Case Study: Motivating the Workforce at TechSolutions Inc.

QUESTION ONE        [40]

Tech-Solutions Inc., a medium-sized IT services company, has recently been struggling with high employee turnover, especially among its software developers and customer support staff. Despite offering competitive salaries and benefits, employee exit interviews consistently reveal dissatisfaction with the nature of the work itself. Developers report feeling like “cogs in a machine,” working on small, repetitive code snippets without understanding how their tasks fit into the bigger picture. Customer support staff express frustration over rigid scripts and lack of autonomy in solving client problems.

In response, the HR department has proposed redesigning jobs using the Job Characteristics Model by Hackman and Oldham. Their goal is to make jobs more engaging, satisfying, and ultimately improve employee retention and customer satisfaction. HR suggests increasing skill variety by encouraging cross-functional teams, enhancing task identity by assigning projects from start to finish, and boosting task significance by sharing customer success stories. They also recommend giving employees more autonomy and setting up systems that provide real- time feedback on performance.

Questions:

1. Identify and explain how each of the five core job characteristics in the Job Characteristics Model can be applied to improve employee motivation at Tech- Solutions Inc.                                                                                                                             (10)
2. Why might a focus solely on efficiency be inadequate for organisations like Tech- Solutions that rely on knowledge workers and customer satisfaction.                                                                                                                             (10)
3. Evaluate the potential challenges HR might face in implementing the Job Characteristics Model and suggest strategies to overcome them.                                                                                                                             (10)

QUESTION TWO              [30]

• Critically analyse how the psychological contract influences employee participation in the workplace. In your answer, discuss how the “soft” HR model—through its enabler, empowered, and facilitator roles—supports the psychological contract and enhances organisational performance                                                                                                (15)

• Discuss the key strategies for creating an ethical organisation. In your answer, evaluate the role of leadership, trade unions, and performance management in fostering and sustaining an ethical culture in the workplace.                                  (15)

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HRM Assignment Answers: Expert Answers on Above HRM Questions

5 core job characteristics applied at TechSolutions Inc
The analysis of the case study indicates the job characteristics of skills variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy and feedback are clearly evident. Skills variety allows for working on different tasks simultaneously whereas task identity helps in assigning projects from start to finish.
Why efficiency alone is inadequate for TechSolutions
The focus on efficiency alone would be inadequate for organisations like Tech Solutions that relies heavily on knowledge workers and customer satisfaction because efficiency would undermine intrinsic motivation and create obstacles in the process of adopting in a dynamic IT industry. Overemphasis on efficiency leads to burnout and low engagement and turnover, whereas customer satisfaction heavily depends on personalized service and innovation but not on rigid standardised outputs.
Challenges in implementing the job characteristics model
The major challenges could be in the form of resistance to change on the part of employees, coordination difficulties across cross functional teams, and challenges in measuring outcomes because of linking job redesign to retention and satisfaction.
Psychological contract and soft HR model
Psychological contract influences employee participation in the workplace because it is an unwritten expectation between employer and employee and any kind of breach results in lower level of motivation and participation among employees. Soft HR model please the role of enabler, empowered and facilitator. All of these enhance commitment, reduce turnover and enhance organisational performance.
Strategies in creating an ethical organisation
The key strategies in creating an ethical organisation includes strong leaders, existence of trade unions and clear performance management integration into business practices.

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