Reflection on Research: Employee Turnover Impact at Sainsbury's

This report is a reflection on a research project investigating the impact of employee turnover on organizational performance, specifically within Sainsbury's. The research explored the challenges associated with high employee turnover, emphasizing the need for effective human resource strategies. The project involved understanding employee turnover concepts, identifying reasons for employee departures (such as motivation, organizational environment, and policies), and analyzing its effects on costs, productivity, and overall company performance. The research employed both primary and secondary sources, including questionnaires and literature reviews, to gather data and assess employee perceptions. Key findings highlighted factors like lack of growth opportunities, work pressure, and insufficient recognition as drivers of turnover. The research also considered the use of qualitative and quantitative research methods, the inductive research approach, and interpretivism philosophy. The reflection also acknowledges skill gaps in communication and analysis, while emphasizing the project's value in developing research skills and informing future studies. The report concludes with recommendations for management to implement policies that address employee needs, encourage feedback, and foster better communication to improve employee engagement and retention.

Project

Table of Contents
Reflection.........................................................................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

Reflection
The research project which I have undertaken is related with the impact of the turnover
rate of the employees on the performance of the overall organisation. Undertaking this research
is an opportunity for me as with the help of this I could understand the topic and its importance
for an organisation which has been operation on a large scale. This project facilitated me in
understanding the challenges which an organisation has to face because of high employee
turnover of the employees. To deal with such situation the human resource department of the
company has to consistently focus upon various strategies and actions so that they can manage
the situation efficiently.
For undertaking this research efficiently I had to develop an understanding of the concept
of employee turnover and about its importance for the organisation to manage it. Along with this
I also focussed upon various reasons that can compel an employee to leave and organisation such
as Sainsbury in which they have been working so long (Flick, 2018). On the basis of the
understanding so developed I could analysed that the level of motivation and the organisational
environment along with workplace culture plays important role in turnover of the employees.
Apart from this the policies so formulated by the human resource department of the Sainsbury
also has influence on the employees behaviour and their decision of leaving out the organisation.
It is important for the company to consider this issue as it has various impacts on them in terms
of cost of the company, productivity and overall performance of the organisation and many
more. Sainsbury is one of the largest supermarket chains in UK and for its human resource
department managing the issue of employee turnover is so very crucial to minimise its impact on
the company’s performance (Wren, 2015).
From various sources I identified that they organises various trainings and developmental
sessions for the employees, reimbursement planning so that the employees can be made
competence for undertaking various activities. Due to this the cost of the company increases and
if employees turnover rate will be high then this cost will gradually increase for the company.
This creates responsibility of the human resource department of the company to deal efficiently
with the employees. While investigating on the topic and analysing the information of other
companies I noticed that this problem is faced by various companies gradually because with a
significant change in any policy or workplace culture, employees tends to leave the organisation.
On the basis of my study I determined that the employee turnover can be classified into various

parts such as it can be voluntary or involuntary, internal or external which depends upon the
prevailing situation within the organisation (Bell, Bryman and Harley, 2018). With
dissatisfactory performance of the employees the company lay-off the employees while
sometimes they themselves decides to leave the organisation. But this has adverse impact on the
overall performance of the Sainsbury.
For achieving efficiency in the research I had to gather information from various sources
such as primary and secondary sources. I approached various employees of the organisation so
that I can determine their perception about the policies of the company and could determine the
reasons that motivate them to leave the organisation. For this I used a questionnaire with the help
of which I gathered structured answers of the employees. Along with this I gathered some of the
information from the secondary sources such as various books, journals, articles of various
authors etc. With the help of which I prepared a literature review which provides a detailed
understanding of the topic and its related aspects. The collection of data from such sources
ensured me about the authenticity of the information and the reliability on the suggestions and
recommendations so provided by me to the company.
From the viewpoint of various authors I could identify various reasons for the employee
turnover within the company and some of them are lack of opportunity to the employees due to
which they feel lack of growth and this motivates them to switch the company so that they can
get better income and high profile in comparison to what they have presently (Fletcher, 2017).
Another major reason for such action can be pressure of work in comparison to the amount that
has been paid to the employees. The reasons which are identified for the high turnover of the
employee include lack of recognition within the company and lesser feedback to the employees
affects their performance due to which they finds improper workplace culture. According to my
knowledge, money motivates a lot and proper appraisal can satisfy the employees but if that does
not take place then the employees feels demotivated and this directly impacts their performance.
On the basis of an article and the Reponses of the employees in the questionnaire enabled
me to believe that the organisation has various adverse impacts due to the employees turnover.
According to some of the senior employees who has closely monitored this problem it can be
identified that the profitability and the productivity of the Sainsbury gets affected when any
employees leaves the organisation as they made a lot of investment on their employees in terms
of their recruitment, induction, orientation etc. All this put a challenge before the human resource

department that they have to put their focus upon the recruitment and selection of the new
employees so that they can reduce its impact. For managing such situation I recommended that it
becomes important for the management to formulates various policies with the help of which
they can satisfy the needs and wants of the existing employees that can reduce this problem of
high employee turnover for the company. Along with this they must organise various activities
with the help of which they can take feedbacks from the employees regarding the changes that
the employees are expecting within the organisation. In addition to this I realised that with the
help of various initiatives of the manager in context of better communication, employee
engagement, time to time performance appraisal etc. can motivate the employees which will
make them feel as an integral part of the organisation.
At the time of undertaking this research I had to gather various resources which can help
me in completing the project efficiently. For this I involved four students who were in their
undergraduate course as they could easily facilitate me in gathering various required information
about the topic. They use to search and store data as per the instructions so provided to them.
Apart from this other resources which I gathered included laptops and phone which facilitated
communication me and my team. In addition to this I had to take rights and subscriptions for
various online sources that can provide reliable data for the research. I had to arrange funds for
procuring all the resources and for making payment of the stipend to the students (Grissom,
Viano and Selin, 2016).
I used various methods for gathering information and making analysis of the information
such as with the help of qualitative and quantitative methods of research I could easily determine
various tools which can support in undertaking research. Also for this research I use inductive
approach of research as I find it suitable for this type of project because it enabled me to observe
the reaction of the employees and the mangers of the Sainsbury while investigating as this
supports in analysing the pattern in which they respond to the questions. With this I could make
better interpretations as it facilitates detailed exploration. Considering the philosophy to be used
in the research, I used interpretivism philosophy as with this I could generate better and
appropriate interpretations for the qualitative components of the research (Noble, 2015).
At the time of undertaking this research I felt that I lack in various skills such as
communication skills. This is because I had to communicate with the project managers of the
Sainsbury, human resource managers of the Sainsbury through video conferencing, e-mails etc.

also I had to formulate progress reports but I could not make it efficiently. To overcome such an
issue had to take various online sessions that developed a significant level of confidence which
enabled me to efficiently communicate with the officials of the company. Apart from this I
realised that I lack in analysing skills due to which I had to take help of my team mates who has
better understanding of various aspects of the statistical methods. Also dealing with the people
and interpreting their responses is also a difficult task and the perception of people responding
and interpreting may vary which has impact on the recommendations so made to the company.
This research project will help me undertaking various similar researches in future as this
developed a detailed understanding of the topic. Along with this I developed various skills which
will reduce the chances of similar problems that I have faced while undertaking this research.
Conducting this research was not an easy task for this as I had to look after maintaining ethical
and reliable behaviour of mine and my team members towards the employee of the company and
other person associated with the research.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Bell, E., Bryman, A. and Harley, B., 2018. Business research methods. Oxford university press.
Fletcher, A.J., 2017. Applying critical realism in qualitative research: methodology meets
method. International Journal of Social Research Methodology .20(2). pp.181-194.
Flick, U., 2018. Designing qualitative research. Sage
Grissom, J. A., Viano, S. L. and Selin, J. L., 2016. Understanding employee turnover in the
public sector: Insights from research on teacher mobility. Public Administration
Review.76(2). pp.241-251.
Noble, H. and Smith, J., 2015. Issues of validity and reliability in qualitative research. Evidence-
based nursing .18(2). pp.34-35.
Wren, D.A., 2015. Implementing the Gantt chart in Europe and Britain: the contributions of
Wallace Clark. Journal of Management History 21(3). pp.309-327.