Large Defense Contractor and Am

¶ … large defense contractor and am in charge of hiring employees to fulfill customer requirements. My function as a HR manager corresponds to the requirements of my company. I consider my role as a strategic associate, an employee supporter and an adviser for change. In addition, my role includes, recruiting, hiring and training new employees; managing performance of the workforce, providing strategic leadership in the human resource department and lastly, managing employee salary and benefits.

The research question(s) to be addressed.

A number of research studies have shown that employee retention is heavily dependent upon the corporate culture, salaries and benefits, and top management support. These studies will be reviewed later on. However, the focus of this study is on employee retention at (please insert company name) and whether these variables apply to the current situation at (company name). This leads to the following research questions, which this study will address:

Does a strong corporate culture lead to employee retention at (company name)?

Does higher salary lead to employee retention at (company name)?

Does top management support lead to employee retention at (company name)?

Introduce your paper to the readers.

A number of studies have shown that focusing on continuously improving the management and business processes fosters greater employee retention. Furthermore, it allows the company to shift their focus from being business-centric to customer-centric. Studies have also shown that employee satisfaction is vital for the growth and development of all organizations, be it in the manufacturing or in the services sector. Therefore, the entire organizational hierarchy, top middle and lower management, ought to be transformed to focus on employee satisfaction and their retention.

This study focuses on how the corporate culture, top management support and salary and benefits packages leads to employee retention at (company name).

This study is important because the researcher would like to find out why employees leave and how to better retain them at (company name). On a general level, this study will carry significant value for HR managers since this research will thoroughly cover the concept of employee retention as it relates to the environment at (company name).

1)

The findings of this study will provide valuable information for the policy makers both in the top management of this company and other companies as well to make effective decisions to support and fund effective HR programs.

2)

This study and its findings will become an addition to and update of the international research on employee retention.

2. Literature Review.

A number of studies have used statistical analysis to figure out the retention rates amongst employees to good effect. For instance, Laschinger et al. (2009) studied the impact of workplace empowerment, incivility, and burnout on nursing staff recruitment and retention outcomes. They found that a number of studies had reported uncivil behavior as a major cause for nurses to leave their jobs and sometimes their profession as well. They measured three variables namely, (1) job satisfaction, (2) organizational commitment, and (3) turnover intentions amid a sample population of 612 nurses registered as Canadian staff nurses. The researchers used multiple linear regression analyses to decipher the data and found that all three variables are strongly dependent on low employee retention rates.

Similarly, in another study Felps and colleagues (2009) investigated the impact of job embeddedness and job search behaviors on employee retention. They took as sample, 45 regional bank branches along with 1038 national hospitality firm departments. They found, "Coworkers' job embeddedness and job search behaviors play critical roles in explaining why people quit their jobs (Felps et al., 2009)."

In an earlier study, James (1980) studied the impact of perceived job characteristics and job satisfaction. They studied 4 presuppositions, namely, "(1) satisfaction with job/task events and perceptions of job challenge, autonomy, and Importance are direct, reciprocal causes of each other; (2) job perceptions are also caused directly by situation attributes, although perceptual distortions resulting for individual dispositions must also be considered; (3) job satisfaction is also cognitively consistent with (i.e., caused by) individual dispositions, although these individual dispositions are generally different from those associated with job perceptions; and (4) individuals reply on job perceptions, and not situational attributes, for information in formulating job satisfaction attitudes." They took 642 participants from multiple work environments. They used structural equation modeling to test the hypothesis and found a strong correlation between the two variables.

From the aforementioned studies it is clear that statistical analysis is a reliable tool to measure the impact of corporate culture, top management support and salary and benefits on employee retention at (company name).

Methodology

Sampling

Sampling Unit

In order to protect the identity of the respondents, the researcher contacted all employees, past and current, through-e-mail-requests-only. Therefore, initially all current employees (totaling to 40), as well as past employees, had been contacted through email and had been directed to fill the survey.

Sampling Frame

Only two aspects had been taken into consideration when selecting the sampling frame for analysis. Firstly only those past employees, who had worked at the firm for at least six months, had been contacted. Secondly, only those current employees, who have been working at the firm for at least six months, had been considered for the study.

Method of selecting the sample elements

Stratified random sampling had been used in this study. Firstly, we short-listed the sampling frame from its full size to a total of 35 employees, including 15 past employees and 20 current employees. This short listing had been based on the criterion mentioned above. Thereafter the short-listed sample had been invited to fill out the online survey.

Data Gathering Method

Surveys and questionnaires will be carried out online using a highly structured procedure in which the participants will be requested to fill the questionnaire. The purpose of surveys is to collect precise data relating to views of the current and past employees of (company name). The benefits of structured and close-ended questionnaire are that they can help the researcher collect numerical data for evaluation by eliciting the kind of answers (in yes or no format, agree or disagree format, etc.) that could allow them to carry out statistical analysis. This format of questionnaires also makes it easier for the researcher to compare and contrast the answers given by dividing the respondents in groups and present a critical analysis as well (Oppenheim, 1992). Therefore, in order to fulfill the aims of this study, we used a closed ended questionnaire.

Dependent and Independent Variables

The dependent variable is the "employee retention" while independent variables are (1) corporate culture; (2) higher salary; and (3) top management support. None of the variables are in time-series and they have been labeled with the same name as specified in this section.

Corporate Culture

Corporate culture can be defined as the attitudes, experiences, values and beliefs of the people working in it. The literature proposes that a company with a horizontal, dispersed composition, as opposed to a hierarchical and centralized composition, is much more likely to encourage the growth and development of innovative ideas. Studies have also shown that a corporate culture that promotes (1) growth opportunity, (2) higher salary, and (3) job security are vital indicators of employee retention (Johnston, 2001). Furthermore, studies have also shown that employees will resist relocating to another area/region and moving from the private sector to the government sector, if the organizational culture is conductive and friendly. Johnston (2001) in his study notes that organizational performance is greatly influenced by the culture of the organization as it defines who the decision makers are and where the power to act swiftly lies. In light of the aforementioned facts, we have chosen our first variable as corporate culture and our first hypothesis is:

Hypothesis one: The stronger the corporate culture the higher the employee retention rates.

Higher Salary

Salary can be defined as the net income along with the benefits received by an employee from the company.

Research has shown that employees value a compensation system that encourages and promotes merit and rewards their hard work. Furthermore, studies have also shown that the number one reason employees seek to change jobs is higher salary (Oxfam, 2009). In light of the aforementioned facts, we have chosen our second variable as higher salary and our third hypothesis is:

Hypothesis two: The higher the salary, the higher the employee retention rates.

Top management Support

Top management support can be defined as support given by the management in the execution of a project. Studies have shown that the shift in the organizational culture from blame to learning can only be executed when the top management is supportive of such endeavors. It is imperative that they design business systems that encourage free flow of clear, accurate and precise information. Top management support can lead to the adoption of a successful Employee redress system (ERS). Research has demonstrated a positive association between top management support and the employee orientation of workforce within an organization (Conduit and Mavondo, 2001).

The literature constantly identifies the significance of a "champion." To meet the criteria of a "champion," the top, middle and lower management has got to be not only at an advanced level, but also should be extremely valued. The top management should proactively encourage and advance the organizational goals, offering knowledge and assistance. Furthermore, it is vital that these "champions" make sure that employee complaint resolution endeavors are successfully executed. In one study, companies with devoted and advanced "champions" had been twice as probable to account that their organizations had been doing better than they anticipated (Yu, 2001). This shows that with top management support as well as advanced and knowledgeable employees can assist in increasing the organizational performance. In light of the aforementioned facts, we have chosen our third variable as top management support and our third hypothesis is:

Hypothesis three: The stronger the top management support, the higher the employee retention rates.

Collection of variables and Measurement Unit

The first and the third variables will be collected by introducing four intervening variables. Intervening variables for the corporate culture included: (a) growth opportunity; (b) higher salary (c) Job Security (d) To Convert to Government; and (e) Relocating. Similarly, intervening variables for top management support included: (a) CSC Corporate Wide mgt; (b) Your business unit mgt; (c) Your immediate mgt; and (d) Benefits. Both these variables are binominal and offer participants an option of either yes, if they agree, or no, if they disagree.

The scale developed for the higher salary variable provided participants with four options, namely, (1) under 5%; (2) 5-10%; (3) 11-15%; and (4) Over 15%.

A Statistical Model

Data Gathering Procedure

A 3-question survey had been delivered on October 20, 2010 by the company Intranet to 20 current employees in the Human Resources Department at (company name). As mentioned above, the survey responses had been anonymous. The same survey had been uploaded to the internet and 15 past employees were asked to fill the survey.

Develop a model. Describe the statistical or quantitative technique(s) appropriate for your research. How will the model output answer your research questions? Why it this technique appropriate for the problem you have identified? The model should be solvable and realistic. The input data required for model development and solution must be available.

4. Analysis.

The quantitative analysis and solution, based on the model described in the Data Analysis

In statistics, regression analysis is used as a tool to measure the dependency between variables. Regression analysis will help in unravelling the casual impact of one variable on another variable. Since regression analysis is used to evaluate the significance of the relationship between variables, i.e. degree of confidence that the actual relationship (acquired from results) is close to the approximated relationship (hypotheses); this study will be able to explore the impact of corporate culture, higher salary and top management support on employee retention.

Data Analysis

Hypothesis Testing Of Regression B/W Corporate Culture and Employee Retention:

Statement:

Employee Retention is not dependent upon Corporate Behavior: (Regression Coeff. =0).

Employee Retention is dependent upon Corporate Behavior:: (Regression Coeff. 0).

Calculation:

Table 1.1

Level Of Significance:

= 0.05

Table 1.2

Test Statistics:

Tc = (b-?)/Sb follows employees t -- Distribution.

where b=Regression Coefficient & Sb=Standard error about Regression Coefficient

Table 1.3

Coefficients

Standard Error

t Stat

P-value

Intercept

-0.63338

0.885205

-0.71552

0.513835

N1

1.038003

0.02427

42.76956

1.79E-06

Table 1.4

Lower 95%

Upper 95%

Lower 95.0%

Upper 95.0%

-3.09111

1.82435

-3.09111

1.82435

0.970619

1.105386

0.970619

1.105386

Regression analysis of the relationship between Corporate Culture and Employee Retention was used to discern the relationship between the two. The result of the t-test of regression coefficient is 42.76956 and the P-value is 1.79E-06, which shows that a strong relationship exists between the 2 variables. The results of the t-test also revealed substantial difference in confidence interval of Regression Coefficient (0.970619 and 1.105386). A practical implication of this result is that the employee retention is dependent upon the corporate culture.