PGCC Northrop Grumman Corporation Improving Employee Morale Recommendations MEMO In a memo, tell the person whose report you have read that the company/com

PGCC Northrop Grumman Corporation Improving Employee Morale Recommendations MEMO In a memo, tell the person whose report you have read that the company/community/etc. WILL NOT be implementing the recommended solution to the problem he/she has proposed. You will have to be creative in offering reasons why the solution cannot be implemented (money, opposition from stockholders, higher command or management, etc., are typical reasons for such decisions). Suggestions for “Negative News” Responses Don’t deliver the bad news in the opening paragraph. Always try to tell what you CAN do before you say what you CAN’T do. Explain the WHY before you deliver the bad news. For many readers, once they see the NO they don’t pay attention to the WHY. Remember that a major goal is to maintain a positive relationship with the reader. Do whatever you can to help the reader understand and accept your message. When you are through writing the letter, reread it to ensure the denial is clear. “Bad News” presentation (usually three or four paragraphs) Opening paragraph: Show appreciation for the reader, but don’t deliver the “bad news” here. This is your buffer paragraph. Middle: Give the reasons why you cannot grant the request–then deliver the bad news. This is the hard part to write. Remember that your goal is to help the reader understand and accept your decision. Try to state the refusal in a positive way. Closing paragraph: If at all possible, state something you CAN do for the reader in the closing. In any case, provide the reader with a suggested action to remedy the situation. Close with a positive statement. July 1, 2020
Mr. Jim Fletcher
Plant Manager, Mission Systems
Northrop Grumman Corporation
7323 Aviation Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21240
Dear Mr. Fletcher,
Enclosed is the report “Improving Employee Morale and Productivity through Promoting a
Healthy Workplace,” per your request following my memo last month.
This report analyzes the current morale and productivity levels of both the Baltimore and
Annapolis locations and seeks to improve the conditions significantly. Additionally, background
information is provided that shows connections between promoting health in the workplace
and higher morale and productivity.
Thank you for your time in reading this report and I hope the data proves helpful for you to
make a decision in regard to these matters.
Sincerely,
John Moskal
Material Control Specialist
Northrop Grumman Corporation
Baltimore Location
Improving Employee Morale and Productivity through Promoting a Healthy Environment
Submitted to Jim Fletcher
Plant Manager, Mission Systems
Northrop Grumman Corporation
By
John Moskal
Material Control Specialist, Baltimore Location
July 1, 2020
Table of Contents
Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………
1
Introduction
Background……………………………………………………………….……. 2
Purpose………………………………………………………………….……..
2
Overview of Methodology………………………………………….……. 2
Methods
Primary Research……………………………………………………………… 3
Secondary Research………………………………………………………… 3
Findings and Discussion
Health affects Morale……………………………………………….…….. 4
Health Affects Productivity…………………………….……………….. 4
Comparison of Two Locations………………………………………….. 5
Survey of Employees………………………………………….…………
5
Recommendations…………………………………………………………………….
6
References…………………………………………………………………………..…..
7
Appendix A: Employee Survey……………………………………………………
8
Appendix B: Survey Results……………………………………………………….
9
Executive Summary
Purpose
The current state of team morale at the Baltimore location of Northrop Grumman Corporation
is dangerously low. This low morale has caused even lower productivity and has cost NGC
several recent contracts, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The purpose
of this study was to determine what can be done to combat the Baltimore locations low morale
and low productivity and why other locations seem to not be affected.
Method
An unsponsored survey for employees at both the Baltimore and Annapolis locations was
created and administered to measure the current state of morale and productivity for both
teams. Additionally, secondary research was conducted with the use of scholarly articles and
trade journals to research the importance of good health in the workplace as it relates to
boosting morale and productivity.
Findings
The results of the survey proved that the team with access to an on-site gym has higher morale
and productivity. The Baltimore location currently does not have a gym on-site, nor any other
health-promoting programs. Also, the secondary research supports that idea that promoting
good health in the workplace will boost morale and productivity among employees.
Recommendation
An alarming number of Baltimore location employees feel that NGC does not care about their
well-being. As a result, productivity has fallen greatly, and more employees are missing work.
The divide between leadership and employees has created a hostile atmosphere that lacks any
sort of culture. “People” is a word present on Northrop Grumman’s list of values, and it does
not feel like people are valued at the Baltimore location. To address these problems and get
back to the culture NGC has been built upon, the following is recommended:
● Add an on-site gym for Baltimore location employees and allow this facility to be
used on company time in order to begin the transition into a health work
environment.
Introduction
Background
Within the last six months, the Baltimore location of Northrop Grumman has lost customers to
local competition and allowed contract work to slip to other company locations. The workforce
is robust, the equipment is available and working, and materials are in stock at the Baltimore
location. With all these components in place, how is it that Baltimore is losing work? Missed
deadlines and unhappy customers are all stemming from the problem of low morale and low
productivity. The lack of cohesion with the Baltimore team is damaging all aspects of business.
The company has attempted “team building” exercises and countless “team meetings” in order
to combat this plaque of low morale to no avail. The divide between management and
production is approaching a point of no return and could possibly pull this location under
completely, while other company locations are thriving.
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to determine what can be done to combat the Baltimore
locations low morale and low productivity and why other locations seem to not be affected.
Analysis of the current state of team morale and productivity at both the Baltimore and
Annapolis locations led to the identification of one major difference among these locations that
has improved work conditions substantially. The location that has an on-site gym and promotes
a healthy atmosphere outperforms the location that is without.
Overview of Methodology
The following methods were used to analyze current morale and productivity at each location.
● Observed both Baltimore and Annapolis locations to compare similarities and
differences among the sites.
● With the on-site gym being the main difference in sites, then conducted
secondary research to find connections between good health and morale and
productivity.
● Created survey to measure morale and productivity levels among employees for
each location.
Methods
Primary Research
The primary research for this study took place at both the Baltimore and Annapolis locations of
Northrop Grumman Corporation. The survey was created by myself, John Moskal, and was not
sponsored by anyone. The survey was distributed to ten employees from each location. The
questions on the survey were constructed to gauge the employee’s current feelings towards
management and the work environment overall. The survey also collected the employees PM
ratio, which is a performance metric used to gauge each employee’s productivity compared to
the standard metrics determined by the engineering field. The employee is notified of this
metric on a weekly basis. The final question of the survey asked employees for their willingness
to participate with proposed solutions and for more recommendations.
After each employee completed a survey, I then collected it from them and began compiling all
the scores from each location (See Appendix B). The average scores for each question were
taken from all ten participants from each specific location. The average PM ratio for both
locations was also computed. The results were then graphed (see figure 1) in ordered to
compare the data collected.
Secondary Research
Secondary research was collected from a variety of scholarly articles and trade journals to
determine the importance of good health in the workplace as it relates to team morale and
productivity. These peer-reviewed sources were used to develop a greater picture of health as
it relates to morale and productivity in many other businesses. After the data was generated
from the primary research, these scholarly articles were used to gather supporting research.
Also, online articles were used to gather additional background information about promoting
healthy lifestyles to the workforce.
Many different sources were used to cover a wide range of opinions on this subject of healthy
lifestyle promotion in the workplace. From peer-reviewed trade journals to magazine, all the
sources aligned with what was shown in the data collected in the survey. Additionally, a wide
timeline of publication was covered among all the secondary research, ranging from 2004 to
2019. These sources were vital tools for this report and showed that this is not an isolated
incident of low morale and productivity correlating with no promotion of health in the
workplace.
Findings and Discussion
Health affects Morale
From the research of many scholarly and online publications, it is clear that good health in the
workplace has an impact on employee morale. The dictionary defines morale as the confidence,
enthusiasm, and discipline of a person or group at a particular time. Morale increases when
employees feel that they are cared for by their employer. A survey done by Westfield Health
(2014), an international healthcare provider, shows that “around 74% of employees agreed that
knowing their employer cares about their health and well-being would make them more likely
to be satisfied, loyal, and motivated at work”. When employees know that their employers care
about their health, they feel more secure and the barriers between management and workers
will weaken.
NGC employees at the Baltimore location do not believe that the company has their best
interests in mind. This is a result of years of conflict between production and management
regarding communication, engagement, and lack of a support system. William Craig, a
contributor to Forbes magazine and president of WebFX, stated that “Employees simply having
the knowledge of support systems is enough to boost morale, but employers can go the extra
mile by…actively promoting a positive, healthy work environment” (Craig, 2017). It is a common
theme among multiple articles and studies that good health in the workplace improves morale.
Promoting good health in the workplace can be executed in many different ways. The results of
the employee survey show that an on-site gym would receive the most participation from the
Baltimore employees. Lu Guasco, co-founder of Mackey & Guasco staffing agency, states that
organizations with on-site gym not only improve “the medical health of employees and [cut]
medical costs, but they improve morale tremendously” (Occhinpinti, 2006). The impact of
employee morale paired with the impact of employee productivity may create a stronger case
for the addition of an on-site gym at the Baltimore location.
Health affects Productivity
Productivity is obviously an extremely important factor for all businesses. Authors Zwetsllot and
Pot (2004) from the Journal of Business Ethics state that “from a business perspective, health is
closely associated with the ability to work and to be productive” (pg. 116). This means that the
better overall health an employee has, the more an employee can work and be productive.
Healthier employees will reduce sick days, save the company money, and increase production
for the Baltimore location. It is no secret that people who are in relatively good health generally
miss less time at work and tend to be more productive. This further shows that NGC could
greatly benefit from promoting a healthy environment to their employees and avoid losing
more contracts.
On World Mental Health day in 2017, the World Health Organization claims “employers and
managers who put in place workplace initiatives to promote health…see not only gains in the
health of their employees but also in their productivity at work” (Creating a Healthy Workplace
Improves Mental Wellbeing and Productivity, 2017). If the company can show its employees at
this location that they are valued, then there will be benefits for employees and the company
as a whole. In a study of healthy lifestyle presented in BMC Public Health (2019), the authors
stated that “improving employees’ health also benefits the employer by increasing their return
on investment and lower healthcare costs” (Kugathasan, Lecot, Laberage, Tremblay, & Mathieu,
pg. 1). The “return on investment” is referring to the heightened levels of productivity by
healthier employees.
It is imperative for leadership to see that investing in the health and well-being of employees
will benefit workers and the company as a whole. This is a two-way street and not a selfish
request of the everyday employee. Authors Shaughnessy and Shepard (2018) stated in the
Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health that “researchers have linked aspects of the psychosocial
work environment and relationships at work to the health and well-being of employees and the
success of organizations” (pg. 1466). Investing in an on-site gym or any other form of healthy
lifestyle promotion at work, would ultimately raise morale and productivity at the Baltimore
location and pay for itself in the long run.
Comparison of Two Locations
Before examining the survey results, it is paramount to discuss the two locations that were
surveyed. The Baltimore location holds over 200 employees that work different shifts all around
the clock. Production lines are reliable and substantial enough to manufacture products for 2030 different programs at a time and the labor present at the Baltimore location is more than
capable of doing so. There is no gym on-site at the Baltimore location nor is there any
promotion of healthy lifestyle in the form of programs or incentives. With the destruction of
the divide among leadership and workers, the Baltimore location can be the greatest revenue
stream for the company in Maryland.
The Annapolis location employs around 100 workers that work the first and second shift. It
possesses similar production lines to Baltimore regarding capacity and labor. However, there is
an on-site gym at this location that employees have access to up to 30 minutes a day on
company time. Other than a slight difference in size, the on-site gym is the main difference
between these two locations.
Survey of Employees
To exemplify the importance of adding this on-site gym or health center to the Baltimore
location, I created a survey for employees that do and do not have access to an on-site gym.
The first six questions on the survey are used to gauge the employees’ sense of morale at their
location. Next, the employee is asked to provide their PM ratio. The PM is a measurement of
productivity for each employee. The PM ratio is created by the engineering department and
uses factors such as time taken to complete a task and errors made while working on a product.
The ideal PM is less than or equal to 1. Finally, the survey included a question asking for the
employees’ willingness to participate with an on-site gym. A sample of the survey is included in
Appendix A. The results of the survey are shown in Figure One.
Baltimore/Annapolis Survey Results
Figure One: Survey responses. See appendix B for scores.
Interpreting the Results
The results of the survey show how much higher the Annapolis location scored on the survey
regarding current morale of the workplace. The average score for all six questions was higher
for the Annapolis location. Furthermore, the average PM for the Baltimore location is 2.23 and
the average PM for Annapolis is 1.19. Annapolis is outperforming the larger Baltimore location
in productivity. Based on the result of this survey, there is a real problem with morale and
productivity at the Baltimore location.
Eight out of the ten Annapolis location employees stated that they use the on-site gym at their
workplace, either during or after work hours. All Annapolis employees that participated in the
survey do not see a major problem with morale or productivity in their work environment. It is
very common that a person who exercises and lives a relatively healthy lifestyle will be
generally a happier person than those who do not live healthy lifestyles. This “happiness” can
translate into the professional atmosphere and raise morale within a workplace. Employees will
take more pride in their work, be more productive, and work more efficiently as a team when
morale is high. Based on the survey results, it is very clear to see that healthy people in the
workplace will raise morale and therefore increase productivity.
Opposition
The main question that leadership may have with the recommendation of an on-site gym is will
the investment be worth it? First, there is an open lot available on the Baltimore location
property. The old “explosion” shed behind the LQP building was gutted and has been sitting for
over 3 years with no plans for it. This 1,000 square foot empty room could easily be
transformed into an on-site gym. Second, the cost of gym equipment and renovations would be
significantly less than what the issue of low morale and productivity is already costing the
company. For example, the two very recent contracts that NGC lost due to missed deadlines
cost the company over $10,000,000 of revenue over the next 5 years. This may not seem like a
significant loss to a multi-billion dollar company but when compared to the maximum
investment of $50,000, there is no comparison.
The costs of missed deadlines and lost contracts will continue if the low morale and
productivity issue goes unaddressed at the Baltimore location. Based on the previous section
Comparison of Two Locations there isn’t any major extreme differences other than the on-site
gym to account for this issue being present at only one location. Other factors including
management styles and job advancement were not accounted for at each location and may
require further research. However, this relatively cheap investment has the opportunity to save
the company substantial money and can increase Baltimore location efficiency to full potential.
Recommendation and Conclusions
From the primary and secondary research performed, it is apparent that the Baltimore location
should consider adding an on-site gym for employee use. The addition of this gym would
greatly improve the site’s morale and productivity by showing the workforce that the company
cares about their well-being, by improving the overall health of employees with exercise, and
by promoting healthy lifestyles in the workplace. All the primary and secondary research has
taught us that workforces that have an employer who shows concern for the employees’ health
and well-being generally has higher morale and productivity in the workplace.
Given the nature of business itself, there is no possible way to determine what is best for all
organizations, however, it is apparent that each organization should consider health-oriented
initiatives if the benefits are worthwhile. The survey results show that the Annapolis location is
benefitting substantially from the on-site gym and healthy atmosphere. With the literature and
survey results in line with one another, there exists a great opportunity to help one company
location get back to performing to their highest potential. I recommend that this company
begins construction for an employee on-site gym as soon as possible.
References
Craig, William (2017). How Positive Employee Morale Benefits Your Business. Forbes. Retrieved
from https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamcraig/2017/08/29/how-positive-employeemorale-benefits-your-business/#7bc6e5672549
Creating a Healthy Workplace Improves Mental Well-Being and Productivity-UN. (2017, October
10). States News Service. Retrieved from http://link-galecom.ezproxy.umgc.edu/apps/doc/A508924968/AONE?u=u
Kugathasan, T., Lecot, F., Laberage, S., Tremblay, J., & Mathieu, M. (2019). Activate your health,
a 3-year, multi-site, workplace healthy lifestyle promotion program…
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