Human Resource Development and Performance Technologies
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An Experiential Analysis of Job Site Safety: Delineating Between Positive Safety Culture and Excessive SafetyIn general industry and in construction many safety requirements are mandated on job sites and in facilities. Many requirements move past simple compliance and enter the realm of cultural safety. This high level of cultural safety is what is typically the level most safety professionals strive for in any company. The balance is tipped to excessive when we move past the cultural safety into redundant or multi layers of requirements that affect production rates and have no actual value to safety but have the appearance of safety. This research looked into a large construction project that had multiple layers of safety professionals and multiple layers of redundant safety requirements. Some of the items reviewed were additional fall protection in scissor lifts, self-retracting utility knives, 100% PPE on site and other items above regulatory minimums. What was identified in the research was that if the hazard was high with potential catastrophic results, additional safety precautions were welcomed. If the perceived risk was low, it was viewed as a nuisance. Additionally, some redundant safety items significantly contributed to fatal incidents. The most important aspect of this paper is that true safety comes from a proper honest risk assessment and right sized mitigation of those hazards identified.
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RETAINING MOROCCAN MILLENNIALS TO THE WORKPLACEThe focus of this present study is to understand the factors that influence Moroccan millennial employees to stay at or to leave their organizations. To reach this purpose, the study followed a qualitative phenomenological research design, using interviews as a data collection type. Interviews were conducted with ten Moroccan millennials who have worked or still work in a private organization based in Casablanca, the economic capital of Morocco. Findings of this study discovered five factors that influenced Moroccan millennials to stay, including links with co-workers, good leadership style, responsibilities and tasks, training opportunities, and career advancement. Additionally, five factors were discovered to influence Moroccan millennials’ reasons to leave. These factors include autocratic leadership style, limited career path, low pay, learning saturation, and job discrepancy. This study can serve as input for Moroccan managers to understand their Moroccan millennial employees and to take effective retention efforts that best meet the needs of Moroccan millennials. For this aim, findings suggested four retention strategies that Moroccan millennials think should be important to improve their retention. These strategies are upward performance appraisal, learning and development opportunities, workplace flexibility opportunities, and personalized recognition. Moroccan millennials could use the findings of this research and adapt them to their specific organizational context.
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ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECT OF AN ERGONOMIC IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM ON INCIDENT RATES IN A FORKLIFT MANUFACTURING/ASSEMBLY PLANTThe company experienced a high volume of recordable injuries and decided it was time to implement an ergonomic program in order to drive down the number of ergonomic related injuries. The ergonomics program was implemented in mid-2016 and positively impacted the company’s incident rate. Due to the high ergonomic related incident rate the company had in 2016, the decision was made to implement an ergonomic improvement program in 2017. The goal is to determine the effectiveness of the ergonomics improvement program. This project consists of the study of data before and after the implementation as well as a review of related literature. This study began with assessing risk of each job task in the facility after realizing the need for an improvement. After each task was assessed and assigned a risk priority number, the project was added to a common spreadsheet. The project leaders chose projects to complete from the common spreadsheet and produced a PDCA for each completed project. The PDCA entailed a section for planning, doing, and checking for sustainability of the project. Upon completion of the project, a walk to present the improvements was conducted for recognition. No statistically significant reduction of injuries was found, although there was a 17% reduction of injuries. However, a significant reduction in severity of each injury was noted throughout the study.
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The Impact Of Occupational Self-Efficacy On Job PerformanceFrom business-related literature, the occupational-self efficacy (OSE) theory has been used to explain employee confidence, motivation, success, or lack of success when used in conjunction with measurable training or evaluation. The presence and effects of OSE have been seen in various occupational sectors and industries. For Human Resources practitioners, utilizing the concepts of OSE in the workforce is more than just training or communication. The present study analyzed the presence and effects of OSE on an online student population at a technical college in a Midwestern University. The results from frequency, correlation, and cross-tabulation tests reveal that levels of OSE can change, that demographic variables such as age and gender can influence OSE growth, and there is significance with OSE and job performance. The present study identified various training techniques and research possibilities for Human Resource (HR) personnel. The results may aid HR personnel with growing employee confidence, motivation, and measurable growth in knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs), training, and evaluations.
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INVESTIGATING TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND RETURN ON EQUITY OUTCOMES IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED COMMUNITY BANKSThe focus of this investigation is small financial institutions based in the United States and insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Without a viable market for community banks individual and small business investors and borrowers, particularly in rural areas, will have less financing options and may be forced to accept the terms dictated by larger financial institutions (Walser & Anderlik, 2004). Additionally, within the literature there is minimal empirical evidence informing community banks of appropriate initiatives that may be implemented to unleash human expertise through training and development interventions related to successful leadership styles. As competition in the banking industry continues to increase, community banks may be compelled to utilize Human Resource Development (HRD) initiatives and interventions, similar to the propositions mentioned herein, to enhance their overall competitiveness and survivability. The primary purpose of this investigation was to identify the leadership styles of branch managers and financial performance outcomes as measured by the ROE framework at both small and medium-sized community banks. Second, this investigation sought to add to previous research by providing HRD scholars and practitioners with new strategies for evaluating the impact of HRD initiatives and interventions within a banking industry context. Third, through this investigation it was determined that particular styles and/or sets of leadership dimensions are common at successful small and medium-sized community banking institutions.
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The Relationship among Frontline Quality’ Performance,their Personality Traits and their Perception of the Work Environment.Although effective management of frontline employees has been commonly considered a key element in quality management in both practice and academia, the predominant focus has been on work force training, development, empowerment, involvement, and incentive systems, without utilizing the benefit of understanding the frontline worker’s personality and perception of the work environment. This paper utilized the 16 Personality Inventory (16PF) and Work Environment Scale (WES) to explore the relationship of frontline employee’s personality and perception of the work environment to their quality assurance performance ratings in a mediumsized manufacturing company in America. By using 16PF and WES Real Form, Vigilance (factor L) and Work Pressure were discovered to be positively correlated with the frontline workers’ overall quality assurance performance ratings. Caution of generalization of the research result was raised in Discussion section. Recommendations for future research were presented.
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Identification of Influential Promotion Decision Determinants for Advancement to First-Level Manufacturing SupervisorPromotion is an important element in today’s work environment from the perspective of employees, managers, and human resource development professionals. This study advanced the understanding of promotion by identifying and describing the critical determinants, as perceived by the decision-makers, leading to the advancement of employees to first-level manufacturing supervisor positions. The study utilized two data acquisition phases. Phase one of the study’s data acquisition component utilized semi-structured interviews with highly experienced managers in the manufacturing supervisor promotion process. Phase two employed an online survey. The purpose of the latter was to acquire expert testimony that would accurately delineate determinants critical to the decision-making process. The survey required these managers to (a) rate the list of determinants using a Likert scale and (b) compare each determinant to its complements in each Likert scale category and rate on a scale of 0 to 100% its influence on the promotion decision. Utilizing the median ranking for each determinant, the most influential determinants were found to be (1) demonstrates character, integrity, and trustworthiness; (2) accomplishes tasks, productive, energetic; (3) appropriate attitude toward peers, subordinates, and superiors - team player, works well with others; (4) good people management skills, uses authority wisely, builds relationships and cares about individuals; and (5) seeks assistance when needed - recognizes issues that must be handled, especially those that should include other management personnel. A Bayesian analysis revealed these determinants accounted for approximately 82% of the positive promotion decision-making.
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An investigation of the early factors which influence women's career choices in physical science and technologyThe composition of the workforce has begun to undergo a change. The U.S Department of Labor estimates that women, minorities and immigrants will constitute 80 percent of the additions to the labor force between 1987 and the year 2000 (Oakes, 1990). The National Science Foundation projects that the United States may have a shortfall of 40,000 scientists and over 250,000 engineers by the year 2006 (Argonne, 1990). Since women are among those who are significantly underrepresented among individuals preparing for a career in science, thirty women who are currently pursuing a successful career in physical science and technology were interviewed. This study determined participants perceptions of the factors that first influenced an early interest in physical science and technology. The investigation included perceptions regarding: 1) whether certain identifiable events or experiences influenced the decision to pursue science as a career and what those events and experiences were; 2) at what age these events occurred; 3) whether an adult(s) was influential and which adult(s) it was; and 4) identification of where these events and experiences occurred. The interview technique was selected as the best research method for collecting the qualitative and demographic data needed for this study. The results represent the participant’s recollections of out-of-school and in-school activities, family, friends and teacher support, self-image during the formative years, parents as the most important factor which influenced an interest in physical science, and major obstacles that had to be overcome by the participants in order to pursue successful careers in physical science and technology. Also included is participant’s advice to parents and teachers who want to encourage females to pursue a career in physical sciences and technology.
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The Roles Unions Play in Collective Bargaining Processes and, Their Impact on Negotiations for Blue-Collar VS White-Collar EmployeesCollective bargaining processes, plays an important role in employee employer relations and has significant impact on the dynamics and operations of organizations. The presence of unions poses challenges to management and appeases employees. The present study examined the roles unions plays in the collective bargaining process and their impact on negotiations for white-collar versus blue-collar workers. The study investigated, whether white-collar employees receives preferential treatment over blue-collar employees, during the collective bargaining process, and whether management concessions towards white-collar employees will be perceived to be more favorable than those of blue-collar employees and correlations between job satisfaction and collective bargaining outcomes, which may be related to perceived bias for white-collar employees. A survey conducted on 120 union employees. The results of the study showed, white-collar employees received preferential treatment over blue-collar employees. Further, that 48% of participants felt that management made favorable concessions to white-collar workers. No correlations were found between job satisfaction and outcomes of collective bargaining.
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African-American Alumni Perceptions and Motivations Toward Philanthropic Giving (A Case Study of an African-American Alumni Council at A Midwestern University)This thesis is a qualitative case study of African-American philanthropic motivations and fundraising strategies employed to increase African-American alumni giving at a predominantly white institution, Midwestern University. The lack of research and lack of understanding of African-American alumni motivations and perceptions of philanthropic giving is the problem for this case study. It is the goal of the researcher that the findings and recommendations of this research be considered in the development of the University’s race specific fundraising strategies. The study included seven personal interviews of the Indiana State University African-American Alumni Board of Directors. Exhaustive field notes were analyzed thematically. Additionally, ex post facto regarding the AAAC Board of Directors was analyzed. Through triangulation, the researcher analyzed the data for commonalities. Commonalities found in the interviews, artifacts, and observations have been reported. This study expands our understanding in general and will assist leadership in expanding philanthropic activity and giving. Engaging and developing fundraising strategies for the untapped resource of the African-American alumni is important, yet the importance and feelings of inclusion to African-American alumni is the theme that emerged above others. The researcher found the African-American alumni are motivated to give to their alma mater based on the positive memories and relationships that were formed during their college experience. The expectation is that their financial support to the University will support the African-American students and staff of the University. As this Midwestern University has made progress, in the creation of the African-American Alumni Council, the researcher found that, the call for authenticity, transparency, and relevancy is essential to the council’s success.