The Survey Method as the Primary Means of Data Collection. Essay Sample

This research proposes to utilize a qualitative research methodology that incorporates the survey method as the primary means of data collection. In line with the objectives of the study to find out the impact and importance of onboarding practices within a Human Resource Agency, this research aims to utilize insight from experienced organizational members to inform on the effects that orientation had on their work. More importantly, the research will investigate the impact of onboarding practices on employee turnover, morale, as well as the level of employee engagement within the organization. As such, Mackey and Bryfonski (2018) described qualitative research as the subjective interpretation of research findings to derive inferences to solve the research problem.

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The same can be said of O’Brien’s (2013) research study that incorporated findings from various other researchers to find out the best practice in employee onboarding and their implementation in the financial services industry in Ireland. Much of the findings of this research was qualitatively inferred from the analysis of labor statistics within the country (Ireland), and O’Brien (2013) quoted Rollag et al. (2005) having stated that almost persons within the ages of 18 and 37 changes their place of work ten times. Though not much content from the most recent research studies, the findings from O’Brien (2013) imprints the historical research problem of the factors of onboarding to employee retention, job satisfaction, and employee engagement at the workplace. This study has facilitated the understanding of long term importance of onboarding to productivity at the workplace, and also by affecting the amount of data at the hands of HR practitioners related to those persons who leave the employment of the organization as a result of poor onboarding practices.

Also, Dewar (2019) conducted a similar study to evaluate the effectiveness of onboarding programs for employee retention. His study analyzed top factors about onboarding that companies should be wary about if they have to establish an effective orientation program. Of these statistics, various aspects will be evaluated concerning the topic of research in this present study. Dewar (2019) reported that a great employee onboarding program improves a company’s retention ability by 82%. Also, his research showed that most organizations, 88%, did not conduct effective onboarding programs. Those that conducted onboarding programs stated that 58% of their orientation activities revolved around organizational processes and paperwork. About the duration of the program, few organizations oriented employees past one week, as most of the companies only focused to orient new hires in their first week at the company. An interesting revelation from the analysis of this work is that the outcome of negative onboarding activities makes new hires more agile to look for alternative opportunities within the first month of their employment (Dewar, 2019). That being the case, how long should an effective onboarding program take?

To answer the above, Cuaron et al. (2020) stated that a good onboarding program should be at least four weeks long. The researchers designed an anonymous survey and presented it to the new physicians at an academic center dealing with radiation oncology. The survey targeted physicians who were oriented to the department between 2013 and 2017 and the prompts of the questionnaire targeted to find out how comprehensive and effective the onboarding program of the time shaped their understanding of organizational processes and activities. This activity was the first phase of the research, as the second phase designed a new onboarding program and evaluated on the same a year later. The survey question of the first phase was presented to nine new faculty members who were oriented between May 2018 and November 2018. Overally, this study showed that a comprehensive, employee-centered onboarding program has a positive impact to contribute to employee experience and engagement within the organization. The same translates to increased employee morale, a function that, in turn, reduces employee turnover within the organization.

The analysis of the above literature review has been instrumental in bringing to light the conducive period for an effective onboarding program. Also, the type of onboarding activity has been highlighted by scholars such as Cuaron et al. (2020), who pointed out that a manually oriented employee is more likely to remain in the employment of the organization than one who was remotely oriented by the organization. However, though HR professionals have battled with the issue of onboarding for a long time, much is still yet to be accomplished to reach proficiency and effectiveness concerning employee orientation practices. Also, the findings from this present literature review have similar bearing to the earlier stated research analysis. The scholars reach almost similar conclusions and recommendations. They do pose a challenge to the current study to bring up a unique approach to the problem of onboarding on the Human Resource Agency.

The Research Question

The findings of the research aim to find out the importance of an effective onboarding process to state employees within a Human Resource Agency. To achieve this objective, the structure of the paper will investigate three variables concerning the onboarding process and determine the impact of the onboarding process towards their respective outcomes. As such, the independent variable of the research will be the onboarding process. The dependent or intervening variables of the research will be; low morale, turnover rates, and employee engagement.

This paper will find out;

1. What is the impact of the onboarding process on employee morale within the organization?
2. What factors result from the onboarding process that leads to high turnover rates within an organization?
3. What key employee engagement levels and activities emanate from the onboarding process to support the efficient undertaking of work duties within the organization?

The answers to these prompts will inform on the effectiveness of a good onboarding process. Also, from inferring the prompts of the research questions, this research gives a prelude to the design and implementation of a new onboarding process.

The Methodology

A systematic classification approach will be used by the study to cluster responses and identify misconstrued data elements that have no bearing towards answering the research questions. This study will utilize questionnaires as the primary mode of data collection, after which responses will be analyzed using a qualitative research methodology. A qualitative research method is defined by Hennink et al. (2020) as exploratory research used by scholars to understand the reasoning behind certain phenomena.

The qualitative research method is mostly a prelude to more objectified quantitative research as it forms the basis of developing ideas to explain the interrelations between various aspects of the research problem (Hennink et al., 2020). As such, the findings from the responses gathered from the filled questionnaires will be analyzed and inferences made on the same to come up with a conclusive understanding of the research problem. The researcher’s purpose in selecting this type of research method bases on the reasoning that onboarding is a social construct problem. By this relation, the study implies that researchers use a qualitative research method in instances where personal opinion and inferences are necessary to come up with conclusive judgments about a particular problem.

Also, the primary data collection method will be by use of questionnaires. The researcher will present the structure of the survey in a manner that will require personal insight in statement form to answer the research questions. As such, as the research will necessitate no quantifiable response, this proposal holds that a qualitative research method will be to deliver the desired objectives of this study. Moreover, there will be physical as well as electronic distribution of research questionnaires to the respondents. This group of people will require the personal touch of the researcher to align their interests with the purposes of this research.

Population and Sample

The population of the study will involve all professionals in the human resource agency dealing with human resource practices in the organization. Mainly, the research will utilize a study population of 40 respondents from the researcher’s current workplace. Though not adequately representative of the entire population of the study, the findings of the research will have a significant bearing to set the foundation for further research in the same field.

Of the 40 targeted respondents, the researcher aims to garner a 100% response rate. However, other scholars have stated that this rate of perfection in research is not always tenable (Hennink et al., 2020). Therefore, this research will hope to get 35 – 38 duly filled questionnaires to compute the research findings per the purposes of this research. Such a rate of response will fall between 87.5% and a 95% response rate.

Permission for collecting research data will be obtainable through consent forms already sent to the parent organization. The study will elicit motivation to research respondents by communicating the objective of the research. Also, motivation to respond to the prompts of the survey will be obtainable by letting the employees know that it is up to the workers to provide information that will create a better work environment for new hires and even to themselves if they get other employment.

Measurements and Instrumentation

As earlier stated, questionnaires are the most suitable research instruments to gather data for this type of research study. In so doing, the research will structure a set of open-ended and closed-ended research questions. These sets of questions will prompt research respondents to volunteer information concerning their jurisdiction and evaluation of the onboarding practices as conducted by the management at the time of their orientation. Also, given that the researcher will ask for consent before rolling over the study, the respondents for the study will have had ample time to reflect on the purpose of the study. By so doing, the success of the questionnaires to gather elaborate responses

Hennink et al. (2020) stated that the purpose of a qualitative inquiry is to seek an in-depth understanding of the research problem by prompting respondents to explain the changes between the now and then related to the particular problem under review. Nyakale (2016) stated that the relevance of questionnaires is to gather primary data for a research study. The author reports that surveys facilitate the collection of primary data as information provided by the respondents is raw details (Nyakale, 2016). The research will then synthesize through the responses given by the respondents and infer information per the nature of answers provided by the respondents.