Case Study

PROGRAMME Postgraduate Diploma in Family Business Management

MODULE Organisational Behaviour
YEAR One (1)
INTAKE January 2024
TOTAL MARKS 100
 FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 1 [100 MARKS]
Read the Case Study below and answer ALL of the questions that follow.

Taking the right steps to retain talent

With businesses facing a growing number of skills challenges, ensuring they retain their best employees has become more
imperative than ever.

In a world that is digitally transforming rapidly, it is becoming crucial for organisations to retain their best staff. Skills
shortages abound, and the expertise and talents of experienced staff members are not something that can easily be
replaced.

Entelect CEO Shashi Hansjee explains that losing people with knowledge and skills, which are often learned in the context
of your particular business, can be disastrous. Thus, to increase their ability to innovate and be agile, it is vital for
companies to create an environment in which employees want to remain.

“Remember that any business that loses people too rapidly, and is unable to keep key skills in-house, will struggle to
compete in the market. Replacements can never immediately be as agile or effective as your more experienced personnel,”
he points out.

“South African businesses have even more to deal with than most. There is already a skills shortage in the digital
environment, due to high demand. Furthermore, local businesses are also impacted by the ongoing ‘brain drain’, which
further reduces the talent pool.”

Therefore, continues Hansjee, organisations need to focus on four key areas if they hope to retain their best talent in the
long term. These focus areas encompass: a good workplace culture; growth and development opportunities for staff;
meaningful work that employees can succeed at; and competitive levels of remuneration.

“To elaborate further, to deliver a good workplace culture, your business requires good communications, a strong value
system, a meritocracy where people can succeed and a collaborative inclusive mindset where relationships between a
diverse set of people are fostered. Secondly, leadership must not only manage deliveries and outcomes, but also provide
coaching and support for people and growth opportunities.

“Thirdly, modern digital roles demand interesting work, as these are not skillsets where you want to find yourself doing the
same thing over and over again. Finally, the salaries you pay have to be competitive in the market.”

He adds that it is also important to create different experiences for employees. While fun, team-building-type exercises
have their place. These experiences include giving staff the ability to spend time in different domains and tackle problems
in unfamiliar areas of the business, to help stimulate their minds. It falls to line managers to help stretch their horizons and
ensure that employees are exposed to these different experiences, adds Hansjee.

“Remember that offering skills training won’t necessarily help you keep your people – unless you are also allowing them to
learn new aspects of the business, and can assist them to develop this into tangible benefits, such as promotions, better
pay and increased autonomy,” he continues.

He notes that autonomy – especially in the knowledge worker space – is an incredibly important issue to get right. It all
comes down to treating people like adults, communicating effectively with them and ultimately showing you care for them.
In this way, management can inculcate greater levels of trust between leadership and staff.

“Long-term staff retention is all about investing in your people. Giving them autonomy means providing a space for them to
try something and learn from it, so they can be a better employee. Of course, this also means giving them the space to
make mistakes and learn. It means providing them with a more immersive experience than merely attending training.

“It is also important to ensure that senior management is available for staff to talk to, to demonstrate care, by affording them
face time with the bosses. Remember that the modern workforce wants to be heard, and to be kept in the loop – basically,
they demand something more personal than a suggestion box,” he explains.
He notes that creating this more communicative culture means creating an open line of communication from the C-suite to
the shop floor and back again. This could encompass things like coffee chats, face time discussions, or simply
management walking the floor and talking to staff.

“The four areas mentioned above should all factor into any company’s checklist related to the acquisition and retention of
employees. Failing to get these right will mean your business consistently loses people, and this means also losing
knowledge, context and skills, not to mention capacity. Such losses, in what is a constantly evolving business environment,
will make it harder for an enterprise to deliver consistent customer service and quality – and means you will likely fall farther
and farther behind your competitors,” concludes Hansjee.

Source : https://www.itweb.co.za/content/6GxRKqYQA2Nqb3Wj

Question 1 (25 Marks)

Critically analyse the case study, while referencing a theory of your choice related to organisational culture types. In light of
the challenges highlighted by Hansjee regarding talent retention, discuss how the theory enhances your understanding of
the critical elements that organisations should focus on to foster a workplace culture conducive to retaining top talent.
Provide insights on how these elements align with the four key areas mentioned in the article: workplace culture, growth
and development opportunities, meaningful work, and competitive remuneration.

Question 2 (25 Marks)

Hansjee emphasises the importance of effective communication, a strong value system, a meritocratic environment that
fosters success, and a collaborative, inclusive mindset for cultivating a positive workplace culture. Building up on this,
explore the importance of emotional intelligence and its practical applications in managing effective communication and
nurturing a healthy workplace culture within the business environment. Furthermore, analyse the foundational principles of
emotional intelligence as identified by Ayman Sawaf and the essential characteristics that emotionally intelligent individuals
possess in shaping soft skills.

Question 3 (25 Marks)

Discuss learning theories that are relevant to motivation, with a focus on how these theories can be applied to address the
talent retention challenges outlined in the case study in the face of skills shortages and a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Question 4 (25 Marks)

Examine the Hackman & Oldham Model of work design, emphasising its essential components and their impact on
employee performance and satisfaction, subsequently influencing overall business performance. Explore how organisations
can implement this model to enhance their work environment, thereby addressing key challenges outlined in the case
study.

END OF PAPER