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Professional Practice – Employee Morale

Martin

Professional Practice – Employee Morale

Part 1: Email
Hello Nathaniel

I am sorry for the challenges you have encountered over the past few months due to the changes in our company. I am writing this email to encourage you by sharing my personal experiences related to your current situation.

Change management can be challenging, especially when you have to accept new responsibilities as a leader or manager. I encountered difficulty managing change in the Army after being assigned more human resource management projects. The workload was so much that I neglected my roles and responsibilities as an agreements manager, which was my main position in the Army. My workload further increased when I was appointed as the Chief of Manpower, making matters worse because the new role came with new responsibilities. My team included a group of non-performers under my leadership, forcing me to be accountable for their incompetency. The job was draining for me, and I eventually lost motivation.

I turned to my spirituality to address the issue by praying for resilience. I also applied various techniques to help me reduce stress and burnout. One of the techniques was taking a break from the work pressure. I focused on handling what I could manage at a particular time to avoid burnout, leading to a positive outlook on my work. The second technique was dividing my work into small tasks. In your case, you can divide tasks by creating a schedule and calendar for all training. This will help you run things smoothly in the organization and improve training.

I understand that remembering names could be challenging, especially with the many things running through your mind. However, I would encourage you to try remembering each employee’s name to build rapport. One of the techniques I use to remember names is trying to address a person by their name when having a conversation so that I can remember the name based on the context of the conversation. It may seem hard to work with so many people and adapt to the organization’s rapid changes, but I encourage you to take one step at a time. Feel free to contact me whenever you need my help.

Sincerely,

Serina Ann

Part 2: Briefing Document

How research has informed my approach to the issue of employee morale.

Employee morale significantly impacts an organization’s overall performance. One of the measures other companies are taking to approach the issue of employee morale is using incentives to motivate employees. According to Gusejnova (2020), incentives give employees something to work for, thus increasing morale. Some companies that use incentives to increase morale include Home Depot and Starbucks. Home Depot supports its employees through tuition reimbursements to pursue higher education and financial emergency funds (Fernandes, 2022). Starbucks’ incentives include helping staff pay tuition for online and university programs and allowing employees to own the company’s shares (Fernandes, 2022). The second measure taken to address the issue is creating a work-life balance. Organizations can use a work-life balance to improve employee morale by reducing burnout and stress, which could be caused by poor work-life balance, long working hours, and too many job demands. Work-life balance also improves job satisfaction because they are assured that the organization cares about their welfare (Attar et al., 2021). Some companies that use a work-life balance to increase employee morale include Wells Fargo and American Express. Wells Fargo uses a hybrid work schedule, which allows employees to select days to work from home. American Express also allows employees to work from home if they are parents living a long distance from the office and if an employee encounters an unexpected event. The third measure that companies are taking to increase employee morale is increasing employee engagement. According to Delina & Samuel (2020), employee engagement increases job satisfaction, organizational identification, and commitment. Therefore, companies are focusing on engaging employees in the running of activities in the organization to increase a sense of belonging, which increases morale. Some companies that use employee engagement to increase morale include Microsoft and PepsiCo. Microsoft maintains effective internal communication to inform employees about what is happening and allow them to share opinions and ideas. PepsiCo increases employee engagement by providing various channels that employees can use to share their ideas and opinions through regular pulse surveys.

The information that could be used to improve the plan is mainly documented in peer-reviewed journals. Some of it is in the information companies share on their websites and reports on managing employee morale. However, other sources of information can be used to get different facts about the issue of employee morale and how to address it. Therefore, I can research case studies about the effectiveness of various measures taken to increase employee morale in organizations in different sectors. The research can help me determine what could work in Quantigration Inc. based on what has worked in other manufacturing industries. I could also research the impact of culture and cultural values on the effectiveness of the approaches selected to improve employee morale. I can use Hofstede cultural dimensions to predict how people from different cultures may respond to the actions taken by the company to increase employee morale, such as increasing engagement, monetary and non-monetary incentives, and work flexibility and how the actions can be aligned with their values.

How past experiences can apply to the new challenge Quantigration Inc. faces.

The situation and strategies I described in my email can apply to Quantigration. For example, the situation about the increased responsibilities can be applied because the company will be experiencing a rapid increase in a diverse workforce, thus creating new responsibilities such as diversity and inclusion management and organizing training programs to familiarize new employees with their new roles. The manager must also constantly monitor employee performance to ensure employees are motivated to avoid turnover. Creating a calendar and schedule for training can be applied to Quantigration to reduce the pressure the manager faces when integrating new employees into the workforce, thus allowing him to collaborate with existing employees in helping the new employees understand their responsibilities in the organization and plan the training programs effectively.

One of the experiences I have had that may apply to Quantigration was an encounter I had dealing with abrupt changes that could create conflict between employees in the workplace. I was working as a human resource manager in a company that merged with another company, which led to the creation of new departments and new roles for employees. Many employees were reluctant to accept new roles because their workload would increase, and they responded by reducing their productivity and increasing absenteeism. I resolved the issue by using line managers to negotiate fair terms that included additional benefits for employees with added responsibilities to keep them motivated. This experience could apply to Quantigration because the company needs to maintain high employee morale after assigning new roles to employees who have been working for the company before the changes were made. Another experience that might apply to Quantigration was an encounter I had when I joined an international company as an expatriate. The work environment was challenging because my coworkers were from diverse backgrounds. However, the human resource management department introduced a work culture where all employees were required to work in teams, thus increasing interaction among employees so that we could get to know each other better. This experience might apply to Quantigration because coworkers need to know each other so that the new departments can function effectively, hence the need for teamwork.

How research and personal experiences work together to inform decisions.

My personal experiences portray some of the arguments made in the journal articles I reviewed about increasing collaboration and morale in the workplace through morale, thus informing my decision that teamwork can help employees at Quantigration get to know one another and achieve job satisfaction. For example, Waller (2021)) argues that teamwork in the workplace creates a sense of belonging, leading to job satisfaction. My personal experiences also portray some arguments about the role of employee engagement in increasing employee morale. For example, Delina & Samuel (2020) argue that employee engagement makes employees feel valued, thus increasing their morale. Therefore, my personal experiences confirm my research findings, thus informing my decision.

The information in the research slightly changed how I perceived the problem. Before conducting the research, I thought the problem could be addressed through incentives, but after my research, I understand that incentives alone cannot effectively address the problem. The company needs to focus on increasing collaboration among employees to help each other adjust to the new changes to avoid reducing morale. Information in the research also made me realize that increasing employee morale is not only the responsibility of the human resource managers but also a collaboration between employees and management. Employees must speak out about the challenges that could reduce their morale to help the management design effective approaches to increase morale. For example, if employees complain about their workload, the company may respond by increasing work flexibility to increase morale.

References

Attar, M., Çağlıyan, V., & Abdul-kareem, A. (2021). Evaluating the moderating role of work-life balance on the effect of job stress on job satisfaction. Istanbul Business Research. https://doi.org/10.26650/ibr.2020.49.0081

Delina, G., & Samuel, P. E. (2020). A study on the interrelationships between employee engagement, employee engagement initiatives, and job satisfaction. International Journal of Business Excellence, 20(2), 242. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijbex.2020.105355

Fernandes, D. (2022, May 9). Secrets from 15 companies with high employee engagement. Nudge. Retrieved February 9, 2023, from https://nudge.co/blog/brands-taking-the-employee-experience-to-the-next-level/

Gusejnova, P. A. (2020). Intangible incentives to increase employee productivity. Trends in the Development of Science and Education. https://doi.org/10.18411/lj-06-2020-154

Waller, L. (2021). Fostering a sense of belonging in the workplace: Enhancing well-being and a positive and coherent sense of self. The Palgrave Handbook of Workplace Well-Being, 341–367. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30025-8_83

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Question 

You work for Quantigration, Inc., a semiconductor manufacturing plant headquartered in the United States. Capitalizing on advancements in its product, Quantigration has aggressively expanded and acquired fabrication plants and workers worldwide. With new employees joining every week, workers are both excited and nervous about the new opportunities and changes in responsibilities.

Professional Practice - Employee Morale

Professional Practice – Employee Morale

An interior view of a semiconductor plant shows high-tech machinery, a complex ventilation system, and workers wearing lab coats.
Aerial view of a factory near a river. A city skyline is in the background.
Management wants to increase retention because this industry has a shortage of employees. To do this, they want to improve morale and foster good group dynamics. Your manager, Gregory, has asked you to make some initial recommendations. You check your email and see that he sent you this email late on Friday:

Date: Fri 3/16/2018 9:17 p.m.
From: Russo, Gregory
Subject: Morale and Employee Satisfaction
Attachments: employee_morale_research.pdf

Hi,

As I mentioned to you the other day, Quantigration is growing very quickly. I just did some quick calculations, and if things continue at the same pace, we will triple our workforce in four months!

Thank you for agreeing to help with the program; the board of directors wants us to keep employee satisfaction high. Morale is a top priority since it will help us retain staff. With so many employees joining the company, new departments forming, and people taking on new roles, we want everyone to get to know their coworkers. I’ve given your name to Nathan, a recent hire in the fulfillment department, who will train everybody on shipping and receiving software. As a long-time Quantigration employee, I’d like you to help him settle and answer his questions.

I’d also like you to brief me about how to improve morale. The board has clarified that they want any changes to be based only on research, so I’ve compiled a few articles for you to review. But I’m having trouble convincing the board that our personal experiences are also important and need to be considered. Can you put together a document with your thoughts on how past experiences can apply to new situations? I’m having difficulty finding the right way to express this idea.

Gregory

A smiling factory employee is wearing a lab coat, protective head, and handwear.
After meeting Nathan in person, he followed up with this email:

Date: Mon 3/19/2018 10:42 a.m.
From: Morten, Nathan
Subject: All these new folks…

Good morning,

Thanks for stopping by and saying hello! I’ve been really busy getting to know everyone here. I just got another new group of employees assigned to train on the shipping and receiving software. That’s on top of the two departments I got last week!

I don’t know how to stay positive through all these acquisitions. There are so many new names; keeping track of them all is hard. I’m having a hard time wanting to come in to work in the morning. Have you ever felt this way?

Nathan

Directions
Part 1: Email
First, write a 200- to 300-word email back to Nathan.

Relate your own experiences to his professional situation.
Think about what has motivated you in the past.
Consider a time in your professional or personal life when you didn’t feel motivated. What about the situation made it hard to feel invested? What did you do to push through?
What did you learn that could apply to Nathan’s situation?
Part 2: Briefing Document
Read the articles Gregory sent you, and prepare an 800- to 1,000-word briefing document.

Explain how research has informed your approach to the issue of employee morale.
How are other companies approaching the issue of employee morale?
What other kinds of research could you use to improve the plan further?

Describe how past experiences can apply to the new challenge Quantigration faces.
Think about your email to Nathan. Can the situation and strategies you described be applied to Quantigration?
What other experiences have you had that might apply?

Describe how research and personal experiences work together to inform decisions.
How do you compare personal experience with research to reach new conclusions?
Did the information in the research change the way you perceived the problem?

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