The core of this OB analysis is Amazon’s struggles with employee burnout and attrition, especially compared to the ones within “The Great Resignation.” The case study aims to develop solutions using relevant OB concepts to understand the cases within the Amazon workplace (Stone, 2022). The selection of theories for this analysis is Transformational Leadership and Kotter’s Eight-Step Model of Change since they are reasonable to use in researching leadership and change management problems in large organizations facing cultural crises.
The tech giant known worldwide as a strong player in the e-commerce market is dealing with current challenges associated with high workforce turnover and the overall dissatisfaction of employees. The problem was now staring me right in the face after the departure of Sarah Schneider, a senior distinguished program manager who started the Momazonians. This group paid particular attention to the working moms at the company (Stone, 2022). Schneider articulated her profound dissatisfaction with the corporate practices and the specific regulations of Amazon in her prominent send-off, which she believes creates a stressful workplace and fails to offer women, in particular, and those with families, an adequate support base. Her criticism has honed in on much more general problems experienced by employees during these days, also marked by the tremendous pressure of the pandemic (Stone, 2022). Schneider emphasized that despite her efforts and what she helped to establish, the actual unfairness of the corporate politics and the culture was still visible, which determined her decision to quit the firm. The choice to replace her is critical and brings out the missing piece between the company’s demand for high performance and its employees’ real-life experiences, signifying the need for impending rethinking or re-modeling of the organization.
The nexus of the transforming leadership style is the vision, inspiration, and profound organizational change at the forefront of the leadership approach. This theory encompasses four crucial elements: enriched leadership, which can be divided into four main components: idealized influence (that provides leaders as role models), inspirational motivation (involving motivation of the personnel through a vision), intellectual stimulation (aiming innovation and problem-solving) and individualized consideration (that deals with personal needs of the personnel) (Deng et al., 2023). These elements in the present scenario are significant as the leadership of a business can have a tremendous effect on employee motivation and satisfaction (Kaur Bagga et al., 2023). By living this style of leadership, the managers from Amazon could be influential people who would stimulate and stimulate their workers so that they could reach their maximum performance and thus create a work environment where it is possible to change (through necessary changes in the organizational policies and practices) the established norm.
Kotter’s Eight-Step Model is an effective rational and systematic formula for organizational change, especially in a large-scale environment like Amazon, and the model is well-suited for use in this kind of environment. The model starts by establishing a sense of urgency to enable everybody to grasp the unavoidable facts and move to the formation of a powerful coalition of key stakeholders who are ready to lead the change (Shah & Memon, 2023). The following steps would focus on establishing a strategic vision and actions that will support the gained marketing, widespread promotional messages, the removal of impediments, and the generation of immediate successes aimed at building momentum. In the last stage, the emphasis is on reinforcing and expanding the effects that have been previously achieved and, finally, promoting the new approaches to the culture in order to maintain the lasting impact (Grobler et al., 2019). Amidst the complex cultural and operational challenges Amazon is currently facing, this holistic approach could help the company to go through the necessary transformation process to address issues like high or low turnover and low employee satisfaction accordingly.
Implementing a transformational leadership approach to operations at Amazon could relieve the absence of empathy and support that Schneider and other workers felt. Amazon’s leaders would do well to embrace a more inspirational style, which will assist in re-engaging employees who have become disillusioned, growing a more accommodating and inviting workplace, and cutting back workplace burnout by matching employee goals with a new corporate vision. To actualize effective transformations, Amazon should do so according to Kotters’ model, starting with creating a feeling of emergency about the importance of a more connected and empathetic workplace culture. This will be done through vulnerability awareness, understanding the issues, and working together in a collaborative society. Members of a coalition of leaders or influential workers such as Schnierer could spearhead the change initiative.
Although a well-known contributor to organizational culture and performance at many levels, transformational leadership might face ultimate hurdles when applied to a company like Amazon. This is primarily a result of the established practices and culture that have served as the foundation of this company during its period of growth and dominance (Kang et al., 2022). Having a culture of high expectations and hard work, which are characteristic of Amazon, may understate the need to change the approach to leadership towards inspirational and nurturing styles. This opposition could come from proven managerial habits that direct top performance based on expenses and costs rather than the employee’s welfare.
Additionally, transformational leadership relies on the cooperation of all levels of leadership. This fact might take much work to attain in a company with deeply embedded traditional management modes (Mukwenda, 2022). Leaders will likely receive excellent training to move to a more caring managerial style, which takes time and resources. The transition may be opposed by employees who have already adjusted to what has been happening in the company. Thus, it will take time for the change to happen.
Thus far, Kotter’s Eight-Step Model of Change might need some help with its application in Amazon’s condition. Such a model assumes active involvement and broad backing from employees across the company (Grobler et al., 2019). However, Amazon is confronted with the challenge of a smooth implementation and relevant acceptance of these changes to the far-flung and multi-national employee body. Communication obstacles, discrepancies in team management, and diverse employee expectations can prevent the swift implementation and adoption of new strategies.
In order to address the issues at Amazon, the following three strategic recommendations have been put forward. Therefore, organizational transformational leadership training is an absolute necessity. To achieve this, the company will organize comprehensive training sessions for the senior management and team leaders to furnish them with the skills to enthuse and captivate their team members (Shah & Memon, 2023). Through nurturing a leadership style that is both visionary and cooperative, Amazon can contribute to better team involvement and satisfaction. Therefore, it is useful to follow Kotter’s eight-step model to make a change at the departmental level. Starting with departmental initiatives that assess change strategies in a controlled environment and then going for a wider implementation enables the best-performing strategies to be isolated and given the green light (Grobler et al., 2019). This phased progression will refine the processes and, more importantly, shape the company to prepare for a big transformation. Finally, it is vital to have important feedback circuits. By introducing tactical routines for unceasing feedback from employees, Amazon has the chance to grasp the consequences of implementing a particular change. This continuous appraisal ensures that the strategies adopted are updated promptly, maintaining employee needs and organizational targets in focus.
In addition, a problem with the engagement of employees in Kotter’s process is the one of transparent communication and actual involvement in the decision-making, which often is centralized in the centralized organization, which is different in an organization. The success of Amazon’s model institutes the ability of its leaders to truly dedicate themselves to ending all change processes, as well as encouraging a work environment where all employees would feel valued and inspired to be open to new ways of working (Shah & Memon, 2023). Maintaining constant implementation and dealing with initial resistance will be significant challenges for transformational leadership and Kotter’s change model to overcome matters at Amazon based on the situation effectively.
This analysis has demonstrated how Amazon could successfully deal with its resistance to employee burnout and high turnover rates through the utilization of transformational leadership as well as Kotter’s Eight-Step model of change. With the help of these tactics, Amazon will be not only the “Earth’s Best Employer” by name but also a practice that will eventually bring down the attrition rate and foster work-employee engagement to higher levels. This instance illustrates that purposeful leadership and well-outlined transformation programs are vital to ensuring the objectives of the organization and staff wellness are blended.
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Grobler, C., van Wyk, R., & Magau, M. D. (2019). Transformational change leadership framework for implementing Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment in South African organizations. Acta Commercii, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.4102/ac.v19i1.686
Kang, S. P., Chen, Y., Svihla, V., Gallup, A., Ferris, K., & Datye, A. K. (2022). Guiding change in higher education: an emergent, iterative application of Kotter’s change model. Studies in Higher Education, 47(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2020.1741540
Kaur Bagga, S., Gera, S., & Haque, S. N. (2023). The mediating role of organizational culture: Transformational leadership and change management in virtual teams. Asia Pacific Management Review, 28(2). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmrv.2022.07.003
Mukwenda, H. (2022). Kotter’s Eight-Step Change Process Model and Students’ Attitudes towards Fees Payment Policies in Public Universities in Uganda. Journal of Science & Sustainable Development, p. 9.
Shah, G., & Memon, N. (2023). Revamping Higher Education: Unleashing the Power of John Kotter’s Eight-Step Change Model for Enhanced Performance. Russianlawjournal.Org, XI(5).
Stone, B. (2022, January 24). Burnt-out Amazon employees are embracing the Great Resignation. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2022-01-24/amazon-employees-are-burned-out-and-leaving-their-jobs