Manufacturing companies have the common issue of high turnover rate with their employees. Pay is not always the reason for these high turnover rates and the work environment for employees in this type of work is sometimes a major challenge. Royal Packaging and Distribution has experienced a significant decline in productivity that may be a result of high employee turnover. The company noticed an increase in human resources activities in conjunction with low productivity and the inability to fulfill packaging orders on time.
Finding a resolution to the problem includes numerous steps, including determining if the high turnover of employees is directly related to a decrease in productivity, and then defining manageable steps to find the cause and effect. It is important this dilemma as it had a direct impact to the company's success. The dilemma at hand also has severe effects to the company's profits and contribution margin. The next steps for Royal Packaging and Distribution would be to determine what data needs to be researched in order to come to a resolution and a sound business decision. "A useful way to approach the research process is to state the basic dilemma that prompts the research and then try to develop other questions by progressively breaking down the original question into more specific ones" (Cooper & Schindler, 2011, p. 81),
Research Question
Through the process of identifying and analyzing a research question that applies to this particular organization, the correlation between low productivity and high turnover ratings has been chosen for further research and discussion. The data collection needed is based on, what would be the impact on productivity within the organization if there is a decrease in a high turnover rate?
What is the connection between employee turnover and the low productivity within the plant?
If there is a connection, is it related to employee satisfaction or other factors of the job?
Can the quality of productivity be measured solely by the company's employee turnover?
Through the development of this research question crafted from an organizational dilemma, an appropriate research design has been determined and its characteristics, such as independent and dependent variables.