Real-World HR Challenge: How Do You Handle Unmotivated Staff and High Turnover?

LESSON FROM THE REAL FIELD

I have been associated with a hospital for the last three months as a Human Resources Professional, responsible for the smooth management of the hospital and its employees. The worst issue I have identified here is that the housekeeping employees' performance and attendance are very poor. They do not take any interest in the cleanliness of the hospital; rather, they show interest in shifting patients as they ask for tips from their attendants. At times, they exhibit violent and vulgar behavior with other employees and attendants.

I identified the above-mentioned issues, discussed them with the employees, and counseled them to improve, but all in vain. Things did not change, and finally, I advised management to replace those employees and hire new ones. As these employees are locals, we decided to hire from rural areas. We made accommodation arrangements and brought utensils for cooking, as they would cook food for themselves. Finally, we hired employees with competitive pay and made their job roles clear, but they left in two days without informing us.

Change management is very critical, and ground-level employees cannot be trusted as they are not career-oriented, and the job hardly matters to them. I implemented the same strategy in my previous company, and I am trying to identify the reasons why it was not successful this time.

I would like to know your views on the same issue or your past experiences.

Appreciation for a Well-Written Post

I must appreciate you for writing the post quite clearly. I found the following positive things about your post:

• You have written your post in the right sequence, dividing it into paragraphs.

• No unnecessary SMS or informal language.

• You started by explaining the ground situation, identified, and defined the problems. This is very important. Well done!

• You took corrective action. Somehow it did not work. Then you took a second corrective action. It also did not work. Now you have come to this forum asking for more suggestions. This is how the behavior of any professional should be. I hope other junior members understand and follow you.

• Your post is refreshing. Otherwise, this forum is replete with posts with half or quarter or minuscule information, improper grammar, etc. There was no "copy and paste" work. There was no attempt to push knowledge through someone's throat (or head). There was no attempt to educate others. You have understood the quintessence of HR forums.

Solution Suggestions

(a) Have you tried a referral program in your company? Tell existing employees, especially from housekeeping, to refer staff. If the newly joined staff work for more than six months without any problems, the employee who referred them may be given a referral allowance.

(b) Put a notice board outside your hospital about your manpower requirements. Put it in the local language too. After all, in Bangalore, I find that a prominent pizza-making company has put a huge banner outside their outlets, so why can't you put a simple whiteboard?

(c) Unethical as it may sound, try pulling manpower from other hospitals. Since they know their job, there is no need for further training.

All the best!

Regards,
Dinesh V Divekar

Thank you, Sir, for appreciating my post.

Employee Referral Program
I completely missed this; it is very helpful but cannot be implemented in the housekeeping department. We may try this in other departments.

Job Opening Posts
I have tried this for various positions, and it really works. However, it is not applicable for housekeeping employees. A typical situation you will find in this place is that their parents work in government offices, and they don't want to earn.

Hiring from Other Hospitals
This is something I am planning to work on as it may help us.

Once again, I thank you for your valuable inputs.

Regards.

I agree with you, sir, but in my view, this may not be applicable for unskilled workers. For example, last month, one houseman slapped his supervisor inside the time office because he asked him to put half-day attendance as he had worked for half a day. Most of them are violent in nature and under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or tobacco. They don't even allow others to work in their place, nor do they work themselves.

Kindly think deeply about what Ben has written. It is obvious that the current malaise is rooted deep in history where the management did or did not handle things to address the situation before it became this serious.

Secondly, I would recommend revisiting the paradigm, "...this may not be applicable for unskilled workers." What Ben says is fundamental and universally applicable.

If the situation has escalated and immediate action is necessary, you may consider outsourcing the activity to a professional agency. If you cannot find such an agency, then consider assisting someone in creating one after consulting with your management.

Regards,
Sunil Chandra

In our hospital, we have outsourced them, and there are no issues with non-performers or absenteeism. You have to understand that the class of people we deal with is at that level, and their mindset cannot be changed. Leave them for better management through outsourcing.

Dear Abedeen,

We faced similar problems at the ground level with staff, and the thing that really worked was the Attendance Incentive Scheme.

The Scheme Works as Follows:

1. 1 - 15 days - 0.5 to 1 day leave - Eligible for incentive
2. 1 - 15 days - > 1 day - Not eligible for incentive for the first half of the month.
3. 1 - 15 days - 1 to 2 days - If they do not avail leave during the second half of the month, they are eligible for the incentive.
4. 16 - 30 or 31 days - 0.5 to 1 day leave - Eligible for incentive
5. 16 - 30 or 31 days - > 1 day - Not eligible for incentive for the second half of the month.
6. 16 - 30 or 31 days - 1 to 2 days - If they have not availed leave during the first half of the month, they are eligible for the incentive.

The incentive scheme can be framed attractively as found in the enclosed Excel sheet. You will observe in the Excel sheet that for those employees who are irregular in attendance, the incentive starts off from Rs. 100/- once they become ineligible. The incentive scheme will probably address your irregular attendance issue.

Moreover, you can bifurcate the areas in your workplace among the housekeeping staff and award gifts to the housekeeping employee who has maintained his allocated area extremely well. A checklist can be used to conduct the audits to arrive at the best housekeeping area. The audits have to be done in the presence of the respective housekeeping staff and have to be transparent; any lapses have to be pointed out to the housekeeping staff.

You can even consider honoring the housekeeping staff who has won the gift in a formally convened monthly meeting wherein all employees participate. You can also publish a photograph of the best housekeeping staff on your hospital's notice board and at prominent locations where all patients/attendants can see it. The Best Workplace Maintenance Award will probably address your performance issues.

These techniques could motivate your employees to do better. We have tasted success, and I trust you will also benefit from it.

Regards,
M.V. Kannan

Thanks all for your valuable input and suggestions. Dear Murthy, last year, the hospital outsourced for only four months as we faced the same issue with attendance problems even after outsourcing. We are planning to outsource again if this proposal fails.

Dear Kannan, incentives and recognition will definitely work as we have already started from this month. The checklist will help us identify the areas of concern. The major concerns are the attitude problems of the majority of housemen, who are prone to violence. They don't participate in hospital development nor listen to their supervisors. I am confident we will find a way to address this issue and will definitely achieve success.

Regards.

Thanks, everyone. Tomorrow, a batch of fresh candidates will be joining the housekeeping department. I have asked the management in writing to take responsibility for this. This is a risk we have taken, and I would request you to give me a chance, as I need your support. They replied, "Ok, be PESSIMISTIC."

Well, I think Mr. Dinesh has suggested valid points to post the requirement on the notice board of the hospital. Some branded fast-food chains are implementing the same approach not only in Bangalore but also in other cities, and it is working for them economically as it doesn't cost them anything. So, you can try this for your situation.

Additionally, try to hire needy people who show responsibility for their work. You can assess this to some extent by interviewing them.

Dear Abedeen, let me share with you my experience. The problem stated by you is most common in all industries related to housekeeping personnel. I also faced this in a manufacturing plant, but we overcame this problem after implementing some steps mentioned below:

1. Health and hygiene training for all housekeeping staff.
2. Importance of housekeeping in the hospital business and how people are connected and important for the hospital.
3. Explain the worthiness and importance of their job.
4. If possible, divide the areas and responsibilities.
5. Create healthy competition in different areas.
6. Start some best cleaning area and well-maintained area incentive schemes.

Not immediately, but after regular communication, you will get a positive result.

Regards, Rakesh

Thanks, this is the best answer to the problem, I believe. I have implemented the same in a previous company but am not able to do this here. Maybe they are not willing to interact and don't listen to anyone, or we may not be able to communicate with them in the required manner. I will be working on this until the issue is resolved. Thanks, everyone, for your views.

It would be better if the low-level employees were outsourced.

Regards, Asha HR Recruiter

Currently, we are exploring the possibility of outsourcing our housekeeping department. Our main concern is finding a reliable partner to whom we can outsource, allowing us to feel at ease and focus on our core business activities. Your input, views, and ideas on this matter are highly appreciated. Thank you for sharing.

Best regards,
[Your Name]

Outsourcing HR-Related Problematic Areas

Outsourcing of problematic areas, especially HR-related, in my personal opinion as an HR Practitioner, is not okay. Please give deep thought and understand the consequences such as:

• Dependability
• Higher cost
• Lack of direct control
• Identity verification issues

Regards,
Rakesh