This activity focuses on understanding employee motivation, engagement, and attitudinal shifts over time. Students are placed in the role of HR consultants hired by an organization experiencing declining morale, increased absenteeism, and passive resistance, despite stable compensation and benefits. They are provided with fictional engagement survey results, email excerpts, performance reviews, and leadership communication samples.
The activity unfolds as an investigative exercise. Students must analyze both quantitative and qualitative cues to identify hidden disengagement drivers such as lack of recognition, poor leadership communication, perceived unfairness, or broken psychological contracts. They are encouraged to apply motivation theories such as Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, Self-Determination Theory, and Equity Theory while interpreting data.
Students then design targeted HR interventions, distinguishing between surface-level fixes and deeper cultural corrections. Faculty facilitators challenge students by asking how different employee segments may experience the same environment differently. The learning outcome is a nuanced understanding of motivation, engagement, and the role of HR in creating meaning at work. Students leave with the insight that disengagement is rarely loud; it is often silent, gradual, and deeply emotional.
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