Training and Development Commons^™

Reducing Food Scarcity: The Benefits Of Urban Farming, S.A. Claudell, Emilio Mejia

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

Urban farming can enhance the lives of communities and help reduce food scarcity. This paper presents a conceptual prototype of an efficient urban farming community that can be scaled for a single apartment building or an entire community across all global geoeconomics regions, including densely populated cities and rural, developing towns and communities. When deployed in coordination with smart crop choices, local farm support, and efficient transportation then the result isn’t just sustainability, but also increasing fresh produce accessibility, optimizing nutritional value, eliminating the use of ‘forever chemicals’, reducing transportation costs, and fostering global environmental benefits.

Imagine Doris, who is …

Ebci Summary, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development (Qic-Wd)

Intervention Summaries

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) is a federally-recognized tribe. The Family Safety Program (FSP) is the child welfare program that serves the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, under the tribal Division of Public Health and Human Services. FSP was established in 2015 with around 10 staff members and has grown to about 60 staff, all located in one office in Cherokee, North Carolina. Since FSP was a relatively new agency when they began working with the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD), turnover had not been a signficant problem, however, vacancies were a challenge. In October 2017, …

Eastern Band Of Cherokee Indians Family Safety Program, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development (Qic-Wd)

Intervention Summaries

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) is a federally-recognized tribe. The Family Safety Program (FSP) is the child welfare program that serves the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, under the tribal Division of Public Health and Human Services. Addressing Historical Trauma and Preparing the Child Welfare Workforce

In this video, an EBCI elder discusses historical trauma and why it is important for child welfare workers to understand it, so they can be successful. Watch the Video

Background

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians worked with the QIC-WD to develop an onboarding program. This video highlights the experience of …

A Recipe For Success. How To Build Cohesive Virtual Teams In A Post-Pandemic World, Barbara Thiss

Transform

For leaders, finding a recipe for success in building a cohesive virtual team in a post-pandemic world may be a struggle. With the outbreak of COVID-19, many organizations have seen growth in their virtual presence. Virtual teams bring greater diversity and the challenge of operating in remote locations rather than face-to-face settings. Finding practices leaders can use to build cohesiveness in their virtual teams can help them adapt to this changing environment. The purpose of this study was for Fortune 500 leaders of virtual teams to identify practices they used to build cohesiveness in their team. Building cohesiveness is important …

Coworkers And Leaders: The Relationship Between Trustworthiness, Trust, And Employee Engagement, Lianne Young

Dissertations

A highly engaged workforce provides numerous organizational and individual benefits (Shuck et al., 2016), the culmination of which leads to a competitive advantage difficult to emulate (Burke et al., 2013). It remains challenging to understand how engagement develops, with little research available explaining the process (Shuck, 2020). High employee engagement levels provide a competitive advantage, but stagnant engagement levels remain a significant obstacle (Shuck, 2020).

Shuck (2020) recommends further research focusing on methods to increase engagement. Trustworthiness and trust are antecedents and drivers of engagement (Chughtai & Buckley, 2008; Federman, 2010; SHRM, 2017). A lack of trust has negative impacts …

The Intersection Of Employee Engagement And Employee Health: A Quantitative Evaluation Of The Use Of Engagement Tactics In Improving The Health Of A Workforce, Andrew Buffenbarger

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Employers have a vested interest in the health of employees, but employee wellness programs have not proven themselves an effective tactic for employers to motivate employees to live healthier lives. Employees who suffer from chronic disease are less productive than healthier peers, are more expensive to insure, have higher rates of absenteeism, and are more prone to suffer from performance-reducing levels of stress and burnout (Shuck et al., 2021; Jones et al., 2019; Mattke et al., 2013). The problem is that employee wellness programs are often not effective at improving the health of employee populations (Song & Baicker, 2019; Jones …

Organizational Commitment, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is organizational commitment?

Organizational commitment, along with job satisfaction, is one of the most commonly studied job attitudes within the psychological sciences and is often used to gauge how employees feel about their job. Research on organizational commitment has largely been a fragmented endeavor, with no clear consensus on what organizational commitment actually is or how it should be conceptualized. To date, there is not one definition that is regarded as the best, but there are some common themes that can be seen throughout the many definitions in existence. For example, most definitions refer to organizational commitment in terms …

Job Satisfaction, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is job satisfaction?

Job satisfaction is generally thought of as the degree to which an individual likes or dislikes their job (Spector, 1997). Along with organizational commitment, it is one of the most commonly studied job attitudes and is used as a way to gauge how employees feel about their jobs and as a reflection of how well the organization is functioning. Job satisfaction is commonly considered as either “a global feeling about the job or as a related constellation of attitudes about various aspects or facets of the job” (Spector, 1997, p. 2). Thus, job satisfaction is …

Are The Housing Staff Alright? A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Examination Of The Experiences Of On-Campus Student Housing Professionals Through The Covid-19 Pandemic, Megan J. Chibanga

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

College and university housing professionals served a role they were generally underprepared for as long-term crisis managers during the global COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted and shifted higher education operating structures on a grand scale, and housing staff were asked to continue operating on-campus housing facilities throughout the ever-changing response to COVID-19. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of housing professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the collective experiences of 21 participants three major threads emerged: comfort in the unknown, a need for connection and community, and relentless resilience. Each of these …

Onboarding Program Eastern Band Of Cherokee Indians - Final Summary, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) is a federally-recognized tribe. The Family Safety Program (FSP) is the child welfare program that serves the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, under the tribal Division of Public Health and Human Services. FSP was established in 2015 with around 10 staff members and has grown to about 60 staff, all located in one office in Cherokee, North Carolina. Since FSP was a relatively new agency when they began working with the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD), turnover had not been a signficant problem, however, vacancies were a challenge. In October 2017, …

Frontline Job Redesign Louisiana - Final Summary, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Child Welfare Division (CWD) is a state-operated child welfare system. Louisiana has 64 parishes statewide organized into nine regions. The local parish offices provide child protective service (CPS), family services (FS), foster care (FC), and adoption services. CWD has approximately 1,500 employees including about 640 frontline caseworkers. In 2017, when Louisiana applied to become a QIC-WD site, CWD estimated its turnover rate across the state to be 24%, with one region having a turnover rate of 51%, while another had a turnover rate of only 8%.

This video discusses the challenges …

Frontline Job Redesign Louisiana - Prevention Worker Role Cards, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Lists the different tasks given to types of prevention workers. View the download file.

Frontline Job Redesign Louisiana - Permanency Worker Role Cards, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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View the download file.

Organizational Change Process Milwaukee - Final Summary, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Organizational Change in Action

The Division of Milwaukee Child Protective Services (DMCPS) is a state-operated child welfare system and is the only county system in Wisconsin run by the state. The Division is housed under the Department of Children and Families and has just under 200 staff, including: administrative/managerial staff, initial assessment and access (hotline) frontline workers, and fiscal and operations support. In 2016, DMCPS had an external turnover rate of 37% and they applied to be a Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) site, with the goal of strengthening their child welfare workforce.

When DMCPS started working with …

Organizational Change Process Milwaukee - Site Intervention Logic Model, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Each QIC-WD site developed a logic model to serve as a visual representation of their selected intervention. All logic models included four main components: inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes. Collectively, these demonstrate the resource and actions required to implement the program, as well as the associated result of changes anticipated through implementation of the program. The hypothesized relationships are represented by the pathways connecting the listed activities and anticipated outcomes.

Organizational Change Process Milwaukee - Arc Principles Poster, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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1. All staff and administrative actions and decisions should be guided by a clear focus on the wellbeing of the children and families served.
2. Measure success by how much child and family wellbeing improves and use this data to drive decision-making and improvement.
3. Continually seek to be more effective, to eliminate barriers, and to foster change to improve the wellbeing of children and families.
4. Focus on relationships/networks in your organization, stakeholders, and family networks to affect child and family outcomes.
5. Get those with a stake (front-line staff) involved in key program decisions, solutions, and improvement efforts.

Addressing Work-Related Traumatic Stress Nebraska - Final Summary, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Building a Resilient Workforce

Nebraska Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) is a state-operated child welfare system. The Division is housed in the Department of Health and Human services and is divided into five service areas. DCFS has about 400 frontline child welfare workers (Child and Family Services Specialists or CFSS), 70 supervisors, and 15 field administrators. In 2017, DCFS had an annual turnover rate of about 30%. They applied to be a QIC-WD site with the goal of strengthening their child welfare workforce.

When DCFS started working with the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD), an Implementation …

Supportive Supervision And Resiliency Ohio - Summary, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) is a state-led, county-administered child welfare system. Ohio’s 83 single-county agencies and two multi-county agencies are responsible for the delivery of child protective services and ongoing case management in Ohio’s 88 counties. In 2017, ODJFS had an annual turnover rate of about 27%. They applied to be a Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) site with the goal of strengthening their child welfare workforce. When ODJFS started working with the QICWD, a Workforce Implementation Team (WIT) was established to participate in a needs assessment process, determine an intervention, and support implementation. …

Supportive Supervision And Resiliency Ohio - Coaching To Support Resilience Chart, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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➢ What makes you hopeful about participating in Resilience Alliance? ➢ What worries you? ➢ What is one thing you’d like to achieve as a result of attending Resilience Alliance? ➢ How will you manage competing demands to be able to fully participate? ➢ When you think about how the agency responds to stress now, what is one area you’d most like to see change? ➢ What opportunities do you see to participate in the change? ➢ What is one thing you that might prepare you for Resilience Alliance? ➢ How do you recognize emotional, physical, personal indicators? What triggers …

Competency-Based Personnel Selection Oklahoma - Final Summary, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Oklahoma Department of Human Services (OKDHS) is a state-operated child welfare system, but hiring has always been done locally. The agency is divided into five field regions serving 27 districts and 77 counties. In 2017, OKDHS employed 1,780 Child Welfare Specialists (caseworkers) and 388 supervisors. That same year, the annual turnover rate was 25%. They applied to be a QIC-WD site with the goal of strengthening their child welfare workforce.

When OKDHS started working with the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD), a steering committee was established to participate in a needs assessment process, determine an intervention, and support …

Leadership Behaviors, Practices, And Sytles In Mergers And Acquisitions In The U.S. Technology-Based Organizations: A Qualitative Study, Susan E. Glover

Human Resource Development Theses and Dissertations

Leaders guide and shape the success of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to meet an organization’s goals and objectives. In this study, I explored the role of leadership during M&A and the effect of different leadership behaviors, practices, and styles (BPS) on different organizational cultures during M&A. This study explored the contribution of leadership BPS on M&A outcomes within an organization with a robust and innovative culture. I focused on the human capital investment strategies of M&A integration concerning different leadership BPS utilized to improve the success rate of M&A goals and objectives. I concentrated on technology-based organizations because they are …

Turnover, Megan Paul, Sarah Stepanek

Umbrella Summaries

What is turnover?

The definition of turnover tends to somewhat vary in practice and research. The most common element is an employee leaving their job. Beyond that, turnover can be further defined as internal vs. external, voluntary vs. involuntary, functional vs. dysfunctional, and avoidable vs. unavoidable.

• Internal vs. external: Internal turnover means that the employee moves to a different job within the organization, whereas external means that the employee leaves the organization altogether. In child welfare, however, the “organization” may be defined as all of state or county government, which means that a lot of movement is considered internal.
• Voluntary …

Job Crafting, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is job crafting?

Job crafting is defined as “the physical and cognitive changes individuals make in the task and relational boundaries of their work” (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001, p. 179). Job crafting is a proactive work behavior by which individuals adapt their job or their perceptions of their job in order to change their identity, shape their job tasks to their liking, and alter the meaning of their work (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001).

Job crafting is most often conceptualized along four categories of increasing structural job resources (i.e., expanding one’s autonomy or variety of resources), increasing social job resources …

Job Design, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is job design?

Every job has an inherent design—the collection of duties, responsibilities, required competencies, environment, relationships, and resources involved in the job. This design may be intentional or unintentional. The concept of job design, however, is a more purposeful process of shaping a job’s characteristics with the goal to increase employee motivation, performance, and job satisfaction as well as lower turnover and absenteeism in the workplace (Hackman & Oldham, 1976). According to Job Characteristics Theory, this is done through enhancing the five core job dimensions of skill variety, task identity, task significance, job autonomy, and feedback from the …

Meaningful Work, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is meaningful work?

Meaningful work is defined as “work experienced as particularly significant and holding more positive meaning for individuals” (Rosso et al., 2010, p. 95). In general, meaningful work is considered to be work and work accomplishments that are viewed as valuable, worthwhile, and aligning with one’s values (Allan et al., 2018). Current theory suggests that meaningful work tends to result from self-actualization or from working towards a higher purpose (Lepisto & Pratt, 2016). More specifically, meaningful work may come from feeling a sense of unity with other people, serving others, from developing oneself, or from working towards …

Personality Tests, Sarah Stepanek, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are personality tests?

In an employment context, personality tests are tools that assess candidates’ or employees’ enduring dispositional traits, for the purpose of hiring, training, or employee development. Personality is generally thought to reflect one’s authentic personal disposition and lasting mental structure (Allport & Odbert, 1936). Although individuals may behave differently in different conditions and environments and may experience passing moods, personality is thought to be displayed through broad patterns of behavioral tendencies over time in each individual (Allport & Odbert, 1936). Though there are hundreds of individual personality traits and measures in existence, the majority of those that …

The Emotional Intelligence And Conflict Management Relationship In Black Women Leaders, Tina Raylyn Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between emotional intelligence and conflict management styles in Black women leaders in the United States. The lack of literature surrounding Black women leaders' emotional intelligence or conflict management styles presented an opportunity to offer quantitative data connected to these constructs. A cross-sectional survey design was used to administer three surveys the Situational Test of Emotional Management- B, the Kraybill Conflict Style Inventory, and a modified version the Multidimensional Inventory of Black of Identity, that focused on Black female identity. Data from 124 participants were analyzed to learn if identity mediated the relationship between emotional intelligence …

Competency-Based Personnel Selection Oklahoma - Key Findings, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Background

The QIC-WD began working with Oklahoma Human Services (OKDHS) in 2017. At that time OKDHS had an average turnover rate of 25% among Child Welfare Specialist (CWS) I and IIs. Agency leaders expressed a desire to better understand turnover rates with an eye toward increasing the retention of more competent performers. A thorough needs assessment led to the decision to design and implement a competency-based personnel selection intervention to address inconsistencies in hiring and better identify candidates with the desired competencies to be hired as a CWS. The evaluation was designed to include an implementation evaluation; a validation …

Organizational Change Process Milwaukee - Key Findings, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Background

The QIC-WD team engaged with the Department of Milwaukee Child Protective Services (DMCPS) in 2017 to conduct a thorough needs assessment to understand the root causes underlying a high turnover rate among Initial Assessment Specialists. In 2016, the overall turnover rate, including both external turnover and internal movement, was just under 49%, with a little over 11% due to internal movement and 37% due external turnover. The Organizational Social Context (OSC) baseline survey showed that there were several aspects of both culture and climate that were in need of improvement, including: 1) a hierarchical decision-making structure, 2) high …

Onboarding Program Eastern Band Of Cherokee Indians - Key Findings, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Background

The QIC-WD worked with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Family Safety Program (FSP) to address workforce challenges. FSP is a relatively new agency, established in 2015, and when they began working with the QIC-WD in 2017, FSP employed approximately 20 social workers, who provided direct service to children and families. Persistent vacancies were of greater concern than turnover. The QIC-WD partnered with FSP to conduct a needs assessment and identify areas of need that could be addressed through a workforce intervention. Three areas of need were identified as offering the strongest opportunities for intervention through the QIC-WD …