Date of Award
1-1-1991
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Center for the Advancement of Education
Advisor
Richard Goldman
Committee Member
Dr. L. Don Duvall
Keywords
administration, agency communication, communication, dialoguing meetings, direct-care staff, employee recognition, exemplary service, goal accomplishment, group care setting, honor society, intervention techniques, job satisfaction, morale improvement, morale levels, personal visits, proactive intervention, publication, qualitative improvement, quantitative improvement, recognition programs, recommendations, residential care, round table meetings, service sites, staff performance, staff support, staff turnover, supervisors, turnover reduction, workplace morale
Abstract
This practicum sought to elevate the morale level of direct-care staff in a residential group care setting. Corollary aims were to reduce staff turnover and to improve staff performance both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Four solutions strategies were attempted, which addressed the areas of staff support, communication, and recognition. The writer, representative of a top administrative position, conducted personal visits with staff at service sites. Three round table, dialoguing meetings were held within each of three regions. Agency communication was enhanced through retargeting and increasing the frequency of an intro agency publication so that its focus was on direct care staff. all staff were deputized to assist administration in identifying and recognizing direct care staff who demonstrated exemplary service. A system was established for receiving and acknowledging recommendations and for inducting selected ones into an honor society.
Three objectives were established for measuring the successes of goal accomplishment. Two of the three objectives were met with the third being impacted through an unexpected turn of events unrelated to the solution strategies. Turnovers which had averaged 10 per quarter were reduced to zero during the implementation period. Supervisors of direct-care staff reported improvement in the general morale levels of their supervisees following implementation. While self-reported job satisfaction ratings among these staff reflected some improvement, the degree of improvement did not meet the objective. The practicum clearly demonstrated the potential of proactive intervention techniques for improving the morale level of staff.