All identified causes within CDE Apparel indicate that the high employee turnover is due to voluntary reasons, rather than involuntary. In other words, the staff does not leave because they are forced to, due to restructuring, firing or retirement, but rather because they choose to (Adorno).

6. Alternative Courses of Action

The solution to the current problems facing CDE Apparel resides in reducing the employee turnover. And this can theoretically be done through the implementation of a wide array of managerial strategies, such as employee selection programs, outsourcing, corporate culture or motivational forces, briefly presented below:

Employee selection programs encompass numerous strategies and measures implemented by the employer in the hiring process and can be used to efficiently reduce turnover (Adorno). This basically means that the manager at CDE will select those candidates which are best skilled to do the job and which perfectly integrate within the corporate culture, whichever that is. In other words, in the current context at CDE Apparel, the new employees will have to be less pretentious and will have to place reduced emphasis on motivational forces. This could simply result in outsourcing.

Outsourcing basically means that the new employees will be hired from foreign countries and they will forward reduced demands as they will work for lower wages. In addition, the workforce in developing or less developed countries is less pretentious and only cares about the wages. Aside from fewer demands and lower wages, the foreign employees can also bring in additional skills. However, the matter of outsourcing is sometimes frowned upon as it is has numerous negative effects upon the American economy, such as an increase in the unemployment rate among the local population.

Most companies find that employee turnover is reduced when they address issues that affect overall company morale" (Wise Geek, 2003-2008). In other words, since the corporate culture is a primary cause of increased employee turnover, addressing corporate issues and orienting them in the direction desired by the employee could aid to reduce turnover.

Offering incentives is yet another effective strategy to reduce turnover. By being presented with more benefits, increased wages and a wide array of non-financial benefits, the employee will feel better appreciated and will tend to increase its performances, all to the overall benefit of the organization.

7. Recommendations

However engaging in outsourcing processes might not be the most viable solution for CDE Apparel, not for the time being at least, the organization still has to improve their hiring process. And this must be done moreover when a total of 80% of the employee turnover can be accounted by several mistakes in the hiring process (the Rain Maker Group, 2005). The managers in charge of hiring new staff must develop a clear advertisement to attract the right candidates. Then, based on the resumes selected, the managers will organize interviews during which they will identify the skills and capabilities of the candidate. They must further select those that best fit the corporate culture. Then, the managers have the undisputable obligation of presenting the facts as they are, including...

This basically means that the organization has to offer competitive salaries and benefits. And even though studies have shown that money is not always the primary generator of turnover, it is still extremely important, for employees seldom leave for a less paid job. Then, also related to financial stimulation, are the premiums or any other form of financial reward, offered to the best skilled and most productive employee.
But the human nature of the employees makes it impossible for the employer to offer a standardized package of incentives and hope to resolve as such the problem of turnover. To better explain, all workers, as individual beings, are motivated by various incentives. In this order of ideas, however the management at CDE cannot offer individual incentives, they should create a flexible incentives package. This could include promotion opportunities, flexible hours or more paid leave days.

All in all, the increased levels of employee turnover pose major difficulties for the company, which is now faced with an inferior product quality and reduced numbers of satisfied customers. Even though there is no perfect recipe for CDE Apparel to implement, they can choose from the wide variety of alternative solutions those that can be best adapted to the unique requirements of the company and their staff. It is nevertheless compulsory for them to integrate the employee into the corporate culture. This could be done through restating the corporate culture to include the employee. For instance, the mission statement at CDE Apparel could be rephrased to state the increased focus on satisfying the customers' needs and the integration of all staff into the corporate family.

References

Adorno, a.J., Understanding and Combating Employee Turnover in Call Centers, DeGarmo Group, Retrieved at http://www.degarmogroup.com/pdf/Employee_Turnover_Article.pdfon March 17, 2008

Droege, S.B., Hoobler, J.M., 2003, Employee Turnover and Tacit Knowledge Diffusion: A Network Perspective, Journal of Managerial Issues, Volume 15

Johnson, C., 2006, Employee Turnover, Reference for Business, http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Eco-Ent/Employee-Turnover.html, last accessed on March 17, 2008

Sheehan, E.P., Hockett, C., 1988, the Effects of Employee Turnover on Those Who Stay, University of Northern Colorado, Retrieved at http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED299500&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED299500on March 17, 2008

2003-2008, What is Employee Turnover, Wise Geek, http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-employee-turnover.html. Ast accessed on March 17, 2008

2005, an Employee Retention Strategy that Delivers Results, the Rain Maker Group, http://www.therainmakergroupinc.com/services/Item.asp?ID=22last accessed on March 17, 2008

2005-2007, Overview of Employee Turnover Research, Sigma Assessment Systems Inc., http://www.sigmaassessmentsystems.com/articles/empturnover.asplast accessed on March 17, 2008