EXPRESS: Onboarding Salespeople: Socialization Approaches

The effective training of salespeople is crucial to a firm’s success; there is arguably no more critical type of training than a salesperson’s onboarding. In this study, the authors leverage a natural field experiment in which a firm’s newly hired salespeople can undergo onboarding through either a decentralized program or a centralized program to examine the relative impact of each program. Drawing on organizational socialization theory, the authors consider whether an onboarding program that incorporates both individualized and institutionalized socialization tactics (the decentralized program) can develop salespeople into higher performers by encouraging them to take a more innovative and adaptive approach to different facets of the sales role. The findings reveal that salespeople who underwent the decentralized program achieved approximately 23.5% higher sales performance than those who underwent the centralized program. The performance benefits of the decentralized program were amplified for salespeople whose managers had a narrower span of control. In addition, these performance benefits were appreciable for those salespeople transitioning from another job but negligible for those transitioning from school. A scenario-based experiment enriches the field experiment’s findings by showing evidence of the theorized mechanism underlying the sales performance benefits observed: the fostering of an innovative role orientation.

Endogenous Separations, Wage Rigidities, and Unemployment Volatility

We show that in microdata, as well as in a search and matching model with flexible wages for new hires, wage rigidities of incumbent workers have substantial effects on separations and unemployment volatility. Allowing for an empirically relevant degree of wage rigidities for incumbent workers drives unemployment volatility as well as the volatility of vacancies and tightness to that in the data. Thus, the degree of wage rigidity for newly hired workers is not a sufficient statistic for determining the effect of wage rigidities on macroeconomic outcomes. This finding affects the interpretation of a large empirical literature on wage rigidities. (JEL E24, J23, J31, J41, J63)

Low-Stress Livestock Handling Protects Cattle in a Five-Predator Habitat

Given the ecological importance of top predators, societies are turning to non-lethal methods for coexistence. Coexistence is challenging when livestock are released within wild predator habitats, even when people supervise or use lethal methods. We report a randomized, controlled design to evaluate low-stress livestock handling (L-SLH), a form of range riding, to deter grizzly (brown) bears, gray wolves, cougars, black bears, and coyotes in Southwestern Alberta. The treatment condition was supervision by two newly hired and trained range riders and an L-SLH practicing range rider. This treatment was compared against a baseline pseudo-control condition of the single experienced range rider working alone. Cattle experienced zero injuries or deaths in either condition. We infer that inexperienced range riders trained and supervised by an experienced rider did not raise or lower the risk to cattle. Also, predators did not shift to the cattle herds protected by fewer range riders. Pending experimental evaluation of other designs, we recommend use of L-SLH.

Identifying important skills and competencies needed for new Florida agriculture extension agents

The onboarding needs of Extension agents is a topic continuously discussed and researched, yet overwhelmed agents persist, suggesting that there is a missing link. We undertook a study to determine the competency training needs of newly hired agricultural agents in Florida. Two assessments were performed. First to identify main agriculture skills and competencies for new agriculture Extension. Those competencies where then classified into main domains and interviewees were asked to rank in order of importance in each group. Data were collected via an online survey of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension agents working under the agriculture program area. Agents needed training in specific agricultural competencies related to every-day work activities such as soil sampling, diagnostic skills, educational resource utilization, and relationship building. Although we assume that, based on job requirements, newly hired agents will enter Extension with such knowledge, results suggest an agriculture specific training is needed to meet the onboarding needs of new agents. Our study identified the priority needs for developing an onboarding program that establishes a level of standard knowledge. Those findings will serve to enhance onboarding training for new Extension professionals.

Retention Rates and the Associated Risk Factors of Turnover among Newly Hired Nurses at South Korean Hospitals: A Retrospective Cohort Study

This retrospective cohort study analyzed the turnover rate and the risk factors of turnover among newly hired nurses at tertiary and secondary hospitals in South Korea. Using National Health Insurance Service data, this study created a cohort of 21,050 newly hired nurses across 304 hospitals in 2018, with a follow-up period of 18 months. Retention and turnover risk factors were analyzed at 6-month intervals. Differences in retention period according to hospitals’ organizational characteristics and nurses’ individual characteristics were analyzed using the chi-squared test. The likelihood of staying at work was analyzed using Kaplan–Meier survival curves with the log-rank test, and the hazard ratios of turnover at each retention period were analyzed using multilevel Cox proportional hazards analysis. The turnover rate of newly hired nurses within 1 year of employment was 26.4%, with 20.1% resigning within 6 months, and 6.3% resigning between 7 and 12 months. For all retention periods, turnover risk was associated with a higher bed-to-nurse ratio and older age. Higher standardized monthly income was associated with lower turnover between 13 and 18 months. Hospitals should develop nurse-retention strategies that consider risk factors for turnover. To reduce turnover, adequate nursing personnel should be maintained and fair compensation should be offered.

Being a Trainee Historian in Belgrade, 1989

The author reflects on the year 1989 when she was a newly hired trainee historian at the Institute for the History of the Serbian Labor Movement in Belgrade. The topic she was assigned in the Institute was the relationship of the Serbian Social Democratic Party to the war goals of Serbia 1912–1918. As her reading and writing progressed, by 1991 what the Serbian social democrats wrote about the Balkan Wars of 1912/13 began approaching her own political views. However, their antiwar positions at the beginning of the twentieth century sounded like a real feat compared to the virtually monolithic support for the war of 1991. This is how the author’s first research left her with the bitter impression that history, the seeming magistra vitae, had really taught nobody anything given that Serbian society was falling into the same trap as some 70 years before.

Rapid changes in overnight blood pressure after transitioning to early-morning shiftwork

Risk for adverse cardiovascular events increases when blood pressure does not decrease at night (“non-dipping”, <10% decrease from daytime blood pressure). Shiftwork alters relationships between behaviors and endogenous circadian rhythms (i.e., circadian disruption along with variable sleep timing), and chronic shiftwork increases cardiovascular disease risk. To determine whether transitioning into shiftwork changes the overnight blood pressure dipping pattern, we leveraged a natural experiment that occurs when newly-hired bus operators transition from a daytime training schedule into an early-morning shiftwork or daywork schedule. Twenty participants were studied in a 90-day protocol upon new employment and underwent cardio-metabolic health assessments, including ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, and weekly sleep-wake diaries. Measurements were repeated after ~30 and 90 days after transitioning to a day or an early-morning shiftwork schedule. Newly-hired shiftworkers displayed dramatic changes in overnight blood pressure, with 62% converting from a healthy dipping blood pressure to the non-dipping pattern, resulting in 93% of shiftworkers displaying a non-dipping phenotype at 90-days. In contrast, 50% of dayworkers had a non-dipping profile at baseline and this decreased to 0% at 90-days, a significant difference from shiftworkers (p=0.001). At 90-days, overnight blood pressure dipping was ~7% less in shiftworkers than dayworkers (-6.3% [95%CI -3.7 to -8.8%] vs -13.1% [-10.3 to -15.9%]: p<0.01), with changes in dipping associated with changes in sleep timing variability (r 2=0.28, p=0.03). The observed changes in overnight blood pressure dipping in newly-hired early-morning shiftworkers, which were associated with sleep timing variability, may be an early warning sign of increased cardiovascular risk among shiftworkers.

Effect of Training Program about Extravastion Injuries on Nurses’ Performance

Intravenous extravasation is a significant problem and one of the most commonly seen morbidity in infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. Nurses play a key role in preventing extravasation injuries. The study aimed to evaluate the effect of a training program about extravasation injuries on knowledge and practice of neonatal nurses. One-group pre-posttest quasi-experimental design was used. A convenient sample of 45 nurses was recruited from two different NICUs at Kafrelsheikh General Hospital Governorate and Health Insurance Hospital (El Ebour Hospital) at Kafrelsheikh city. Tools: Structured questionnaire interview and observational checklist were used. Results revealed that minority of nurses had satisfactory level of knowledge and performance in pre-program compared to all nurses in post- program. A significant differences for nurses total mean knowledge and performance scores between pre and posttest (P =0.00) was evident. In conclusion, knowledge and performance of nurses were significantly increased after receiving the training program suggesting its effectiveness. The study recommended that nurses who working in NICUs especially newly hired should be equipped with updated information about extravasation injuries through continuous educational programs. As well, an emphasis should be done regarding their practices and periodic checkup for their knowledge. Keywords: Preterm, NICU, Extravasation injuries, Nurses’ performance, Training program