Human Motivation in the Workplace: A Case Study
This case study examines how Cancer Call Center applied human motivation theory to support a returning employee — a breast cancer survivor and former stay-at-home mother re-entering the workforce after a twelve-year gap. The paper explores the organization's use of personalized motivation surveys, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and structured social integration to address the employee's sense of belonging and long-term engagement. It also highlights how the company's call-scoring system, advancement opportunities, and workplace flexibility were leveraged to align organizational culture with individual employee needs, ultimately improving the employee's outlook and likelihood of retention.
- Introduction: Employee Background and Organizational Context: Profile of employee, her background, and workplace challenges
- Cancer Call Center's Training Program and Its Goals: Three-part training program including camaraderie building
- Personalized Motivation and Management Alignment: Survey-based motivation matched to company management style
- Social Belonging and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Addressing isolation through targeted social integration
- Communicating Corporate Values and Fostering Engagement: Highlighting flexibility and advancement to boost retention
- Conclusion: Improved belonging and engagement outcomes reported
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper grounds a practical workplace scenario in established motivational theory, citing Maslow's hierarchy of needs and Sullivan's personalized motivation framework to justify each management decision.
- It maintains a clear problem-solution structure throughout, first identifying the employee's challenges (social isolation, resume gap, age difference) and then systematically explaining how the organization addressed each one.
- The use of a specific, detailed case narrative makes abstract concepts like "sense of belonging" and "personalized motivation" concrete and easy to follow.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper effectively applies theoretical frameworks to a real-world scenario — a technique central to applied psychology and organizational behavior writing. Rather than simply defining Maslow's hierarchy or Sullivan's motivation survey approach, the student maps each theory directly onto specific managerial actions taken by Cancer Call Center, demonstrating synthesis rather than mere description.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a detailed profile of the employee and her organizational context, then moves through the company's training goals, its personalized motivation practices, the challenge of social integration, and finally the communication of corporate values. Each section builds on the previous one, culminating in a summary of improved employee engagement. The argument flows logically from problem identification through theoretical analysis to practical resolution.
Introduction: Employee Background and Organizational Context
A recently hired customer service representative — referred to here as the employee — has begun working at Cancer Call Center, a national call center for one of the nation's foremost specialized cancer organizations. One of Cancer Call Center's key selling points is that it is highly supportive of cancer survivors, actively seeking to staff its call center with survivors wherever possible and providing them with exceptional health insurance benefits. The employee is a ten-year breast cancer survivor, and Cancer Call Center's positive attitude toward cancer survivors was one of the primary reasons she sought employment there. However, she is one of the few cancer survivors working in the organization's actual call center, which is predominantly staffed by young, recent college graduates.
The employee differs from her coworkers in several other ways as well. She is in her mid-forties — approximately twenty years older than the majority of her colleagues. She has recently returned to the workforce after twelve years as a stay-at-home mother. Prior to that decision, she had worked as a supervisor at a similar call center, but she was unable to obtain a supervisor-level position at Cancer Call Center due to the gap in her résumé. Although she is not experiencing any difficulty learning the material presented in training, she does not appear to be socializing with the rest of her training class. Because Cancer Call Center has previously observed its highest turnover rate among capable employees who fail to integrate socially in the work environment, its primary concern is motivating employees like her so that they can thrive in the workplace.
References
Franken, R. E. (2007). Human motivation (6th ed.). Wadsworth.
Mauro, T. (2002, February). Helping organizations build community: A sense of community at work can make all the difference. T&D, 56(2), 52–57.
McNerney, D. (1996, August). Employee motivation: Creating a motivated workforce. HR Focus, 73(8), 1–4.
Sullivan, J. (2006, March 27). Personalizing motivation: Human resources professionals must accept the responsibility of providing managers with a list of what motivates and frustrates a new or recently transferred employee. Workforce Management, 85(6), 50.
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