Introduction
Employees play a significant role in the growth and economic empowerment of a company. The employees, if motivated, contribute towards quality production and efficient services a given firm offers. Alternatively, demotivated employees can contribute to the loss of a given company. Therefore, the human resource remains significant among companies, and various mechanisms are adopted to ensure proactiveness. XXX A/S is one of the fastest-growing employment agencies with about fifty employees. The company, since its acquisition, has grown from a small agency to a bigger corporation. Consequently, it has acquired new premises and human resources that help keep the business afloat. However, organizational behavior problems encumber business growth, and it is exhibited by the workers. The company’s workers lack ambition and underperform, making it difficult to assign challenging tasks. Moreover, the firm’s plans are becoming complex and unsustainable. XXX A/S can adopt an employee motivation mechanism and effective problem identification approach to overcome the existing challenges.
Company’s Background
XXX A/S is one of the temporary employment agencies in Zealand that was founded in 2007. The company addresses employment issues in the health sector in the region. XXX A/S, since its foundation, has changed its management three times. Currently, the company employee population is around fifty, and they work in various departments. In December 2020, the company was lastly acquired, and its performance was not at the optimum level during that time. However, the firm managed to make a turnaround in the summer of 2021 and started to shine at the beginning of the autumn. As a corporate body, the company is managed by a Board of Directors who take part in its routine decision making. The board approved the hiring of more employees to boost the company’s performance.
The new performance focused on key developmental areas of new equipment and premises. Acquisition of the new equipment is beneficial to the company since it helps improve service delivery. For instance, the newly acquired computers made it possible for the company to update its existing software. Moreover, the acquisition of new furniture made it possible for the employees to operate comfortably. However, the company still experiences challenges concerning its employee proactiveness and implementation of future developmental goals. The company’s extended management has tried various mechanisms to improve the company’s performance. The management is composed of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), two sales managers, a contracts manager, and two leaders from the recruitment and booking departments. The management is involved in solving the existing challenges facing the company. Like any other recruitment and employment agency, XXX A/S faces various challenges.
Employment Agencies’ Challenges
The employment agencies are significant to economic development in a given country. The agencies help in amassing economic and human resources, making it easy for the companies to acquire competitive employees. Moreover, the agencies help the employees reduce the risk of being rejected by companies. However, the advanced technology and unprecedented economic challenges make it difficult for the agencies to thrive. For instance, the development of social media and information technology has made it easier for the company to recruit their employees. Moreover, the technology allows the companies to access the capabilities of the employees without the need for a third party’s help. Meanwhile, unprecedented natural pandemics like the COVID 19 affect the global employment patterns. Consequently, the employment agencies lack a sufficient market for their recruits. Therefore, XXX A/S is one of the employment agencies facing the risks associated with technology and unprecedented natural pandemics.
XXX A/S Strengths
Although the recruitment agencies in Zealand face various challenges, XXX A/S has several strengths that make it one of the most outstanding agencies in the country. The company’s strengths help it overcome the technological challenges associated with natural pandemics like the COVID-19. Moreover, the strengths significantly contribute to its increasing profitability since its foundation. XXX A/S has enough employees, modern technology, active management, and sufficient resources.
Sufficient Employee Capacity
Sufficient employee capacity is crucial for increasing demand in the labor market. Enough employees make it possible for the company to divide tasks among different people for effective output. Moreover, enough employees are significant to incase some other employees fail to accomplish their assigned tasks. XXX A/S has an employee capacity of fifty which is sufficient for the available tasks. The company’s different departments meet their specified roles due to enough staff members. XXX A/S can survive in case there is increasing demand in the labor market. Furthermore, the firm’s sufficient employee capacity is significant for internal competition that necessitates profits and quality output. Therefore, XXX A/S’s sufficient human resource boosts its performance.
Technological Integration
Technology is significant in the dynamic global business and has led to efficient processes among companies. XXX A/S utilizes advanced technology in its activities, making the recruitment process easy and effective. The company utilizes information technology in managing its resource database. Moreover, the company’s inventory system makes it easier for the staff members to identify available tools of work. Like many other recruitment agencies, XXX A/S uses social media for marketing and communicating with its stakeholders. For instance, it advertises available job vacancies over social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn. Technology integration among various activities has helped the company achieve its profit and output targets.
Active Management
The management plays an important role in the running of business operations. XXX A/S management is involved in policy formulation and identification of various approaches in case a problem arises. The company has a team of seven employees who are responsible for its daily activities. The seven managers have divided work among themselves, each handling crucial departments. The CEO is the overall manager of XXX A/S and is involved in reporting to the Board of Directors. Moreover, the CEO helps the company find solutions to existing problems by consulting other professionals. The CFO is in charge of the company’s financial performance and often develops strategies for profitability. Meanwhile, the remaining five managers are responsible for the company’s departments and often report to the CEO. The management team is the most active and is always on the look for new solutions. Therefore, XXX A/S benefits from its active management team.
Sufficient Resources
Companies with sufficient resources thrive through hard economic times. Recently, the COVID 19 pandemic affected many businesses, leading to the closure of some of the companies. However, firms like XXX A/S survived the pandemic due to their financial muscles. The company’s new owner helped the company acquire assets that made the company sustainable during the COVID 19 pandemic. Availability of the resources is also significant for the company’s performance since it can hire highly qualified professionals. Moreover, XXX A/S can expand in the competitive business environment. Sufficient financial capacity is significant for business growth during economic incapacity.
Identified Problems
Although XXX A/S exhibits strengths from various dimensions, the company is subject to internal and external challenges. The company’s management is primal in solving various problems. However, the management has failed to solve some of the company’s internal problems. Unlike the external environment, the internal environment business challenges can be solved through proper mechanisms. XXX A/S has addressed the majority of its internal problems, but two major problems persist: lack of ambition and underperformance in the booking department and complex future growth plans. Consequently, the identified can lead to business failure despite the management efforts.
Lack of Ambition Among in the Booking Department
The Booking department plays an important role in the daily activities of XXX A/S. The department is involved in the booking of potential recruitees. The employees working in the department capture the details of the clients and match them with potential organizations. Although the Booking department is one of the most active departments in the company, some of the employees lack ambitions. The employees are inactive and delay executing their assigned roles. Moreover, the majority of the employees working in the department are irrational and often hate challenging tasks. Some of them take some of the challenges as personal attacks and would often pretend to be sick. Therefore, the booking department remains ineffective in the execution of their routine task, making it difficult for other departments to accomplish their work.
Possible Causes of the Problem
Employee motivation helps in improving the proactiveness of the company. Proactive employees are solution solvers and critical thinkers. Moreover, proactiveness promotes teamwork among employees. The Booking department’s inactiveness is probably caused by a lack of internal motivation. For instance, the majority of the employees complain about the salary review and incentive mechanisms. Additionally, the employees complain about the existing working conditions, especially the harsh management directives. Therefore, the workers in the Booking department deviate from the organizational culture. For instance, the department has adopted a culture that allows the employees to support and motivate each other. Inadequate salary and harsh managerial directives make it difficult for the employees to adopt the culture.
Effects of the Problem
Lack of ambition can be detrimental to the company’s overall performance. Firstly, there is poor output since the demotivated employees do not perform to their optimum capacity. Consequently, the majority of the tasks are poorly completed leading to the loss of many clients. Secondly, the non-proactive employees are capable of transmitting negative attitudes to other employees. Since the employees in the Booking department take personally any assigned challenging tasks, they encourage other employees to resist the directives from supervisors. Finally, demotivated employees can lead to incoordination and a lack of teamwork in the company. Lack of teamwork encourages employee resistance and leads to increased problems within the company. Consequently, the management finds it difficult to coordinate and help employees think critically when performing assigned tasks. Proactiveness is important for business growth and problem-solving in the company.
Management Efforts to Solve the Problem
The company’s management has tried several mechanisms to motivate the department. For instance, at the beginning of 2021, we introduced employee awards to motivate them on an annual basis. The most performing employees are entitled to salary increments and other benefits such as a family trip to a destination of their choice. However, the majority of the employees are unsatisfied with the company’s effort since it only benefits a few individuals. Moreover, the company organized team-building activities every financial year. The activities help the employees learn the importance of teamwork and operate towards a common goal. Although the management has tried to curb the problem, their solution is ineffective.
Solutions to Motivate the Employees
Rider-Elepahnt Analogy. The absence of ambition among the employees can be described using the Rider and the Elephant model. Dan Heath’s Rider and Elephant analogy can help describe the employee behavior in the company (Resse & Huecker, 2021). The analogy suggests that every human being has two sides: the elephant and the rider. While the rider represents the rational thinker, analytical planner, and evidence-based decision-maker, the elephant is an emotional player who is energetic, sympathetic, and loyal (Resse & Huecker, 2021). The “rider” holds the rein and guides the elephant, which can overpower the rider. Therefore, the “rider” cannot force the elephant to go anywhere without motivating him (Heath & Heath, 2010). Therefore, the employees who are the “elephant” in this scenario need motivation for their optimum output.
The management needs to adopt mechanisms that motivate the employees in general. Firstly, the company should adopt an annual salary review to motivate the employees. The review should be conducted by consulting the employees. However, the salary increment should be made proportional to the company’s profitability. Consequently, the employees will be motivated to perform for the business growth. Moreover, an employee incentives scheme could be adopted to motivate the employees who operate in the booking department. For instance, the company can set a maximum number of bookings, after which the employees are entitled to some commission. The employees will be motivated to surpass their daily targets and accept the challenging targets which are beneficial to them. Therefore, an effective salary review and incentive schemes will help motivate the employees in the booking department.
Complex Future Growth Tasks
The economy is dynamic due to unprecedented global issues like COVID 19 pandemic. Moreover, technological advancement calls for a change in the organizational culture and means of operations. XXX A/S has integrated technology and made the business sustainable for future expansion. Therefore, the management has developed a future expansion and growth mechanism that has affected the entire business. However, the changes are becoming more complex among the employees. For instance, the newly employed operational schedule conflicts with personal schedules and leads to some employees working for more hours than others. Moreover, the management recommends that the employees improve their skills according to their job description. However, the directive requires the employees to enroll in professional courses, making it difficult for them to concentrate on their operational areas. Although the company has developed effective future growth plans, the adopted mechanisms are becoming complicated and lead to employee ineffectiveness.
Possible Causes of the Problem
The company’s adoption of future growth mechanisms remains challenging and complex due to the lack of a proper implementation mechanism. Although the Board of Directors and the routine management team have developed plans for future growth, persistent employee resistance make the implementation difficult. For instance, the company’s recommendation for the employees to take professional development courses has remained achieved. Moreover, the company has not clearly defined the steps needed to effectively implement the suggested solutions. For instance, some of the directives have led to increased working hours for some employees. However, the management has failed to define how the overworked employees will be compensated. Therefore, poor implementation has led to the complexity of the company’s future development mechanisms.
Effects of the Problem
Complex development and growth plans are detrimental to the company’s performance in the recruitment market. Firstly, the complicated approaches are likely to interfere with the annual plans of the firm. For instance, failure by the employees to meet their set goals lags the company’s performance. Secondly, the problem may lead to a waste of the firm’s resources in compensating the failed departments. The Booking department has inconsistent performance causing the company to employ more employees in the department. Consequently, excess resources are used to ensure that the business stays afloat. Finally, the company is at risk of being defeated in the competitive market. XXX A/S competes with companies that have developed effective plans and are ready for any future changes in the market. Therefore, complicating the future growth plans is risky for the XXX A/S performance.
Management Efforts to Solve the Problem
Having noticed the risk of complex future growth plans, the management has adopted various mechanisms to reduce the associated risks. For instance, the department leaders have been encouraged to consult the employees on how to best achieve the company’s plans. Moreover, the management has involved various stakeholders and employees in developing plans. The involvement of the employees made it easy for the company to implement its plans. For instance, the employees working in the booking department were involved in identifying the major problems faced by the department and how to improve them. However, the plans remain complex since it interferes with the individual employee and departmental plans. Therefore, the management efforts to effectively implement the future growth plans are futile.
Recommendations to Effectively Implement Future Goals
The complicated future development goals interfere with the company’s daily operations. However, the company can adopt various mechanisms to effectively implement its future growth plans. Firstly, the company needs to identify and analyze the existing areas for improvement. For instance, the Booking department plays a significant role in the routine operations that can be analyzed. The company can bring professional analysts on board who can help identify the impediments to the plans, and provide tangible solutions. Secondly, the idea of employees improving their operational skills can be implemented through the use of professional trainers. The invited trainers can be accommodated some time within the agency’s operational schedule. Consequently, the employees will improve their skills without the need to enroll in professional classes. Moreover, routine digitized employee training can help to effectively implement the desired future growth plans. Therefore, problem analysis and employee training can help solve the complex future growth plans.
Conclusion
XXX A/S is one of the competitive recruitment agencies in Zealand that face internal problems. While the employment agencies face various challenges, the company’s active management, sufficient resources, and enough employees help it overcome the challenges. However, XXX A/S still faces problems with its Booking department and developed future growth plans. The employees in the Booking department are less ambitious and underperform. Meanwhile, the company’s developed future growth plans are complex due to poor implementation. The company can adopt an effective salary review, and employee incentive mechanisms can help motivate the employees. Moreover, professional problem analysis and employee training can help effectively implement the company’s plans. XXX A/S can remain afloat by motivating its employees and encouraging proper implementation mechanisms.
References
Heath, C., & Heath, D. (2010). Switch : how to change things when change is hard. Broadway Books.
Reese, J., & Huecker, M. (2021). The Complicated Path to Wellness. Journal of Wellness, 3(1), 7. DOI: 10.18297/jwellness/vol3/iss1/7