scholarly journals ClimateQUAL® and Thinklets: Using ClimateQUAL® with Group Support Systems to Facilitate Discussion and Set Priorities for Organizational Change at Criss Library

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrey DeFrank ◽  
Nora Hillyer

Objective – This article discusses a series of actions taken by the Criss Library at the University of Nebraska at Omaha to implement organizational change, using the ClimateQUAL® survey and facilitated discussions with ThinkTank™ group decision software. The library had experienced significant changes over a five-year period, with a renovation of the facility and three reorganizations resulting in a 50% staff turnover. Recognizing the strain that years of construction and personnel changes had placed on the organization, there was a desire to uncover the mood of the employees and reveal the issues behind low morale, uneasiness, and fear. Methods – In November 2009, the library conducted a ClimateQUAL® survey to develop a baseline to assess the effectiveness of any changes. After the results were distributed to library faculty and staff, a series of two-hour facilitated discussions was held to gather opinions and ideas for solutions using thinkLets, a pattern language for reasoning toward a goal. The group support system ThinkTank™ software was loaded onto computers, and employees were able to add their ideas anonymously during the sessions. Finally, 12 employees (29%) completed a four-question survey on their perceptions of the facilitated discussions. Results – The facilitated discussions returned 76 sub-themes in 12 categories: staffing and scheduling issues, staff unity/teamwork, communication, goodwill/morale, accountability, decision-making, policy issues, skills and training, leadership, ergonomics/physical work environment, respect, and bullying. An advisory team culled the 76 sub-themes into 40 improvement strategies. Five were implemented immediately, and the remaining 35 were scheduled to be presented to the faculty and staff via an online survey. Participants’ perceptions of the facilitated discussions were mixed. Eighty-three percent of respondents reported that they did not feel safe speaking out about issues, most likely because a supervisor was present. Conclusion – Improving organizational climate is a continuous and iterative process that leads to a healthy environment.

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (7) ◽  
pp. 552-572
Author(s):  
Akriti Chaubey ◽  
Chandan Kumar Sahoo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of organizational climate, physical work environment and organizational encouragement on enhancing employee creativity in the Indian automobile industry. Design/methodology/approach The study used descriptive research design. Through a stratified random sampling method, the authors collected 250 valid responses which were considered suitable to carry out the study. Structural equation modeling was used to validate the hypothesized research model, whereas confirmatory factor analysis was incorporated into the study to check the reliability and robustness of the constructs. Findings The results of the study indicated that creative instinct within the employees working in the automobile units becomes more profound when an organization provides a climate and physical work environment which is conducive to stimulate the creative thought process of the employees by encouraging its employees for exchanging ideas among themselves, which motivates them to think out of the box and subsequently foster their creative ability. Practical implications This study incorporates measures that are essential in enhancing the creative ability of the employees working in the Indian automobile industry which can be tactically nurtured by these factors. Originality/value The findings add to the existing literature by developing visions and enumerating how organizational climate, physical work environment and organizational encouragement enhances creativity within individuals in Indian automobile units.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 279-296
Author(s):  
Rianne Appel-Meulenbroek ◽  
Theo van der Voordt ◽  
Rik Aussems ◽  
Theo Arentze ◽  
Pascale Le Blanc

Purpose This paper aims to explore, which characteristics of activity-based offices are related to the position of workers on the burnout – engagement continuum. Design/methodology/approach Literature review and an online survey amongst knowledge workers in the Netherlands, which provided data of 184 respondents from 14 organisations. The data has been analysed by descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, factor analyses and path analysis, to test the conceptual model. Findings Five physical work environment constructs were identified of which three showed to have significant relations with employees’ position on one of the three dimensions of the burnout – engagement continuum. Distraction has a direct and indirect (through overload) negative relation with the individual strain (meaning increased exhaustion). Office comfort has indirect positive relations (through recognition and appreciation) with the interpersonal strain (meaning increased involvement). The possibility for teleworking has an indirect positive relation (through control) on the self-evaluation strain (meaning increased efficacy). Practical implications The findings show that in the design and management of a healthy physical work environment, corporate real estate managers and human resource managers should particularly pay attention to lowering distraction, providing comfortable workplaces and considering the option of teleworking to some extent. Originality/value This paper provides new insights into the impact of distinct activity-based workplace characteristics on workers’ position on the burnout – engagement continuum.


KINERJA ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 174
Author(s):  
Astadi Pangarso ◽  
Vidi Ramadhyanti

The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of non-physical work environment on job satisfaction lecturer of the Faculty of Communication and Business at the University of Telkom Bandung. The independentvariable X of the study is non-physical work environment while the dependent variable Y is job satisfaction. The data are obtained by distributing questionnaires, sampling technique uses the saturation. The analytical method used is a simple linear regression analysis method.The research results prove that the non-physical work environment by 38.8% have influence on job satisfaction lecturer of the Faculty of Communication and Business, University of Telkom Bandung and theremaining 61.2% is influenced by other factors that are not observed in this study. In other words, there is a partial effect of non-physical work environment on permanent lecturers’ job satisfaction on the Faculty ofCommunication and Business, University of Telkom Bandung.Keywords: human resources, non-physical work environment, job satisfaction


Author(s):  
Remus Runcan

According to Romania’s National Rural Development Programme, the socio-economic situation of the rural environment has a large number of weaknesses – among which low access to financial resources for small entrepreneurs and new business initiatives in rural areas and poorly developed entrepreneurial culture, characterized by a lack of basic managerial knowledge – but also a large number of opportunities – among which access of the rural population to lifelong learning and entrepreneurial skills development programmes and entrepreneurs’ access to financial instruments. The population in rural areas depends mainly on agricultural activities which give them subsistence living conditions. The gap between rural and urban areas is due to low income levels and employment rates, hence the need to obtain additional income for the population employed in subsistence and semi-subsistence farming, especially in the context of the depopulation trend. At the same time, the need to stimulate entrepreneurship in rural areas is high and is at a resonance with the need to increase the potential of rural communities from the perspective of landscape, culture, traditional activities and local resources. A solution could be to turn vegetal and / or animal farms into social farms – farms on which people with disabilities (but also adolescents and young people with anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicide, and alexithymia issues) might find a “foster” family, bed and meals in a natural, healthy environment, and share the farm’s activities with the farmer and the farmer’s family: “committing to a regular day / days and times for a mutually agreed period involves complying with any required health and safety practices (including use of protective clothing and equipment), engaging socially with the farm family members and other people working on and around the farm, and taking on tasks which would include working on the land, taking care of animals, or helping out with maintenance and other physical work”


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rasmansyah Rasmansyah ◽  
M Zainal Aripin

<em>This research was conducted based on the existence of problems in the competence and physical work environment of employee performance. This study aims to determine the effect of competencies and physical work environment simultaneously or partially on the performance of employees of PT. Suzuki Indomobil Motor. The sampling technique is the sample random sampling technique. The type of research used is descriptive and verivative research methods, with data collection techniques using primary data and secondary data. The results showed that competency, physical work environment, and performance were categorized quite well. Based on the calculation, it can be seen that simultaneously the competence and physical work environment have a positive and significant influence on the performance of the employees of PT. Suzuki Indomobil Motor. Partially shows that the physical work environment has the most dominant influence on the performance of employees of PT. Suzuki Indomobil Motor</em>


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tyler Hamby ◽  
W. Paul Bowman ◽  
Don P. Wilson ◽  
Riyaz Basha

Abstract Context Medical students, especially at osteopathic medical schools, have limited research exposure. Systematic instruction in research, supervised by qualified mentors, could motivate osteopathic medical students to pursue research in their careers, thereby increasing the number of future clinician-scientists. Recruiting and retaining suitable research mentors are crucial to sustaining such programs, but this task is also particularly challenging for osteopathic medical schools. Objectives To assess mentors' experiences in a voluntary student-mentor medical research program. Methods An online survey was sent to 76 university- or hospital-based participants who previously mentored 219 medical students between 2014 and 2019. The questionnaire consisted of 13 items with responses in checklist, five-point Likert scale, and categorical multiple-choice formats, assessing motivation for participation, satisfaction with the program, and interest in future participation. Data were analyzed descriptively, and responses from mentors at the university and hospital were compared using univariate logistic and ordinal regression analyses. Results Among 70 (92.1%) mentors who responded to the survey, 61 (87.1%) reported being motivated by a desire to help medical students learn research. Forty-nine (70.0%) mentors indicated that furthering their own research productivity was a motivation, and hospital-based mentors were statistically significantly more likely to endorse this source of motivation (OR=2.02; 95% CI=1.18–3.45; p=0.01). Most respondents were satisfied with the quality of the students' work (59 [84.3%]) and with the program (59 [85.5%]). However, 46 (65.7%) suggested the program could be enhanced by requiring medical students to be physically present in the clinic or laboratory for a minimum amount of time. Importantly, most (58 [84.1%]) mentors reported that they would be interested in participating in future mentored research programs. Conclusions Mentors were motivated to participate in the voluntary research program for both altruistic and professional reasons. Since most mentors reported being satisfied with the program, it is likely they would participate in future mentored research programs. Our results suggest that mentors viewed this voluntary research program as mutually beneficial.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 238212052110148
Author(s):  
Jasna Vuk ◽  
Steven McKee ◽  
Sara Tariq ◽  
Priya Mendiratta

Background: Medical school learning communities benefit students. The College of Medicine (COM) at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) provides medical students with academic, professional, and personal support through a learning community (LC) made of 7 academic houses. Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of the academic house model at UAMS utilizing a mixed-methods survey. The aims were to: (1) assess student experience and satisfaction with academic houses, (2) describe the realms of advising and guidance, and (3) identify areas for improvement. Method: An online survey was assigned to 723 COM students (all students enrolled, first through fourth years) at UAMS in March 2019. The survey was comprised of 25 items (10 multiple-choice, 8 on the Likert scale, and 7 open-ended questions). Data was depicted using frequency and percentages and/or thematic review of free-form responses. Results: The survey response rate was 31% (227 students). The majority of students responding (132, 58.1%) attended 2 or more face-to-face meetings with the faculty advisor within the preceding year. However, 27 (11.9%) students did not have any meetings. Approximately two-thirds of the respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the guidance and direction provided by their advisors [very satisfied (n = 83; 36.6%); satisfied (n = 77; 33.9%)]. Themes that emerged from student generated areas for improvement include time constraints, advisor/advisee interest mismatch, and perceived inadequacy of advising content/connections. Conclusions: This study confirms the effectiveness of the LC model for advising and mentoring in the COM at UAMS. Uniquely, this study identifies not only learners’ satisfaction with their LC but also highlights areas for improvement which are widely generalizable and important to consider for institutions with or planning to start an LC.


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