Enquiry Report: Causes of Struggle in Thrive Consultancy

This report investigates the causes of the struggles at Thrive Consultancy, focusing on the impact of funding cuts and policy changes on employee morale and performance. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with employees, revealing key concerns such as the removal of coffee, changes in working hours, perceived lack of support from supervisors and HR, and dissatisfaction with the office layout. The report highlights the importance of coffee to employees' daily routines and the negative impact of its removal on their morale. It also addresses issues related to inflexible working hours and a lack of perceived support. Recommendations include allocating funds for coffee or engaging in discussions to find a solution, reconsidering working hour policies, and addressing concerns about the office layout. The findings emphasize the need for employee consultation and flexibility to improve morale and performance at Thrive Consultancy. Desklib offers this report and other solved assignments to aid students.

Student name:
Student number:
Tutor name:
Date:
Word count:
A report on an enquiry into the possible causes of the struggle in Thrive Consultancy

Table of Contents
Executive summary.....................................................................................................................................3
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................4
Literature review.........................................................................................................................................5
Methods and results.....................................................................................................................................8
Recommendations and conclusions...........................................................................................................12
References.................................................................................................................................................14
Table 1. Level of concern among the employees.......................................................................................10
Figure 1. Graphic visualization of the themes...........................................................................................11

Executive summary
This report as a result of the research conducted on behalf of Thrive Consultancy in order to
establish the cause of the struggles the company has been undergoing.
The chief data collection method was through the semi-structured interview method where
structured questions were asked but additional information was gathered through asking of extra
questions and encouraging the respondents to speak widely of their experiences and their true
feelings regarding the underlying issues under investigation.
The research found out that the chief reason for the low employ morale being experienced in the
company is the funding cuts which resulted in the unavailability of coffee in the office. Majority
of the employees found this particularly unbearable as they were so used to the coffee to run
through their day at the work place. All the employees interviewed had a thing or more to say
about the unavailability of the coffee. This goes in a long way in explaining how important the
coffee was to the day to day activities of the employees.
The report suggested that the company find a way of addressing the underlying coffee issue by
either setting aside funds to cater for the coffee or engaging the employees in an active
discussion regarding the issue in order to come up with an amicable solution to the issue that will
get all the employees on board.

Introduction
Thrive consultancy is a consultancy company which offers services in three main areas namely;
Human Resource consulting, Strategic planning, and Advertising/Marketing consulting. The
company has been in operation for the last fifteen years and employs about 50 staff. The
company advises other companies on human resource consulting practices like HR solutions,
policy renewal and development, KPI development, training, career and leadership development,
employee relations and communications. They also offer strategic planning workshops to help
companies adapt to changes in globalisation, technology, and markets. Lastly, they offer
advertising/marketing consultancy regarding how a company is perceived by clients, branding,
marketing, advertising, and social media presence.
The company is however undergoing a turbulent period due to workers morale and performance
being very low. This results in a lot of staff absences. It was suspected that this is due to the
policy change and funding cuts in the company. This research was conducted to establish
whether this is indeed the case. This report therefore sets out to outline the finding s of the
research.

Literature review
Job demand-resources model is an occupational stress model which tries to establish the impact
of the work requirement in relation to the available resources on employee efficiency (Huang,
Wang, & You, 2016) (Bakker & Arnold, 2016). The model establishes several key indicators of
employee efficiency in relation to the conditions at work. Some of them are as discussed below.
Availability of adequate job resources greatly impacts employee motivation in situations of high
job demands. This is because people are often motivated to acquire, keep and take care of their
resources whenever they have them ( Schaufeli, Bakker, & Van Rhenen, 2009). In addition,
adequate and efficient resources ensure that tasks can be easily performed to near perfection even
in high pressure situations. This will have an effect of compelling the employees to deliver no
matter how arduous the task is as all the conditions are right (Bakker, Van Veldhoven, &
Xanthopoulou, 2010). Therefore, for an organization to get the best out of their employees in all
situations whatsoever, it is of importance to ensure that all the necessary resources are availed.
It is important to conduct wide employee consultation in tandem with communication of
impending policy changes within the organization before implementing them as this greatly
influences the motivation of employees as well as how they respond to the said changes.
Consultation gives employees the chance to participate in the decision process by actually
helping to come up with the best mode of operation for the company which suits all the
employees in place (Easton, Heidewald, Morrone, Neher, & Steiner-Williams). This ensures all
the employees pull together in the realization of the company’s goals once the decision is made
which greatly aides the company’s efficiency as well as growth. On the other hand, top down

communication will make some employees feel unwanted by the company as some of the
decisions made might interfere with some aspects of their personal life as well as their well being
within the company. This will in turn lead to demotivation which directly results in drop in
performance ( Newman & Scott , 2013). Some may as well fail to seek audience whenever they
have issues they want addressed by the management or suggestions on how to best improve the
company as they may feel whatever they have will never be implemented or taken into
consideration.
When employees are forced to make do with certain office arrangements that they are not
necessarily comfortable with, they are likely to be demotivated and this can lead to drop in
performance. Employees have their preferences about how they want to handle their offices with
minimal interference from the management or from anybody within the organization for that
matter. As a result, forcing employees to adopt a particular arrangement can upset their morale
and lead to under-performance. In particular adopting an open office arrangement for the
company while there is an option of portioning may upset employees who prefer privacy in
handling their tasks. The frequent disruptions that come with such open office layout can also
demoralize employees who find it difficult to concentrate under such circumstances (Davis,
Leach, & Clegg, 2011). Such occurrences may take toll on the employees’ health conditions as it
leads them strain in order to deliver (Vinesh, 2009). Such employees are likely to spend a lot of
time on sick leaves thus affecting the efficiency of the company in terms of performing its tasks
as required without loading it onto other equally stressed and held up employees. Some may
even consider quitting the company in the long or short run. It is therefore of importance
consider the employees preferences when adopting an office layout.

Demanding employees to strictly adhere to a set of laid down procedures even if they do not like
them and have aired their grievances on the same issue can affect the morale of the workers and
subsequently their performance will go down. Employees like to be given a flexible work
environment in which they can deliver their duties while still feeling an air of freedom (Gordon
& Hartman, 2009). When they are forced to adhere to strict laid down rules like strictly no
communication during working hours, it may come out to them as though they are being bullied
by the company management and may decide to deliberately underperform as a way of punishing
their bosses or passing a message of defiance to them. Some of them may want out of the
company thus putting the skilled labor of the company in jeopardy. When the employees quit the
organization, the company is likely to incur a lot of costs in recruitment and training of the next
batch of employees who are likely to be disgruntled again thus making a vicious cycle of exodus
from and trekking into the company.

Methods and results
Qualitative analysis is exploratory analysis conducted with a view to understanding the
underlying reasons for the occurrence or existence of a particular phenomenon by an expert. It
gives an insight into the problem at hand and helps create ideas about how the problem can be
best tackled ( Savin-Baden & Major, 2013).
The data for this research was collected through semi structured interview method. This is an
interview method in which the research questions are asked in a manner which encourages the
interviewee to speak on and thus reveal their real opinions about the topic of research. In
addition, additional information can also be obtained through asking of extra support questions.
The interview was conducted within the premises of the company in a quiet meeting room. The
interview was in-depth and was conducted with five members of the company. Each interview
session lasted approximately twenty minutes from which the data was noted down and analyzed
for recurrent themes among the interviewees.
The research established several key concerns among the employees which resulted in the poor
performance and low morale that is being witnessed in the company. One of the most recurrent
concerns was the funding cuts resulting in coffee, tea biscuits and milk no longer being provided
by the company. The lack of coffee in particular was a major cause of concerns as sizeable
number of the employees were so used to it that they find it difficult to operate without the
coffee. The issue got a mention from everyone interviewed. Even those who do not take coffee
mentioned it. This is critical in explaining the low morale among the employees as it is clear that
they are not happy of having to make do without the coffee. Some have even gone to the extent
of buying coffee machines and using them in their offices. This underlines the importance of

coffee in the day to day activity of the employees and why removing it has such far reaching
effects.
The change in working hours is also another source of discontentment among the employees.
They feel that no one cares about their personal life or the flexibility that they would have loved
to have when it comes to work. Some of them have parental duties and feel like they could do
with a bit more flexibility as regards working hours so that they can take care of their families.
Some employees also feel like they need more help from their supervisors and the HRs. Some
say their supervisors are not helping them as much as they should while the human resource
department takes too long to reply to emails.
The office layout also comes out as issue in employee morale. Although only one employee from
the so called “chickencoop” was interviewed and highlighted his frustrations, several others
mentioned something about which implies a good chunk of the population working in the
chickencoop is not happy.
The following tables and graphs give a visual representation of the findings:
Table 1. Level of concern among the employees
Recurrent Employees Employees Employees Employees Percentage

themes interviewed
who spoke
about the issue
interviewed who
are concerned
interviewed
who are
indifferent
interviewed
who are
concerned
about fellow
employees
of
employees
showing a
form of
concern
The funding
cuts
resulting in
removal of
coffee
All five Three out of five Two out of
five
None 60%
Change in
working
hours
All five Three out of five One out of
five
One out of
five
80%
Competency
of the
Human
resource
department
Two out of
five
Two out of five Not
applicable
Not
applicable
40%
Partitioning
of the
chicken
coop
Two out of
five
One out of five Not
applicable
One out of
five
40%

The funding cuts
resulting in removal of
coffee
Change in working hours Competency of the
Human resource
department
Partitioning of the
chicken coop
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Graph of employee level of concern
Causes of concern
ercentage of employees concerned
Figure 1. Graphic visualization of the themes

Recommendations and conclusions
From the research data collected, it is evident that the struggle of the company is down to the
changes that have been affected by the company that did not augur well with the majority of the
employees. The following raft of recommendations may be considered in order to resolve the
underlying issues and get the company up and running again.
You may consider allocating funds to cater for the resources availed to the employees to ensure
they remain motivated. In particular, the research clearly reveals that the employees relied
heavily on the office coffee and they have not taken its absence lightly. Therefore, the only way
to address the situation is consult the employees and find a middle ground concerning the matter.
As pointed out in the literature review, research work done elsewhere any slight interference
with the resources available to employees will result in significant decline in output and might
even take a toll on the health of the employees or affect their relationships with their families. It
is therefore of importance to ensure that such eventualities are avoided at all costs because
without such measures, the company will no longer be able to afford to keep unhealthy non-
performing employees. The company will thereafter incur costs in retrenchment and hiring of
new employees.
Concerning the change in working hours, you may consider holding a series of consultative
meetings with the employees aimed at coming up with a most suitable policy for all the
employees as it is clear that the previous policy did not augur well with the majority of them.
Top-down communication like the previous policy change, even if very well intended, always
tends to evoke a negative reaction from employees as they always feel left out in the decision
process and that no one really cares. It is therefore of great importance that you strive to involve
as many of them as possible in the decision-making process. This will ensure that whenever a