Case 8-A: High Turnover at the Cafeteria

Sean’s first job out of college was as a supervisor for Lyle’s Catering Services. One of Lyle’s main businesses is managing the food service operations at colleges and hospitals.

Sean has been given responsibility for the cafeteria at St. Paul College. He has a staff of approximately twelve full-time and fifteen part-time workers. The cafeteria is open 7 days a week, from 6:30 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Sean has been in the job eight months and has become frustrated by the high employee turnover. Just since he’s been on the job, three full-time and six part-time people have quit. Sean went back and looked at the personnel records for the past five years and this pattern has been a constant. He’s frustrated by the cost and time involved in continually hiring and training new people. He’s decided he needs to do something.

Sean has begun informally talking to employees. None seem particularly enthusiastic about their jobs. Even some of the “old timers”—who’ve worked in the cafeteria for six years or more—have little enthusiasm for their work. In fact, the part-timers seem more motivated than the full-timers even though the average part-timer makes only $11.50 an hour versus the full-timers’ $15.00.

Responding to the Case

1. Using what you have learned from studying the various motivation theories, describe the situation at the cafeteria.

2. Describe what you think might be Sean’s biggest challenge in motivating the employees at the cafeteria.

3. Recommend a motivational approach for Sean to use and explain why it would be an effective way to deal with the situation at the cafeteria.

Case 8-B: Doldrums in the Dental Office

Caroline was happy to achieve her Associate Degree in Dental Hygiene with an emphasis in children’s prophylaxis. At the very least, she had a job that made her family happy and got them off her back about a career. Her mom and dad constantly pointed out that even during hard times children would still need to have their teeth cleaned and parents would work to ensure the health of their children so her job was recession proof. Additionally, her family felt that a job in the medical profession gave her more status and others would see her as someone important.

After working with the placement service of the university, Caroline found a job at a large family dental practice in the valley. She wanted to appear as professional as possible so she joined all of the local, state, and national dental hygienist organizations she could find, even though she had no real intention of participating or assuming a leadership role in any of the organizations.

After a two-week orientation period at the dental practice, Caroline was assigned to her own room and began to receive new clients. Her work focused on children and she worked hard to build their confidence in her and overcome their fear of going to the dentist. Caroline thought it was strange that she and the other hygienists did most of the work on the patients, with the dentists doing a cursory once over at the end of the cleaning session, yet the dentists were paid much more of the per-patient fees.

One weekend working out at the local gym she had joined for exercise and networking opportunities, Caroline ran into Julia, one of her former classmates. After exchanging some idle chit chat, Julia asked her how she liked her new job. Caroline explained to her that the job was boring and terribly repetitious. She explained that she received little satisfaction from the job other than seeing the smiles of the children she worked on and she realized now that it was a job, just like any other.

One evening Caroline was waiting in line to place her order at a local carry-out diner. In front of her was Chrystal, the accounts manager for the dental practice. Chrystal invited Caroline to sit with her in the dining room after they paid the cashier. As they ate their dinner, Chrystal remarked to Caroline that she had some feedback she would like to share with her. Caroline remarked that she hoped it was not a problem with the insurance billing she had completed for a family earlier in the week.

Chrystal assured her it had nothing to do with the insurance. She went on to tell Caroline that she had overheard several of the dentists in the practice referring to her as automatic and emotionless when dealing with the children who were her patients. They were concerned that Caroline had no passion for her job and could make a critical mistake because of her blasé attitude.

Caroline became defensive and angry, telling Chrystal she loved the children and would never do anything to hurt them. She went on to tell her that if she were paid a little more she might be more inclined to be more passionate about the job. But, as it was, well…

Responding to the Case

1. What can Caroline do to become more motivated about her work and overcome the reputation of being passionless about her job?

2. What motivational opportunities could Caroline expect from her bosses at the dentist office?

3. Explain Caroline’s behavior using the equity theory.

4. How would Herzberg explain Caroline’s lack of passion for her job?