Training and Development Commons^™

Green Awareness, Practices And Sustainability: A Case Study Of The Royal Malaysian Navy, Muhamad Azwandi Azlan

Student Works (2020-2029)

The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) has taken an integrated green navy approach to conserve environment, and at the same time, to explore renewable energy by utilizing its own resources and capability. This is a noble manifestation of the RMN's commitment to the government's efforts in conserving the environment, in the interest of future generations. The focus of this study is to explore the perceptions of the naval staff towards green navy implementation. In this regard, this study aims to understand: (i) the awareness and understanding of green concepts by the naval personnel, (ii) the importance of green concepts for the …

Organizational Socialization, Martin Hall, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is organizational socialization?

Organizational socialization—also referred to as onboarding—is “…the process by which newcomers make the transition from being organizational outsiders to being insiders” (Bauer, Bodner, Erdogan, Truxillo, & Tucker, 2007, p. 707). The overall goal of organizational socialization is to facilitate newcomer adjustment (Bauer & Erdogan, 2011). Specifically, adjustment means that new employees understand the key tasks of their job (i.e., role clarity), have confidence in their ability to perform the key tasks of their job (i.e., self-efficacy), feel like they are an accepted member of the organization (i.e., social acceptance), and understand the organization’s culture (e.g., goals, …

Integrating Affect Perception Tasks From The New York Emotion Battery Into A Comprehensive Measure Of Neuropsychological Change Across The Lifespan, Melinda A. Cornwell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: The ability to perceive others’ emotions is a vital skill for social competency, impacting the success of personal and professional relationships (Brinton & Fujiki, 2011; Cassidy et al., 1992; Côté & Miners, 2006). According to Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (SST; Carstensen, 1991), human motivation develops to become more discerning in choosing milieus that yield the most gratifying return on the investment of personal resources (e.g., time, attention, and effort), perhaps explaining why some research findings indicate that older adults may demonstrate an affect perception (AP) bias described as a positivity effect (Reed et al., 2014). Moreover, AP predicts cognitive and …

How Can Our Mission Be Fully Accomplished By Staff That Are Experiencing Secondary Trauma And Burnout?, Stephanie Reau

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My name is Stephanie Reau and I am a training supervisor at Summit County Children Services. We are an agency of 350 employees with a focus on recruiting and maintaining diverse staff committed to serving all children and families. Summit County strives to attract and retain wellqualified staff, but like many child welfare agencies in Ohio, this has been a difficult task to accomplish. The overwhelming pressures of the job cause secondary trauma, burnout and ultimately staff turnover. Staff turnover impacts the morale of the agency, is costly, and, most importantly, it negatively impacts the families we serve. Our mission …

Employee Personality Traits And Reactions To Psychological Contract Breach In The Lebanese Context, Suzan Salim Al Kadi, Nasser Fathi Easa

BAU Journal - Society, Culture and Human Behavior

The aim of this paper is to examine the influence of employee personality traits on the response to a psychological contract breach within the Lebanese context. It specifically examines the influence of various typologies on job satisfaction, trust, loyalty, organizational commitment, and delves deeper into the result of having the psychological contract breached. A total of 30 comprehensive interviews were conducted in order to examine employee reactions to breach of the psychological contract, along with a qualitative analysis of their personality according to the Big Five personality trait model. The findings demonstrate that the concept of a “psychological contract” is …

Mindfulness: A Promising Practice To Reduce Accountant Stress, Abigail Anderson

Marriott Student Review

This article considers the practice of mindfulness as an approach to reduce stress within the lives of accountants. Mindfulness has existed for centuries as a Buddhist tradition and has only recently become popular in the Western world as a stress-reduction technique that can lead to improved mental and emotional well-being. This article also examines the prevalence of mindfulness within the Top 10 accounting firms in the United States and some results regarding employee performance. As more and more firms begin to utilize mindfulness as a low-cost method to better employee performance and well-being, university accounting programs should consider incorporating the …

Want To Improve Organizational Outcomes? Consider People Analytics, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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People analytics has been around for more than 20 years. However, it continues to be viewed as an emerging area of study. People analytics shows the contribution that the workforce makes to organizational success and provides insight to maximize that contribution. It is an evidence-based practice that allows human resources (HR) staff to evaluate practice for the purpose of improving outcomes for employees, and to communicate with the workforce the effectiveness of personnel management and HR practice. People data, when used appropriately, may improve trust and transparency within organizations. There is evidence that organizations are not using the people and …

Sneak Peek- Eastern Band Of Cherokee Indians' (Ebci) Onboarding Manuals For Employees And Supervisors, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) Family Safety Program (FSP) developed a new 5-week onboarding process for new social workers. Drawing upon available research and best practice, the QIC-WD worked with FSP to create the multipronged onboarding program that includes written materials, videos, supervisor supports, tours, and shadowing. Weeks 1 and 2 orient new workers to the organizational structure, mission, purpose, philosophy, and practice of FSP and provide an introduction to Cherokee culture through various activities. Weeks 3 through 5 involve learning about each of the team units within FSP by reading and answering questions about relevant sections of …

Introduction To Workforce Analytics, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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The Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development created the Child Welfare Workforce Analytics Institute (the Institute). The goals of the Institute are to: 1. inspire and motivate child welfare leaders and human resources (HR) staff to work together to use data analytics to address child welfare workforce challenges, 2. provide opportunities for initiating and strengthening connections between child welfare and HR leaders, 3. build awareness, knowledge, and/or understanding around data analytics, and 4. support agencies to initiate plans to use HR data to address child welfare workforce challenges. This blog post provides an overview of workforce analytics as presented to …

Learning From Workforce Studies That Cut Across Social Services, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Sometimes researchers, administrators and practitioners miss studies that cut across social service fields but that include child welfare workers in their samples. For example, a Canadian study by Graham, Shier, & Nicholas (2016), Workplace Congruence and Occupational Outcomes Among Social Services Workers, has relevant implications for the child welfare field. This study found that when a job setting matches an employee’s expectations regarding workload, autonomy, the working environment, and the values of the organization, there is likely to be a lower intention to leave the job and greater life satisfaction. This finding implies it is important to help new child …

A New Perspective On Blue-Collar Work: Examining The Relevance Of Common Career Development Theories For Blue-Collar Workers In Manufacturing, Sarah J. Barber

University Honors Theses

Blue-collar career development has been overlooked in academia. This study investigates blue-collar career development based on four career development theories including: Holland's theory of vocational types, social cognitive career theory, Super's developmental self-concept theory, and crystallization of vocational self-concept.

Accountability In A Virtual Work Environment, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, many child welfare supervisors suddenly were managing a virtual team with little or no preparation. Maintaining accountability when staff telework (i.e., work from home) poses challenges in defining and measuring productivity. These challenges can feel different from managing performance in an office environment. Supervisors needed to navigate between emphasizing process (how the work is done) and the achievement of specific outcomes (what gets done). Some agencies may require daily activity logs to help supervisors manage their team, which emphasizes process. An over emphasis on process can lead to workers feeling micro-managed. Keeping track …

What Are Best Practices For Conducting Hiring Interviews?, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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When it comes to conducting hiring interviews, many managers rely more on their gut instincts regarding what questions to ask and how to evaluate candidates’ responses in order to decide who to hire. Given the importance of hiring for achieving agency outcomes, it makes sense to invest time and attention into planning how to conduct your interviews. The QIC-WD reviewed the research on hiring interviews and found evidence of a number of factors that can improve the effectiveness of your interview practice. • Plan ahead. As with many things in life, advance preparation will yield the best results when you …

Local Workforce Development, Federally Legislated Purposes, And A Systemigram: A Mixed-Methods Study, Tracey A. Regenold

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The public system of workforce development has existed for over 45 years, yet there are still issues with adequate skill-building, training, and employment for the vulnerable populations the system is mandated to serve. This study first used a modified Delphi method to survey a sample of executive directors and board members of local workforce development areas regarding the proper systems design needed to fulfill the purposes of current federal legislation. Subsequently using a visual representation of an “ideal” local workforce development area, participants were then interviewed and asked about the utility of such a model for strategic planning and systems …

Identifying Competencies And Outputs Of Sss Role In Stem Bridge Programs In The Silicon Valley, Alexandra C. Duran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study identified the competencies and outputs associated with the role of student support specialists (SSS) in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) bridge programs in the community colleges of Silicon Valley. The growth of STEM education, coupled with the increasing diversity of student population in community colleges, has made the work of SSS professionals in the region challenging. While the SSS professionals are often positioned as comprehensive, nonacademic support for STEM students, not enough has been documented on the competencies and outputs associated with SSS role in STEM bridge programs. In addition, most studies on student affairs professionals primarily …

Does Your Agency Embrace Evidence -Based Management Practices?, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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Child welfare agencies are encouraged to use evidencebased practices in all aspects of their work to try to improve outcomes for children and families. The child welfare field has made improvements in using data, research, and evaluation to inform practice and decision-making, but still has a ways to go. The primary goal of the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) is to build the evidence base regarding strategies to strengthen the child welfare workforce. One means of practicing evidence-based management for improving workforce outcomes is using workforce analytics. As part of the Child Welfare Workforce Analytics Institute, the QIC-WD …

Louisiana Progress Update- Redesigning The Child Welfare Worker Position, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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When there is a high workload, there is often a lot of turnover and when there is a lot of turnover the remaining workforce has an even greater workload. The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) was all too familiar with this negative cycle and the impact it was having on its child welfare workforce. When DCFS became a Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD) site, they were ready to make a significant change to their workforce operations. After a thorough needs assessment, DCFS decided to work with the QIC-WD on a job redesign project to strengthen …

Informal Learning Behaviors, Megan Paul, Robert Blagg

Umbrella Summaries

What are informal learning behaviors?

Informal learning behaviors (ILBs) are self-directed, intentional activities to acquire knowledge and skill outside of formal learning environments (Cerasoli, Alliger, Donsbach, Mathieu, Tannenbaum, & Orvis, 2017). Informal learning is distinct from learning that is externally imposed or required, involves structured content or processes, or occurs accidentally (Cerasoli et al., 2017). It is the day-to-day, on-the-job learning that occurs in the workplace. ILBs include things like observing, asking questions, seeking information, and practicing (Cerasoli et al., 2017). A highly related behavior is seeking feedback, which is sometimes described as a form of informal learning but has …

Virginia Progress Update - The Timely Implementation Of A Technology Solution, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development

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The pandemic is pushing the U.S. workforce to adapt and seek mobile solutions to carry out key tasks. Virginia’s child welfare workforce strengthening effort, supported by the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD), includes a transcription service and a mobile solution (an application or app) on iPads to help the workforce manage their administrative and family engagement tasks out of the office. The effort began in 2017 but demand has been heightened by the pandemic. This post summarizes what the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS) has accomplished and learned as they roll out new technology to thousands of …

Workplace Supports For Lgbt Employees, Toby Burnham, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What are workplace supports for LGBT employees?

Workplace supports for LGBT employees are organizational policies and practices that are thought to improve the work experiences of LGBT employees and foster diversity within an organization. Although there isn’t one set of specific workplace supports for LGBT employees, one way of summarizing the contextual supports in the workplace is to categorize them as (a) formal LGBT-supportive policies and practices, (b) LGBT-supportive climates, and (c) supportive workplace relationships (Webster, Adams, Maranto, Sawyer, & Thoroughgood, 2017). Formal policies and practices that are supportive of LGBT employees include things like same-sex benefits coverage, LGBT resource …

Perspectives From A Prevention Team, Jaqueta Taylor, Rynika Polk, Jackie Gooch

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Louisiana’s redesign includes the creation of prevention teams. The prevention teams include one supervisor, three child protective services (CPS) workers, two family services (FS) workers, and one child welfare team specialist. Over the course of the past year each team was established, trained, and worked together to build a cohesive unit. Team members expressed a mix of excitement and concern about their new roles. The redesign meant the supervisor was managing new team members, workers were delegating tasks they were previously responsible for, and team specialists were new to the team and had to establish trust with their coworkers. The …

Organizational Intentions Versus Leadership Impact: The Flexible Work Experience, Susan R. Vroman

The Journal of Values-Based Leadership

Working mothers with dependent aged children currently represent a significant portion of the workforce. In order to attract and retain this valuable demographic, employers are introducing and maintaining flexible work arrangements (FWA) to enable employees to manage their work and life commitments. However, having an FWA program and effectively supporting it are not synonymous, and this bears impact on employees. This article highlights opportunities and implications for FWA management based on findings from a recent New England healthcare organization case study which illustrates how working mothers experience enacted flexible work arrangement policies. This article identifies methods for organizations and managers …

My Experience With Cfs Strong, Lana Sayre

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I am a child and family services specialist supervisor with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. A few years ago, I volunteered to take over for another member of the workforce retention team that was working with the QIC-WD to develop/select an intervention that Nebraska could implement to reduce employee turnover among child and family services specialists (CFSS), our frontline worker position. Employee retention is a constant, ongoing challenge. Our work is challenging and very stressful. You have to be an expert in child safety and have a broad understanding of all of the issues which affect the …

Presenteeism, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is presenteeism?

Presenteeism is not simply a matter of attending, or being physically present, at work. Rather, it refers to going to work while ill and, in some cases, also includes the concept of lost productivity as a result (Johns, 2010; McGregor, Sharma, Magee, Caputi, & Iverson, 2017). Unlike absenteeism, which can be measured through personnel records, presenteeism is measured by employee self-report via surveys or interviews. For the more limited definition (going to work ill), employees are asked whether or how often in the past they showed up to work when they were sick and should have taken …

Grit, Maggie Thompson, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is grit?

Grit is a personality trait that is defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals” (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007, p. 1087) and as “… not just resilience in the face of failure, but also having deep commitments that you remain loyal to over many years” (Perkins-Gough, 2013, p. 14). It has been conceptualized as a higher-order trait comprised of two lower order facets: perseverance of effort (the tendency to work hard even in the face of setbacks) and consistency of interest (the tendency to not frequently change goals and interests). The two primary self-report measures …

Career Pathways Program Annual Report, 2019-2020, Wie Yusuf

Career Pathways

Career Pathways launched in August 2017 as the university-wide initiative to provide graduate student professional development. It encompasses both the Preparing Future Faculty program and the Preparing Future Professionals Certificates. The Preparing Future Faculty Certificate was an existing program, started in 2007, while the Preparing Future Professionals Certificate was launched in 2017 concurrently with Career Pathways. The Career Pathways program prepares graduate students for successful transition into thriving careers. With the Preparing Future Professionals Certificate, specifically, the emphasize has been on filling the existing gap in career and professional development for master’s students and doctoral students with career plans outside …

Diversity Training, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is diversity training?

Diversity training refers to a “distinct set of instructional programs aimed at facilitating positive intergroup interactions, reducing prejudice and discrimination, and enhancing the skills, knowledge, and motivation of participants to interact with diverse others” (Bezrukova, Spell, Perry, & Jehn, 2016, p. 1,228). In the absence of a standard approach, there has been significant variation in the design and context of diversity training.

The following characteristics have been identified as differing across trainings reported in the research literature (Bezrukova et al., 2016):

► Content Focus: Group-specific training focuses on learning about one or more specific groups (e.g., …

What We Know About Pandemics And The Stress They Cause, Anita Barbee

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Pandemics are not new, but they significantly impact how we work, socialize, and manage our health. This can be especially difficult for those in the helping professions for whom face-to-face contact and travel are part of their daily routine. This blog post explains what a pandemic is and the stress that it causes. What is a Pandemic? When the spread of a disease escalates, it can become a pandemic, affecting a wide geographical area and a significant portion of the population. Pandemics are marked by uncertainty, confusion, and a sense of urgency which may be exacerbated by the inundation of …

Managing Stress While Working From Home During The Pandemic: Strategies For Self-Care, Andrew Winters

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Stress is often driven by feeling a lack of control over things you once had control over. This lack of control can create feelings of anxiety, depression, and even anger. This blog post highlights some elements of self-care that can help you stay present and regain a sense of control where you can. Manage your newsfeed How much information are you consuming about the pandemic? Too much news can add to your stress. Try to minimize your consumption of news about the outbreak to once a day, preferably in print format (e.g. magazines, newspapers) and limit your exposure to media …

Mindfulness, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is described as “paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 22). Instead of being on autopilot and reacting in reflexive and mindless ways, perhaps with a focus on the past or the future, it is about being fully aware of and present in the moments of our lives. The nonjudgmental aspect is about not leaping to “likes and dislikes, opinions and prejudices, projections and expectations” (Kabat-Zinn, 1994, p. 23) and instead observing without evaluating. Mindfulness is considered both a trait and a state. Trait mindfulness refers …