Research Proposal: Intervention Plan to Reduce Burnout
The Economic crisis in Greece or any other economy significantly affects the performance of business entities. The businesses are unable to earn adequate revenue and income to support their operations. One of the key areas affected by such crisis is the management of human resource, which affects the performance of the organization (Levoy, 2007). A shoe company in Greece requires an intervention plan, which would address the issues arising from the economic condition in the country. The company has had multiple cutbacks, especially in the aspect of being understaffed, as well as the mismatch in positions and qualifications. The intervention aims at enhancing communication and consequently to prevent the burnout.
Burnout is an adverse state in the emotions, mental, and physical aspects. The state is caused by the excessive and prolonged stress (Bahrer-Kohler, 2012). In an organizational setup, burnout among the employees is counterproductive. The burnout leads to the loss of interest or motivation, which reduces the ability in undertaking roles and responsibilities. The productivity, in this case, reduces significantly implying that the overall performance is compromised.
The risk of burnout at the shoe company is largely high. The employees are understaffed, which implies that overworking is inevitable. In fact, overworking the employees implies that there are more responsibilities to undertake than the person can handle. The balance between personal life and work responsibilities is not achieved; the employees will have to spend a lot of time at the workplace and have limited time to attend the personal demands. Such employees lack the relevant concentration at the workplace, a situation that reduces the quality of products and services offered. The multiple cutbacks imply that the employees receive reduced wages from time to time.
It is worth noting that the wages paid are a primary motivator for many employees because it is the source of livelihood. In ideal circumstances, an adjustment in wages should be upwards in the attempt to motivate the employees and enable them to remain at the preferred standard of living despite the rise in the cost of living (Gatchel & Schultz, 2012). In addition, the cutbacks could be seen as a reduction of the value that the company has for its employees. The level of corporate citizenship declines among the employees. The mismatch in the talent/qualification and the position held by the employees is the other factor that can lead into burnouts. The employees that are mismatched find it hard to meet the demand in their positions; hence, their output level is relatively low. The conflict level between the employees and their bosses is likely to be high due to misunderstanding and inability to meet the expectations.
Apart from the poor motivation and low output levels, the company is likely to suffer from low commitment and high turnover of employees. Due to dissatisfaction at the workplace and overworking, the rate of absenteeism is likely to be high. In other cases, the employees will be looking for alternative jobs, leaving the company to recruit new employees to fill the gaps from time to time. The cost of recruiting new employees can be excessive, reducing the income levels even further.
A research is required to assist the management of the shoe company to communicate effectively on the factors likely to lead to burnout and strategies to minimize the situation. The research intends to look for answers to the two questions including:
- What are the factors leading to burnouts among the employees?
- What are the strategies that the management and the employees can apply to reduce the burnouts?
Research Design
The research design outlines the data collection method that a researcher intends to apply. The research will involve both the primary and secondary research approaches. The primary research will involve the survey through the questionnaire and interviews (Bhattacharya, 2006). On the other hand, the secondary research will involve the literature review of the relevant sources. The combination of the research approaches is a strategy to ensure that the findings from the research can be validated. The two methods complement each other, a situation that is aimed at reducing the weakness of either approach (Vogt, Gardner & Haeffele, 2012). For instance, the secondary research is effective in presenting the information about the past situations, while the primary research brings to the current situation of the issue under the study.
Manipulation
The questionnaires and the interview questions will be prepared in advance and tested on their relevance and reliability. The questionnaire sheet will have two sections; the first section will consider the background information and the second one will have close-ended questions. Before conducting the research, the authorization from the relevant authorities will be required. In addition, the participants will be allowed to participate voluntarily (Mitchell & Jolley, 2010). The free consent and authorization are important steps in making the research process acceptable and reliable. The validation of the relevance and reliability are important steps in ensuring that the findings are reliable as well as valid to draw the relevant conclusion from which the company can improve its performance. The research will put into consideration the need to uphold ethical practices. The data and information from the participants will remain confidential to protect the dignity and privacy. The names and identity of the participants will not be revealed, and none of them will be victimized. Lastly, all the secondly sources used in the literature review will be referenced and cited accordingly to acknowledge the authors.
Independent and Dependent Variables
The independent variables are the factors leading to the burnouts among the employees. The variables in their combinations lead to changes in the dependent variable. In this study, the dependent variable is the burnout level. In fact, the changes in the independent variables lead to causative changes in the dependent variables.
Participants and Sample Size
The participants are the individuals from whom the relevant data and information required in the research will be collected (Oliver, 2010). The key participants in the study are the employees in the company and HR management experts. The employees will fill in the questionnaires while the experts will provide information through the interview. Due to limitations regarding resources and time, the research will involve a few of the potential participants (Kumar, 2010). The research will involve twenty employees who will be selected using a simple random sampling approach. However, the selection will put into consideration the need for a balanced sample drawing individuals from different positions. On the other hand, three experts will be selected purposively depending on the expertise held, as well as convenience depending on availability.
Data Analyzes Plan
The data collected from the employees, experts, and literature review requires effective analysis to provide the basis upon which the conclusion can be drawn. Data from the questionnaire will be converted into numerical form and analyzed statistically through the excel sheet. The data from the interview and literature review is best analyzed through a theoretical framework depending on the relevance level.
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