MGT 500 Module 6 Leading and Motivating Employees Example

Badges, Buses and a Boss Who Knows Your Name: Leading and Motivating Airport Concession Workers

Student Name

Master of Business Administration, Aspen University

MGT 500: Management

Instructor Name

Month Day, Year

Badges, Buses and a Boss Who Knows Your Name: Leading and Motivating Airport Concession Workers

Heartland Concessions, a composite company, operates eleven restaurants, coffee bars and shops at the Des Moines International Airport under a contract with the airport authority. It employs about 180 frontline staff, cashiers, baristas, cooks and stock clerks, many working shifts that begin at 4:30 a.m. to serve early flights. Annual turnover is about 90%. Each departure costs about $2,800 in recruiting, badging, background checks and training, or roughly $450,000 a year, and short staffing has led to closed counters that frustrate travelers and the airport authority. Managers have raised starting pay twice, by $1.50 an hour in total, with little effect. This paper diagnoses the turnover and recommends a plan.

What Employees Said

Interviews with 30 current and former staff produced a consistent picture.

Hygiene Factors and Motivators

Herzberg (1968) argued that the factors that make people dissatisfied at work are different from those that motivate them. Hygiene factors, such as pay, policies, supervision quality and working conditions, cause dissatisfaction when poor but do not motivate when good. Motivators, such as achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility and growth, produce satisfaction and effort. Raising pay addressed a hygiene factor that was no longer the main problem. The shuttle and unpredictable schedules are hygiene failures that drive people out, while missing recognition and growth leave those who stay unmotivated.

The Supervisor Relationship

Gerstner and Day (1997) combined studies of leader-member exchange, the quality of the working relationship between a supervisor and each employee. Higher quality relationships were associated with higher performance ratings, greater satisfaction with the supervisor and the job, stronger commitment, clearer roles and lower intentions to leave. Turnover at Heartland varies widely by location: 45% at two coffee bars, over 120% at the busiest restaurant, and the difference tracks the shift leads staff described.

Progress in Meaningful Work

Amabile and Kramer (2011) analyzed thousands of daily diary entries from knowledge workers and found that, of all the events that shaped people's inner work lives, making progress in meaningful work was the most powerful, even when the progress was small. Setbacks had an even larger negative effect. Although their research studied professional work, the principle applies: an early shift that ends with flights served and counters stocked can feel like progress if someone marks it, or like chaos if no one does.

Why the Raises Did Not Work

The two raises cost the company about $560,000 a year and moved turnover by only a few points. Herzberg's framework explains why: pay had already reached a level staff considered fair, so further increases removed little dissatisfaction and created no motivation. Money spent on pay could not reach the causes staff described, a shuttle that made them late, schedules that made childcare impossible and supervisors who noticed them only when something went wrong.

Two Kinds of Shift Leads

Observing shifts at the two locations with the lowest and highest turnover showed the difference Gerstner and Day's research predicts. At the coffee bar with 45% turnover, the shift lead greeted each person by name, asked about their week, adjusted breaks when someone was struggling and passed on compliments from travelers. At the restaurant with turnover above 120%, the lead spent the shift at the register and spoke to staff mainly about mistakes. Both were competent operators; only one built relationships. Shift leads were promoted for speed and reliability and never trained to lead people.

Recommendations

First, fix the hygiene failures. Heartland will pay the airport authority to add a 4:00 a.m. shuttle and will post schedules two weeks ahead, changing them only with the employee's agreement. Second, build relationships. Every shift lead will receive training in brief one-on-one check-ins, holding one with each team member every two weeks, and leads' bonuses will include retention on their teams. Third, mark progress. Each shift will end with a three-minute huddle noting what went well, including travelers' compliments. Fourth, create growth: a trainer role and a path from cashier to lead within a year for those who want it.

Costs and Expected Savings

The added shuttle will cost about $38,000 a year, shift lead training about $22,000 in the first year and the trainer roles about $30,000 in added pay. Together these cost less than a quarter of the $450,000 the company now spends replacing staff. Cutting turnover from 90% to 60% would save about $150,000 a year in replacement costs alone, before counting fewer closed counters and better relations with the airport authority.

Supporting the Shift Leads

Shift leads cannot build relationships if they spend every minute at the register. Each location will schedule leads with thirty minutes per shift away from the counter for check-ins and coaching. Location managers will meet leads monthly to discuss their teams, share what is working and review turnover on each lead's crew, treating it as a measure of leadership rather than bad luck.

Hearing From Staff Continuously

A two-question pulse survey each month will ask whether staff would recommend working at their location and what one thing would make the job better. Results will go to location managers within a week, with a short note back to staff on what will change.

Measures

Heartland will track turnover by location and shift lead, the share of shifts fully staffed and a monthly two-question pulse survey.

Conclusion

Heartland's raises treated a hygiene factor that was no longer the main cause of turnover. Herzberg's distinction, Gerstner and Day's evidence on supervisor relationships and Amabile and Kramer's progress principle point to a different plan: fix the shuttle and schedules, invest in shift leads and help staff see their daily progress.

References

Amabile, T. M., & Kramer, S. J. (2011). The power of small wins. Harvard Business Review, 89(5), 70-80.

Gerstner, C. R., & Day, D. V. (1997). Meta-analytic review of leader-member exchange theory: Correlates and construct issues. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82(6), 827-844. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.82.6.827

Herzberg, F. (1968). One more time: How do you motivate employees? Harvard Business Review, 46(1), 53-62.