1. What was the purpose of the study/article (i.e., what question did the study seek to address)?

This article called Supporting employees is the first step to profitable growth: Study, published in the HR Daily journal by J, is based on a study conducted by Insync Surveys. The purpose of the study/article is to encourage companies (well-positioned only) to "empower and support their employees". That is, to accredit and capacitate their employees by communicating company's business strategy in order to obtain a better focus on customer needs and generate higher and sustainable profits.

The article/study shows a framework as an explanation of how a business can maintain higher revenues. It also explains that investing in employees (i.e. motivating them) is the key to success.

2. What were the major findings of the study/article?

Employees are always considered as assets of the organization and so, employers should support and empower their employees as it results into profitable growth.

The key findings of this report are based on an employee retention and engagement which is the result of the support and empowerment that an employee gets from their organization. Therefore to improve the employee empowerment and support, following key findings have been drawn from the report for businesses to consider:

•The organization should clearly state their main area of focus and the organization’s objectives that they want to achieve and also precisely show the difference between their competitors and themselves which motivate an employee to work for the organization passionately.

•The organization should stress on how much they want to convince the customers to buy their product and therefore, customer proposition value should be confirmed. Formal and informal communications within the employees is must to achieve this goal.

• It is essential for employees to understand the drawbacks and consequences of their activities and thus, this creates a need for proper role alignment. With appropriate direction and guidance an employee can do justice with the assigned roles keeping in mind organization’s strategy.

• Companies should always ensure that there is communication amongst their employees as it creates knowledge sharing and also that their social needs are satisfied which will always keep them boosted and keep them updated.

• This kind of knowledge should be a part of the organization by itself so that the employees can identify future opportunities.

• One of the most important findings of this report suggests that reward and recognition are the best performance drivers and focus groups are the one which helps motivates the employee.

In summary, the report suggests businesses to create an employee value proposition in order to achieve customer value and maintain high revenues.

3. What are the limitations of the study/article?

The framework developed in the article is only applied to businesses that have already been established or for those who want to excel more in the competitive world. It does not apply to fresh businesses or for those who need support to show their presence in the market. Moreover, the profitable growth cycle has only focussed on increasing company strengths but not on the competition available in the market. Also, the focus is laid on the internal sector of companies but not from an outer perspective.

The framework has put more stress on employee engagement and support but not training and development or organizational goals. Also, the framework gives opportunity for the employers to grow and excel according to the personal goals set by them. Sometimes this may hamper the growth of the organization as focus will be on achieving personal heights rather than putting effort on achieving objectives of the organization. The article clearly shows that no