FACTORS AFFECTING HIGH LEVELS OF EMPLOYEE TURNOVER AT MAID FOR YOU CLEANING, INC.TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction .. Literature Review ... Research Question Conceptual Framework ... Method Section Study Design Population and Sample Data Collection Method .... Data Interpretation .... 69 Conelusion ... 9-10 Research Question Answered ... Limitations «2... eee a Recommendations ... Appendix Cover Letter Questionnaire Data Collected Frequencies ‘The Research Design Conceptual Framework Research ApproachFACTORS AFFECTING HIGH LEVELS OF EMPLOYEE TURNOVER AT MAID FOR YOU CLEANING, INC. INTRODUCTION Maid For You Cleaning, Inc. is a small family-owned company that has been in business for nearly 11 years. It has been observed that as the company grows, turnover also grows. There hhas been an expressed need to discover the factors associated with turnover in the company. Information gathered from the year 2006 indicates that in 2006 the company experienced an annual turnover rate of just over 66 percent! Tumover this high is prohibiting company growth. For example, the company has an extensive waiting list for new clients and special requests from existing clients simply because the manpower is not there to do the work. Jobs can only be added to night and weekend hours if workers volunteer. Maid For You Cleaning, Inc. is a company offering part-time positions, 25 to 30 hours per week, Hours actually worked per week are increasing because of turnover. Hence, volunteers for extra hours at night and on the weekends are dwindling, There is a severe need to understand the factors associated with employee tumover. LITERATURE REVIEW Employee tumover is an extensively researched issue, Employee tumover, in a human resources context, refers to the characteristic of a given company or industry relative to rate at which an employer gains and loses staff. If an employer is said to have a high turnover rate, it ‘most often means that employees of that company have a shorter tenure than those of other ‘companies in that same industry. Dividing the number of employees who have left a companywithin a year by the total number of employees that have worked for the company within that same year determines the company’s turnover rate (Turnover). A small business is an independent business having fewer than 500 employees. Small firms are important to the U.S. economy for a number of reasons. A detailed list of these reasons can be found on the SBA Office of Advocacy website. It is important to study small businesses and the affects that tumover has on them because of their importance to our economy. ‘Tumover is not an isolated event; it is a process of disengagement that takes time (Williams, 2006) and a majority of the time, management has control over an employee's decision to leave (Gray). Higher pay is often given as the reason an employee chooses to leave; however, research has shown that most of the time this reason is given as a cover up to the underlying issues an employee has with their company (Putti, 2006). These underlying issues are generally attributed to high stress levels. A recent Gallup Poll (Klein, 2006) reported that 80 percent of workers feel job stress, The main dimension of employee tumover, determined after conducted research, is stress. Stress in the work place is caused by a variety of variables. Causes of stress, and elements of the dimension, include, but are not limited 10, relationships with superiors and other coworkers, noted as “people issues”, a feeling of unimportance due to lack of responsibility, recognition and feeling under-utilized, workload, or lack of, lack of training and support, poor communication, poor management, and an unclear job description with no clear path or opportunities for advancement. Another cause of tumover in some instances is said to be shock. This shock refers to a critical incident that has taken place which forces the employee out the door. This shock is often times created by a superior, and could have been avoided (Gray).Employee tumover is inevitable in all organizations and some tumover is desirable. According to research, a small level of turnover is desirable in order to bring fresh new ideas into the organization (Branham, 2000), According to the literature researched, unskilled positions and small businesses often have a higher turnover rate than skilled positions and larger ‘companies. Once source states that unskilled positions can generally be replaced without the business incurring any loss of performance, while companies with high tumover of skilled professionals are at risk of lost skills and knowledge (Tumover). High tumover, and the costs of high tumover, has a greater impact on smail businesses because they lack many of the resources that larger firms have access to (Why Small Business, 2006). Research Question ‘What are the factors associated with the high level of turnover at Maid For You Cleaning, Inc., a small business? CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK The dependent variable, employee turnover, can be explained by the independent variables: stress, shock, and personal issues. Stress and shock can often be controlled for as to avoid tumover. AAs stress increases among workers, disengagement occurs, and this leads to turnover, Stress can be explained by moderating variables such as policies and procedures, organizational behavior, and money. Policies and procedures can be narrowed further and explained by elements such as mileage pay of 20 cents per mile, driving personal vehicles, the attendance policy, and the evaluation process, or lack of. Organizational behavior can be described by the following elements: communication, poor management, people issues, such asrelationships with superiors and coworkers, and teamwork. Money issues are broken down into hourly wages, hours worked, and benefits, Shock refers to a critical incident that has taken place and has forced the employee to leave. This shock is often caused by a superior and could have been avoided. Personal issues include, but are not limited to, the job not being the right fit with the employee, such as the physical requirements, going back to school, and moving to a different location. When employees leave because of personal reasons, often employers cannot prevent tumover. When it is an element of fit, employers need to recognize the problem and modify the hiring process as to better screen candidates for fit. The three independent variables mentioned negatively impact tumover, the dependent variable. Two of the three can be measured, monitored, and controlled for in an effort to positively impact tumover. Addressing these issues could also be considered as addressing. employee retention. A company should not only ask why people leave, but also ask why people stay. METHOD SECTION Study Design In this cross-sectional exploratory field study, data were collected from previous Maid For You employees in an effort to explain tumover, the dependent variable, and the independent variables, stress, shock, and personal issues, through direct mail questionnaires, Population and Sample ‘The population of the study includes all employees who have voluntarily left Maid For You Cleaning, inc. since the company’s birth. The total population is 224. This is a qualitativestudy; therefore, only a small convenience sample of individuals was used, Nonprobability purposive/judgment sampling was used because generalization to the entire population is of little importance at this time and only employees who have left the company can give insight as to why they left. The sample size is 45. This sample consists of all employees that have left the company during the year 2006. The sufficient number of responses from this sample is 40; however, only 32 questionnaires were returned. This is a response rate of 80 percent. This is not a sufficient sample; therefore, the data can only be used to gain knowledge and understanding, but the results cannot be generalized across the entire population. The results could not have been generalized anyway due to the small sample taken to begin with. The unit of analysis was the individuals who responded to the survey. Data Col tion Method ‘The individuals used for the study were contacted via telephone to inform them of the study, to ask for their participation, and to request that they remain anonymous. Questionnaires were directly mailed to 45 previous employees that voluntarily left Maid For You in 2006. They were asked to complete the survey, remain anonymous, and return it in the addressed stamped envelope by April 11, 2007. Only 27 responses were received by this deadline date. This was a response rate of only 60 percent. All individuals were again contacted, thanked if they had already participated, and given a new deadline of April 21, 2007 if they had not yet completed the survey. Five more responses were submitted for an 80 percent response rate. Questionnaires were directly mailed to keep rescarcher interference minimal and to reduce researcher bias. Participants were also asked to remain anonymous to reduce researcher bias.