PSY 272 Fall 2016
Homework Assignment #4 (45 points)
Motivating and Retaining Employees
Due: November 15, 2016 at 10:30am
For this homework, you are hired as a consultant for Hummingbird Inc., an Indiana manufacturing
company specialized in producing precision instrument and equipment. Your main task is to motivate and
retain employees.
When reviewing employee data from the last quarter, the HR manager of Hummingbird found that a
considerable number of employees left the company. She also overheard a few others talking in the
cafeteria about wanting to quit their jobs. She is concerned about employee morale and attitudes in the
company and recruited you, an I/O consultant, to detect the problem and find potential solutions.
Again, here are the employee statistics for Hummingbird: Sixty-two percent of its 1,200 employees are
male and 87% are White. Fifty-four percent of employees are machine operators, 16% are engineers, 9%
are managers, 19% are clerical staff, and the rest are janitors. On average, the employees have 7.35 years
of experience at the current job. Nineteen percent of the employees have master’s degrees or higher, 21%
have college or associate’s degrees, and the rest have high school or vocational-technical school degrees.
You may want to factor some of these statistics in when analyzing the case.
Integrate everything you have learned about theories and methods in I/O psychology this semester and
answer the following questions. Think critically and creatively. Do not be bonded by my examples.
1. Detect the problems. Explain in detail what you would do to find out why turnover rate and
turnover intention were high in the company over the past quarter. Include at least the
following information: (1) what variables or constructs do you plan to measure, (2) how exactly
would you measure those variables/constructs, (3) who would be your sources of information,
and (4) what problem(s) may you identify. (14 pt.)
Note. For (2), be specific. For example, do not just answer “I’ll do a survey.” Instead, describe
how you want to design the survey, what questions you are going to ask, how you are going to
implement the survey: e.g., In person? Online? On company bulletin boards? For (4), think about
the differences between functional and dysfunctional turnover and various reasons for employee
withdrawal behaviors. You can feel free to create hypothetical scenarios or add information if it
would help you answer this question. There are many possible answers.
2. Use at least THREE theories in I/O psychology to explain possible reasons for the problem(s)
that you have identified in #1. Think broadly. You can approach this case from many angles and
may use theories from any chapter that we have covered so far. (14 pt.)
3. Based on your analysis above and what you have learned so far about motivation, job attitudes,
and employee withdrawal behaviors, suggest at least THREE solutions to address the problems
and to motivate and retain current employees at Hummingbird Inc. Make sure that your
solutions are evidence-based and supported by existing research in I/O psychology. Provide at
least one citation for each of your solutions—it should be either a theory in I/O psychology or an
empirical study that demonstrates the effectiveness of a particular organizational
practice/intervention. (14 pt.) PSY 272 Fall 2016 Important Note on Academic Integrity
You are to complete your own work for this assignment. You are not allowed to look at other students’
homework or verbally ask for their answers. You are not to share your answers with anyone else. Students
who submit nearly identical answers will receive zero points and be reported to Dean of Students for
academic dishonesty. Please feel free to ask me for clarifications and directions to relevant information
but do not ask for an answer.
Format
The paper should be typed and submitted in either a Word or a PDF format, double-spaced with 1-inch
margins. Use fonts no smaller than Times New Roman 11 or Arial 10. Your answers will be evaluated by
its clarity, cohesiveness and strength of arguments, and the level of critical thinking demonstrated. When
you provide supporting evidence, both in-text citations and a reference list at the end are required.
Use APA style to cite your references (the Purdue Online Writing Lab is a great resource about APA style:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/). Assignments will be graded for proper spelling,
grammar, and adherence to the formatting requirements. (3 pt.)
Please submit via Blackboard. Grading Rubric
Area
Detect the Problems
Theoretical explanation
Solutions to Address Problems
Proper citation of research & creativity, grammar, & style
Total Points
14 pts.
14 pts.
14 pts.
3 pts.
45 pts.
