Case Study 3: Elemental Inc.
By analyzing Element Inc.’s situation, it is clear that there must be many problems to be resolved, in order to prevent employees to leave for bigger companies. As the Vice- President of the Human Resources of the company, I would like to give thorough recommendations to allow the company to reach success. To begin, I would like to re-cap and address the problems occurring among the company. The main issue is that talented employees are leaving the company to work for bigger companies. As these employees leave it becomes expensive to replace the employees, and it is disruptive to the entire company. Therefore, since Element Inc. is a small business, employees who have great talent become more attracted to bigger companies that initially offer them “more” at work. Since this problem has been continuously occurring and at least one work member leaves for a bigger company each year, it is best to make a change as soon as possible.
My first and most important suggestion revolves around the topic of changing nature of work. If employees are offered greater benefits in the company, they will most likely grow a stronger bond with the company. Since Element Inc. is an adverting company, it employs individuals that are creative, and therefore would want to express their creativity to their greatest ability. This can be done by providing new responsibilities to the employees, as a result of job enlargement. Since the employees have a creative mind, and their job requires them to be creative, it is best to offer them with new tasks to showcase their creativity. In relevance to John Cardella’s suggestion, employees need to be recognized for their efforts. By doing so they will feel more appreciative for their hard work. Therefore, by introducing a job enlargement of providing the employees to expand their work in new tasks and express their strengths, they will enjoy and strive to work hard while not being bored.
In relevance to job enlargement, the company should also involve job enrichment that will increase satisfaction for the employees. A major reason that employees are leaving to bigger companies is because they feel that they will receive “more” with the opposing company. However, if an employee were fully satisfied with their current job, leaving would not become an option. Therefore, Element Inc. should insure that the employees are satisfied with the job that they’re doing. To further guarantee this satisfaction, job enrichment would be a great option for the company, and allowing employees to be assigned additional responsibility normally reserved for higher level employees. Again, the employees will receive the recognition they please, all while being motivated to accomplish their work. This can be looked upon as a win-win situation, as productivity for the company occurs, all while the employee is being satisfied. Therefore, as employees feel like their work has meaning and is importance to the company, they will feel more apart of the company than ever. Additionally by taking into consideration of Michael Thompson’s advice, it is best to recognize the strong employees earlier than later. If the employee seems to have a strong motivation of commitment from the beginning, placing them with job enrichment will further motivate their commitment to the company.
Placing these job design alternatives employees will be more committed to their work and the company. However, with assistance form Michael Thompson’s advice introducing a bonus will be a good aspect. Thompson’s advice suggests that the company offers a special bonus to employees that stay committed for say 3 years. With this bonus employees will be further be enthused on the thought of working at the company. This bonus could be salary based or cash based, however in addition the company should take into considerations of basic needs of bonuses that some company’s may not offer. For instance, the Work safety in Ontario act should be re-ensured with all employees to make sure they know the company truly cares about these little aspect of their well being. Additionally, to the bonus after a few years of commitment and along with The Employment Standards Act, employees should be able to receive greater employee rights. For instance wage hours should increase along with benefits such as greater holiday pay and time.
Although the business is fairly small, and is considered “the college-level team for the big leagues”, the company should become stricter on employment. As suggested by Grail Noble, individuals should go beyond standard to receive a job at the company. This will allow the company to build a reputation of being difficult to get the job, and therefore will attract only hard workers. If employees work hard to get into the position, they will certainly produce the same working skills after obtaining the job. Conclusively, by taking small steps in regards to current employees and new employees Element Inc. should successfully keep all the talented employees. The company should just take into considerations small aspects that will want employees to stay at the company, all while not disrupting the company’s work.