Analysis of Poor Productivity of the Firm - Research Proposal Example

PROGRAM CHANGE Name: Tutor: Subject: Date: Table of Contents Introduction 2 Summary of Research/ Literature Review 4 Methodology 4 Primary Research 4 Surveys 5 Observation 5 Interviews 6 Secondary research. 7 Data analysis 7 The change program 11 Unfreezing 12 Change stage 13 Refreezing 14 Conclusion 14 Recommendations 15 Appendix 15 Bibliography 17 Introduction Productivity of each department in a company affects its overall productivity. Most organization spend time trying to improve the total output produced but forgets that productivity also involves the output given by each employee (Elisabeth et al., 2013). It is hence paramount for each company to have a human resource department that is efficient and keeps track of each the employee’s progress. In recent years, the private sectors have produced higher outputs than the state government agencies. This might be due to the low motivation in the public sector. The private sector operates on profits it makes while the state-owned organizations run on profits and subsidiaries from the government. This makes the States-owned organizations be more reluctant and produce less. We will focus on the treasury and finance department in Tasmania, which is a state-owned government agency. In the recent years, this department has been very unproductive. The agency has employed 297 staff. However, is among the smallest government agency. It is led by highly educated personnel who are 18 in number. Its leadership is evenly distributed among men and women. It is headed by a secretary, two deputy secretaries, executive director, and a director. The department is further divided into a several division with each division being led by a manager. The secretary, Tony Ferrall, is accountable to the treasure and often reports to him. Tasmanian’s treasury primary mission is to improve the well-being of the organization by providing advice to the government. It also administers financial and regulatory responsibility. Employees are the key players to achieving this mission. To ensure quality productivity, the organization only employs post graduate candidates. These includes accountants, financial analysts, and economist and policy practitioners. Just like any organization, it is affected by both internal and external environment. The external environment is comprised of outside factors that affect the organization, but the organization has no power over them. These factors affect the productivity of the firm. Factors that lie in the external environment for the treasury department are; reduced budget, increased service expectation, and high political visibility. The organization works on the budget that is provided. When the budget is reduced, it means that the firm will have to forego some things. This can affect the efficiency and productivity of the firm. The government and the public have very high service expectation from the department. Hence putting pressure on it and may result in the production of quantity rather than quality services. Being a government owned organization, the organization, is highly politically visible and can be used by the opposition a tool to criticize the work being done by the government. On the other hand, the internal environment comprises factors that affect the productivity of the firm from inside. These are factors that the firm can change, in order to improve productivity. These can be factors like leadership, uses of better equipment and the welfare of the organization. Tasmanian’s reduced productivity is due to internal environment. The poor performance is being caused by poor health conditions of the workers. These employees are suffering from injuries caused by sedentary office-based work. The department only involves office work, and the workers are seated most of the working time. This report presents a full research on the cause of poor productivity of the firm, the diagnosis, and the proposed change solution (Lopes et al., 2012). Summary of Research/ Literature Review Methodology A study was conducted to investigate the main problem that has caused low productivity in the treasury department. The research was divided into two main categories that included the primary research and secondary research. Primary Research Primary research is used to obtain first-hand data. This data is later processed to produce information that is used in the compilation of the report (Ary et al., 2013). In the primary research, information was collected from the treasurer, the secretary, the employees, and human resource department. It involved the use of surveys, observation and interviews. Surveys Survey is collecting data using questionnaires. Some questionnaires were administered to the employees. The workers were supposed to answer some set of questions on a piece of paper that they were given. However, they were assured that any information that was collected was confidential and could not be used for any other purpose except the research itself. The employees were to choose whether to write their names on those questionnaires or not. Before the start of exercise, they were requested to give truthful information because the information collected would be used to better their working conditions. The questions administrated to the employees are open-ended. The questions were as follows: What is your age? What is your level of education? Which division do you work? Are you pleased with the current organization output? When was the last day you went for some medical checkup? Do you involve yourself in some field activities? Do you go to the gym? How many hours do you work per day? Do you think your current working environment affects your health? Observation It was the second method that was used to obtain information for this research. The researcher was supposed to go the employee’s working environment and spend a few days with them. In observation, one is expected to use his eyes to obtain some findings and record what he sees without altering it. During the stay in the organization, the researcher should take note of the number of hours that the employees work. The number of hours that the employees spend seated. The researcher should take note of the equipment being used by the employees such as the chair and the desk. He should take note of the height of the chair and table. He should also note if the size of both the chair and desk are adjustable. The rate of absenteeism in the organization should be noted. Interviews The researcher carried out interviews with the treasure, Human resource manager, and the secretary. Before the interviews, the researcher attended all the offices and requested the interviewees to give the best day for them to be interviewed. The researcher also assured them that the information they give was confidential and could only be used to improve the condition of the employees. First, the researcher conducted an interview with the human resource manager. Human resource department keeps information about all the employees in the company. Hence, it is the right place to check the health condition of these employees. The researcher asked the following questions during the interview; how many employees are in the treasure department? Are there any employees who have complained about some injuries? Are there compensations for employees who have injuries (permanent or temporary)? Are the employees insured? How is the productivity of an employee measured? Does the human resource department organize regular check-ups for the employees? How is an employee complaint handled? What is the majority age for the employees? Secondly the researcher conducted an interview with the secretary. The researcher asked the following questions; how do you measure the productivity of an employee? Has the rate of absenteeism increased in the recent years? Has there been a complaint with the equipment that employees are using? If yes, how does the organization plan on rectifying the problem? Do you think there is any relationship between the health of the workers and the total productivity of the organization? Finally, the research conducted an interview with the treasurer and asked the same questions he had asked the secretary. Secondary research. Secondary research is critical when doing research. It is obtaining information from reliable sources and it’s often used to support primary research. The sources used during the secondary research were internet, books, journals, and magazines. The internet has brought about globalization. Events, occurrences, and raw data are fed into the internet. It is hence an excellent place to do research on the performance of organizations and compare it with data got in the primary research (Worksafe and Tasmania, 2013). The researcher checked the performance of the firm in the past years and compared with the present year. I also used these secondary sources to search for solutions. People with similar problems may have uploaded their solution that can be used to solve the problem the organization is having. Secondary research can be either quantitative or qualitative research. Qualitative research aims at measuring the quality of products while quantitative research aims at obtaining actual measurements. During my secondary research, I conducted both the quantitative or qualitative research so that I could get the most accurate data (Holloway, and Stephanie, 2013). Data analysis Data that was collected from both primary research and secondary research was analyzed to produce information. The results obtained were in two categories. There were the qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative was the descriptive information that was collected. It is information that gives response using words. This information was collected using questionnaire, interviews and survey. On the other hand, quantitative data is usually in numerical form. It gives can be used to give exact figures and measurements and it is obtained from quantitative research (Silverman, 2013). After research had been carried out, the researcher discovered that the poor performance of the organization was due to ill health of the workers. Most workers had been diagnosed with some musculoskeletal injuries due to inactive office based work. These injuries had affected muscles and joint injuries in the shoulders, wrists and the back due to desk-based work. This is shown by compensation claims as indicated in the chart below: (Fig 1: musculoskeletal injuries) The diagram above shows claims for the compensable musculoskeletal injuries that has been on the increase from 2011 to 2014. In 2011-2012, the organization had a compensation claim of $237,000 (Department of Premier and Cabinet, 2014). In the year 2013-2014, the compensation had almost doubled. This means that the organization had neglected the issue. Non-compensable injuries in 2012-2013 had 21 cases. In 2013-2014, they had increased to 28 cases which are a huge number. (Fig 2: public sector verses private sector) A later comparison between the state-owned and private sector organization showed that the number of injuries in the public sector has always been higher as shown in the chart above (Levy, 2013). This can be due to the challenge of managing injury claims in the state-owned organizations. Hence, it has led to the accumulation of injured workers. The private workers are regularly screened to ensure they are in the best working condition that is not the case with state-owned organizations. Another reason that would have contributed to this is that it is very hard to terminate an injured worker in the public sector than it is in the private sector. Hence making the number of injured workers in the public sector to continue increasing and the productivity to also decrease gradually. (fig 3: Age groups of workers) Workers with more working experience are more preferred than fresh workers just from school. These workers are believed to have a higher productivity since they are competent with their area of specialty. Hence, a study in Europe has shown that most workers in the treasury and state service are of age 45 – 60 as shown in the chart above (Wiewiora etal., 2015). These workers are more prone to musculoskeletal injuries that any other age group. Their bodies also take long to heal making them spend most of their time outside their working environment. For this reason, the Treasury lost 40 of its workers in three years. The remaining workforce is therefore overloaded to cover the required work limit resulting in decreased quality of work. It was noted that the furniture that the employees were using were the primary cause of the injuries. All employees were using similar desks with equal height. However, their height was low, and the employees would always need to lean forward when working depending on their height. The chairs were good because their height could be adjusted, but they encouraged sediment working lifestyle. It is hence necessary for the department to implement a change program to improve working condition of the employees. The change program The change program is essential for the organization to continue being productive and competitive. The proposed change will target the change of the employee’s physical resource and their behavior. The change will involve for major processes; diagnosis, planning, implementation, and evaluation. To ensure these four stages are done effectively, we will use the Lewin’s Change Management Model. Lewin’s Change Management Model is a change model that uses three stages to implement change. The three stages are; unfreezing, changing and refreezing stages. It assumes that change is like reshaping an ice cube. First the ice cube is melted then remolded into the desired shape, and finally it is frozen back to ice. The refreezing stage helps it take the desired shape and maintains it. Lewin’s change Management model will be used in the change process. The unfreezing stage is where the diagnosis and planning processes will take place. The implementation process will be done in the change stage, and the refreezing stage will involve evaluations process as shown in the figure below (Elisabeth et al., 2013). (Fig 4: The change program) Unfreezing It is the first stage of the model, and it determines the success or the failure of the change process. The diagnosis process is where the problem is realised. It involves the use of primary and secondary research. In primary research, we used the surveys, observation, and interviews. The researcher administrator surveys to the employees carried out observation and conducted interviews with the secretary and the treasurer. Later, the secondary research was done which involved quantitative and quantitative research. The internet, books, and journals were the primary source of information for the secondary research. Data collected from the primary and secondary research was analyzed, and it showed that low productivity in the department was due to increased injuries in the employees. A change was then needed to the physical resources and the employee’s behavior. Planning has to be done for the change to be successful. The main problems were the furniture the staffs were using and their inactive working behavior. First before any changes the employees have to be notified in advance so that they can be psychologically prepared. The notice should inform them of the intended change, the reason for the change and what will be changed. The planning process should give room for suggestion and complaints from the employees. In this process, a plan of how events that will take place should be outlined. Change stage The Change stage involves the implementation process. However, it will first start with a trial process with a pilot group. A team of influential leaders will be used as the pilot test group. These leaders will be implementing the concept of standing desks, standing meetings, ergonomic break software, and break out area with bean bags and visually relaxing office set up. On top of that, there will be the implementation of softer lighting, green plants to reduce stress, enhance employee attitude and improved air conditioning. This pilot test will last for three months. This test will be evaluating the applicability of the proposed change. The bodies of the employees will be screened at the start of the test and at the end of the test to see if the test had any effect on reducing the physical strain. These employees will be observed on how well they are conducting their work. Interviews may be carried out to get feedback from the employees and the leaders. A quantitative productivity measure will be carried out on a daily bases to investigate if there is progress. There will be rewards for the employees with have improved health and productivity. Their stories will be told through Newsletter and staff bulletin to the rest of the employees. They will determine the success of the change process. Feedback collected will be rolled back to see if the change will work. This will be done through the use of double feedback loops known as the "negative entropy" or the ability of a system not to lose energy to do work (Gingerich, David, and Heidi, 2012). Once the pilot group test is through, some change may be made depending on the effectiveness of the test. Then change program will be rolled into the organization stating from division levels and soon in the whole department. Refreezing This stage will involve evaluation of the change process. The change process must be examined to test if it is functional. The evaluation of the process program will be similar to that of the pilot test group. The employees will be asked to give their views on the change. The productivity and physical screening will be regularly done to determine if there is progress. In this stage, the employees should be encouraged to embrace the change as it is for their sake. Conclusion Productivity of the treasury department is unbecoming and needs to be corrected with immediate effect. Its poor performance has been contributed by the poor health condition of the workers. The aim of the change program is to come up with a long lasting solution for the department. The change process is friendly since it involves first the use of a pilot test group that will be used to determine the shortcoming of the program. The change is not only beneficial to the firm but also to the employees. It will help lengthen their life and maintain their health condition. It might be challenging to implement the change to the organization due to resistance from the employees and influence from outside. However, once it is successful, it will be a great achievement to the organization and may lead to saving the department millions used in the compensation. Continuous communication and assessment are encouraged to ensure smooth running and stabilization of the organization. Recommendations The health of the workers is fundamental to the productivity of the department and the organization. I would highly recommend the organization to adapt the change and implement it. The change will cost the department a total of $229 000 for it to be implemented for 14 staffs. This might seem to be a very high amount but in 2013- 2014 the total cost for claims Injury costs for 14 workers amounted to $572 000 which is more than twice the cost the of change program. However, if the change is not implemented it may result in very high injury cost as shown in the chart below (Department of Treasury and finance, 2015): (Fig 5: projections of injuries and cost) Appendix The staffs should be involved in the planning process so that to eliminate the possibility of resistance to the change. During the implementation, the head of division should supervise if all the employees have accepted the change and report back to the secretary. This may be to avoid any chance of the employees going back to their previous behaviors. The opposition might take this opportunity to criticize the change. The change plan and results of the pilot group should be forwarded to the minister. This will make it easier for him or her to offer explanations where required. Bibliography Ary, Donald, Lucy Jacobs, Christine Sorensen, and David Walker, (2013) Introduction to research in education. Cengage Learning. Department of Premier and Cabinet, 2014. 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Wiewiora, Anna, Robyn Keast, and Kerry Brown, (2015)"Opportunities and Challenges in Engaging Citizens in the Co-Production of Infrastructure-Based Public Services in Australia." Public Management Review ahead-of-print: 1-25. Work safe Tasmania, 2013. Workers compensation. [Online] Available at: http://www.worksafe.tas.gov.au/resources/workers_compensation_publications Read More