This Human Resource Development (HRD) report examines a rising attrition problem among established employees at a food services company experiencing rapid growth. The report identifies how an accelerated hiring cycle led to relaxed screening standards, producing a cohort of new employees whose attitudes and work habits conflicted with those of longer-tenured staff. Drawing on complaint data, exit interview findings, and published research on employee attitudes and generational dynamics, the report analyzes the root causes of dissatisfaction among established workers. It concludes with three concrete recommendations: reinstating full background and interview procedures, forming a joint employee-management complaint board, and introducing workplace morale initiatives to rebuild camaraderie across employee groups.
The report effectively uses the "problem–analysis–recommendation" structure central to applied business writing. Rather than simply describing the retention problem, it triangulates evidence from complaint data (Table 1), exit interview findings, and scholarly research on employee attitudes (Ryan et al., 1996; Nishii et al., 2008; Bibby, 2008) to build a causal argument before proposing targeted, evidence-based solutions.
The paper opens with an executive summary and transmittal memo, then moves through a formal introduction (Section 1) covering purpose and the problem context, a discussion section (Section 2) that profiles employees, presents complaint and exit-interview data, and reviews relevant literature, and closes with a conclusion (Section 3) and three numbered recommendations (Section 4). A glossary, reference list, and census data appendix follow. This progression from description to analysis to action is characteristic of professional HRD and technical writing genres.
This report has been prepared to address the issue of established employee retention subsequent to an alarming number of such employees seeking termination in the past month. The findings of this research indicate that established employees do not believe that employees newly hired during the recent hiring cycle meet the standards that were established by the company when they were originally hired. This has led to a decrease in the number of employees qualified to fill positions requiring experienced workers, and it has diminished the ability of food services to meet their quotas. Reasons for this issue are discussed and recommendations for its resolution are provided.
This report identifies the main problem that has been occurring within the company — one that has caused an inordinate number of people to leave within the last annual period — and discusses solutions to the retention issue.
During the last two quarters, business has grown at a rate that made it necessary to increase the hiring rate drastically. Although growth in revenue is a positive outcome of good business practices, it also creates internal challenges that are more difficult to rectify. Since company business in the food services sector is growing at an ever-increasing rate, hiring criteria have necessarily been lowered to meet demand. Managers have noticed a definite regression in production among the segments — shifts and areas of highest growth — that have hired the greatest number of outside workers. In these sectors, there is an increased number of complaints from established employees regarding the negative attitudes and work habits of those newly hired.
The major issue has been that workers who have been with the company for more than one year are leaving at an increased rate. This has been directly attributed to the incidence of complaints regarding the attitudes and work habits of new employees. Figure 1 shows the retention numbers for the past quarter.
Generally, a position is initially offered within the company to those who wish to apply. This procedure ensures that employees are given the chance to vary their employment in order to remain engaged, and it gives every qualified person the opportunity for advancement. Because of the need for more individual workers, this practice has not been able to meet present needs.
The company generally requires a full background check of all people being hired along with an extensive interview process. Both the background check and the interview process have been shortened due to the need for a much greater number of workers. The company has recently experienced large growth in food service that has made it necessary to hire people with less discrimination than was previously employed. These hires are people who would normally not have been considered for the positions they are applying for, but since the need has been great, less stringent controls have been placed on the interviewing process.
According to research on hiring best practices, relaxing pre-employment screening standards can create downstream cultural and performance problems — a dynamic consistent with what this company has experienced during the current hiring cycle.
The average employee hired prior to the last six months has been with the company an average of 3.7 years. These employees have undergone the full battery of training, the full background check previously required of all incoming employees, and a full battery of interviews to place them in their current positions. They range in age from 26 to 51, generally have some post-high school education, and scored high on company loyalty measures in a questionnaire distributed at a recent training session. These employees share diversity consistent with the demographics shown in the U.S. Census Bureau data in the Appendix, except that 57% are women and 43% are men.
The newly hired employees consist of men and women hired since the increased need was felt in food services approximately six months ago. Because of the immediate need for these hires, they did not undergo the pre-employment testing and interviews required of all employees prior to this hiring cycle. The new hires did undergo a scaled-down background check ensuring a minimal criminal history — consistent with checks conducted previously — but they were not subject to educational and credit screenings. These employees also match the general demographics of U.S. citizens as listed in the Census Bureau data in the Appendix. They range in age from 18 to 32, have a reported educational level just below a high school diploma (some obtained a General Equivalency Degree [GED] after dropping out, and one employee never obtained either a GED or a high school diploma), and received median-range scores for company loyalty.
From the biographical data, it should not be assumed that the newly hired employees are of any less present value than the established employees. Manning requires that a certain number of persons be on the floor at any one time. Break and day-off schedules ensure that the production lines are properly staffed and that employees are able to enjoy their federally mandated break times. For manning purposes, therefore, the newly hired employees are just as valuable as those who worked for the company prior to the latest hiring cycle.
Each team of workers is comprised of equal parts experienced employees — who occupy the more complex parts of the operation (maintenance, machine operator, freezer personnel, etc.) — and newly hired employees who primarily occupy the less technical positions (sandwich maker, custodian, etc.). The teams are divided both by occupational responsibilities and levels of supervisory responsibility. The lowest-level employee is responsible only for himself or herself, while others, such as the machine operator, may be responsible for up to seven employees including themselves.
The primary issue arises when employees are taking breaks — either fifteen-minute "coffee" breaks or "lunch" breaks — together and are able to talk about the job. From the complaint data shown in Table 1, it is clear that established employees are concerned about how newly hired employees are conducting themselves during break periods. The general complaint is that there is a pervasive aura of distrust between the two groups. They tend to congregate separately, and the tenor of their conversations differs markedly. Newly hired employees have a tendency to disparage the company during their breaks, and they also take longer to return to work, thus holding up the line and making established employees wait for them.
Table 1: Employee Complaints as a Function of Employee Biography and Complaint Type
Complaint Issue — Established Employee — New Hire
Poor Work Practices — 31% — 2%
Poor Attitude — 17% — 4%
Age Issues — 8% — 2%
Lack of Respect — 15% — 21%
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