Recognizably Equal: A Case Study on Employee Dissatisfaction Issues

This case study examines employee dissatisfaction at Fatima Memorial Hospital, a major medical facility in the MENA region. The hospital, known for its employee-oriented schemes, faced issues like increased sick calls and quality concerns, leading to an investigation by the HR department. The investigation revealed problems such as hiring new employees at higher packages than existing staff, lack of internal promotion, and poor communication between management and employees. The study applies Victor Vroom's Expectancy theory and Max Weber's organizational theory to analyze the issues. It highlights the importance of performance-reward relationships, effort-performance links, and clear communication within the organization. The solution involves motivating employees, recognizing their contributions, and implementing fair compensation practices. The study recommends setting clear goals, providing adequate resources, and ensuring equal pay, ultimately aiming to improve employee satisfaction and reduce turnover.

Recognizably Equal
Final Case Study: Recognizably Equal
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................4
Issue.............................................................................................................................................4
Rule..............................................................................................................................................6
Application..................................................................................................................................7
Justification................................................................................................................................10
Recruitment strategy..................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................14
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Introduction
The success of an organization solely depends on the satisfaction among the employees. Usually
the cases of lower turnover rate are dependent on the high employee contentedness rate.
Therefore it is the responsibility of the management to keep their employees satisfied with their
job and career. There are various reasons of the employees being discouraged with the
organization and jobs which include lack of communication, high stress, limited opportunity for
self-growth, lack of recognition etc. The management of the organization must actively seek in
order to improve the related factors which lower down the turnover rate. The case of turnover
presents an expense which has to be avoided even in the economic downturn (Ibrahim, M.E. and
Perez, A.O., 2014)
According to, Kuvaas, B., (2006), higher employee satisfaction is seen to correlate to the lower
staff turnover and the higher levels of customer satisfaction as the customer’s results and
outcomes are directly affected by the employees providing services (Chi and Gursoy, 2009).
It is impossible for the organization to satisfy their customers if they are not getting appropriate
support from the satisfied employees who run the operations of the company. Various HR
studies have argued the importance of the improving employee satisfaction which requires
combination of the employee opportunities for development and growth with factors like
welfare, working environment, company policy, and employees’ sense of security. Studies like
Van Scotter (2000) and McColl-Kennedy and Anderson (2005), have pointed out to the value of
increasing the accountability and autonomy of the employees. This paper aims to reflect the
various aspects of the employee dissatisfaction by elaborating the case of Fatima Memorial
Hospital where the issue of employees’ dissatisfaction has been encountered recently.
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Discussion
Issue
Identify the problem relating to employee dissatisfaction. Justify your position
Fatima Memorial Hospital is one of the major medical facility provider in the MENA region.
The hospital has been known widely for its charitable activities and the employee oriented
schemes for the last decade. With over 150 administrative staff, 800 workers and 80 management
level employees, the organization was seen to treat everyone at the same level and even provided
the same coloured scrubs for their doctors and nurses and was standing by the rule of Employee
Equality. Therefore the management had a cordial relationship with the staff. The hospital was
even seen to provide its employees with competitive benefits package. But in the recent days, the
hospital has been seen to face issues related to quality, supply and increase in the sick calls by
their employees.
On probing further by the HR department of the company, it was seen that there were various
loop holes in the system of the hospital. On investigating further, the issues creating
dissatisfaction among the employees were identified to be:
1. Hiring of new employees for the higher level post where the potential internal candidates
were not even considered.
2. These newly hired employees were given higher packages as compared to the ones who
are already working in the same field.
The dissatisfied employees complained of the fact that there performance level was better than
the newly hired as they are well-known of the rules, regulations and functioning of the hospital.
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The further believed that they required lesser skill assessment and lesser decision-making time as
compared to the newly hired candidates. Therefore they should have been considered for the
vacant positions.
The organization had spent an enormous amount of money while recruiting the newly hired,
processing the hiring process and in training them. The low pace of the newly hired and the
dissatisfaction among the existing employees has posed a severe threat to the functioning of the
company. This issue was further aggravated by the higher packages being offered to the newly
hired as compared to the existing employees who were working at the same level.
During the whole process of investigation it was concluded that the main issues was the lack of
communication among the workforce. The managerial staff was kept isolated and could not
related to the personal and professional growth of their existing employees (Branham, 2005).
This left the whole staff to be highly disconnected and the employees were not considered during
the hiring process. Even the employees were unaware of their performance measures and did not
have a sense of improvement. This lack of communication further led to difficulty in making any
progress in their respective efficiency. The employees were rarely praised for the performance
quality.
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Rule
What is the relevant HRM Rule or theory for the given issue?
One of the related HRM rule or theory related to the given issue is Victor Vroom’s Expectancy
theory. The Expectancy theory states that the motivation of any employee is an outcome of the
assessment that his efforts are leading to the expected performance (Expectancy), how much
reward can be gained (Valence) and the belief that reward will be presented for the performance
(Instrumentality). The Valence can be related to the expect outcome by the individual but it is
only expected and cannot be considered as the actual satisfaction which is expected after
achieving the desired goals. Whereas Expectancy is the faith that better performance is
guaranteed if the employees put forward their best efforts. This factor is directly proportional to
the availability of right resources, possession of appropriate skills for performing the job,
availability of crucial information and receiving appropriate support from the management
(Heneman, H.G. and Schwab, D.P., 1972).
Whereas Instrumentality is the faith that the employee will perform well in order to produce a
valid outcome. It is affected by the factors like the simplicity of the process deciding who gets
what outcome, believe in the people who decide who receives what outcome and clarity of
relationship between outcomes and performance. The theory is seen to concentrate on the
following three relationships:
1. Performance-reward relationship: This relationship related to the extent where the
employees are seen to believe that their good performance leads to appraisal and rewards
from the organization.
2. Effort-performance relationship: This relationship accounts for the likelihood that the
individual’s effort will be recognized in his performance appraisal.
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3. Rewards-personal goals relationship: This relationship deals with the attractiveness or
appeal of the potential reward to the employees (Lawler, E.E. and Suttle, J.L., 1973)
Furthermore, the organization must have adopted to the organizational theory by Max Weber
which defined the organizational structure and provided a detailed meaning to the
communication process. The Weberian theory claimed that the organizations should have a
clearly defined roles and responsibilities and asserted that the communicational process should
be hierarchical, structured, and clear. When the communication process is clear, there is no
confusion in the messages being transported from top to the lower management and all the
employees can contribute to the organization by the manner their roles and responsibilities have
been defined (Du Gay, P., 2000). A clear message must be given by the management regarding
the situation of the company in order to retain utmost transparency and to instill confidence in
the employees and staff members. The management needs to communicate effectively in order to
elicit action, exert full control and to effect the coordination. This way the organization can be in
touch with the employees and understand their needs and wants (Simpson, R.L., 1959).
Application
Apply the Rule to your case.
Fatima Memorial Hospital should have reflected on the performance-reward, effort-performance
and rewards-personal goals relationship. The performance of the employees must have been
monitored from the very beginning and should have been motivated from time to time. This
would have motivated the employees and led to job dissatisfaction. Even while hiring the new
employees, the organization should have first evaluated the potential of their employees and then
hired new employees if the existing employees were not found to be competent for the desired
post.
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The organization should have paid full attention to the concept of valence. In expectancy theory,
the most important factor for motivating the employee is the social context. The employees
expect and need to see that they are valued the promised rewards for their performance and extra
efforts. The employees must be provided incentives from time to time. The effective employees
must be provided with promotion and other relevant prizes (Kruse, K., 2015).
The efforts and performance must be connected with their efforts and the efficient and capable
employees must have been considered before hiring the new employees or at least must have
been concerned regarding the issue. This practice is the central towards the expectancy theory.
The employees must be motivated and rewarded so as to not to make them feel unrewarded or
neglected. This particular theory will be highly successful in eliminating the chances of
employee dissatisfaction as it will motivate the employees to work towards expected outcome
when their contribution to the organization is valued. The employees must be valued and
respected so as to motivate them to the fullest. This motivation will act as an anchor and
motivate the employees to work towards desirability of the expected outcome of the situation.
They must be made believe that they can affect the success of the organization and their work is
related to the desired outcome of the situation (Latham, G.P., 2000). The employees must be
made believe that their actions will lead to fulfilment of the organizational success and
objectives.
Secondly, the application of the Weberian theory in the Fatima Memorial Hospital will help the
organization to make their employees clear about the respective roles and responsibilities. Once
the roles and responsibilities are defined clearly and the communicational process is very
structured and hierarchical, a clear message can be provided to the employees by using the top to
down technique. A clear and to the point messages can be helpful in maintaining transparency
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among the senior and lower management and the employees would be able to confide in their
senior management. A structured and hierarchical communication process and will lead to
standardized procedures. While implementation of the Weber management theory will make the
employees understand what is meant for them. The organization would be able to make
employees an important and considerable part of the organization and encourage them to
participate in an efficient manner (Herzberg, F., 1986).
Conclusion
How would you fix the problem?
It will the sole responsibility of the human resource department and the management to motivate
their existing employees. The motivated employees will directly affect the organizational
performance. Therefore the human resource management needs to concentrate on the various
ways to motivate their employees and to fix the problem. Although the concept of motivational
theories and rewards types might be time consuming for the organization but in the long run
these will directly impact on the turnover of the company. Therefore the managers need to
concentrate on the three key areas of responsibility for coordinating and integrating with the
human resource policy. The three key areas of responsibility are mentioned as given below:
1. Performance Definition,
2. Performance Facilitation and
3. Performance Encouragement.
The managers need to set goal as per the performance and should also have an evaluative
measure for accomplishing the common goals. Adequate roles, responsibilities along with the
defined goals must be presented to the employees. The goals must be assessed as the unassessed
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goals do not motivate the employees in order to work accordingly. With regular progress
assessment towards the achievement of goals, the employees are able to concentrate towards
achieving the goals. This way they feel valued and with regular evaluation the management can
also review their performance and consider existing employees instead of the hiring the news
ones. Further the salary packages must ne same for all the employees at the same level be it for
the existing or the newly hired ones. The management must be able to verify all the obstacles in
the employee dissatisfaction. The employees must be provided with adequate resources so as to
perform well in the organization (Watson, T., 2013.)
Lastly the management should encourage the employees in the areas of amount of rewards, value
of rewards, and timing of rewards, equity and fairness of rewards. The amount and value of
rewards must be same for the employees working at the same level. The employees must be
valued personally and the best worker must be made aware of his accomplishments from time to
time to make him feel better. The employees must be praised and encouraged even for smaller
accomplishments. The employees must be communicated with utmost respect and they must be
valued and involved in every aspect of the hospital. A clear communication will help the
employees to present their ideas and the most efficient employee can also be considered for
promotions and vacant positions in the hospital. The employees must be given information freely
and about the change of plans, vacant positions, etc. so as to make them a part of the decision-
making process. A simple token of appreciation will act as a morale booster for the employees.
Justification
Look at your investigation points 1 and 2 above. Were they justified or not? Support your
answers with HRM related concepts.
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Fatima Memorial Hospital encountered the following issues on investigation by the HR manager
which were the primary reasons for the employees’ dissatisfaction in the organization:
1. Hiring of new employees for the higher level post where the potential internal candidates
were not even considered.
2. These newly hired employees were given higher packages as compared to the ones who
are already working in the same field.
3. Communication issues in the organization from senior to lower level of management.
The organization needs to perform equity and fairness in order to satisfy their employees.
Satisfaction always derives from the relation between the earned rewards and what the
employees desire. The organization needs to understand the difference between the comparison
of rewards which a particular employee receives as compared to the other employees and to the
amount of rewards the person receives as compared to the efforts he put in order to get the work
done. Once Fatima Memorial Hospital establishes this difference, it will be able to consider its
existing employees during the needed conditions and can define the difference between the
reward earned and the rewards promised. With the help of this theory, the employee would be
able to see their reward fair as compared to the efforts given by the individual (Cascio 1995,
419). The expectancy theory of motivation represents the most valid, comprehensive and useful
approach to understanding motivation. The response from the management would be able to base
the level of work by the employees. A positive performance appraisal in terms of promotion and
equal pay as newly hired would be appreciated among the employees. The response level from
the organization with clear and through communication channel will lead to quality of work
among the employees thereby resulting in extra efforts from the employees that they put into
their task.
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The expectancy theory will be beneficial inn helping the managers to understand the ways the
employees can be motivated from the various behavioural alternatives. The system of the
organization must be tied very closely to the performances of the employee in order to enhance
the connection between the outcomes and the performance. The management further needs to
understand that the existing employees are more capable of the vacant positions and the
rewarded employees is deserving. Lastly there is a need for the organization to implement an
effective communication channel in order to improve their connection between the performance
and the efforts. The managers must provide training to the employees for improving the
capabilities of the employees and helping the employees to believe that they are important for the
organization and their efforts must be accounted in terms of equal pay and promotions. The
expectancy theory suggests that promoting employees from in-house supports the employee
retention efforts. The recruiters must select the suitably qualified employees from the
organization itself and meet the expectations of the corporate leadership and human resources.
According to the theory the ability of the recruiter to find a well suited and well qualified
employees from the existing employee base is the factor of success for the human resource.
Recruitment strategy
Fatima Memorial hospital is about to open a sister hospital in Beijing China. Therefore, the
management needs to design and consider an assessment for the recruitment and talent selection.
The employment relationship begins from the recruitment and selection. A strategy has to be
developed in order to attract various applicants with the required qualifications, expertise and
interest in the needs and interests of the organization. The recruiters are held accountable by the
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human resources and the corporate leaders for assembling the pool of qualified applicants in the
case of vacancy (Compton, R.L., Morrissey, W.J., Nankervis, A.R. and Morrissey, B., 2009).
The organization consider employ qualified applicants and must implement a strict recruitment
and selection regime. The organization can also consider the transfer of willing employees to the
sister hospital as the in-house recruitment is cost effective and lesser amount of training will be
given to such candidates regarding the working environment of the organization. Outsourcing of
the employees will also help in separating the qualified and non-qualified candidates. Along with
the various selection test and interviews has to be conducted for the newly hired candidates, the
organization will take into account the recruiting costs. The managers and executives of the sister
hospital must be willing to try various hiring process in order to maintain the quality of the
employees and should work closely with the recruiters and the human resources department.
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References
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moderating roles of work motivation. The International Journal of Human Resource
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Manager, pp.433-448.
Compton, R.L., Morrissey, W.J., Nankervis, A.R. and Morrissey, B., 2009. Effective recruitment
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Watson, T., 2013. Management, organisation and employment strategy: New directions in
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Kruse, K., 2015. Employee Engagement 2.0: How to Motivate Your Team for High
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Latham, G.P., 2000. Motivate employee performance through goal setting. Handbook of
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Simpson, R.L., 1959. Vertical and horizontal communication in formal
organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, pp.188-196.
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