What is the problem at her company that the student is addressing? Does her literature review (WA#2) inform this problem at all?
The student is addressing the employee retention issue for the company she works for. She argues that losing two important workers has interfered with the smooth running of the company’s operations. The student’s literature review does not discuss the company’s specific problem, although she talks about employee turnover and retention.
What primary research does she want to conduct?
The student intends to conduct a survey on the existing workers asking what their view on the company’s management is, what would make them continue working for the company, and what changes they would like the company to implement. She trusts that the response from the workers will be an eye-opener to what should be done to maintain the workers.
Would you recommend any other forms of primary research for her? For example, would interviews be helpful? If so, interviews with whom? Would a focus group be helpful? If so, focus groups with whom?
I would recommend interviews because the student works in an environment filled with people of different ages and who have different opinions. Conducting an interview will offer immediate feedback, and also the information collected will be firsthand. When performing the interview, the student should group the employees into categories based on the period in which they have worked with the company. By doing so, she will be able to collect information from the oldest employees to the current ones. I would also recommend the student to interview the manager on what she thinks about losing valuable employees.
Why will the primary research be important to her Human Resources Director, Joyce Smith? Why wouldn’t Ms. Smith be satisfied with simply studies and articles on employee retention and turnover? The primary research will be important to HR because it will address issues that are specific to the organization. Having new and unused data will offer a clear and realistic insight into the issue the company is facing and the needed strategies that can be implemented to maintain workers in the company.