Supervision of Telework: A Key to Organizational Performance

Many employers, including the federal government, have introduced or extended their telework arrangements because of the associated advantages, which include cost-efficiency, personnel pool enlargement, and employee well-being and motivation. Despite the continued interest from both academics and practitioners, little understanding has emerged about this work arrangement, with scant studies in public administration and organization literature. Among those studies, consensus has not been formed as to the organizational benefits, especially on performance or employee motivation. Previous studies have also overlooked the heterogeneous characteristics of teleworkers, the dynamics between teleworkers and nonteleworkers, and especially, the role of supervisors in managing telework to achieve proposed benefits. This study adds to previous literature by empirically examining the role of supervisors in managing/motivating teleworkers toward improving organizational performance, using data from the 2011 Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) Telework study. Findings suggest that supervision which includes results-based management and trust-building efforts improves performance of organizations that have telework arrangements.

La contribución de la universidad para mejorar el trabajo académico de los profesores de posgrado

The article is part of a quantitative and qualitative investigation about postgraduate professors that was developed in a public university from Central Mexico. The project had two phases: the application of a questionnaire, where we introduced open questions, and an interview program, with 10 questions, that was applied to 34 academics in that level of teaching. The purpose of the present work is the analysis of one of those questions that recuperates what was directly expressed by the subjects.: How can the university contribute to improve the academic work of the graduate professors? In the methodological part we present two procedures. The first one explains the process that was used to select the 34 academics interviewed and the second one is the definition of empirical categories, based in what the academics answered. We divided the article in two parts: a review of literature about Mexican publications and the role that the universities develop to sustain the substantive functions, and the arguments from the interviewed, classified in seven empirical categories. What they propose is that the institution should attend the following issues: find solutions to diverse bureaucratic-administrative problems, improve work conditions, take into account the questioning of the merit systems, promote support for teaching and for students, facilitate communication, develop the processes of evaluation, and foment the maturity of the collegiate bodies and review the general policies of the postgraduate studies. One of the principal conclusions is that the question How can the university contribute to improve the academic work of the graduate professors? detonated in the academics interviewed diverse concerns, reflexions, answers and proposals that can be recovered and be useful to improve our universities.

Does the Rank of the Perpetrator and Reporter Affect How Agencies Handle Workplace Aggression? A Test of Resource Dependence Theory

Workplace aggression is a concern in many organizations. Despite this, research has not significantly examined whether or not organizations stop workplace aggression. Little is known about hierarchical aggression, coworker aggression, subordinate aggression, and agencies’ tolerance or rejections of such behavior. This study begins to fill this void by exploring what happens after employees report workplace aggression. More specifically, this study uses data from the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) to examine workplace aggression committed by coworkers, supervisors, and subordinates and (a) the likelihood that perpetrators/agencies will retaliate against reporters of workplace aggression and (b) the likelihood that agencies will correct the adverse behavior in a manner that satisfactorily addresses the observers’ concerns. The findings in this article demonstrate that reporters of hierarchical aggression are more likely to face retaliation and less likely to get the behavior stopped than reporters of coworker aggression. Reporters of subordinate aggression, on the other hand, were not found to impact retaliation or corrective actions. Furthermore, the findings regarding retaliation were found to vary depending on whether or not the reporter was the target of the aggression.

The value of academics’ research-related online writing

Research productivity indicators tend to ignore online and social media writing of academics, nevertheless, many academics for instance tweet and blog. It thus seems that there is additional value for writing in these genres. This study sets out to explore what roles writing in these hybrid online genres plays in relation to academics’ research activities. Drawing on in-depth research interviews with 29 academics with various L1s from three different disciplines, the study focuses on the participants’ perceptions of tweeting and blogging, and how they value writing in these genres in relation to core research-writing genres in their fields. Besides some differences in the evaluations between the disciplines, in general the academics expressed a strong orientation towards evaluative regimes related to writing in their core genres, particularly institutional merit systems and peer review systems. At the same time, the hybrid genres seemed to gain value beyond these systems in providing opportunities for self-actualisation and communicating on one’s own terms. The findings provide important insights into the ecology of genres academics make use of in the process of knowledge production.

The Sexual Harassment of Federal Employees: Gender, Leadership Status, and Organizational Tolerance for Abuses of Power

Theory and research suggest that sexual harassment is often a dominance strategy used to undermine women’s power, but the precise relationships between government employees’ workplace power, organizational climate, and vulnerability to particular types of sexual harassment remain under-specified. This study analyzes data from the 2016 US Merit Systems Protection Board survey of the federal civilian workforce (the most comprehensive and up-to-date national data on workplace sexual harassment) to test predictions about how employees’ workplace power and their agency’s efforts to mitigate abuses of power affect their likelihood of experiencing sexual harassment. Findings reveal that women in leadership positions report more sexual harassment than non-leaders, and that team leaders (i.e., those without formal supervisory authority) and executives (i.e., those with the most authority) report more sexual harassment than women in middle management. At the organizational level, sexual harassment occurs in workplaces with higher levels of non-sexual aggression and among employees who perceive their agency as less proactive in preventing and responding to social inequity. Taken together, findings suggest that sexual harassment is a dominance strategy not unlike other forms of aggression used to undermine women in power, and that workplace climates that are effective at mitigating abuses of power reduce the likelihood of experiencing sexual harassment. These results have implications for how government agencies can implement policies that not only prevent harassment but also promote democracy and equity among an increasingly diverse federal workforce.

SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEWS: SISTEM MERIT DALAM MANAJEMEN SUMBER DAYA MANUSIA SEKTOR PUBLIK

This study aims to answer conceptual and practical questions about how the concept of merit systems in human resource management, and how to design and implement merit systems abroad. The method applied is Systematic Literature Reviews, which is a literature review method that identifies, evaluates, and interprets all findings on a research topic to answer previously determined research questions. It can be concluded that the concept of merit system in human resource management is a system that places employee competency and performance as the main considerations in selection and promotion. Until now, there is no single design of a merit system that is universal, because each country will make adjustments to their respective legal, social andcultural systems. Furthermore, as a relatively new system in Indonesia, the initial dynamics of the implementation of the merit system were still tinged with various technical and political problems at the regional level. Keywords: Human Resource Management; Merit System; Meritocracy

Performance Appraisal Problems in the Public Sector: Examining Supervisors’ Perceptions

Employee perceptions of performance appraisal processes have received considerable attention in the public management literature, but the views of supervisors who actually conduct the appraisals have received relatively little consideration. This article addresses that gap in the literature by examining supervisors’ perceptions of individual employee performance appraisal in the U.S. federal service in an attempt to identify structural and operational problems associated with that system as viewed by those responsible for making it work. Data are drawn from a Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), Merit Principles Survey, which contained a section asking supervisors to evaluate nine potential problems associated with performance appraisal. Responses indicated that inflated ratings, flawed standards, and a lack of support were the most problematic aspects of the appraisal process. An agency’s use of performance-based rewards, a supervisor’s belief that his or her own performance is assessed objectively, and supervisor age are consistent predictors of supervisors’ perceptions.

Speak softly and carry a big stick: How contract representatives deal with problems

The contracting process is fraught with difficulties. While successful completion of a contract is the goal, problems and challenges often arise. This requires skills in negotiation or mediation. Dealing with these problems, even if it means recommending contract termination, is part of the job of the contract representatives who oversee the specific projects. Data from the Contracting Officer Representatives survey conducted by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (2005) is used. An index of perceived outcomes (deliverables or services were timely, of high quality, complete, contributed to the agency mission, fair and reasonable, and of good value) was constructed. Roughly, half the respondents indicated that they had had to deal with a problem or challenge. Problem-solving actions (discussions with contactors and other governmental officials, the submission of official documentations, and the recommendation of non-payment or termination sanctions) were submitted to a regression analysis (R2 = .19). From a dozen options, only discussion of the problem with contractors and with their own supervisors along with the recommendation of contract termination registered some meaningful importance (Standardized Betas .1 to .2).