Keeping Suzanne Chalmers

Emmm... since I have finished my portion of the Organisational Behavior group assignment, I think my hard work deserved a place in the world wide web.

CASE 4 : KEEPING SUZANNE CHALMERS

CASE SYNOPSYS

Thomas Chan, the Vice President of Advance Photonics Inc. (API) was apprehensive when he was asked for a private meeting by Suzanne Chalmers, one of API’s top software engineers.

Chan had been through the routine before when valued employees asked for private meetings which ended by announcing that they wanted to quit with reasons ranging from long hours, stressful deadline, to decompress or just to spend time with their families again.

Chan had realized that the real reasons that the staffs were leaving is having too much money which gave them financial independence and therefore were able to choose where they want to work.

During the meeting, Chan tried to persuade Chalmers to remain with API by negotiating with her on:
- Giving her up to three months unpaid leaves with full paid benefits;
- Workplace improvements via latest computer technology or solving problems with co-workers;
- Moving her to larger workspace with better park view;
- 25 per cent pay increase and stock options; and
- Stating that Suzanna was one of API’s valued employees and the company would suffer if she left

Chalmers responded by saying she did not have problems with her workplace or working in API. However, before she left, promised Chan that she would considered the salary revision and the stock options.

Two days later, Chalmers tendered her written resignation from API. Five months later, Chan heard that she had joined a new start up software firm within the area after several months of travelling with her husband.

SYMPTOMS

Chan should have realized that API was having trouble with turnovers especially by high achievers because:

• There had been instances before Chalmers that API’s valuable employees asked for a meeting and then announcing their intention to leave API.

• The trend that people who left API will join a start-up company a few months later.

• Many of API valued workers have financial independence making them less prone to stay indefinitely with API.

• Many of them stated reasons such as stress long hours in API but however, will find work again in the same industry with the same stated problem that API have.

• Many unsatisfied API employees were reluctant in revealing their frustration in API and have no desire to convey their problems to the management. Instead, they prefer to quit the company.

• The existence of many start-up IT firms that were actively headhunting expert IT personnel such as Chalmers with better learning experiences, challenges and potential gain in stock options.

PROBLEM ANALYIS

There are several OB theories and models that can be applied to explain Chalmers’ decision:

In Chalmers case, she had fulfilled her lower need (such as ability and monetary) and therefore could progress to fulfilling her job satisfaction and work-life balance:

• Job Satisfaction

Refers to a person’s evaluation of his or her job and work context which comprises of perceived job characteristic, work environment and emotional experience at work.

Surveys conducted by OB experts found that the main course of job turnover is job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is described as a person’s evaluation of his or her work and consequences. Turnover happens when an employee become dissatisfied with the organizational relationship and / or existence of shock events.

Employee’s response to job dissatisfaction is portrayed by EVLN Model i.e. Exit – Voice – Loyalty – Neglect.

In Chalmers case, her meeting with Chan gave her opportunity to voice out her dissatisfaction. Instead, she chooses to leave API.

• Work-Life Balance

o As currently Chalmers have been tasked with high pressured assignments, she might feel that was missing her work-life balances. This can be seen from the fact that she spends a few months travelling with her husband after leaving API.

However, when she has satisfied her work-life balance, she will again try to find work that fell within her preferred environment i.e. the high pressured IT software industry.

• Commitment

Commitment occurs when employees believe that it is in their own personal interest to remain in an organization.

API faces high employee turnover as the employees do not have the sense of loyalty to stay with the firm. This was further aggravated by the fact that those who left were highly skilled, able to search for comparable job as well as having financial independence.

• MARS Model

MARS Model highlights the factors that directly influence an employee’s voluntary behaviour and resulting performance – Motivation, Ability, Role perceptions and Situational factors.

Applying the MARS model, it can be seen that Chalmers have the ability (her expertise on IPs) and role perception (she was a valuable API employee)

The possible reasons for Chalmers behaviour under MARS are lack of motivation as well as situational factors:

o Motivation

Motivation represents the forces within a person that affect his or her direction, intensity and persistence of voluntary behavior. In this regard:-

In this case, Chalmers no longer have the drive (intensity) and desire (persistence) in order to stay with API (direction).

Leaving API when an employee feel stressed seems like a routine. Even though she had chances to negotiate with Chan on terms to keep her loyal with API, she chooses to just resign than negotiate the improved terms that would keep her motivated to stay in API.

She might also feel that API can no longer fulfills her need as an employee maybe in term if work challenges etc and therefore she need to go elsewhere to find first work-life balance and then, need as a software engineer.

o Situational Factors

Situational factors include conditions beyond employee’s immediate control that constraint of facilitate their performances and behavior

There was also existence of other IT firms which woo expert IT personnel such as Chalmers with aggressive headhunting techniques offering better salary and stock options.

• Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory

According to the theory, Chalmers need to fulfilled higher needs such as Self Actualization as her lower needs such as physiological (her financial independence make her stable), safety (she was safe in her position as an expert of IP in API), belongings (she was a valuable API’s staff) and esteem (her high achievements).

• Four Drives Theory

Four drive theories are a motivation theory based on the innate drive to acquire, bond, learn and defend that incorporates both emotions and rationality. Drives related to Chalmers are the drive to acquire and learn.

o Drive to Acquire

Refers to the drive to seek, take, control and retain objects and personal experiences.

As Chalmers have fulfilled her basic need, she would then focus on her higher needs such her need for status and recognition which lead to higher self esteem.

Drive to acquire is insatiable as human motivation need to achieve higher position that others which apply to Chalmers whom may feel that she had achieved her goals in API and therefore turn to new companies to tackle new challenges.

o Drive to Learn

Drive to learn is the drive to satisfy our curiosity, to know and understand ourselves and the environment around us. The drive is related to the higher needs of growth and self actualization.

In this regard, Chalmers has already a senior employee in API and was regarded as an expert in the Internet Protocol (IP) assignments. She will therefore think that she has already fully explored and learned everything in API. Therefore, she will therefore join another company to serve her desire to learn more things rather than compartmentalized for IP works as API has enough staff to divide over specific tasks.

This can be seen by Chalmers working with a new firm which do not have direct division of work assignments. Engineers joining new start up firms have more opportunities to learn new things such as meeting customers or working on capital proposal opposed to established firms such as API with many employees ensuring them to match staffs with specific and specialized tasks.

• Learned Need

Learned need can be divided into three elements: achievements, power and affiliation.

In Chalmers case, as she is a high achiever, her need is more towards achievements.

o Need for Achievement (nAch) is a learned need in which people want to accomplish reasonably challenging goals, and desire unambiguous feedback and recognition for their success

Chalmers can be categories as having high nAch. Therefore Chan’s final attempt to lure her with the promise of monetary rewards (salary revision and options) will not tempt her.

Chan should try to persuade her by promising her more personalized task with moderate risks which she could use to fulfil her need for achievement. Chan should also give direct feedbacks and recognition for her work effort to motivate her which were apparently lacking in API work norm.

RECOMMENDED SOLUTIONS

From the trend of valued employees leaving and then joining other firms, Chan should definitely formulate ways to prevent the trend of staffs resigning and keeping valuable staff with API. Among ways to consider includes:

• Change Workplace Environment / Emotions

Current API’s work environment was one with high stress with specified assignments.

As change in physical term (work cubicle etc) might be impossible as API work spaces were limited, API can focus on the emotional / physiologically term. In this regard, API work environment could incorporate the feeling of community i.e. incorporate social fulfillment and fun to the workers. Example to look up is Google’s Googglelplex where apart from being an office, it is also a gym, a restaurant, a bar, a gym, video games etc which resulted in workers being able to thrive in the environment which also cater to the work-life balance.

Other environment changes that can be addressed would be inculcating team spirits within staff, introduce flexible hours as well as more management appreciation to staff good work.

• Increase Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction may differ depending on the individual preference. In term of professional experience, some people might want more professional experience (soft skill, managerial skills etc) than technical experience.

The same goes with workloads. Some people might hate high workload while others are workaholics. In this case, they hate being overloaded and at the same time hated being idle. In Chalmers case, her work project has nearly completed. To de-stress herself as well as gaining back her work-life balance, she choose quitting as her option.

In this regard, Chan can prevent future staff turnovers by fulfilling their job satisfaction by asking their preference and to suit their preference with API’s work obligation.

• Install Organizational Commitment

Commitment occurs when employees believe that it is in their own personal interest to remain in an organization.

Chan should note that expert employees who might leave have high skills which made them highly employable as well as financially independence. Therefore, he needed to boost their commitment by maybe assigning individual projects to the staff with higher need rewards such as recognition and better positioning in API.

• Increase Staffs’ Motivations

Staff motivation can be increased by intrinsic rewards (internally satisfying such as having fun, feeling competence and successful) or extrinsic reward (money, praise and stock option).

To motivate expert staffs to stay on, Chan could ensure that their wellbeing is taken care of such as work-life balance and self-esteem needs.

Short term goals that are achievable and provided realistic challenge can be set Chan can also give critical feedback as high achievers appreciate recognition. For failures, advise and suggestion are preferable than criticism.

In addition, maybe Chen could implement Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test to learn API’s staffs style and then ensuring API’s motivational program to include a variety of options to cover each individual needs.

• Address Staffs’ Drive and Needs

Different staffs may need different experience. Some IT software engineers with high level of technical expertise may leave the job as well to pursue different interest of maybe managerial skills in order to climb up the organizational ladder.

Chan should therefore provide avenue for them to voice out their concern and feedbacks which need to be addressed so that their need could be fulfilled and therefore prevent them from quitting API.