Employee Attrition within the Mobile Home Manufacturing Industry

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Abstract
Determining the casual factor(s) affecting the decision to terminal employment with
APEX Mobile Home Industry: A descriptive study is the method of research
proposed for this project. Descriptive studies are utilized when collecting nominal
data. A survey instrument will be utilized to collect the data. The survey will consist
of 10 core questions and 15 demographic questions. Descriptive statistics will be
employed to analyze the data in an effort to determine the causal factor(s) attributing
to employee attrition. The responses will be disaggregated to determine correlations
between categorical answers. Calculations performed on the data will include
frequency plots, mean, and mode, range, minimum, and maximum, median, and
standard deviation.

Chapter 1
Title
Employee Attrition within the Mobile Home
Manufacturing Industry
Introduction
A descriptive study is proposed to determine if the employee attrition within the
mobile home manufacturing industry due to voluntary employee termination is
related to casual factor(s).

Significance of the Problem

Over the past 10 years employee retention within the mobile home manufacturing
industry has been inadequate. Many of the employees leaving the industry are doing
so on a voluntary basis. The cost associated with recruiting, hiring, and training
qualified replacements has required additional monetary and human resources in the

mobile home industry. A descriptive study is proposed to investigate this problem.

The study will attempt to determine the casual factor(s) for employee attrition.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose will be to determine those factors causing employees within the past five
years to voluntarily leave and seek employment outside of the mobile home
manufacturing industry.

Research Questions
Six research questions will be utilized in analyzing the responses to the survey
questions.
Is employee attrition due to unsatisfactory industrial work conditions?
Is employee attrition due to the workplace environment?
Is employee attrition due to unacceptable indirect compensation?
Is employee attrition due to unsatisfactory direct compensation?
Is employee attrition due to the geographic location of the industry?
Is employee attrition due to unacceptable ergonomic work conditions?

Assumptions
Five assumptions will be utilized in this descriptive study.
Each respondent will fairly and objectively answer those questions contained in the
questionnaire to the best of his or her abilities.
The access to past employees who were once employed within the mobile home
industry at APEX Construction Company and AJAX Industries is limited to 100
people. Therefore the population and sample size are numerically equal.
All 100 past employees will respond to the survey.
All respondents will be 18 years and older.

All 100 past employees were fulltime workers

Limitations
Six limitations will be imposed in this descriptive study.
Only employees who were once employed within the mobile home industry at APEX
Construction Company and AJAX Industries will be surveyed.
Only those employees having less than five years experience within the mobile home
industry and who voluntarily terminated their employment shall be surveyed.
Only those employees having worked at least one year within the mobile home
industry and who voluntarily terminated their employment shall be surveyed.
Only those questionnaires returned by a predetermined date will be analyzed.
Only those questionnaires completely answered will be analyzed.

Definition of Terms
Attrition - the reduction in staff and employees in a company through normal means,
such as resignation, (Dictionary.com, 2010).
Direct compensation - consists of pay an employee receives in the form of wages,
salary, bonuses, and commissions, (Duening, 2006, pp. 238).
Employee - individual who works full time under a contract of employment, whether
oral or written, express or implied, and has recognized rights and duties, (Business
Dictionary).
Ergonomic work conditions - work conditions associated with ergonomics as it
relates to worker injury.
Ergonomics - the science related to man and his work, embodying the anatomic,
physiologic, and mechanical principles affecting the efficient use of human energy.
Proper ergonomics are necessary to prevent repetitive strain injuries, which can
develop over time and may lead to short-term or long-term disability, (About.com,
Physical Therapy).

Human Resources Management - the process of accomplishing an organization's

objectives by acquiring, retaining, developing, and properly using its human
resources, (Duening, 2006, pp. 221).
Indirect compensation - consists of all the rewards, such as vacation time, insurance
coverage tuition reimbursement, not included in direct compensation, (Duening,
2006, pp. 238).
Industrial work conditions - work conditions associated with working in an industrial
setting, includes environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, noise, as well
as working around moving machine parts or tools.
Industry- the people or companies engaged in a particular kind of commercial
enterprise, (Wikipedia, 2010).
Manufacturing Industry - a branch of manufacture and trade based on the
fabrication, processing, or preparation of products from raw materials and
commodities. This includes all foods, chemicals, textiles, machines, and equipment.
This includes refined metals and minerals derived from extracted ores as well as
lumber, wood, and pulp products, (Sustainable Development Indicators, 2010).
Mobile homes- prefabricated homes built in factories, and then taken to the place
where they will be occupied. They are usually transported by tractor-trailers. While
these houses are frequently placed in one permanent location, the homes may retain
the ability to be moved, (Wikipedia, 2004).
Occupational Safety and Health Administration - Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA), is a division of the United States Department of Labor that
sets and enforces occupational health and safety rules, (United States Department of
Labor).
Work environment - the conditions and factors that influence work. In general, these
include political, social, and psychological elements. It also includes things like
supervisory practices as well as reward and recognition programs.

Chapter 2
Review of Literature

The majority of employee turnover occurs within the first five years of employment,
and the majority of employees leave their employment for reasons other than direct
compensation. The top reasons given by employees that voluntary leave their place of
employment are: they have no expectation for career growth, their relationship with
their manager is damaged, they are unable to balance work and family, their
company functions unethically, their relationship with their co-workers are
damaged, their company is facing financial problems, and the stress they face at work
is affecting their physical or mental well-being, (Heathfield, 2010).

According to the 2005 Bureau of Labor Statistics the average cost to replace an
employee was $13,996 and in the 12 months ending in 2005, 24% of employees left
their job voluntarily, (Kung, 2007, pp. 14). Therefore, a manufacturing organization
with 1,000 employees would have lost 150 employees in 2005 and the estimated
costs to replace the employees were estimated to be over two million dollars, (Kung,
2007, pp. 14). However these statistics fail to show the true cost of replacing an
employee.
There are three main components associated with the cost of replacing an employee
staffing, vacancy, and training costs, (Kung, 2007, pp. 15). Staffing costs are the cost
of recruiting and hiring the person initially, and money that will be spent to recruit
and hire the replacement. The vacancy cost is related to the period of time that
person isn't working in the open position resulting in lost productivity and
potentially lost business. Employees are not 100% productive from the moment they
start. So it is necessary to invest time and resources for training, orientation, and
development.
It is the responsibility of Human Resources Management to develop employees by
training, educating, appraising and preparing employees for present and future jobs.
These activities are important for the psychological and economic growth of
employees, and the self-realization needed by today's employees cannot be fully
employed by an organization that does not have these developmental activities in
place, (Duening, 2006, pp. 222).
The proposed descriptive study will attempt to determine the causal factor(s)
affecting the decision by employees to terminate their employment while at Apex
Mobile Homes.

Chapter 3
Collection of Data
This descriptive study will use survey responses to answer the six research questions
posed in Chapter 1. The survey will contain 10 core questions and 15 demographic
questions, (Appendix B). The survey will be administered by sending 100 letters to
past employees notifying them that Apex Mobile Homes is conducting a survey of
past employees in an effort to determine the factors affecting their decision to resign
from employment, (Appendix A). The respondents' identities will remain
anonymous. All 100 survey responses will be analyzed.

Chapter 4
Analyses of Data
Descriptive statistical methods will be utilized to analyze the nominal survey data.
Calculations performed on the data will include frequency plots, mean, and mode,
range, minimum, and maximum, median, and standard deviation. The data will be
disaggregated to examine relationships between respondents' demographic and core
answers. These methods will attempt to show relationships between respondents'
answers to the survey questions. These relationships will try to answer the research
questions posed in Chapter 1.

Chapter 5
Conclusions
Findings and conclusions will be provided upon collecting and analyzing the survey
data.