the company's transition from a Texas-only medium-sized business to a corporation that can accept orders from all over the world. Its operational model is centered on placing orders first and then manufacturing to satisfy order deadlines. Due to the increasing demand for the company's products, there are typically long lines of orders awaiting fulfillment, despite the demands of customers for timely delivery. Increasing the number of employees and/or boosting the company's capacity are two methods for addressing lines expeditiously. During its expansion, HighChem has investigated these two opportunities. However, it acknowledges that all company operations must be profitable. Therefore, it prioritizes minimizing its operational expenses.
HighChem only manufactures a handful of items. Therefore, different work units are repetitious so that personnel do not need to spend time becoming accustomed to new activities. When employees become accustomed to performing repetitive tasks, they no longer need to "think hard" about their actions. However, after one year of working in the same position, the company has observed a decline in output to the extent that some employees seek employment chances with other organizations. Due to the repetitious nature of the work units at HighChem, the company does not invest in training and development unless new technologies are implemented. Individuals that obtain promotions are those with extensive knowledge of the company's operations. This promotion typically affects individuals who have been with the organization for more than eight years and/or who have demonstrated a high level of proficiency with the company's operations.
A recent internal poll reveals that, with the exception of workers in the management sector, the company retains approximately 40% of male employees and 10% of female employees after two years. Approximately 70% of people who leave an organization enroll in postsecondary education before pursuing employment with rival organizations. Nearly 70% of departing female HighChem employees find part-time employment with other companies. This situation has made the company's human resource management curious about whether employees prefer part-time versus full-time employment. Currently, the corporation is getting increasingly concerned about its growing budget for selection and recruitment. It necessitates $500,000 per month.
Symptoms versus Root Causes
The section on the issue's background illustrates the symptoms of a failing organization due to human resource management issues. High personnel turnover, the rising cost of selection and recruitment, customer complaints about delays, and sub-optimal employee performance are indicators of impending operational challenges in the business (By, 2005). This situation requires immediate intervention. Variables have changed, resulting in the onset of the symptoms. There is an increase in the number of employees who quit to pursue more education in order to obtain a higher-paying employment with a competitor. Others enroll in only part-time positions, despite their initial preference for full-time employment at HighChem. The incapacity of personnel to execute a given task in a timely manner is a third crucial variable.
Financial Implications
HighChem will incur expenses as a result of the advice to promote career development based on WLB. The organization's annual pay bill is currently $15 million. Increasing the number of employees by 40% results in a $6 million increase in the wage bill. This rise is similar to the annual recruitment costs to replace departing staff. However, the expenditure is justified by the benefits acquired over time. Given that the budget for Human Resources will increase by $1 million, the total cost associated with the recommendation will be $7 million.
Compared to the current condition, there is a one million dollar cost difference. This price cannot be compared to the annual benefits of higher staff productivity and motivation. Good customer reputation enables the company to charge higher rates for its products, particularly in situations where urgent orders must be fulfilled by highly motivated and knowledgeable personnel who will have time to focus on their career growth.
Legal Implications
The recommendation is consistent with labor relations best practices. Employees are entitled to yearly leave and vacation time (Hausknecht, Hiller, & Vance, 2008). Consequently, the advice strengthens HighChem's compliance with employee rights as stipulated by law. This assertion implies that the adoption of the proposal poses no legal risk.
Implications of Relationships
Employees support the expansion of WLB at HighChem as a means of fostering professional advancement. Due to the increasing workload and inconsistent shift schedules, employees do have disputes with their employers. This circumstance may explain why individuals also choose employment in businesses with more consistent work schedules and flexible work hours, such as part-time positions. Employees, particularly those who are interested in advancing their careers, may favor aligning HighChem's rules with this methodology. The result is higher retention of these employees.
The recommendation emphasizes an organizational transformation. The modification can facilitate worker involvement. This impact of change is supported by Ledez (2008), who states, "Change is important in organizations because it enables employees to acquire new skills, explore new opportunities, and exercise their creativity in ways that ultimately benefit the organization through new ideas and increased commitment" (p.113).
Therefore, change is all about boosting employee performance by implementing procedures that enable them to produce better results. In the instance of HighChem, the proposed recommendation ensures career progression and, thus, high job mobility. The public can respond to the new policy by applying for more jobs at HighChem. The only relational issue arises among those who currently have high-ranking positions, since they may perceive employees who advance in their careers as a danger to others with less education. Supervisors and managers are therefore expected to apply the new policy, practice, and procedures with reluctance.
Other Business Procedures
Other businesses believe that rigid work cultures can raise the likelihood of people leaving a company voluntarily. For instance, Google believes that shifting labor demographics influence people's propensity for particular occupations. According to Moen, Kelly, and Huang (2008), a 2005 poll conducted by Merrill found that around 20% of all baby boomers engage in leisure employment. Nearly 45 percent of all baby boomers favored occupations that allowed them leisure time. This research shows that the workforce of the future prioritizes firms that provide flexible employment so that employees can manage other equally essential elements of their lives, such as career development.
In a 2007 PEW study, fifty percent of all working mothers affirmed their unwavering dedication to domestic duties while still contributing to the family's income (Harzing & Pinnington, 2011). Similar to the situation at HighChem, these women prefer part-time employment. An employee poll done within the business, as described in the firm's history, suggests that employees have a poor opinion of a work environment that does not allow them time to improve their careers and/or complete other personal chores. This conclusion is supported by the huge number of employees who pursue higher education possibilities before returning to the labor market at higher-level positions, in contrast to the scenario at HighChem, where a substantial percentage of female employees seek part-time employment elsewhere.
Timing
In either the pre-crisis or post-crisis stage, organizations might confront a situation that necessitates change. Although there has been no crisis at HighChem, one is imminent. Indeed, businesses that can detect the need to modify their policies before the causes that necessitate the change interfere with their operations have a competitive edge over those that implement change in a reactive manner (Waddell, Cummings, & Worley, 2011). After a crisis, the implementation of new policies results in significant organizational expenses and a high possibility of regaining the lost competitive edge (Amagoh, 2008).
The new policy to address the problems plaguing HighChem must be created within the 2015 fiscal year (January 1-December 31). It should be available for implementation between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016. The implementation schedule begins with the design of the proposed policy (1 month), followed by evaluation and analysis of the policy (2 months), implementation of the policy (1 month), and evaluation of the implementation process (1 month) (2 weeks). Consequently, by March 2016, the corporation will have implemented a new policy that enhances employee career management using WLB.
Evaluation
The status quo, implementing the recommended strategy that promotes career growth through the formation of WLB structures, and automating the majority of its production processes to eliminate human decision makers are three essential choices. The appropriateness of any of
