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Allocating money and resources to improve employees' performance can be costly. The 2008 Industry Report of ASTD (formerly the American Society for Training and Development) showed that U.S. organizations spent $134.39 billion on employee learning and performance. Because learning and development are expensive, time consuming and often disruptive for workflow, training professionals need to show credible and sustainable methods for proving the value of their training programs. This research study examines the effects of employees' perceptions of transfer intentions, General Self-efficacy (GSE) and supervisor support to better identify the conditions for actual transfer. An increased understanding of the conditions of transfer provided a new perspective for a county government agency. Data were collected immediately after training and later in the work environment from 36 subjects who participated in a three-day Employee Leadership Institute (ELI) in December 2007. The study built upon and extended existing data collected in December 2006, March 2007, and September 2007. The data analysis approach consisted of Chi-square computation, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), bivariate correlation and hierarchical regression analysis. SPSS was used to conduct the data analysis. The results suggest that General Self-efficacy (GSE) was the most important influence on transfer intentions up to six months after ELI. Then, transfer intentions was a better predictor than supervisor support and GSE to significantly influence the actual initiation of skills on the job obtained from ELI at six, nine months and one year. Once employees actually attempted to apply skills on the job, transfer intentions was a better predictor at six months for maintaining those skills over time (transfer maintenance); however, transfer initiation was a better predictor at nine months and one year. Due to a small sample size and self-reported data, the study results should be interpreted with some caution. / Ph. D.

The nursing home industry has been saturated for decades with culture change initiatives in an effort to improve resident quality of care. The direct care worker (DCW) is considered a critical position to achieving nursing facility quality improvements. Understanding what leads to job satisfaction for DCWs could result in improved resident care. The relationship DCWs have with their direct supervisor or upper-level manager can impact employee satisfaction. The purpose of this research is to identify factors that are associated with DCWs satisfaction with supervisor and management support. Data was obtained from 307 DCWs who were employed at 11 North Texas nursing homes. It was expected that factors affecting satisfaction with direct supervision and upper-level management would differ. In fact, the study found that the antecedents for employee satisfaction with supervisor support were participative decision-making/empowerment, age, information exchange and feedback. Furthermore, participative decision-making/empowerment, perceived competence, staffing, information exchange and feedback were found to affect direct care workers' satisfaction with manager support. In conclusion, this research provides a starting point towards a more holistic view of employee satisfaction with supervisor support by considering the preceding factors and its subsequent effects.

Low wage workers are faced with unique challenges such as shift work, scheduling conflicts, and increased job demands, all of which have the capacity to prevent work and family balance. Recently, supportive supervisors and flexible work arrangements have been suggested as essential to mitigating negative work family outcomes. Due to the underrepresentation of low wage workers in the literature, however, the nature of these relationships in the context of low wage work remains unclear. The present study examined the relationship between family-supportive supervisor behaviors (FSSB) and work family conflict and enrichment as mediated by flexibility characteristics. The sample consisted of 104 supervisor-subordinate pairs working in various retail and fast food industries. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the hypothesized relationships, and although flexibility characteristics were not found to mediate the relationship between FSSB and work family outcomes, the overall model was supported. Results suggest that flexibility characteristics have a significant impact on work family conflict for low wage workers. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Thesis (MA (Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / In the new service economy organisations have to distinguish themselves from their competitors in terms of the quality of their service delivery. In order to attain this new goal organisations realise the important role that customers play in their success. Organisations also recognize that modern day customers have different wants and higher expectations regarding service delivery compared to only a decade ago. To live up to these new challenges a novel form of conducting business was introduced to the global labour market: Telephone call centres provide quality and efficient service in the most cost-effective way possible by, inter alia, utilising customer service representatives (CSRs) to attend to clients’ each and every need – this job demand is termed emotional labour. Due to the way in which the CSRs’ work is structured and the wide-ranging demands placed on them, these individuals experience countless and varied stressors on the job. The result, in a nutshell, is that CSRs become emotionally exhausted and eventually leave the call centre. The purpose of the present research study is, therefore, to identify to what extent emotional labour influences CSRs’ feelings of emotional exhaustion, and whether the latter results in detrimental outcomes that undermine organisations’ success and competitive advantage in the marketplace. A large organisation’s call centre operators participated in the study (n = 84). Seven focus groups were conducted for the purpose of qualitative data collection: Six groups consisted of CSRs (N = 30) and one group consisted of team leaders (N = 4). Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the focus group interviews. The participants (n = 84) also completed questionnaires measuring emotional labour, emotional exhaustion, supervisor support, organisational commitment, and intentions to leave. Analysis of the interview data supported the existence of the five theoretical constructs and additional sources of job stress, over and above emotional labour, were identified. Pearson product-moment correlation analysis was used to analyse the questionnaire data, followed by multiple regression analysis with organisational commitment and intentions to leave as dependent variables, and the remaining constructs as the predictors. After determining the fit of the measurement model, consisting of the five constructs, a structural model was tested. Both the measurement and structural models produced acceptable goodness-of-fit statistics. The results of the structural model did not indicate a significant correlation between the total construct emotional labour and emotional exhaustion. Significant correlations were found between emotional labour and supervisor support, emotional exhaustion and organisational commitment and intentions to leave respectively, and organisational commitment and intentions to leave. Multiple regression analysis indicated emotional exhaustion is a significant predictor of both lowered organisational commitment and increased intentions to leave. Structural equation modelling indicated emotional exhaustion is causally related to intentions to leave through organisational commitment. The findings are congruent with previous research on the detrimental effect of emotional exhaustion on organisational outcomes and illuminate the complex relationship between emotional labour and emotional exhaustion. Interventions minimising the impact of both emotional labour and emotional exhaustion, within a call centre environment, are explored.

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Frågeställning: Hur kan en offentlig organisation arbeta effektivt med retention av sin kompetens i konkurrensen om den mänskliga resursen med andra organisationer? Syfte: Studien skapar även en grund för att Västerås Stad ska utveckla en förståelse för hur förvaltningarna och cheferna kan arbeta mer proaktivt med deras retention av personal och hur detta i sin tur kan attrahera fler medarbetare eller i andra fall återinföra förlorad kompetens. Metod: En kvalitativ forskning har gjorts genom en fallstudie på två förvaltningar inom Västerås Stad. Det förberedande arbetet har skapades genom att gå igenom en böcker och vetenskapligt granskade artiklar för detta forskningsområde. Empirisk data har samlats genom personliga semi-strukturerade intervjuer förutom en telefonintervju som hölls p.g.a. tidsbrist i respondentens schema. Slutsats: För att arbeta effektivt att behålla medarbetare och kompetens i en offentlig organisation måste det finnas förutsättningar för personligt engagemang (PE). PE kan delas upp i 5 delar som är uppdelade på inre motivationer: Public Service Motivation (PSM), Utvecklingsmöjligheter och Handledarstöd samt yttre faktorer: Arbetsmiljö och Belöning. De yttre faktorerna ligger till grund för tillfredsställelse på arbetsplatsen och uppfylls dessa ökar den inre motivationen och i sin tur det personliga engagemanget. Medarbetare värderar den inre motivationen och då har en offentlig organisation fördelen att arbete med PSM som en del av retentionsstrategin med styrkan i samhällsnyttan av medarbetarnas roll. Förväntningarna vid anställning skapar motivation och oförmåga att uppfylla förväntningar skapar risk för avgång. Om organisationen kan skapa en miljö som möjliggör re-retention, kan medarbetare som lämnat sin tjänst attraheras tillbaka vilket kan tillföra värdefullt perspektiv i nya arbetssätt samt tillfredsställa deras personliga utveckling. / Research questions: How can a public organization work more effective with retention of competence in the competition for human resources with other organizations? Purpose: The purpose with this study is to clarify why employees choose to work within their unit in Västerås Stad through an organisational perspective. The study lays the foundation for Västerås Stad to develop an understanding for how the units and managers can continue to work more proactive with their retention of employees and how this in turn can attract future employees or in some cases reintroduce lost competence. Method: A qualitative research was done through a case study on two units in Västerås Stad. The preparatory work for this research was created through books and scientific articles for this research area. The empirical data has been gathered through personal semi-structured interviews expect one telephone interview due to a lack of time for personal interview in the respondent’s schedule. Conclusion: To work effectively to retain employees and competence in a public organization there must be prerequisites for personal commitment (PC). PC can be divided into 5 parts that is split up into intrinsic motivations: Public Service Motivation (PSM), Development possibilities, Supervisor Support and external factors: Work Environment and Rewards. The extrinsic factors are the basis for satisfaction in the work place and when met the intrinsic motivation will increase and as a result the personal commitment will also increase. The employees value intrinsic motivation and as a public organization they have the advantage to work with PSM as a part of their retention strategy, with strength in community benefit as a part of the employees’ roles. Expectations when hired creates motivation and an inability to fulfil them creates a risk of resignation. If the organization can create an environment that enables re-retention, employees that have resigned could be attracted back to the organization and add valuable insight in new ways of working and satisfying their need for personal development.

Background: Interpersonal conflict may have a significant impact in organizations since blue collar-workers can spend time and effort on other things then their main duties. This can lead to less profitability for the organizations, that is why this is something worth exploring. Previous studies shows that many factors work together to create interpersonal conflicts between blue collar-workers. The purpose of this study was to examine if interpersonal conflicts has any significant correlation with interpersonal relations, experienced supervisor support, well-being, age and years in the workplace and if there is any gender differences. Methodology: This study was implemented on 67 blue-collar workers (42 men and 25 women) from five different organizations in the south of Sweden. To examine the result this study used a survey. The survey had three demographic questions: gender, age and years in the workplace. Four validated questionnaires was used as instruments to measure if interpersonal conflicts had any correlation with the examined variables: Interpersonal Conflict at Work Scale (ICAWS), Interpersonal Conflict in Organization Scale (ICOS), Social Support Scale (SSS) and Job-related Affective Well-Being Scale (JAWS) Result: The result showed that interpersonal conflicts had a significant correlation with interpersonal relationships, experienced supervisor support, well-being and years at workplace. The result showed that interpersonal conflicts had no significant correlation with age. The gender differences were further tested in the variables but did not find any statistically significant differences. Conclusion: The result of this study confirms that interpersonal conflicts correlates with interpersonal relations, experienced supervisor support, well-being and years in the workspace. / Bakgrund: Interpersonella konflikter kan ha stor betydelse för en organisation eftersom verksamma arbetstagare tid och prestation kan läggas på annat och ta fokus från deras huvudsakliga arbetsuppgifter. Detta kan i sin tur leda till lägre lönsamhet för organisationer och är därför intressant att undersöka. Tidigare studier har visat att det finns många faktorer som samspelar för att en interpersonell konflikt ska uppstå verksamma arbetstagare emellan. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om interpersonella konflikter har ett samband med interpersonella relationer, upplevt ledarskapsstöd, välmående, ålder och år på arbetsplatsen samt om det finns en könsskillnad. Metod: Studien genomfördes på 67 verksamma arbetstagare (män 42 och kvinnor 25) från fem olika företag i en mindre stad i södra Sverige. Studien använde tre demografiska frågor: kön, ålder och år på arbetsplatsen. Fyra validerade test användes som mätinstrument för att undersöka om interpersonella konflikter hade ett samband med ovanstående faktorer, Interpersonal Conflict at Work Scale (ICAWS), Interpersonal Conflict in Organization Scale (ICOS), Social Support Scale (SSS) och Job-related Affective Well-Being Scale (JAWS). Resultat: Resultatet visade att interpersonella konflikter har ett statistiskt signifikant samband med interpersonella relationer, upplevt ledarskapsstöd, välmående och år på arbetsplatsen. Inget statistiskt signifikant samband hittades mellan interpersonella konflikter och ålder. Vidare testades ifall det fanns några könsskillnader inom de olika faktorerna, men inga statistiskt signifikanta könsskillnader hittades. Slutsats: Resultatet bekräftar att interpersonella konflikter har ett samband med interpersonella relationer, upplevt ledarskapsstöd, välmående och år på arbetsplatsen

A midsize nonprofit blood bank organization is experiencing a high percentage of supervisors and managers not transferring skills taught in leadership development training programs back to the workplace. The purpose of this mixed methods, sequential, explanatory study was to understand the relationship between supervisor support or opposition and trainees' perception on factors that influence transfer of training and to identify strategies to improve transfer of training in the organization. Baldwin and Ford's Model of the training transfer process laid the framework for this study. Quantitative data were collected from trainees (N = 60) who attended leadership development programs between January 2012 and June 2014 and were analyzed using descriptive analysis, correlational analysis, and multiple regression. The correlation analysis indicated positive relationships between transfer of training and supervisor support. Qualitative data, collected during interviews (N = 8) that focused on trainees' perceptions on how to enhance transfer of training in the organization, corroborated the quantitative results. According to thematic analyses of the interview data, supervisor support, training design, opportunity to use skills on the job, and performance coaching and mentoring have the potential to improve training transfer. Policy recommendations were created to increase transfer of training back to the workplace. The findings of the study could help supervisors and managers increase training transfer, which could improve the organization's profits and create collaborative learning environments that benefit the participants and the communities where these participants live and work.