Case Study : Issues of 'Apex Car Rentals' Assignment Help

You are to develop a case study by reading research and analyzing a problem-situation. You will be given specific reading support to be able to understand the scope of the topic. You are then to write up a case study analysis.

The Case Study Problem:

A Local car rental company, 'Apex Car Rentals', has recently suffered from poor reviews about its services in the local newspaper. A number of staff have left recently and the -owners struggling to recruit new workers. The level of absenteeism among the remaining employees has also increased over the last six months. The owner of the business has asked you to develop a Motivational Program for him to implement. Your work should include a definition of motivation and the expected benefits of having a motivated workforce as well as your recommended (migrant of activities and techniques.

The issues included: There was not a lot of training provided and at times staff was told to simply work along with a more experienced car hire officer and they would get to understand the role. Staff felt that further training could have helped save them time just learning on the job.

- Staff also felt they didn't get enough feedback about how they were performing at their work, and not understanding whether a particular task is important.

- Staff especially if they felt that they tried to improve their own customer service performance there was no recognition of their good work.

- Some staff who were there for some time, felt that there weren't a, proper consequences for poor performance by other staff who made mistakes, and they also felt that if they said something this would be looked at as negative by the concerned worker.

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Problem identification and Analysis

The given case study ACR has illustrated some of the problems and the reason behind the failure in company' operations. In the preceding section, the identified problems were discussed in details.

Negative brand image-In the recent times, the company suffered from a negative brand image through the publication of poor reviews in one of the local newspapers. The reason behind this is the negative response from the employees which in turn has affected customer service. The brand equity problem of ACR is based on cognitive psychology theory. According to this theory, the brand equity for a company develops with the customer's memory associated with the brand in the form of images (Hom, Lee, Shaw, & Hausknecht, 2017). However, when the memory of the brand is imperfect and asymmetrical, it leads to a negative brand image.

Employee turnover -Besides this, most of its employees have left the job, which led to an increased rate of employee turnover. An increase in employee turnover is because of a lack of communication with the management, who made their problem unresolved. Furthermore, employees also felt a biased work environment where the mistakes of co-workers were ignored. This issue of the employee can be related to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. According to this theory, each individual comprised of security needs, psychological needs, belongingness needs self-actualization needs and esteem needs (Kuvaas, Buch, Gagne, Dysvik, & Forest, 2016). The satisfaction of any of these needs leads to demotivation which in turn results in employee turnover. Moreover, this issue is of high importance, as employee satisfaction is highly essential to manage the routine operational functions.

Recruitment issue - With an increase in employee turnover, the company has to turn towards the new employee recruitment process and has to struggle with recruitment. The publication of the poor review in newspaper and mouth to mouth negative advertisement has created a negative image of Apex, which is reflected in its recruitment process. The existing employees in Apex also make a criticism about the lack of teamwork within employees and management, outside the workplace. This type of discussion spreads the negative image and reduces its market value. Motivator hygiene theory can be used to describe the relationship between employees and motivation in the workplace (Shepard, Penuel, & Pellegrino, 2018). In this case, the higher level needs of employees are not fulfilled, and this led to the spread of negative image, which is further reflected as a recruitment problem.

Absenteeism - Over the last six months, the company is also observing that the remaining employees have increased the level of absenteeism. Though, this issue is also linked with the level of job dissatisfaction persisting among the employees. Lack of job training and work appreciation creating a sense of dissatisfaction among the employees we should result in absenteeism. Employees believe that proper training could help them to save the additional time spent understanding the job. Feedback access a source of encouragement and motivation to increase the productivity of employees, and this feedback was missing in Apex. Alderfer's ERG theory clearly defines the problem in this scenario. This theory explains that each human being comprises of three basic needs, that is, growth, existence, and relatedness. In this case study, the management team ignored the growth and existence aspects of employees, which leads to dissatisfaction among them (Hom et al, 2017).

Generation and evaluation of alternative solution

With the concurrent analysingof the given case study, for the existing workplace problems that were identified, requires strategies for resolution, on an urgent basis. Some of the possible solutions to these problems are identified, which is expected to improve employee satisfaction and brand image and are discussed in this section.

Solution for negative brand image

Environmental friendly activities - The involvement in sustainable and environmentally friendly activities can help to repair the damaged reputation of Apex (Neal, & Neal, 2019).

Addressing the audience - Apex should directly deal with customers to give an explanation of the issue, despite giving any excuse. This step can help Apex company to clear the misunderstanding about its reputation.

Solutions for employee turnover

Implementing adequate compensation - Employees should be provided with competitive compensation, so as to retain their talented employees.

Recognizing the accomplishments of employees - Acknowledgement acts as a motivation source for most of the employees. Periodic acknowledgment includes praising, thanking email, inviting to lunch or dinner.

Solution for recruitment issue

Better hiring practices - A fair and effective hiring practice attract candidates to join the company (Neal et al, 2019). The company should also look for the requisite jobs skill and check background prior to the hiring process.

Introducing attractive perks - To influence more skilful workforce, attractive perks such as bonuses, medical benefits, paid vacation should be provided.

Solution for absenteeism

Proper engagement - Apex should keep its employees engaged in meaningful work so that they do not lose interest in work. Their performance should be analyzed by the senior supervisors and appropriate feedback should be provided. This approach will make them involved and creates a scope of improvement.

Implementation of wellness programs - It is evident that there exists a strong bond between productivity and wellness programs (Cloutier, Felusiak, Hill, & Pemberton-Jones, 2015). A wellness program keeps employees motivated as well as help them to maintain a healthy lifestyle. In this way, Apex's employees can maintain a regular presence in their workplace.

Recommendation

The primary issues for Apex car rental are employee turnover and negative brand image. In order to resolve these issues, the company has to implement the above-described solution. Analysing the current situation, Apex needs to involve in environmentally friendly activities as well as start providing adequate compensation and perks to the current employee (Cloutier et al, 2015). In this way, the company will be able to create an employee's motivation and repair the damaged reputation. However, with the analysis of the company's condition and identifying the requirement, it can further implement the other solutions which are described in the report.

Implementation

For the involvement in sustainable and environmentally friendly activities, the company should install a pollution free exhaust system in cars, so as to reduce environmental pollution (Neal et al, 2019). Furthermore, the compensation put in place should be based on industry standards by analysing the Bureau of labour statistics and other competitors.

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