A report on a research study

A report on a research study

Learn how to write a report on a research study for your company.

Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and tips and do the exercises.

Preparation

Reading text

Report on staff engagement at Girox Foods

Introduction

At Girox Foods, we are experiencing an annual employee turnover of about 12 per cent. Although this might not seem high at first glance, the industry standard is seven per cent. The principal objective of this report is to investigate the causes of employee engagement within the firm and, based on those, offer recommendations to improve the employees' experience of the workplace and increase employee retention.

Research methods

This study was conducted with over 500 employees of Girox Foods between March and August 2018, with the aim of understanding their experience and expectations of the workplace. The study covered the 80 branches of Girox Foods located in 20 European countries. In addition to the 500 questionnaires filled out by Girox employees, 120 also participated in ten separate focus groups where participants took part in discussions about their levels of engagement in Girox and their hopes for the future.

Key research findings

  • The top reason for employee disengagement given by 35 per cent of those surveyed is the lack of challenging work, followed by having too many working hours (34 per cent).
  • 43 per cent of those surveyed said that the top reason for employees quitting their jobs was a lack of recognition, while 31 per cent stated that it was due to bad management.
  • There was no correlation between salaries and level of employee engagement.
  • 47 per cent stated that their levels of engagement would improve if they felt more ownership of their work. 45 per cent wanted more flexibility both in terms of working hours and locations. 42 per cent were keen to see the company investing more in their career development.
  • 59 per cent felt that their commitment to the company would improve if they were given training opportunities to improve their business skills. 64 per cent rated social and cross-cultural intelligence as the most important skill needed in the workplace.
  • 41 per cent of respondents felt that there should be increased transparency in company communications, as this would lead to increased trust and more informed decision making.

Recommendations

On the basis of these findings, we recommend that Girox Foods adopt a more people-oriented management style. As part of this, we should explore ways of offering more flexible working hours to our employees and consider how we can enable employees to work from their chosen locations. Managers need to consider a variety of ways to challenge our staff and provide more positive reinforcement and recognition of the work they do. Increased investment in professional development, especially in the area of social and intercultural communication, could also contribute to creating a positive environment for employees to produce their best work.

Tips

  1. Organise your report in sections and give each section a heading.
  2. The wording of the headings may differ. For example, you could title the third section Findings or Main findings. However, the structure of all reports is generally the same:
    • a description of the background situation and purpose of the report
    • details of how the study was conducted
    • the main findings
    • recommendations based on those findings.
  3. State practical details such as where the research was conducted, how many people participated and which methods were used (questionnaires, focus groups, interviews, etc.).
  4. Use bullet points where appropriate to present points clearly.
  5. Provide statistics or evidence to back up your claims.
  6. Use an impersonal style of writing in order to sound objective. Using the passive voice helps to do this. Avoid using the pronoun I (but we is sometimes used).
  7. Support your recommendations by explaining the benefits they would bring. Alternatively, warn what may happen if the recommendations are not implemented.

Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Discussion

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Average: 4.4 (8 votes)

Submitted by Nicolo Guiducci on Thu, 16/03/2023 - 14:39

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What keeps me engaged at work is the recognition of the importance of my role in the company. Also, salary is an important motivation, as it follows from the aforementioned recognition. On the other side, not feeling ownership of my work pushes me to start looking for a different job.

Submitted by rebecca_bl on Sun, 22/01/2023 - 05:13

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I haven’t worked for any company or enterprise and I’m currently still a student at a university. However, having experienced throughout my educational journey and worked in team with several types of people, I accumulate some valuable lessons and form fundamental requirements for my ideal future workplace.

Firstly, the basic needs that we all expect from our company is to be paid with a decent job salary. It is obvious that the employees don’t want to waste their efforts to be low-paid. They deserve an appropriate level of salary base on their position and contribution to the work. Be cautious to those workplaces that exploite your labor for profit or offer you the money that below minium wage.

Secondly, I prioritize positive reinforcement and respectful environment where I can learn from nice and professional colleagues to facilitate personal development. Working with these supportive people really improves my productivity and motivates me to give the best result. A workplace may be highly competitive but the workers should be respected and helpful with each other. Good managers and business relationships also improve my engagement to work in the long run. I won’t hesitate to quit my job and look for a better oppoturnity if I experienced toxic relationships, mistreating or lack of regconition in my workplace.

Submitted by Johnhwang on Fri, 25/11/2022 - 19:19

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Report on employee engagement at Girox Foods

*Introduction
We found that Girox Foods were experiencing an employee turnover of 12 percent, which was higher than the industry standard of 7 percent.
The principal objective of this report is to investigate employees’ engagement and offer recommendations to increase employee retention and improve their engagement.

*Methodology
This survey was conducted with over 500 employees of Girox Foods for 3 years from January 2018 to December 2021, covering the 80 branches of Girox Foods in 20 Asian countries.
In addition to the questionnaires filled out by employees, 130 people also participated in 13 separate focus groups where they took part in the discussions about their feeling, opinion, and their future with the company.

*Key research findings
The top reason for employees quitting their jobs given by 95% of those surveyed was the low salary, followed close by a lot of training sessions which were designed to improve employees’ business skills.
There was no correlation between communication and employee engagement.
70% of the employees worried about the company’s too much transparency in the company communication, as it would lead to disclosing some confidential and sensitive information to the public and degrade the company’s reputation.
80% said that there was no problem both in terms of their working hours and locations.

*Recommendations
On the basis of these findings, we recommend that Girox Foods adopt more business-oriented policies for their employees.
They are keen to see the company giving more salary to their employees, regardless of the working hours and locations.
Continuing investment in professional development, especially in the area of social interaction and communication skills, would contribute to creating a negative environment for employees to represent their worse work performance.

Submitted by Rita25 on Thu, 27/10/2022 - 02:47

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Positive reinforcement, teamwork initiatives, Employee incentives, approchable colleagues and decent salary would certainly motivates me to do my best and achieve results that would benefit the company in the long run. Whereas toxic workplace environment, Hierarchical Structure, bad management, lack of recognition, unpaid leave and wage theft would definitely push me to my limit and start looking for a better opportunity. In a nutshell A Company that motivates and values their employess is more likley to achieve results that is vital for the company's growth as dedicated and competitive employees contribute to a Company's Success.

Submitted by Jorge.ACL on Mon, 29/08/2022 - 19:07

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From my experience, I'd say the thing that motivates me the most and keeps me engaged at work are my colleagues (and managers as well!). The reason for this is that is compelling to share our experiences with our work, to bounce ideas back and forward and to give each other tips and feedback. Of course, a good social environment also greatly increases one's sense of belonging in the company. As for what would lead me to look for a different job, that could be many things. To give an example, the lack of the social environment which I have previously described, or values misalignment with my employer.

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Submitted by Hennadii on Thu, 09/12/2021 - 10:36

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Well, I think this research is quite suitable for every company and every country because people have the same feeling around the world. Everyone wants to have a good job where you can get not only a fair wage but also respect, comfortable and safe working conditions, and confidence in your future.
As for me, I have my own needs which I expect from my work. First of all, I want to feel comfortable working in my team. A good salary is important but if you don't want to go to work because of the people you work with - it doesn't worth it.
The second point is how my company lets me develop my skills. It's good when you suit your current position but things change and it's important to be ready for these changes. Working on your hard and soft skills makes you feel more confident about your future in this company or outside it. More confidence - fewer nervous and stupid actions.
And of course, the salary and other goodies. Honestly, we can talk about our goals and missions for ages but in a very nutshell - we go to work to pay our bills and to buy stuff. This is the same important as other points.

Submitted by Stela Stoycheva on Mon, 01/11/2021 - 13:42

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Good relationship with colleagues, managers. It think when everything work in collaboration and everyone is happy and recognise at his job, have enough chance to improve his idea,to tell about his point of the task, develop in his sphere at work, have good salary... If I work in team and place like that never I don`t think I l will looking for other job.

Submitted by Ehsan on Tue, 24/08/2021 - 18:39

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well, Physical, mental and emotional peace, high salary, flexible working time and place and good coworkers keep me engaged at work. and Conditions that are the opposite of the previous ones push me to look for a different job.

Submitted by Dibesciak on Thu, 29/04/2021 - 03:31

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I have been working in many places in my life. I have a big experience in changing the jobs ;) For me the most imporant thing at work is simply the salary. I think that's the most important factor which motivates the people to work in their jobs. Obviously there is more factors which keep me engage at work, for example recognition from managers for hard work I am doing and good atmosphere at workplace. In terms of what demotivate me at work is too many tasks to do in short period of time when I feel overwhelmed. Also, unhelpful management team who don't know how to manage and communicate with employee. Once I had to quit a job because they did not let me go for holidays in time when I want , despite that there was not busy at work and we had a lot of people to work.
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Submitted by Riza on Sat, 02/01/2021 - 13:22

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From my point of view, the most crucial part at work is to be engaged with it as much as possible. Also the recognition of work and steady payment is important for me. The drawbacks might be bad management and long working hours.