BUS101 – Business Analytics
Task 2 – Report (30%)
This is an individual assessment
Topic One: Work flexibility and incentives (Management)
Note. Normally the transcripts of an in-depth interview could be 5-20 pages long per person. For the sake of this assignment you have been given a much abbreviated example with only three questions and very short responses. Normally you would ask several establishing questions to build rapport with the participant before launching into serious questioning. For the sake of this assignment you can assume that the purpose of the research has been explained to the participant, as well as the voluntary nature of participating and that simpler questions have been asked before these questions to establish rapport.
Below are the main questions for analysis that were asked in each of the in-depth interviews, listed as participant 1 (P1), participant 2 (P2) and so on:
- Are you happy in your job?
- How have the changes at work affected you and/or the office in general?
- Is there anything else that you would like us to know?
Here are the questions and the ten responses that were given by the participants:
Are you happy in your job:
P1 – Yeah I enjoy it, been here [HR department] about a year and it seems okay. Sometimes I’m not too sure what I should be doing and feel like a bit more guidance might help. The supervisor is nice but she doesn’t really lead too well. Sometimes she is too busy to help me and doesn’t really reply to emails on time. I’ve tried talking to her face to face but all she talks about is her own problems at home. I really wish she would just lead a little more so I would know what to do and when the deadlines are you know?
P2 – I love my job. All the people are so nice to talk to and super friendly. I get my own office which is great, some people have to sit in what we call the chicken coop! It’s this room they have where it’s open plan and there are like six people crammed into this tiny workspace I couldn’t do it cause the noise would be too much. Can you imagine trying to have a phone call in there? I mean you couldn’t really do it. But yeah I have my own office which is great. Sometimes I wonder if they resent us cause we’re in the same department [HR consulting] and on the same pay level but then they got put in this new office and the older staff don’t seem too happy about it. Oh I also have a car park which is great and I love what I do cause I get to work on the training side of things. So I help design and implement training workshops for other companies which is heaps of fun. I really enjoy running them, you get to go out of the office and into another workplace and meet new people it’s so great.
P3 – I think it’s a great place to work for but I’ve had some issues. When that policy came in for the working hours I tried to talk with my supervisor [HR department] about it but she just didn’t want to listen and kept telling me to talk to the CEO. As if! I don’t feel like I could approach him with my issues. Not that he isn’t nice it’s just a bit hard to do and I don’t really relate to him. But she [supervisor] wouldn’t listen. I have two small kids under the age of five and it’s hard to juggle getting them to care in the morning and getting here by 9am and then I have to pay extra at the end of the day after 5:30pm the day care charges more by the hour and the office isn’t close to home. So it’s made it kind of hard to balance it. I tried to explain that to her [supervisor] but she just dismissed me like it’s not her problem. But other than that yes I enjoy working here I just wish they hadn’t made the changes to the working hours.
P4 – Happy? Ahh? Yes I guess so. It has a couple of perks like parking. I work in what they call the “chicken coop”. It’s alright like sometimes it gets a bit loud when everyone has phone calls and is talking it can be disruptive. There’s one guy who just irks me all the time, he types so loudly it’s really annoying and he yawns a lot, like a lot, I don’t get why he yawns all the time. Doesn’t he sleep properly? Is he bored?… but anyway yeah I’m happy I just put on my head phones and get on with it.
P5 – Oh I couldn’t be happier I do the strat [strategic] planning consulting. I am a one man team! So not complaints about co-workers haha. The other departments are good to deal with except maybe HR sometimes the supervisor takes a while to get back to me. But she is nice enough. It’s just that sometimes my work gets held up waiting for their department [HR] to respond to a query or give me some help. So sometimes that is annoying and a bit of a challenge. The advertising/market team are great though always on the ball.
How have the changes at work affected you and the office in general:
P1 – Well the lack of flexibility isn’t great. I used to work from home on a Friday and that was good. Kind of made me a bit happier… but being here 9-5 isn’t a big deal. Can’t complain about the lack of coffee because I don’t drink it so I don’t really care. Everyone else seems a bit angry about it though like they think it has devalued them or the company doesn’t care anymore but I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.
P2 – They took away the coffee machine! I can’t believe they did that hey. I was so cranky I basically run on coffee. But I figure they must be needing the money or something. I have gone and bought my own machine and I keep it in my office it cost a bit which was annoying but at least I have coffee. The policy change? Well it doesn’t really affect me because I run the training so I mostly start earlier than 9am because I have to go to other workplaces to run the sessions. So I just go to the job site and set up early for the workshops then I finish early cause I am only paid to do eight hours a day. I guess that annoys some of the other people in other job roles because I am never really in the office and get to do what I please when it comes to the hours. But it doesn’t really bother me and it needs to be done.
P3 – Well its like I was saying before I have two young kids and with the policy change to the working hours its costing me more money in day care. It’s really annoying and I think they didn’t really consider that and they aren’t listening to me or helping me. I keep trying to tell them that this is really limiting me and making it harder but they don’t seem to care. I really hate that they changed the policy I’m just so exhausted all the time. And then they took away the coffee and tea so I can’t even use caffeine to get through the day. There’s a coffee shop near us but it’s like five dollars a coffee and it adds up to like twenty-five dollars a week just for one a day and I really need one to get through the afternoon. Have you ever had to look after a toddler without coffee to get you through the day? So then that added more cost like day-care and coffee I really feel like they just don’t care about us.
P4 – I don’t really care. I mean I like coffee but they just had instant and some pod machine which wasn’t as nice as the coffee shop so I always just went there. As for the hours well it was nice to work from home once a week or do extra one week to get more time off the next but I’m used to nine to five so I don’t really care.
P5 – Well the coffee thing was annoying but I just followed suit like [name removed] and put one in my office. As for the policy change with the hours I work longer anyway being a one person team sometimes I pull ten-twelve hour days and work a bit extra on the weekends to keep up. So it doesn’t affect me too much I do feel sorry for some of the HR and admin girls though because they have young families it must be harder on them.
Is there anything else that you would like us to know:
P1 – Well to be honest I would like some more training for my job, just so I know what I should be doing and stuff. Or you know maybe the supervisor should do one of the leadership courses we offer haha
P2 – Gosh no! I am so happy working here
P3 – I just… I feel really frustrated right now and like they just don’t care about me or any of the other parents. Like can’t they stop and think about what it’s really like working here? Do you really think any of the people in the chicken coop are happy? Or that taking away the tea and coffee was a good idea? What’s next? Will we pay for printer paper or maybe they’ll charge for parking? Like do they even care about us? … I just need something to show they actually care. I am finding it really hard to come to work. Me and some other people have been talking about it and we took some time off and sick days because it’s just hard to come here when you don’t really feel appreciated.
P4 – Yes tell [name removed] to stop being so annoying like sleep better or something. Learn how to not mash the keyboard so loudly haha. Or better yet can we get some partitions to put half walls up in the chicken coop. Or noise cancelling head phones or a big sign that says “Be Quiet” or something. I don’t know.
P5 – Umm in all honesty… I would really like some help now and then. Like if HR [department] could answer emails faster and do their job then I can do my job better… or if they could get me an assistant or something that would be nice.
