Organizing a Focus Group Term Paper

Focus Group Discussion (FGD) Plan

The objective of this preliminary report is to present a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) plan that seeks to formulate recommendations to improve employee-employer relationships within the organization and develop strategies that will prevent: (a) the high rate of employee turn-over in the company; and (b) expected loss of additional personnel in the next 10 years through projected retirements. The FGD will provide insights about the sentiments, thoughts, and opinions of the participants/discussants concerning the presence/absence of motivation, satisfaction, and effectiveness in working in the state highway agency.

The Focus Group Discussion (FGD) Plan

There will be a total of three (3) sessions for three different classes of employees that will be interviewed. The first session will be the group of maintenance managers and engineers, while the second session will be composed of the maintenance workers. Sessions 1 and 2 will have 6-10 participants each. The third session, however, will contain a mixed combination of maintenance managers, engineers, and workers. For each class, 4 participants will be selected, thus creating a session where 12 discussants will be participating.

The rationale behind these grouping of employees and the number of FGD sessions is to identify, in general, factors that affect employee motivation and satisfaction, as well as influences of employee retention and loyalty for the agency. The first two sessions that will be conducted (that is, those concerning maintenance workers, managers, and engineers) identifies the motivations and satisfaction of each class in relation to their jobs. The mixed group, session 3, aims to determine the relationship the agency has so far cultivated vis-a-vis its employees, i.e., over-all workplace environment and employee-employer relations.

FGD Locations

Ideally, the FGD sessions must be conducted within the agency's FGD facility (if the agency has one). The motive behind the choice of the agency's FGD facility is for the participants' convenience, i.e., easy access to the facility, thereby ensuring high attendance rate of the participants.Furthermore, conducting the FGD within the agency's establishment will put the participants in sync with the discussion that will be conducted -- that is, employee motivation and satisfaction vis-a-vis the agency's workplace environment.

However, problems may arise when the agency's FGD facility is chosen, since the location may restrict the participants' freedom to express themselves during the session. Thus, as an alternative, and perhaps the best option for the location of the FGD sessions, an outside FGD facility is recommended, isolating the participants from any influences of the agency's administration. The choice of the facility must be accessible to all the participants and must be conducive to the discussion that will take place. It is also recommended that the agency shall provide the transportation for the participants to ensure high attendance rate in the said FGD sessions. It is important that the participants shall not have any knowledge that transportation is provided for by the agency to avoid bias in their opinions during the discussion.

FG Interview Guide

The questions that will be asked in the FGD sessions center on three primary themes that are needed for analysis to formulate effective recommendations on the agency's employee problems: (1) range of talents and skills each employee has based on job description and actual job performance; (2) employee motivation and satisfaction (individual and group) in their work; and (3) expected and actual outcomes of expectations of employees from the agency.

Part 1: Range of talents and skills- identifies the employee's abilities and level of job performance in the agency. Seeks to determine also the level of participation that employee has with the agency's over-all operations.

Please state your name, job description, and department (division).

What are the specific skills you have used in relation to your job/work?

What are the tasks that you have to accomplish everyday in your work?

How is your job vital to the over-all….....