Improving Organization Retention
Brigitte Marquis
PSY/435
November 29, 2012
Kevin O'Neil

Improving Organization Retention Job satisfaction and trust in the organization are at least two major reasons why people look for new jobs. Job satisfaction comes in all aspects and is something different from person to person. Employers should be concerned immediately when a high-turner of employees begins to happen. The HR Director, Tom Sneed, has asked me to consult with him in addressing the casino’s recent dilemma of several dealers leaving and going to work for a competitor as well as other organizational issues. In this paper, I will discuss different work motivation theories, occupational stressors, and provide recommendations for improving job satisfaction at JC’s Casino. Work Motivation Theories Justice or Equity Theory focuses on norms for fair treatment of employees. Under the justice theory the premise is that people value fairness and are motivated to sustain fairness and equity in work relationships between coworkers and management. When employees experience dissatisfaction because of an inequitable situation in the workplace they are motivated to reduce any emotional tension or stress. (Spector, p. 204, 2012). Any perceived inequity becomes a motivating state of mind for people to behave in ways that restore equity in situations. When there is equity in the workplace among employees and the organization, employees are motivated to maintain their current situation. The foundation of equity is social comparison; employees compare themselves with others. Adversely, when there is inequity in the workplace employees are motivated to reduce the inequity by pursuing various options such as: changing inputs, changing outcomes, altering perceptions of self or others, leaving the situation, and changing comparisons. Reinforcement Theory states that rewards and reinforcements can affect behavior and job performance. Basically, an employee’s behavior is reflected in the type of reward or reinforcement that he or she receives or does not receive. The reinforcement theory is a principle of the law of effect. The law of effect states that the likelihood of specific behaviors occurring increases when rewards or reinforcements are given. (Spector, p. 198, 2012). Rewards or reinforcements can be offered in various ways: monetary, verbal praise, acknowledgements, complimentary gifts, or other types of rewards. When rewards are given for good performance it leads to continued good performance which is a motivating factor for behavior. The reinforcement theory can also be tailored to help establish long term desired behavior. The timing of reinforcements can help to create lasting behavior. A manager would not want to reward an employee for each and every time her or she did a good job because the employee may come to expect it and may not continue to improve work performance. If the reinforcement is given periodically the employee is more likely to work harder or improve work habits and make lasting behavioral changes. Managers can also plan future reinforcement efforts to target different desired behaviors and expect similar successful results. Both of these theories can be implemented at JC’s Casino to help improve the recruitment and retention issues. Looking at the justice theory it is possible that the human resources department at JC’s Casino may want to do further investigating to understand why dealers were dissatisfied and left their positions. It seems as though several dealers may have left their positions because of an unfavorable work relationship with the pit boss, Joe. Many dealers stated during their exit interviews that Joe was overbearing, evil, and incompetent. However, in order for an honest and thorough investigation to be conducted, it is suggested that someone else other than Tom Sneed, the human resources director, head up the investigation. Many casino employees have stated that Tom has never followed through on promises to speak with the casino owner to discuss employee concerns and working conditions. It is apparent that the dealers were experiencing some inequity at JC’s Casino and felt that leaving and going to another casino was more equitable and beneficial even though they would be paid less. The focus of human resources going forward is to identify and understand the reasons why many dealers left the company and then work on correcting the issues so that the remaining employees will want to stay employed at JC’s Casino. Feelings can be contagious and many current employees are likely experiencing the same types of feelings that their former coworkers were feeling before they left JC’s Casino. Part of the investigation that the HR department is conducting should include interviews with current employees to establish what inequities exist. Applying the justice theory to this situation at the casino is a good starting point because it seems there may be some imbalance of fairness that exists among employees and in the workplace. The reinforcement theory is equally effective in helping to improve recruitment and retention issues. Once inequities are identified the HR staff can work with management on how to introduce appropriate rewards and reinforcement that will motivate employees to want to stay on the job and even make the company more attractive to potential casino employees. It is quite possible that the dealers left their jobs to go elsewhere because there was inequity among employees receiving both rewards and reinforcements. The reinforcement theory is a good way to begin working on the issues of current employees by offering attractive incentives or modifying current benefits offered that may not have been available to employees before. This incentive system will give employees a goal and reason to perform their jobs better to obtain the wanted or needed benefit. It is a win-win situation for both management and the employee. Unfortunately, because of the recent high turnover of staff among dealers and above normal absenteeism of housekeeping staff many changes to the other departments of the casino have negatively impacted the organization as a whole. Many employees of the casino are disgruntled and job performance and service levels are being affected because of the issues that employees feel are not being addressed by management. Employees in other departments have to pick up the slack, particularly in housekeeping, and the housekeeping staff is forced to do double and sometimes triple the work without any increase in pay. JC’s Casino will not be able to retain their employees if issues continue to go unaddressed. Additionally, former employees who are now employed by competing casinos are speaking out about the problems at JC’s Casino dissuading potential applicants from seeking employment there. Some suggestions are being put together to present to Tom Sneed to attempt to eliminate the negative stressors impacting JC’s Casino. The first suggestion is for Tom to speak directly with the casino owner, JC. Tom admitted that he is afraid to confront the owner however, if Tom waits any longer to inform the owner of the current problems, he may not have a job much longer. The worst possible thing Tom could do is avoid telling the owner about the organizational problems in hopes that they may be resolved before the owner finds out. It is too risky to take a chance like that because the problem could actually get worse. It is also not realistic for a business owner to be in the dark about the operations of his own business. More importantly, JC must be made aware of the issues surrounding his step-son, Joe, and address the allegations toward Joe from current and former employees. The second suggestion is for Tom to direct the other departmental managers to cease supplementing their staff to cover for shortages in housekeeping. This type of “solution” is only creating more problems because it causes shortages in the very departments the employees are being borrowed from. If housekeeping is short-staffed on a day where absenteeism is high then Andrew Keehn, the housekeeping director, must have a back-up plan. The first thing Andrew should do is go through the last 60 to 90 days of scheduling and track what days and times absences are the highest. From there Andrew should be able to create a minimum staffing schedule where certain days may have a high number of housekeepers on staff in case of absences. Some days may result in over staffing but Andrew should be able to create a work plan for this as well. Andrew may also want to consider implementing an incentive or reward system for perfect attendance. By offering an incentive of a paid lunch hour or getting off work one hour early if the employee reaches 90 days without any missed work, employees will be encouraged to meet that goal and in turn will reduce absences. Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction plays a critical role when it comes to employees staying with their employer long term. There are many factors that play a part in job satisfaction including the type of work performed, compensation, benefits, working conditions, and communication. Not all factors will ever be present at one time for an employee when it comes to job satisfaction. Take for instance an employee who works for Apple, Inc. A person may conclude that an Apple employee has the best job with excellent pay and benefits and performs some of the greatest work. However, that Apple employee may feel overworked (working conditions) and may have a terrible relationship with his supervisor. If this example were true that employee would like be looking for a job elsewhere because he receives no job satisfaction. In regards to JC’s Casino, the employees are experience a high level of job DIS-satisfaction. The working conditions for many dealers became unbearable because their pit boss, Joe, was [according to them] “toxic, overbearing, evil, and incompetent.The previous employees may have been experiencing complete job satisfaction with the exception of the communication and negativity they were receiving from Joe; however, those issues were enough to see them leave to a competitor’s casino. Additional suggestions and recommendations are being made to Tom and Andrew to help improve employee job satisfaction. The first recommendation is to build the employees’ competence and confidence through training, feedback and recognition. This is probably something that the dealers were not receiving from Joe. Second, communicating the company’s values and goals helps the employee to know and remember why they are there in the first place. Employees who are aware of the company’s mission statement and goals experience higher job satisfaction. Third, and this is so important, encourage positive workplace relations. Good morale in a company fosters job satisfaction and many employees are encouraged to be able to speak openly and with ease to their employers. (“Softpedia”, 2001). JC’s Casino was experiencing some serious organizational issues including high employee turnover and poor communication between managers and employees. Tom Sneed consulted with me to help him investigate some of the issues plaguing the casino and offer recommendations as to how to address them. The issues were so serious that it was becoming difficult for Andrew, the housekeeping director, to hire any new people. The recommendations made regarding addressing occupational stressors and job satisfaction should make an immediate impact with the employees and the company that the turnover rate should begin to slow down or stop altogether. The current employees should begin to see small, continuous changes occur which will lead to more job satisfaction.

References http://smallbusiness.chron.com/can-managers-use-reinforcement-theory-motivate-employees-18559.html (How can managers use reinforcement theory to motivate employees? Meredyth Glass, Demand Media)
Softpedia. (2001). Retrieved from http://news.softpedia.com/news/Five-Tips-for-Improving-the-Employee-Job-Satisfaction-28097.shtml
Spector, P. E. (2012). Industrial and organizational psychology (6th ed.). Retrieved from https://ecampus.phoenix.edu.