Organizational Behavior Case Study: Residential Care Facility
This paper presents an organizational behavior case study analyzing how a residential care facility overcame serious operational challenges including high staff turnover, poor quality of care, low occupancy, and widespread absenteeism. After a company-wide culture survey revealed deeply negative results at this one facility, management hired a new manager with a background in health and community management rather than nursing administration. The paper examines the cultural problems identified, the leadership and change management strategies employed — including participative management, open communication, and the Supportive model of organizational behavior — and the measurable improvements achieved in employee satisfaction, attendance, occupancy rates, and quality of care within months of the new manager's appointment.
- Introduction: Background of underperforming residential care facility
- Organizational Culture Before Change: Cultural and operational problems identified before intervention
- Management and Leadership Styles: New manager's participative and supportive leadership approach
- Organizational Culture After Change: Measurable improvements in staff and facility performance
- Motivation as a Tool for Improving Performance: Staff survey and motivational strategies implemented
- Job Satisfaction, Reward Management, and Change Strategies: Training programs, communication reforms, and policy changes
- Conclusion: Outcomes affirm participative change management in healthcare
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper follows a clear before-and-after structure, making the impact of the new manager's interventions easy to evaluate and compare across specific performance metrics.
- It grounds each management decision in cited academic literature (Robbins, Atchison, McNeese-Smith), demonstrating that the strategies were evidence-based rather than arbitrary.
- Concrete data points — such as a 52% reduction in sick leave, 50% drop in agency staff usage, and occupancy improving from 90% to 97% in seven months — strengthen the argument with measurable outcomes.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper effectively uses theory-to-practice application: it introduces management concepts such as the Supportive model of organizational behavior and participative leadership, then immediately illustrates how those concepts were applied in a real-world healthcare setting. This technique shows the reader not just what happened, but why specific interventions were chosen and what theoretical framework justified them.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with context-setting and background, then catalogues specific cultural problems observed before the change. It moves into a discussion of leadership styles adopted, followed by a parallel section documenting post-change outcomes. The final sections address motivation theory, reward management, and the specific change management strategies deployed — including communication reforms, policy updates, and the Supportive organizational behavior model — before closing with references.
Introduction
Residential care facility staff play an important role in the daily lives of residents. Unfortunately, these facilities are often faced with organizational obstacles and a lack of information that prevents staff from providing proper care (Smith, 1998). This organizational behavior case study examines a residential care facility that is part of a parent company operating six different residential care facilities. Management observed that this particular facility was facing serious problems: turnover rate was high, performance was poor, and economic losses were significant.
To diagnose and address these problems, the parent company conducted a culture survey across all of its residential care facilities in which every member was required to participate. The results were satisfactory for all facilities except this one, which produced entirely negative results. In response to this serious situation, management hired a new manager in April 2012 — the third new hire in that same year. This time, however, management did not seek someone with a nursing or residential management background. Instead, they hired a person with a pure management background in health and community services. This new manager was assigned the responsibility of bringing about a positive change in the facility's culture and improving its performance and economic condition.
Organizational Culture Before Change
The new manager set out to identify the cultural problems within the facility. She observed that the environment was far from friendly, and that staff members, leaders, residents, and their family members were all experiencing significant difficulties. The following cultural problems were identified:
Employee Satisfaction Level: Employees were highly dissatisfied, had numerous complaints, and were working with very low morale.
High Turnover: The turnover rate was very high at all levels of the facility, including nurses, team leaders, senior staff, and management.
Low Quality of Care: The continuous changing of staff members, team leaders, and managers had badly affected the quality of clinical care. Staff often did not know what type or stage of clinical care was required for individual residents.
Absenteeism and Frequent Sick Leaves: Absenteeism was very high and taking sick leave was extremely common. Surprisingly, staff did not take responsibility for calling in to inform management of their absence. Agency staff was heavily relied upon, but there was no proper system for brokering staff, so other organizations had to be approached to fill gaps.
Community: A pastoral service was available for staff, families, and residents but was used only by residents on a referral basis.
Lack of Reporting and Monitoring: There was no proper monitoring system for overseeing contractors such as podiatrists, pathologists, and dieticians. Moreover, unlike at other residential care facilities in the parent company, this facility had no culture of reporting facts — despite having a system in place to do so.
Irresponsible Attitude: No notes were made in residents' files regarding regular activities, meaning there was no recorded history of problems or clinical issues for which residents had been treated.
Low Occupancy: Due to poor performance, unhygienic conditions, irresponsible staff, and a lack of quality care, the facility suffered from low occupancy, with approximately 10% of beds remaining vacant.
References
Atchison, J. (1998). Perceived job satisfaction factors of nursing assistants employed in Midwest nursing homes. Geriatric Nursing.
Cunningham, J. B., & Eberle, T. (1990). A guide to job enrichment and redesign. Personnel, February 1990, p. 57, in Newstrom, J., & Davis, K. (1993). Organization Behavior: Human Behavior at Work. New York: McGraw-Hill.
McNeese-Smith, D. K. (1999). The relationship between managerial motivation, leadership, nurse outcomes and patient satisfaction. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 20(2), 243–259.
Nakata, J. A., & Saylor, C. (1994). Management style and staff nurse satisfaction in a changing environment. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 18(3), 51–57.
Robbins, S. R. (1986). Organizational behavior: Concepts, controversies, and applications (3rd ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Smith, D. (1998). The culture of long-term care: Impact on a continence care program. Urologic Nursing, 18(4), 291–295.
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