1
CULTIVATING THE 21st CENTURY WORKFORCE: A NARRATIVE RESEARCH STUDY
EXPLORING REFLECTIVE PRACTICE IN WORKPLACE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
WITHIN A GOVERNMENT CONTRACTED AMERICAN MARITIME MANUFACTURING
TRADE ORGANIZATION
A dissertation presented
by
Marianne Lawless
To
The School of Education
In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education
Dr. Margaret Gorman (Advisor) Dr. Tova Sanders Dr. Michael Warner
College of Professional Studies Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts November 2019 2
Abstract
Workforce development is growing and changing with organizational needs. Old ways of doing things, such as apprenticeship and mentoring programs, are identified as effective means with which a new workforce can be trained by a more experienced one. Local business needs are also taken into account as organizations look to community colleges and trade training schools to provide their employees with the skills necessary to do their jobs. This narrative study aimed to understand how workforce development professionals in a trade organization use reflective practices to perform their jobs. The study focused on seven workforce development professionals with 1 or more years of experience in two key areas of trades training: apprenticeship and new-hire programs and leadership development programs. The narrative was analyzed through Schon’s lens of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action and four conclusions were identified. The first conclusion was that a government regulated environment with regard to elements of training and grant management opportunities offered can affect the flexibility of a training program. The second conclusion was that employees often lack a clear organizational vision which prevents them from planning effectively. The third conclusion was that most changes in training are made for the future and not in the moment. The last conclusion was that participants work in highly self-regulated roles despite being in specific teams. From these conclusions, recommendations were determined and proposed.
Keywords: apprenticeship, leadership, mentoring, reflection-in-action, reflection-on- action, workforce development 3
Dedication
This thesis is dedicated to all the workforce development personnel who develop training for instructors to educate trades people who work tirelessly to build machinery that supports the
U.S. Navy and its mission to serve and protect the people of our great country. And a very special dedication to my never-ending support system, John, Emma, Ellie, Mattie, V, and the
Lawless and Muller families.
4
Acknowledgements
I was not sure I would even pursue a doctorate, but when my husband and I explored a doctorate program at another university, I decided to look into it. Northeastern provided the best program for me to obtain this degree. When I got accepted into the program, I taped the letter to our back door, so my husband would be the first to see it. When he did, he said, “You’re going to do this, right?” I hesitated, but excitedly said that I would.
I thought that distance learning would be difficult, and it was very difficult at times, but there is a great support structure at Northeastern University and even though learning is mostly online, I made some great friends fast.
I have many people to thank, including those mentioned in my dedication. Outside of my family, I’d like to thank Dr. Gorman for her tireless support and for really taking an interest in my topic. She convinced me to change my original topic, as I was also less than enthused with it, and she was right. I believe I ended up with a much better output than I would have. Dr.
Sanders and Dr. Michael Warner are also to be thanked for the time and energy they put into my personal process.
To my friends at NEU, at work and home, and in New Jersey and Florida: Thank you for showing boundless support and encouragement. Most of all, to my husband and family. I love you all and I am forever grateful for all your love and support.
5
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction ...... 11
Statement of Problem ...... 11
Problem of Practice ...... 12
Significance of the Problem ...... 13
Assumptions, Delimiters, Limitations ...... 13
Key Terms and Definitions ...... 14
Positionality ...... 15
Author Background ...... 16
Bias ...... 19
Conclusion ...... 20
Research Questions ...... 20
Theoretical Framework ...... 21
Summary ...... 22
Chapter 2: Literature Review ...... 23
Apprenticeships and Mentoring ...... 24
Mentoring ...... 26
Conclusion ...... 27
Leadership Development ...... 28
Instructional Strategies ...... 30 6
Reflective Practice ...... 36
Summation ...... 40
Chapter 3: Methodology ...... 42
Purpose and Research Questions ...... 42
Research Design ...... 43
Description of Participants ...... 44
Recruitment and Access ...... 46
Data Collection ...... 46
Phase I: Recruitment ...... 48
Phase II: Interviews ...... 48
Phase III: Data Collection ...... 49
Phase IV: Data Interpretation ...... 49
Data Analysis Overview ...... 49
Summary ...... 52
Chapter 4: Presentation of Findings ...... 53
Study Participants ...... 54
Overview of Research Methods ...... 55
Phase I: Participant Profiles ...... 56
Group A ...... 56
Group B ...... 60 7
Phase II: Emerging Codes and Themes ...... 62
Summary of Categories ...... 62
Discussion of Categories ...... 65
Phase III: Trends in the Data ...... 70
Phase IV: Analysis Related to Research Questions ...... 72
Research Question 1 ...... 72
Research Question 2 ...... 73
Research Question 3 ...... 74
Summary ...... 75
Chapter 5: Conclusions and Implications ...... 76
Interpretations and Conclusions ...... 76
Conclusion 1: Government Regulation Affects Flexibility ...... 77
Conclusion 2: Reflection on Organizational Planning ...... 78
Conclusion 3: Change for the Future ...... 80
Conclusion 4: Highly Self-Regulated Roles ...... 81
Implications for Theory ...... 83
Implications for Future Research ...... 83
Summary ...... 84
Appendix A ...... 91
Appendix B ...... 92 8
Appendix C ...... 94
Appendix D ...... 98
Appendix E ...... 101
Appendix F...... 108
Appendix G ...... 110
9
List of Figures
Figure 1. The Reflective Process………………………………………………………………..39
Figure 2. Steps to Data Collection………………………………………………………………48
Figure 3. The Cycle of Data Analysis…………………………………………………………...50
Figure 4. Participant Categories…………………………………………………………………54
10
List of Tables
Table 1. Workforce Development……………………………………………………………….35
Table 2. Literature on Reflective Practice………………………………………………………40
Table 3. Participant Demographics……………………………………………………………...45
Table 4. Overview of Data Cycle……………………………………………………………….51
Table 5. Categories and Definitions…………………………………………………………….63
Table 6. Categories and Themes………………………………………………………………...64
Table 7. Categories and Research Questions……………………………………………………65
11
Chapter 1: Introduction
Preparing a workforce for success in an organization requires thoughtful planning. In order for an organization to maintain a knowledgeable workforce, their workforce development team must continually provide opportunities that will benefit the worker and the employer. In a small community in Rhode Island, there is the development of workforce programs to address the need for job skills training for young people who will comprise the state’s future workforce
(Raimondo, 2018).
PrepareRI is an internship program developed in Rhode Island with a goal of maintaining work-based learning in state high schools and providing students with the necessary skills to be successful in for future employment (Raimondo, 2018). Governor Gina Raimondo felt strongly about providing needed job skills to the youth in the community as 70% of jobs will require postsecondary education. The governor did not want Rhode Island to fall behind in job development and felt this pipeline program was a much-needed solution to keep employers in the state and to provide residents with future job opportunities (Raimondo, 2018).
Although Rhode Island maintains a commitment to the manufacturing industry, progress in workforce development need not be exclusive to the trade organizations. Workforce development programs can be effective for nontrades professionals as well. The employer who invests time in their employees by recognizing their need to grow and develop may change the way those employees approach work and learning (Brown & Duguid, 1991).
Statement of Problem
The following section provides an overview of the problem of practice and the significance of the problem. The section is followed by a discussion of positionality and author 12 background. Finally, the section concludes with the research questions and the theoretical framework.
Problem of Practice
Being successful in the marketplace depends on learning (Argyris, 1991). Organizational leaders who want their organization to be successful need to have a program in place that enables employees to learn and grow with the company. Although that may sound like an easy task, organizational leaders find it increasingly difficult to identify effective ways to manage development programs for a growing workforce. Schon (1992) points out that professionals may not be able to effectively police themselves which results in an individual getting caught up in a problem that they would otherwise be expected to solve. In other words, the daunting task of creating an effective program may also be a hindrance to an individual who is unable to get out of their own way. Schon (1992) states, “real world problems do not come well-formed” (p.
53).
Professionals, at some point, will experience a time when they need to solve a problem in their organization. The way professionals respond is most interesting. They may take the long road by involving themselves fully in the problem, which takes them in all directions, or they may just muddle through solving the problem via intuition or pure guess work (Schon, 1992).
What does not often occur is a professional looking at how they solve problems and the process by which their methods take them from the beginning to the end. Often times, professionals will not consider themselves models of technical rigor (Schon, 1992). By seeking solutions through reflection, a professional may think about what they are doing while they are doing the task and others may look at the problem and how they solved it after it has happened (Schon, 1992). 13
Regardless of how to get from point A to point B, the method by which they do so is never fully analyzed.
In order to have success as a workforce development innovator, organizational leaders must reflect on how it is they do or do not contribute to the organization’s ability to learn
(Argyris, 1991). People are often unable to practice what they preach. The importance of practitioners doing what they say they will do creates this cycle of reflecting, or not reflecting, to achieve a goal (Greenwood, 1993).
Significance of the Problem
The responsibility to develop solid workforce development programs lays with the organizations. The problem is that resources are limited in some cases and workforce training programs do not have sound development. Schon (1982) stated that “professions have suffered a crisis of legitimacy rooted in both their perceived failure to live up to their own norms . . . and incapacity to help society achieve its objectives” (p. 39). In other words, putting development of people at the forefront is something often talked about but not often executed.
The development of professions also leads to debate. Leadership in some professions will opt for exploring a robust plan of development while others will narrow their focus and confine themselves as they are unsure of where to go with professional development (Schon,
1982). Schon (1982) stated that leaders in some professions may intentionally involve themselves in important problems but will flounder when it comes to solving those problems because they are unable to describe the process of how they go about their methods of inquiry.
Assumptions, Delimiters, Limitations
The study was guided by the following assumptions: 14
1. There is a need to describe innovative workforce development programs in the
trades.
2. Trades training programs use tried-and-true and varied training methods to reach
all employee populations.
3. Reflection of the workforce development process in a trade organization is an
integral part of professional learning.
4. Reflective practice is a necessary part of workforce development training
programs.
The researcher identified the following delimiters:
1. The focus was on trade organizations within the state of Rhode Island.
2. The focus was on workforce development and leadership program developers for
one operation.
3. The study focused on the training development perspective.
4. Data collection occurred via interviews only.
The researcher identified the following limitations:
1. The researcher explored the reflective practices of seven to 10 workforce
development professionals in one trade training department.
2. The study does not involve the perspective of the participants experiencing the
training provided.
Key Terms and Definitions
The following terms and definitions were used during the course of the study.
Apprenticeship: Apprenticeship is the act of teaching someone the skills needed to become an expert in a trade (McPhail, 2004). 15
Leadership: According to Peter Drucker (Riggio, 2009), leadership encompasses the following skills and qualities: strategic planning, ethical and integral behavior, a character and commitment that models the military, and the ability to motivate employees in a transformational way.
Mentoring: This is the transferring of tacit knowledge from one to another within an organization (Bear, 2018).
Reflection-in-action: According to Schon, this means to think about the task while doing it (as cited in Greenwood, 1993).
Reflection-on-action: This is the function of looking back on a task and coming to an understanding of it based on the outcome (Greenwood, 1993).
Workforce development: As defined by Merriam-Webster, workforce development is when workers are engaged in a specific activity or enterprise.
Positionality
There is a need to identify workforce development innovations within trade industries. Increasingly, manufacturing jobs are becoming more available and the employees that need to fill them do not always have the right training. As a result, jobs are left unfilled and organizations seeking specific skill sets are required to come up with effective training programs to attract and keep employees.
In this positionality statement, I describe my background in education and training as it pertains to my research focus. I also account for the biases I have as a teacher, instructor, and training coordinator in both the public and private sector as well as my current role as a training coordinator for a manufacturing organization. Additionally, as a trades training coordinator, I explain how I experienced workforce innovation within my own organization. 16
Author Background
Most of my experience in education and training over the last 15 years comes from my time as a public-school teacher in New Jersey. I taught middle school language arts to upwards of 65 students from grades 6 to 8. We had a novel-based reading curriculum and the writing curriculum was left up to the teacher. Collaboratively, the five other teachers and I agreed to cover the same writing genres, but we did not agree on how we would teach writing, mechanics, and grammar. There was a literature anthology that we paired with the selected novels, but reading strategies taught varied greatly among the teachers. Some spent a lot of time at the beginning of the year reviewing different reading strategies, and some did this instruction as they went along. There was no set plan, and no one was certain of what the others were doing. We had a teacher who was also a reading specialist, but it was infrequent that she would share her strategies for literacy instruction. She would comment that she did things differently, but the faculty never pressed her to elaborate.
Faculty were required to attend professional development courses and we were able to choose what we wanted to learn. Although the chosen classes or seminars had to be related to the teachers’ areas of instruction, there were no checks and balances on how to select a course. In other words, no one connected professional development to student outcomes or the needs of the students in the school. Language arts teachers could choose any related class. For instance, I attended a class on how to speed up the grading of papers by having students peer edit. Although that was an interesting learning experience, it was not a skill that I could do in a class the next day that would result in greater gains in reading achievement. All it did was save me time grading essays and at the end of the day, the skills from that professional development course were not effective. 17
When I moved to Rhode Island, I got a job in a private school as a fifth-grade teacher.
Instructional practice was treated much differently than in the public school. One of the drawbacks to the school I was in was that administration could not approve the entire cost of a professional development class as the budget did not allow it. Only a portion of it was paid, which was a deterrent for those considering taking a course or attending a seminar. Additionally,
I felt that without a professional development requirement, there was less incentive to seek out learning opportunities. That worked against me in the long run as I knew that I was not making any gains in my instructional decisions by not attending any professional development classes in the 3 years I was at the school. The younger teachers that were in the building were of great help when it came to upkeep with trends in education. We also had a reading specialist, who taught first grade, but he or she did not have the time to share best practices with the rest of the faculty.
In my last year of being a classroom teacher, the head of the private school appointed me the faculty leader for K–5 teachers. This was not my sole responsibility as I also taught fifth grade. I had a lot of plans to help teachers move forward in their instructional decisions, but I lacked the time to properly implement any meaningful change. Also, through conversations at team meetings, we found out that students lacked basic math skills. This became the main concern and that was where all of our attention went. The K–5 teachers spent the better part of a year helping students master basic math.
While working to correct the math deficiencies, the faculty also knew there was an underlying problem with literacy development. There were a handful of students that lacked essential reading skills to help them be successful in the next grade. We had one student in fourth grade that had been reading at a second-grade level. There was one resource teacher, who was not a certified special education teacher, and she did not address the problem until the 18 student was halfway through fourth grade. When I confronted the teacher, she sprang into action, and this student received one-on-one reading instruction for the remainder of the year. I am unaware of his current progress. Nevertheless, this had gone unaddressed since the student was in the first grade.
As a result of leaving the classroom, I became a regional consultant for the language arts curriculum, so I have observed teachers in several public schools across the Northeast region being unable to deliver reading instruction to their students. Their routines do not engage students and the use of the materials that they have for literacy instruction are not used with fidelity. Now that I am out of the classroom and have the opportunity to see what other teachers are doing, I find that due to a lack of professional development, teachers have not been able to keep up with current research in literacy instruction. When training the teachers on our programs, they appear lost. When asked what instructional choices they make for students to gain academic vocabulary acquisition, for example, they do not share ideas or feel that they have any good ideas. Then when presented with choices for instructional enhancement, they report feeling overwhelmed. The pressures on teachers to deliver effective instruction to meet high- stakes testing is increasing and without the proper support, teachers and students will flounder. I was disheartened by my observations and, again, found another role in training in which to transfer my skills.
Working in the training department of a manufacturing company has enlightened me to the need for clear training expectations for tradespeople. I have found that secondary schools who once offered “shop” classes are no longer offering that type of training. Students who find interest in that will need to attend vocational school or attend a technical college to strengthen their trades skills. 19
Bias
As a former language arts teacher, I understand the nature of subjectivity. When students write, there needs to be some objectivity to grading the writing process. Student responses to reading should be viewed with a critical eye and ear.
Preconceptions or predispositions may produce bias as Jupp and Slattery (2010) explain. I may have an innate bias being a former educator, instructor, and now training coordinator with researching problems of practice related to workforce development. When looking at the quality of employee development programs and best practices, my personal opinions may create some misrepresentations. Maintaining objectivity with my ideas about the training culture will ensure that the research will be properly represented. Machi and McEvoy
(2016) described personal bias as a potential problem as it risks the researcher jumping to conclusions about their topic. Roulston and Shelton (2015) point out that subjectivity is a problem and a researcher must control bias and opinion (Machi & McEvoy, 2016). Personal bias gets in the way and research is skewed when subjectivity intersects with data when completing a study. Controlling bias can be achieved by simply confronting it and making a purposeful effort to remain open-minded (Machi & McEvoy, 2016). Any attachment to the research can lead to a compromised study.
Recognizing my own personal bias as a former teacher and instructor was a step in the right direction to correct and redirect efforts to accomplish a successful study. Knowing ahead of time that I could be subjective when it comes to recognizing workforce development initiatives enlightened me to the fact that I should continue to work toward a neutral position to be most effective. Getting emotional about a problem of practice may be natural, but it will impact a neutral outcome and that was my constant reminder. 20
Bias problems that I faced came from my experience as a teacher, but also from the perspective of an educational consultant for literacy programs for a major publisher as well as my role in a trades organization. As an educator, I found that the perspective between public and private schools could be slightly different in culture, but very much the same in content delivery. The private school where I worked delivered similar, if not the same, instruction as many of the public schools in my area. The only difference with instructional delivery was class size, which was considerably smaller in the private school. Perhaps, the lack of a literacy coach or in-class support teacher that most public schools employ was also a difference. As Briscoe and Ahmad (1990) pointed out, a researcher’s position can affect outcomes and removal of bias may represent situations more authentically. Consequently, I reminded myself to remain neutral in order to deliver an authentic study.
Conclusion
Any research that I conduct is a reflection on me as a scholar practitioner and my experience as an educator. My problem of practice in this study was based on my experience as a teacher and as a consultant of language arts materials for a major publisher. Selecting the right theoretical lens helped me narrow the topic even further and produce a genuine study with unbiased results. The fact that I had moved into a consultant role gave me a greater ability to be observant and, perhaps, be more objective in my research. I saw this as an advantage as I was able to see teachers in action and further refine my topic of research.
Research Questions
The purpose of this study was to examine the reflective practices of workforce development programs to achieve greater gains in employee motivation and organizational outcomes. The primary research question for this study was: How do professionals guiding the 21 workforce development programs within a U.S. trade association describe their reflective practices as they seek to design innovative features of their various programs to meet the emerging needs of their industry?
Follow-up research questions for this study included:
1. How have the workforce development programs evolved over time?
2. How does the process for developing a comprehensive approach to workforce
development programs meet the needs of the organization?
The objective of exploring the research questions was to identify how employees in workforce development within a trade organization use reflective practices to inform changes in employee training and to identify practices by which an organization develops and refines workforce development programs to meet the needs of the industry.
Theoretical Framework
Donald A. Schon’s Reflective Practice (1982) was the primary framework guiding this research. Schon’s reflection-on-action and reflection-in-action focused the research with the workforce development programs in place in the organization. This included reflection on how employees were recruited and evaluated as well as on how apprenticeship programs, leadership development programs, and workforce development initiatives were carried out. The basis of his framework is built on technical rationality, which means that the professional selects the best means by which to solve a problem (Schon, 1982).
The experience of reflection in the workplace and how that changes the progression of training programs was key to the study. Insights gained from trades training managers and training coordinators on how they saw the program working for them and how they utilized employee feedback to change their offerings was the driver of the reflective practice. Whether or 22 not the training department recognized reflection and acted upon it guided the discussions around my research.
When professionals fail to recognize and respond to conflict, they fall short of their own expectations and the expectations of those around them. The argument professionals sometimes posit is that the pressures to meet expectations create their lack of control over situations.
Additionally, professionals sometimes argue that there is a lack of division of labor and responsibilities, which can result in calls for structural change (Schon, 1982). This can become a barrier through which the professional goes beyond the boundaries of professional competence
(Schon, 1982). This is what becomes the professional’s education crisis of confidence (Schon,
1982).
With the concept of reflection-in-action, Schon (1982) described a methodology whereby individuals think about what they are doing while they are doing it. The day-to-day knowledge of their actions, “knowing-in-action,” is the practitioner dealing with situations as they occur and while they are occurring (Schon, 1982). Conversely, with the concept of reflection-on-action,
Schon’s (1982) pointed to the practitioner’s ability to look back on a situation and find a relationship between what had been done by identifying gaps and opportunities the next time the practitioner finds him or herself dealing with an event.
Summary
Chapter 1 outlined the scope of the study. The introduction, problem of practice, and positionality were presented followed by the research questions and the theoretical framework guiding the study. Key terms were defined and limitations to the study were described. Chapter
2 reviews the literature associated with workforce development through apprenticeships, mentoring, and leadership development. 23
Chapter 2: Literature Review
Workforce development is a focus of any organization interested in attracting and retaining talent. From internships and apprenticeships to ongoing training and development, organizations must provide opportunities for employees to experience growth within the organization through training and development. A highly skilled workforce is necessary to remain competitive in today’s global marketplace, from information technology, to health care, to manufacturing jobs. Companies today are also developing more training and development programs to keep up-to-date with ever-changing technology (Hindman, 2016).
Programs that exist from Baltimore to Chicago demonstrate the need for community- based workforce development programs to provide opportunities to the younger and sometimes disadvantaged population. Job training programs in Chicago and New York have helped improve job opportunities and balance the labor market (Balsas, Swingruber, & Lin, 2018;
Schrock, 2013). Similarly, in Baltimore, providing development opportunities to young people with an organized workforce development program helped support a youth population that would not have otherwise gone to college (Powell, Powell, Martin, Philip, & Astone, 2017).
The benefits of reflective practice in the workplace as it pertains to workforce development cannot be underestimated. Industries ranging from health care to education have sought out the benefit of weaving reflective practice into the workday. A subsection of reflective practice in the workplace accompanies the literature surrounding workforce development programs.
This literature review addresses programs that are in place around the world to help move workforce development forward. Subsections of this review include literature around 24 apprenticeships and mentoring programs as a means to train new employees, leadership development programs, and the various instructional strategies utilized in the workplace.
Apprenticeships and Mentoring
The words apprenticeship and mentoring may sound old-fashioned to some, but these methods are making their way back into the workplace as valid and important ways to train employees. Each provides close contact between an expert and an employee as a means to impart institutional wisdom to the employee. Apprenticeships and mentoring do not only apply to new hires. These training methods can be utilized to cross-train employees, which will help the employee and the organization become more well-rounded. Apprenticeships and mentoring programs can attract new employees seeking a specific skill set.
Apprenticeships
Apprenticeship programs are experiencing a resurgence. An old way of developing employees in an organization is, once again, helping to make organizations more competitive in the way of workforce development. With the right candidates, an organization with an apprenticeship program will have employees learning the business from the ground up (Rose,
2008). According to the U.S. Department of Labor, apprenticeship programs are a proven approach for preparing workers for jobs while helping to develop a skilled workforce that can meet the needs of a business (Guth, 2018). Apprenticeships are further described as earn-as-you- learn roles that benefit both employees and businesses because the employee can get on-the-job- training while the employer can customize training to meet the needs of the business. This means that the apprentice can experience instructor-led training along with university-based training to help businesses with advancing technologies and innovations in the fields of manufacturing, health care, and information technology. 25
Community colleges have played an important role in apprenticeship programs. Many have formed partnerships with local businesses to form or strengthen them (Guth, 2018;
McPhail, 2004). Under President George W. Bush, in 2003, the U.S. Department of Labor reported more than 32,000 national apprenticeship programs with more than 270,000 participants
(McPhail, 2004). The apprenticeship programs at the time did not report the number of community colleges that participated, but there had already been a surge of colleges partnering with businesses to develop job training programs (McPhail, 2004). The community college partnership provides value in many ways. The alliance formed between a trade organization and a business can design a specialized program just for that workforce. Other colleges will coordinate student enrollment in job-related technical classes. The community college provides flexibility between the programs they offer and the needs of the business (Guth, 2018; McPhail,
2004).
Apprenticeship programs are beneficial when building job opportunities in manufacturing. In 2016, it was reported that approximately 600,000 jobs were not being filled in manufacturing because job seekers lacked the necessary skills to fill those positions (Hindman,
2016). That figure was expected to grow over time if employers did not ramp up training within their organizations. Redesigning apprenticeship programs to go beyond on-the-job training can help fill open positions in welding, sheet metal work, pipe fitting, and engineering. Traditional apprenticeships followed the watch-what-I-do model, but as manufacturing has progressed, watching is not enough to train today’s workforce. Along with government resources, organizations can enhance their apprenticeship programs by partnering with academic institutions (Guth, 2018; Hindman, 2016; Kustush, 2019). 26
John Hindman (2016) is a Tooling University leader who advocated for a framework of learning that helps identify specific skills and knowledge needed to be successful in today’s market. His framework includes a blend of instructor-led training along with on-the-job and online training through a learning management system. Hindman (2016) specified that the apprenticeship framework ties in traditional models of learning with the aforementioned training opportunities to help customize any apprenticeship program a company may want to offer. Hindman (2016) explained that apprenticeship programs benefit employees by allowing them to start work and earn money while learning their trade.
Mentoring
Mentoring provides an opportunity for a cross-generational work experience. When a new worker is paired with a more seasoned worker, the new worker benefits from the experience of the seasoned worker. As the workforce grows and changes, companies need to be cognizant of how older generations can provide value to new employees. Mentoring is a way of informal learning that pairs individuals together to share knowledge. The newer worker gains more hands-on, real-time experience through mentorship versus traditional instructor-led training.
Similar to apprenticeship programs, the mentor–mentee relationship has the possibilities of becoming a valuable partnership over time (Daniels, 2013).
Action research has been used by the North East Neurosciences Network to provide a collaborative mentorship program to attract and retain staff. This particular framework places practitioners in active learning situations thereby providing them opportunities to problem-solve and make decisions. The North East Neurosciences Network found this type of workforce training a more productive cycle of learning in place of the workshop-based approach. Action research provided these practitioners with the ability to collaborate with colleagues and become 27 more informed by doing the work with others and reflecting on the experience (Akhurst &
Lawson, 2013).
Conclusion
Apprentice programs are still seen as a valuable way for employees to gain the skills necessary to stay on the job. Although they may be viewed as an old-school method of training, an apprentice program allows a more skilled worker to be paired with a novice worker so that he or she can impart knowledge of the job to the newer employee. Pairing a new employee with a more experienced worker to help the new employee learn from the ground up ensures that expertise is passed down and no job is done in isolation. Community colleges have also played an important role in the development of industry apprenticeship programs. They are willing to partner with local organizations to help them develop programs that help attract and retain employees.
Much like apprentice programs, mentoring is also a valuable way for employees to learn and grow within an organization. By pairing employees with seasoned experts, the employee, whether being new to the organization or with some organizational experience, actively learns through one-on-one training. The expertise of the mentor is also a great training asset to an organization. That employee is seen as a valued expert who is called upon to train newer staff and through this method, much like the apprenticeship programs, preserve institutional knowledge. The apprentice and the mentee gain organizational knowledge that they can pass down to the next new hires, as well.
28
Leadership Development
As organizations refine their methods of training and development of their frontline workforce, leadership training programs have also evolved since their introduction in the early
1900s. Executive development programs identify potential leaders training within the company or in partnership with external training resources (Wuestewald, 2016). Leadership training has experienced changes over the years from the industrial age to the digital age. Leadership development programs of today will involve, among many other categories, the understanding of global competition, diversity, management hierarchies, mass media, and succession planning
(Griffith, Baur, & Buckley, 2018; Wuestewald, 2016). These options to develop leaders from inside the company require planning, but companies that do this see returns on their investment
(Griffith et al., 2018).
Cohorts are also integrated into current leadership training programs. Individuals may experience executive development programs in concert with formal university training and in- house instructors at their organization to address other barriers to organizational development such as culture and change initiatives (Wuestewald, 2016). In addition to university cohorts, local businesses, and community outreach can provide a path for individuals to gain leadership skills. Companies in similar industries have partnered to share resources in leadership training, reducing costs and providing networking opportunities at the same time (Wuestewald, 2016).
Another form of leadership development may involve case-study-based learning. In this model, individuals are presented with actual workplace circumstances and, with guidance from instructors, students work on refining skills related to problem identification and solution through discussion. This type of cognitive-based learning is effective for developing critical thinking skills. What would need more attention is the social and behavioral skills, team 29 building, and other soft skills that typical classroom-based learning does not always address
(Wuestewald, 2016).
Any type of training, leadership or otherwise, must account for the generational gap.
Millennials are interested in becoming influential in leadership roles which means that a sustainable leadership program may be a more vital part of learning and development in an organization (Lykins & Pace, 2013). In a study, millennials reported feeling they did not have the necessary skills needed prior to entering the workforce (Lykins & Pace, 2013). Leadership programs for millennials are likely to be more customized. For instance, development programs may include on-the-job training along with specific performance objectives and tuition reimbursement for continued education. Additionally, millennials might experience a rotational program to develop a more well-rounded experience in their organization (Lykins & Pace,
2013).
Leadership programs are an important facet of workforce development training programs. Organizations who train their staff and offer leadership programs may experience a more dedicated workforce. Leadership programs that offer a continuing education piece through partnerships with local universities add value to any workforce development program. Not only do their employees gain organizational knowledge, but the university programs—or even outsourced leadership programs—train the employees in the necessary skills to develop into supervisors and managers of the organization. Companies administering leadership programs and offering these opportunities to their staff may also experience a more well-rounded workforce.
30
Instructional Strategies
Considering the needs of the workforce, higher education has been focused not only on student enrollment, but on students completing their college degrees (Soliz, 2016). Concerns about a properly trained workforce for jobs that are available have become a focus for local community colleges as they can offer college credits and, in many cases, vocationally oriented programs for those labor markets with a strong need for graduates with a specific skill set (Soliz,
2016). From construction to manufacturing, students will experience a return on their investment when they find jobs that are in their field of study. Any successful workforce training program at a community college will experience benefits that range from partnerships with the local employers to a more focused development program that brings in strong leadership candidates as well as innovation in curriculum development to meet the needs of the local workforce (Soliz, 2016).
A statewide program in Virginia has resulted in positive outcomes in technical education in Virginia’s communities (Cantor, 1999). The success of the program paired secondary education with a 2-year postsecondary program that integrated technical learning targeted at the needs of nearby industries. Students can earn certificates or associate degrees and could secure placement opportunities with local businesses or opportunities to continue with their higher education, or both (Cantor, 1999). This program has provided major outcomes in program structures and workforce development by creating partnerships with local industry, developing programs that support high demand in technical training, collaborating with secondary and postsecondary schools, and providing programs designed to increase vitality in the classroom and workplace (Cantor, 1999). 31
Providing targeted training for students coming out of college is as important as developing the existing workforce. Employee retention strategies include training opportunities to increase knowledge so that employees do not seek opportunities elsewhere. With the growing and aging workforce, training opportunities must be inclusive of a broad range of the employee experience, from the new hires to those who have been with company for many years. The instructional designers must consider robust training that includes the younger and older learners in the organization. Multigenerational learning is linked to greater employee productivity and organizational profitability (van Rooij, 2012). Although many employers provide instruction in an online format, instructional designers must consider that certain training may not be as effective in an online format. Evidence of effective workforce training designs comes from those focused on the varied experience of their employees, training on critical skills, the knowledge that provides challenges and opportunities, and a flexible instructional pace (van
Rooij, 2012).
The American Society for Training and Development explained that workforce learning must demonstrate value and a means of measurement to evaluate existing training programs and a process of improving future training programs (Mohamed, Rasli, & Mansor, 2012). Soft skill development such as listening skills, leadership training, and team building training, are as important as any technical skills necessary for an employee to perform their job (Mohamed et al.,
2012). Organizational budgets can be quite large for training and development, so an effective and efficient program is one that includes benchmarks and a method for evaluating training outcomes. Many organizations do not invest in the evaluation of training as it is typically a daunting task. Organizations that do are able to decide whether or not their efforts in training are bringing about the necessary returns in human capital (Mohamed et al., 2012). 32
Customizing training approaches is demonstrated in the assess–train–assess model. A study in the United Kingdom included the assess–train–assess model to improve the vocational qualifications of some of the United Kingdom’s workforce population (Miller, Hillage, Newton,
& Jagger, 2005). Miller et al. (2005) cited research conducted in the United Kingdom in 2002 indicating that an initiative from the chancellor encouraged employers to invest in the skills of their employees with the lowest skill set. The Employer Training Pilot was established and the core offerings were free training, or highly subsidized training, paid time off for workers so they could attend training, wage compensation, and guidance. This initiative was designed to encourage employers to help their employees find the training that suited their needs. The
Employer Training Pilot process confirmed that much of the training provided was on-site through the employer and that employees spent half their time in direct contact with their trainers, which generated high levels of satisfaction among their workforce and raised employee qualifications among 42% of their participants (Miller et al., 2005).
In 2008, a Towers Perrin study of nearly 90,000 employees found that only 21% of employees were fully engaged in their work. The study also identified that employees wanting the opportunity to improve skills and abilities was the second-most driver of employee engagement across all career stages (Crick, Haigney, Huang, Coburn, & Goldspink, 2013). The study identified employee engagement as the extent to which senior leaders were interested in employee well-being, the learning and development opportunities the organization provided, and the image the company projected with regard to social responsibility (Crick et al., 2013). When employees are engaged by being trained in their area and cross-trained in others, they can provide an organization with higher operational performance (Uhrin, Bruque-Camara, &
Moyano-Fuentes, 2016). 33
Successfully managing a multigenerational workforce includes flexibility in training that fits both learning styles of older and newer generations in the workplace (Ware, Craft, &
Kerschenbaum, 2007). Baby Boomers born between 1943 and 1960 would choose instructor-led training over technology-based training. Generation Xers who were born between 1960 and
1980 are much more comfortable with business technology and are more willing to adapt to formats in e-learning which provide them with greater flexibility. Millennials born between
1981 and 2000 expect a technologically based work environment along with a collaboratively centered work environment (Ware et al., 2007). A blended approach to workplace learning can meet the needs of many generations and organizations need to provide many options in training for employees to achieve (Ware et al., 2007). Instructional designers are pressed to generate content in new formats that include the use of technology as well as being able to provide instruction at the time of need. This model puts trainers outside of classroom-based instruction with more time being spent facilitating with their peers (Ware et al., 2007). Training developed will be in shorter segments and trainers will be required to break down information in a more compact and easier to digest manner for employees (Ware et al., 2007).
Learning and development initiatives in the workplace can be challenging (Abu Mansor,
Saidi, & Idris, 2012). A study of effective learning and development measures at a Malaysian bank confirmed that top management commitment was seen as one of the critical success factors in workforce development. Upper management was viewed as the top provider and supporter of learning and development initiatives. Additionally, outsourcing was another factor in effective learning and development initiatives as it reduced costs by freeing up in-house employees from conducting training so that they could focus on their own work. The study also revealed that 34 bringing in external consultants was another factor in effective learning and development (Abu
Mansor et al., 2012).
Talent management generates value for an organization when leaders exploit their internal resources to implement strategies that enable them to respond to market demands
(Sparrow & Makram, 2015). Value is created when an organization can attract, acquire, and retain talent. In the case of a public health organization, employees’ expertise became an important part of how they translated their institutional knowledge to the public sector
(Meyerson, Haderxhanaj, Comer, & Zimet, 2018). Supportive workforce development programs that provide education and career paths for workers through on-site courses and the provision of time for professional development go beyond just training the employee for everyday tasks
(Daily, Morris, & Hoge, 2014).
An Australian rail system used e-learning as a tool for workforce development (Becker,
Fleming, & Keijsers, 2012). Although the workforce was predominantly blue collar and without secondary or trade certificates, the rail system was looking for a way to attract young workers. In the past, the training for the rail workers did not include computer technology. Training through e-learning was utilized through Human Resource Information
System, stand-alone platforms, or even outsourcing initiatives for rail employees. The rail systems used e-learning as their budgets permitted. This study showed that all rail systems used a blended learning training system as the organizations did not rely on e-learning alone. The form of instruction was a combination of e-learning, instructor-led training, and on-the-job learning (Becker et al., 2012).
Varied instructional strategies have contributed to an employee desire for organizations to differentiate their learning and gain a competitive advantage. Continuous learning 35 opportunities, whether formal or informal, have played an important role in retaining human capital. Acquiring job-related skills and the ability to share that knowledge can happen in many ways. From e-learning to on-the-job training, workforce development instructional strategies are evolving areas of human resources. Table 1 shows empirical studies regarding workforce development.
Table 1
Workforce Development
Author Summary Insights
Daily et al. (2014) Discussed career paths to The key to retaining staff was retain direct-care workers in to offer ongoing training and the behavior health workforce provide opportunities for growth.
Meyerson et al. (2018) Explored how the public Public health officials had health workforce translates little to no training on how to institutional knowledge to communicate policies to the benefit the public public.
Powell et al. (2017) Examined the Baltimore Support provided by workforce programs to better workforce development assist youth in gaining programs in the community employment was a key component to bettering the lives of the youth population.
Schrock (2013) Explored Chicago’s urban The ability to meet the needs workforce development of local employers through programs to benefit progressive public workforce disadvantaged youth and development programs meet the needs of employers benefited the labor market.
Uhrin et al. (2016) Discussed the relationship Operational performance can between workforce be met with improved development and efficiencies practices in workforce in organizations development programs.
36
Reflective Practice
In general, reflective practice is when someone thinks about what they are doing and what they think they should do next (Peters, 1991; Schon, 1982). Reflective practice in human resource development can been seen as problematic due to the ever-changing nature of professional practice (Mott, 1996). Professionals may rely on research to help them problem- solve, but often times, they do not understand the research they are reading (Mott, 1996).
Reflective practice involves critical thinking and in order to incorporate that into the workplace, the professional needs to know how reflective practice works and the benefits they can gain from it in their profession.
Reflective practice can help professionals understand how experiences contribute to their personal knowledge (Schon, 1982; Wilkinson, 1999). When individuals understand the nature of reflective practice, they gain greater opportunities to identify their own potential. van Manen
(1995) described John Dewey’s perspective on reflection as knowing “what we are about when we act” (p. 33). To be a reflective practitioner, it is important to understand what that entails.
There are many ways to incorporate reflective practice into professional life. Educators typically do it on a daily basis and chances are that most professionals who want to improve would look back on their day and see where they can make changes to processes and what they could have done better. Reflection in real time improves the quality of individual practice (Hora &
Smolarek, 2018).
Schon’s (1982) reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action represent ways in which professionals can look at their daily activities. Each methodology is based on how each person looks at an experience while it is happening or looks back on an experience after it has happened.
Professionals who are cognizant of their experience while it is happening will be reflecting-in- 37 action and those who look back on the experience after it is done are reflecting-on-action. These processes are further described along with examples of industries that have incorporated these methods into their own practice.
Schon (1982) described the concept of reflection-in-action as the process an individual undertakes when thinking about what they are doing while they are doing it. One study regarding how a group of nurses committed to their practice focused on how they reflect while in action. Nguyen-Truong, Davis, Spencer, Rasmor, & Dekker (2018) analyzed the use of reflection in the nursing profession. Four innovative techniques were used to educate nurses on the value of reflection in their practice. The purpose was to promote reflection and gather feedback on experiential learning activities.
Nguyen-Truong et al. (2018) showed three methods by which nurses learned by reflection. One method of reflection was through poetic reading which connected nurses and nursing students with the complex world of nursing. The read-aloud was to help facilitate and validate reflective activity through the sharing of difficult situations in the nursing profession.
The poems were original, which brought the nurses directly into reflective practice. Another effective method was the use of mindfulness activities. This type of learning made the nurses and students aware of working in the moment and helped them develop their ability to react under stressful situations while caring for critically ill patients. The third method involved hands-on reflection through artwork. The value in this exercise demonstrated to nurses and nursing students that reflection is helpful for not only their practice, but their own well-being and the well-being of their patients (Nguyen-Truong et al., 2018).
Reflection-on-action refers to the ability to look back on a situation and find an opportunity to learn from the event should it be experienced again (Schon, 1982). Irwin, Hanton, 38 and Kerwin (2004) believed Schon’s (1982) theory of reflective practice was important to use as it centers around specific knowledge through professional practice. Irwin et al. (2004) interviewed elite men’s gymnastics coaches to determine what they did to learn how to coach.
Most of their knowledge of coaching came from past experiences, mentorship, and pure trial- and-error. Irwin et al., (2004) determined that past experiences were key to their learning and argued their accumulated knowledge resulted from reflection-on-action.
Similar to the Irwin et al. (2004) study, Watts (2019) examined how reflective practice was used within the education of social workers and identified it as a core aspect of social work
(Watts, 2019). Specifically, Watts (2019) explored how experience and reflective practice was used in teaching, learning, and in practice and found that the use of reflexivity provided social workers a way to learn through diverse thinking and teaching about how to critically reflect on a situation (Watts, 2019).
Davies (2012) determined that the inability to reflect on past actions may result in poor insight and poor performance. She studied reflection and ways to maintain professional competency, especially in the world of health care, and broke her findings down into a pneumonic that any mentor could use to teach reflection to students (Davies, 2012). Figure 1 shows the reflective process outlined by Davies (2012). 39
• Relate experience in thoughts and feelings R
• Evaluate thoughts E
• Formulate learning need F
• List attributes of action L
• Explore alternative approaches E
• Conclude main points C
• Think of a plan resulting in change of practice T
Figure 1. The reflective process. Adapted from “Embracing Reflective Practice,” by S. Davies, 2012, Education for Primary Care, 23(1), pp. 9– 12.
Davies (2012) recommended teaching this model, which was influenced by Schon’s (1982) work, to teach students how to embrace critical reflection in one’s practice to maintain professional standards.
Table 2 shows scholarly work regarding reflective practice amongst professionals.
40
Table 2
Literature on Reflective Practice
Author Summary Insights
Davies (2012) Discussed how reflective practice can work and benefit learners in the health care profession
Hora & Smolarek (2018) Explored the reflective All of these studies reinforced practices of postsecondary the positive effects of how faculty reflection can influence any worker in any profession. Irwin et al. (2004) Discussed how reflection-in- This ranged from how and reflection-on-action helps teachers use reflection when gymnastics coaches improve creating lessons for students to how professionals use Nguyen-Truong et al. (2018) Explored the various reflective practices to help reflective methods and improve their own work techniques used in the health performance. care professions
Watts (2018) Discussed the effects of reflective practice in Australian social work
Summation
Successful workforce development programs adapt to the organization’s employee population. A company that invests the time into analyzing the best methods of educating their employees in necessary job skills has spent that time well. From apprenticeship and mentoring programs, to on-the-job and instructor led training, to computer-based learning, and to leadership training, any organization can create a learning platform to reach the needs of the employees to help move their business forward.
There are many opportunities for organizations to provide effective training programs to their staff. From on-the-job training to computer-based training, organizations have the ability to 41 provide their employees with well-rounded organizationally based training. Methods that have been discounted in the past, such as apprenticeships and mentoring, are valuable ways in which an organization can train their employees. Organizations can also seek assistance from organizations in their communities such as local businesses or community colleges.
A blended approach to learning is an instructional strategy that can work for an organization. From one-on-one training, instructor-led classroom learning, and computer-based learning modules, an organization can effectively train new and more experienced employees. A blended learning platform can accommodate an employee population of many ages and levels of experience, and a variety of instructional methods can reach an entire employee base and potentially help in employee retention efforts if the training is ongoing throughout an employee’s career.
The use of reflective practice when developing workforce programs can aid in the creation of new and better opportunities for the employees served. Using reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action in practice can ensure that practitioners are looking at what opportunities they are providing employees and whether those offerings need to change. When put in place, active reflection with employees involved in workforce development programs can lead to a more sustainable workforce.
Organizations can develop a workforce development program to meet their needs and keep up with ever-changing instructional methods. Leveraging the experienced employee population and seeking opportunities by partnering with colleges and trade schools, while also providing leadership and soft-skills training, may produce gains in employee retention. An organization’s market may dictate what they are able and willing to offer, but those that invest in their employees are serving their business well. 42
Chapter 3: Methodology
This chapter outlines the methodology chosen to study the reflective processes of individuals who develop and implement trades training and leadership training programs in a manufacturing firm. The purpose and research questions are restated along with the research design, description, and method of participant recruitment, followed by data collection and analysis.
Purpose and Research Questions
The purpose of this study was to examine the reflective practices of workforce development programs designed to achieve greater gains in employee motivation and organizational outcomes. The focus was on a trade organization in Rhode Island and the employees responsible for the development and implementation of training programs for trades, leadership, and apprentice programs. The primary research question guiding this study was:
How do professionals guiding the workforce development programs within a U.S. trade association describe their reflective practices as they seek to design innovative features of their various programs to meet the emerging needs of their industry?
Follow-up research questions for this study included:
1. How have the workforce development programs evolved over time?
2. How does the process for developing a comprehensive approach to workforce
development programs meet the needs of the organization?
The following section describes the research design and analytical method selected for this study.
43
Research Design
The use of narrative research was selected for this study to help the researcher gain information about the experiences of experts in trades training workforce development from a major manufacturer in Rhode Island. Collecting their stories allowed the researcher to examine similarities and differences in the experiences among colleagues who work in trades training. From this examination, conclusions were drawn as to how trades training professionals felt about the implementation of the innovative programs offered at their manufacturing site.
Narrative research is generally rooted in the interview process designed to draw out the big-picture stories related to participant experiences around the chosen topic (Chase,
2011). Chase (2011) explained that the smaller stories that recount everyday events rather than the bigger picture also have value. Narrative stories can also produce a timeline of events, which contains a beginning, middle, and ending, much like a novel or short story (Creswell,
2015). Journals and field notes from either the researcher, the participant, or both are also methods of collecting data (Creswell, 2015). Family stories and artifacts such as photos or other collected items can also trigger the participant’s memory and could become part of a narrative study (Creswell, 2015).
Narrative research is part of a social science surrounding the gathering of personal stories around the experiences of the stakeholders involved in a matter of study. Narrative inquiry had its beginnings in the 1990s and is still an evolving method of inquiry (Chase, 2011). The narrative is the collection of stories from one or more persons and includes the participant’s interpreted meaning of the experiences recounted in the stories (Creswell, 2015). This is a constructivist–interpretive perspective typically used in qualitative study and can provide valuable insight to a researcher around a topic of inquiry. 44
There are many types of narrative design. Some characteristics of the narrative study are the participants’ stories that are gathered through interviews, conversations, and chronologies provided by participants (Creswell, 2015). Narrative research can be inductive, where the researcher uses a creative and perhaps subjective approach to understanding the participants’ experiences; it can also be deductive, where the researcher quantifies the experiences of the participants. Gubrium (2010) described narrative inquiry as “experiencing the experience” (p.
387). Bruner (1988) explained narrative as a way of “thinking and organizing experience” (p.
574). Chase (2011) explained that narrative theorists view the narrative inquiry process as a way to make meaning about one’s life experiences, actions, and events over a period of time and what can be learned about those experiences.
Qualitative studies, in general, involve the researcher’s collection of data via observations, interviews, documents, media, and artifacts (Creswell, 2015; Miles, Huberman, &
Saldana, 2020). The data requires processing and involves interpretations of what is experienced
(Miles et al., 2020). Meaning is placed on the “lived experiences” (p. 8) of the participants.
Qualitative studies allow for the researcher to compile data in a way that allows for discovery and the exploration of new ideas (Miles et al., 2020).
Description of Participants
Participants in this study are workforce development professionals at a Northeast trade organization who coordinate and develop trades, leadership, and apprentice programs at a large manufacturing company. The participants are working in lower to midmanagement positions with fiscal, personnel, or operational decision-making authority (e.g., program managers, program designers, relationship managers). They have been in a management or employee 45 program development role for at least 1 year. Demographic information for the participants is summarized in Table 3.
Table 3
Participant Demographics
Demographic Percentage of study participants N = 7
Gender 71% female (5); 29% male (2)
Tenure with company 14% (1) < 2 years; 86% (6) > 2
Leadership developers 29% (2)
Apprentice developers 29% (2)
Trades developers 43% (3)
The participants were selected based on their role within the organization and their overall responsibility for the development of the trades, leadership, and apprentice programs.
The area of the organization was small, and all employees relevant to the process were selected.
There were seven total employees in the area of study, five of which were women and two of which were men. These employees had a varied background prior to being hired in the organization and were all tasked with development and implementation of employee development programs in the trades training area. All participants were college educated and had some relevant prior work experience that helped in the development of these programs.
They were all in their second or third careers. They varied in age, with the youngest being 33 and the oldest being in their early fifties.
46
Recruitment and Access
Procedures to recruit employees for the study were followed as per Northeastern
University guidelines and were reviewed and approved by the university’s institutional review board. Guidelines for the study included the informed consent, a description of the study, and a research protocol. The participants understood that they had the right to withdraw at any time and could withdraw the use of their transcripts should they change their mind after the interview process concluded.
The study posed minimal risk to the participants and care was taken not to use names or specific data that would identify location, company name, or participant position within the organization. Transcript data summaries provided safeguard to these items. All data was secured in a fireproof box off-site.
Data Collection
Data were collected in semi structured interviews and were recorded for transcription.
Notes were taken during the interviews and during post recorded follow-up questions. Reflective journaling was also part of the process to capture nuances in the interviews such as facial expressions and thoughtful pauses when participants were answering questions. Interviews were transcribed via a transcription service and were reviewed by participants for accuracy.
Data analysis is qualitative, and interviews were reviewed and coded to identify common themes that emerged amongst participants. The researcher analyzed each story by retelling and categorizing information to create findings. The researcher considered the time and place of the interview and reviewed the chronology of the story. Additionally, the researcher considered the past and present accounts of the participant, and also what the future might hold for the participant and the organization as a result of the study (Creswell, 2015). 47
In depth interviews from a range of participants allows for different views of a narrative environment (Chase, 2011). Furthermore, observations broaden the understanding and interpretation of participants’ responses. Evidence of uneasiness of a topic or certain silence during the interviewing process can offer the researcher more data in the interview process
(Chase, 2011). Other ways to collect data for a narrative study include field notes, visual images such as video and photographs, participant created art such as self-portraits and collages, and participant reports on daily activities (Chase, 2011). Gubrium and Holstein (1998) described storytelling and the recounting of lived experiences as delivery methods that give the participants an ability to shape their stories in the way that they want which could bolster the argument that the authenticity of those stories is compromised. Bruner (1988), however, argued that narrative storytelling is a way to begin thinking and reflecting on an experience.
According to Creswell (2015), narrative research was coded to find five to seven themes or categories among the interview responses. Creswell (2015) explained that the researcher may present the findings in subsections for each participant or display thematic categories in a chart or table for ease of reference. Coding may be done manually or by trained coders, or by use of coding and transcription computer programs such as Rev.com. When the coding was complete, deductions were made based on the central question of the study and its relationship with the narratives (Adler et al., 2017). In reporting events, Labov (2010) explained that the researcher must establish credibility by going back to the narrative to indicate how the event came about or the trigger event prior to discussing how the event transformed the participant. Figure 2 shows the steps taken to gather and interpret data that were taken in this study.
48
Data Data Recruitment Interviews Collection Interpretation
Figure 2. Steps to data collection.
Phase I: Recruitment
Recruitment began with the identification of seven to 10 professionals working with the trade associations workforce development programs. Once identified, potential participants were invited to participate in a preliminary interview to confirm they met the sample criteria, obtain informed consent, and schedule the one-on-one interview.
Of the seven individuals contacted in person, all seven accepted the personal invitation to have a one-on-one interview regarding their reflective practices in their training role within the trade organization. Each responded directly with a convenient time and all interviews were arranged in an on-site conference room at the participants’ convenience.
Phase II: Interviews
With the participants’ permission, audio recorded interviews were conducted. Each interview lasted between 25–45 mins in length and used five to nine semi structured interview questions to capture reflective practices related to designing and delivering programs within the trade organization. Additionally, the researcher captured field notes immediately following each interview as no notes were taken during the interview itself. Notes on nuanced responses and contextual information not captured in the audio recording were documented later in a journal.
Each participant received their transcribed interview from revworks.com to validate along with any post interview reflective questions to capture any additional information regarding their reflective practice. 49
Phase III: Data Collection
Multiple steps and interactive analysis processes included summarizing of field notes, summarizing of interview responses within a matrix, crafting of individual profiles, inductive analysis of transcripts (hand coded), identifying patterns, and clustering of similar passages to produce a thematic analysis. With insights from the literature, interpretation of the output of analysis relative to the research questions and theoretical framework was performed to inform the concluding statements.
Phase IV: Data Interpretation
Once transcripts were received from participants, the information was read and coded in three ways. The first pass at the transcripts included a table of responses to each interview question. The second time reading the transcripts each participant was given a summary of their role within the organization and their perspective on the training program in which they were involved. The third read of the transcripts was coded and thematic categories were determined across responses to identify trends. The following section outlines the output received from the data analysis.
Data Analysis Overview
After the interviews concluded, transcripts were closely analyzed and coded through inductive reasoning to determine themes and trends amongst participant responses. Figure 3 shows the process by which the data was broken down into 12 core themes and the range by which participants’ responses determined those themes. 50
Participant Relationship to Twelve Interview Research Categories Analysis Question
Four Opportunity Six Conclusions Areas
Figure 3. The cycle of data analysis. Adapted from Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook, by M. Miles, A. Huberman, & J. Saldana, 2020, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. T
he cycle of data analysis per Miles et al. (2020) consists of three stages: data condensation, data display, and drawing and verifying conclusions. These are summarized in
Table 4.
51
Table 4
Overview of Data Cycle
Phase of analysis Description Outcome
Data condensation First: Read interviews and post Chart of responses for each interview thoughts and summaries. participant by question
Second: Read to summarize Four- to 5-line summarization participant thoughts and responses. of participants’ feelings and actions
Third: Read transcripts and code Chart of responses by responses. category and range of codes
Outcomes: Review coding chart to Code table with 12 categories identify themes. Data display Create a chart of codes and Succinct page of codes with participant evidence through participant identifying with transcripts. those codes
Drawing and verifying Identify the 12 codes that emerged. Twelve codes with 6 central conclusions themes related to research questions and 4 areas of opportunity for the organization
Data condensation involves the selection of data from the interview notes and
“transforming” the data (Miles et al., 2020, p. 8). The researcher must decide how the data will be coded, how categories are developed, and how to tell the story in the written report (Miles et al., 2020). Next, the researcher must decide how to display the data, which involves organizing the data into text or a table to allow for further understanding of the phenomena being explored
(Miles et al., 2020). Having a robust display allows the researcher to draw justifiable conclusions (Miles et al., 2020). The last step involves drawing and verifying findings which validates the interpretation of the data through patterns and assertions (Miles et al., 2020). 52
Limitations
There were several limitations to this study based on the industry the participants were working. This trade association biggest contract is the U.S. Navy and due to the regulated nature of the contract there were restrictions that impede change. Two of the participants are also vendors with the organization. While that may limited some of their actions, vendors with this organization are treated like employees of the company. There was a second category of vendors and those are instructors that are outside the organization. Participants had little to no control over the actions of those vendors. Lastly, the data was a one-time gathering and results are limited to that particular point in time.
Summary
Chapter 3 reviewed the research methodology for this qualitative study. It also described the research design, participants chosen for the study, and the phases of data collection. Chapter
4 will discuss the findings. 53
Chapter 4: Presentation of Findings
The purpose of this chapter is to present the findings of the data analysis outcomes taking into account the reflective process of the workforce development professionals in a trade organization who were interviewed. This chapter is organized into specific sections starting with the description of the study participants. Next is the overview of the research methods employed for this study. The four phases of research follow which include the descriptive analysis, emerging codes and themes, trends in data, and the analysis related to the research questions.
The summary concludes the chapter.
This qualitative study explored reflective practices of workforce development professionals who design and manage training programs to seek greater gains in employee motivation and organizational outcomes. These programs included leadership training, new employee trades training, and apprenticeship programs in a trade organization. The study focused on the participants’ reflective practices related to how they developed training programs, how their reflective practices affected the evolution of training programs, and how their perception of the training met the needs of the organization. The organization was a Northeast trade organization subject to government regulation due to their only contract being with the U.S.
Navy. Such regulation was a barrier in creating conditions for reflective practice in addition to the organization’s reliance on outside vendors for trades instruction and skill building. These conditions also made it more difficult for participants roles to be more flexible to change due to the regulatory nature of a government contract and contractual obligations with outside vendors.
The next section will describe the study participants.
54
Study Participants
Seven participants were interviewed for this study. These participants were employees of a Northeast trade organization and were responsible for the structure and implementation of specific training programs within the organization. The organization was set on the waterfront of a close-knit community where, it seemed, everyone knew everyone else. Many of the participants were personally connected with one another because they had friends in the organization prior to being employed there or because they lived in the community already and understood the benefits of working in the organization.
All of the participants had been employed in their role and department for 1 year or more.
Of the seven participants, two were male and five were female. They can be categorized into two groups. As shown in Figure 4, each group had a different focus and, strikingly, these small teams worked well together while also working independently.
Group A: New Group B: hires and Leadership apprenticeships programs
Molly Helen
Pam Mary
Ivan
Walt
Connie
Figure 4. Participant categories. 55
The following section provides an overview of research methods along with a description of the data analysis.
Overview of Research Methods
All participants in the study were interviewed in person at a time and location of their choice. All seven interviews were completed on-site at the participants’ place of employment in a conference room that was removed from their work location. Each participant received the same interview questions (Appendix A), and each was offered the interview questions prior to the meeting. Three of the seven accepted the script with only one coming with written responses to help guide them through the interview process. Depending on their role in the organization, the researcher probed their training development methods with questions that varied based on the individual.
Analysis of data was an inductive approach starting with descriptions, moving to analysis, and concluding with categorization. Meta-analysis was then used to identify trends in the data and conclusions were drawn and related back to the research questions. Four phases of research were implemented beginning with a descriptive analysis of the participants. After interviews were transcribed and reviewed by the participants, a short summary was created to describe each participant. The second phase of the process included further review of the transcripts to determine codes and to identify robust quotations that related to how the individual used reflective practice to complete their job. Transcripts produced an average of 43 codes, which translated into 12 themes that were subsequently grouped into six categories. Phase III examined the participants, their interviews, and the trends and themes that emerged in the data.
Phase IV related the data back to the research questions. The next section involved the detailed descriptions for each phase of the research. 56
Phase I: Participant Profiles
The first piece of the data analysis was the descriptive phase beginning with participant profiles. After reading transcripts and listening to the audio recordings of the interviews, participant summaries were written with a focus on participant perceptions of their roles and responsibilities and their reflection on training development. Important quotes were underlined or circled to be used in their descriptive profiles. Emphasis was placed on how each participant perceived their role in workforce development, specifically in program evolution and innovation and the relationship of these things to the organization’s goals. Names have been changed to preserve confidentiality.
Group A
Molly. Molly was in retail management prior to her time in the workforce development department. Her role in her prior job was to train staff to be ready to work at other retail locations across the country. Being familiar with an employee at the current trade organization, she was hired to run marketing, grant management, and trades awareness outreach. Molly felt that the more organized and methodical employees are at their job, the better their performance will be. She ascribed to a work philosophy of “systems and routines” which she mentioned several times during the interview. She said there is always room to “adjust on the go” in anyone’s position. She was a part of the trade’s awareness outreach programs of the organization and kept up the awareness of trades and manufacturing across the state. This outreach led to a program specifically for women. After 1.5 years in her current role, she felt that things have become a bit more organized than they were prior to her arrival.
57
As it pertains to reflection and response to change, Molly stated: “The hugest push is the
Boat for Women program followed by . . . getting youth to understand that college is not the only option for them when they leave high school.”
Pam. Pam was in customer relations for more than 2 decades. College educated later in life, she had an interest in workforce development programs and was hired without any experience at the trade organization. Her current role was as a liaison with external new hires and tradespeople who move internally from one trade to the next. Additionally, she worked to ensure new hires who are placed with external trade schools for skill development complete the programs. She participated in trades awareness outreach programs from elementary through high school but was not responsible for organizing them. She stated that she needs to “be ready quickly” when the organization hires more employees and to be ready to reach out to trade schools so that they will be ready for new students. Pam believed having “customized training” programs for new employees who have never been exposed to trades is a strength. She also thought organizations and workers should be able to adjust quickly to changing needs in trades hiring.
Pam described her position as helping to “fill the need” in the organization with regard to providing the right trades training to new hires. She was responsible for ensuring that employees who go off-site for trades training at one of the partner colleges go through that program successfully. Pam reflected on the current offerings to new hires as “continuously trying to expand trade programs offered.” When reflecting on trades awareness outreach, she stated that the company is “planting a seed” with the youth of the community by offering programs to Boy
Scouts who will do hands-on work by building something alongside a pipefitter. Her reflection on instruction pertained to the growing generation gap between veteran employees and new 58 hires. She said: “Bridging the gap between those two generations as one exits and one comes in .
. . that’s the difficult part of it.”
Ivan. Ivan was a middle-school educator prior to coming to the trades organization. He worked with the new-hire programs and employees who had moved internally from one trade to another. He was focused and caring and wanted employees to understand how their job could be
“life changing.” He was positive and could see what the future could be for all employees who entered these training programs. After working for the organization for 2 years, he had seen a shift in interest for employees wanting to move into higher positions (e.g., supervisors, managers), and said they seemed to “cycle” in and out of the programs. He maintained a philosophy of “looking forward, back, and to change as you go.”
Ivan’s reflection about current programs at the organization was that employees were
“not just another badge number. I take a lot of pride in making sure that we’re setting people up for success in whatever they end up doing here. . . . Not only do I want them to be proficient at their job; I want us to give them the training to have success . . . and longevity in the company.”
Walt. Walt had been with the trade organization for more than 10 years. He had a college education and also a background working in trades as a pipefitter. He had seen changes in the training environment over the years from on-the-job, to classroom training, to off-site training, and active learning centers within each trade department. Walt was responsible for the apprentice program and expressed a lot of uncertainty about whether the program would succeed after the first group who entered completed the 3-year program. There had been a lot of success getting employees interested in the program, but Walt explained that having them stay interested was the challenge. 59
His reflection toward the current training programs and how they had evolved were that there was:
“training on the job, that’s where you worked, that’s where you developed. It was in real time. There was really no prep. I feel now we do a lot more to get these people ready to work here even before they come here . . . through off-site programs at [technical colleges]. Trades awareness outreach was also mentioned in his interview stating that “women, minorities, veterans, people that wouldn’t usually think about working in the [organization]…getting them interested in coming in.”
Walt was responsible for the apprenticeship program which was a 3-year program for selected employees, and Walt had a say in who came into the program and who did not. He said the apprentice program targeted specific trade employees (e.g., electrical, machinists, pipefitters, welders, steel workers) who applied to be in it. Employees accepted into the program earned an associate’s degree and rotated through the trades specialties. Through this program, Walt explained, employees “obtain a range of skills and knowledge” to help develop a well-rounded employee. The program was fully funded by the state’s grant program., which was in its first year, so Walt’s reflection on the process was that “we’re figuring it out as we go.” He added that though there had been “a lot of excitement” about the program, figuring out where to go with it had been “less hectic.”
Connie. Connie had been with the organization for more than a decade. She had a background as an elementary educator and had already worked at the company before she was promoted to her role as a leader of the apprentice and new-hire programs. She felt that the organization was already the benchmark and “trendsetter” in new-hire trades training and apprenticeship programs. Tasked with the leadership role, she was also responsible for maintaining the relationship with the state’s department of labor and training to ensure that grants continued to flow to the organization to help recruit and retain employees in these programs. 60
When thinking about how training programs had changed, Connie stated: “It started as just whiteboards and lecture to this hands-on, 1-week to 6-week kind of thing.” Looking at the apprenticeship training she continued: “It’s new. It just started last year, so it [has] kind of jumped on that changeover from classroom to hands on.” The evolution of the apprenticeship and new-hire programs, she felt, was very “disjointed” and “we’re now more strategic about making things flow together . . . like . . . apprenticeship flowing into supervisor training.”
Connie explained that state-backed grants had helped them keep hires within the state, which had improved her area’s progress as they were able to fully fund apprenticeship programs and maintain off-site trades training relationships with nearby technical institutes. She said:
“Now we have over 12 different customized training programs specifically that train exactly to what we need.”
Group B
Helen. Helen had a background in trades training and workforce development. With an advanced degree in human resources, Helen was responsible for developing and maintaining leadership training programs, from supervisors through director-level positions, in the organization. She said she evaluated the effectiveness of current programs and helped to develop further leadership programs while trying to keep up with workforce development trends.
Although she had many responsibilities to develop the leadership programs, she said she felt a sense of disorganization in those areas and saw strength in only one of the leadership programs.
She also felt that the organization was behind in workforce development trends.
Helen described her management development program, which took employees with a desire to be supervisors from the floor and trained them on the needed skills, as a program that was working well. “It’s really cool, pretty progressive for [the organization]. . . . They are 61 paying you to leave your job for 9 weeks to check it out. In the long run, it’s better . . . because you don’t want to hire somebody into supervision who might go through this trial period and was like: ‘This is nothing I thought it was going to be.’” After the program, she explained, the employee might say, “I want to become a supervisor” even though there was no guarantee that he or she would. She reflected on this program as “well-respected and well-running and developed.”
As far as reflection on changes, Helen stated: “We don’t usually do feedback forms.”
Additionally, Helen mentioned: “I am trying to accumulate data from a nice population size . . . evaluate and incorporate the feedback into training.” When a change needed to be made, she stated: “The way I determine is just kind of on gut.”
Mary. Mary was an elementary educator who found her way into workforce development department at the trade organization. She also had many responsibilities to develop the leadership training programs and was responsible for the oversight of all of them. In addition to the current leadership programs in place, she was tasked with developing new leadership programs at the request of senior staff within the organization to help strengthen leadership skills and to assist in identifying new talent. She was looking for skilled tradespeople who had the potential to be a good leader. The goal of this department was to provide growth opportunities to all levels of employees by being a leader in place.
When reflecting on how programs had evolved in the company, Mary stated: “There was workforce development, but it was in very much the infancy stage . . . and very disjointed. There was no cohesion.” This was the case, she explained, until about 1 year prior when talent development was aligned under one umbrella and began working with “one full philosophy.” 62
When reflecting on learning development, Mary stated she had seen “growth and nutrition,” and the pool of potential supervisors in the organization needed to be “trained up.”
This had led to the development of a future leaders training program which helped employees move from the individual contributor role to a supervisory role. Mary explained that the program focused on 10 different skills and learning was blended with instructor-led and computer-based sessions.
Phase II: Emerging Codes and Themes
The purpose of Phase II was to identify codes, categories, and themes. This phase involved rereading the transcripts to identify codes that were significant in the discourse with the participant. Codes were chosen based on their meaning to the participants’ roles in the organization. Words mentioned repeatedly by participants in the interview process were also noted. From those codes, 12 categories were created, and codes were separated into those categories in a table. A column was included to indicate which participant mentioned those codes within their interview. Subsequently, six themes emerged along with four areas of opportunity for the future within the categories. The following sections will identify and summarize the six emerging themes, with definitions linking them to the research questions.
Summary of Categories
The following six thematic categories were derived from the coding process: organizational outreach, employee mentoring, program evaluation, organizational planning, employee skill development, and customized training programs.
Table 5 shows the category and provides a definition for each one.
63
Table 5
Categories and Definitions
Category Definition
Trades awareness outreach Company workforce development (WFD) employees are actively involved with growing their employee base by exposing potential new hires, from elementary students to adults, to the trades.
Employee mentoring The company WFD employees involve themselves in the future of the employee through partnering with experienced personnel who will learn institutional knowledge.
Program evaluation WFD employees reflect on current programs to change and grow.
Organizational Planning WFD employees know the organizational vision for employee development.
Employee skill development WFD employees are actively working on trades employees’ skill development.
Customized training programs WFD employees develop programs that are specific to trade and develop employees’ skills.
Themes were derived based on the categories and the coding process. Table 6 shows this process with all themes being the subject to reactionary thinking instead of any in-action reflection.
64
Table 6
Categories and Themes
Category Themes
Trades awareness outreach Reactionary: Participant reaction to creating external awareness events for underserved populations including women while introducing trades to youth.
Employee mentoring Feedback: Employees introduced to shadowing, coaching, and apply for apprentice program
Program evaluation Evolution: Changing programs for the future brings in new ides to screen talent, vet employees, and adjusting current programs
Organizational Planning Planning: Inability to plan does not enable WFD employees to work towards a company specific strategic purpose.
Employee skill development Gut Changes: Reflections on future skill development through participant experience include simulated learning environments and soft skills training
Customized training programs Future Programs: Developing for the future through programs for women, leadership, and technical training help companies grow and change
65
Categories were then related back to the research question as Table 7 shows.
Table 7
Categories and Research Questions
Research question Category
1. How do professionals guiding the Program evaluation workforce development programs within a U.S. trade association describe their reflective practices as they seek to design innovative features of their various programs to meet the emerging needs of their industry?
2. How have the workforce development Employee mentoring programs evolved over time? Trades awareness outreach
Customized training programs
3. How does the process for developing a Organizational planning comprehensive approach to workforce development programs meet the needs of Employee skill development the organization?
This section outlined the six thematic categories developed from the interview data.
Categories were defined, grouped thematically, and drawn back to the research question. The
following section discusses these categories in greater depth.
Discussion of Categories
Categories were determined by examining interview data. Six themes evolved,
including: trades awareness outreach, trade training mentoring, program evaluation, 66 organizational planning, employee skill development, and customized programs. The themes are described including specific data gathered from each participant.
Category 1: Trades awareness outreach. The first category is defined by how the participants described the department’s approach to how they think about outreach to the community. Of the seven participants, five of them focused on how trades awareness outreach to the community was more of a reaction to the current employment statistics in the facility. This new outreach focused on women and youth ranging from elementary school through high school.
Interviews captured the need for the company to broaden its reach and educate the community regarding the benefits of working with the trade organization and the opportunities that were available. Due to the high turnover of trades persons in the company, the outreach was developed to expose job seekers, who might not have understand what a trades jobs involved, to the trades. In addition, the small community where the organization resided was focused on hiring and retaining employees so they would not seek employment out of state. Part of the cost of this outreach was subsidized through the state department of labor and training (DLT), which provided grants to the organization. The DLT’s interest was in retaining manufacturing jobs in the state, so the state worked in partnership with the trades organization to fund programs and support outreach efforts.
Category 2: Trade training mentoring. Thoughts about the future of current employees was important to the participants in this research. By offering apprenticeship programs internally, participants hoped to develop and retain its employees with a new growth opportunity. The apprenticeship program offered employees two avenues of trades training: a technical path for mastering specific skills, or a leadership path which was designed to expose them to leadership courses. Employees in this program worked full time for 3 years while 67 attending the local community college to obtain their associate degree. Upon completion of the program, students would earn either an associate degree in science and advanced manufacturing technology or an associate degree in science in business administration. The goal was for the added training and education to cultivate well-rounding employees who would benefit from long-term career opportunities at the organization. All of which are geared toward change for the future and not in the moment.
Four of the seven participants worked in this WFD area of the organization. Walt’s responsibilities differed from two of the four because he managed the entire process with some assistance from Connie. The apprentice and mentoring program was a stand-alone program and was relatively new. Initially, there were 50 apprentices accepted into the program, but the group had shrunk to 36. This was due to either the employee’s loss of interest, a disciplinary problem on the job, or a lack of educational achievement in the program. Another group of apprentices was set to begin the program and leaders had taken a wait-and-see attitude toward the success of the next phase.
Category 3: Program evaluation. Four of the seven participants discussed their thinking around the need to evaluate the trades training programs offered to employees and plan for new opportunities. With both the leadership programs and apprentice programs, there was evidence that adjustments were needed while the programs were occurring, or some evidence of reflection-in-action. These included reducing the number of employees participating in the apprenticeship program or addressing instructor delivery methods at off-site training facilities.
More often, the needed changes reflected what would happen in the future versus immediate changes that would happen as the program was in progress. 68
It became evident that the leadership programs needed to have more supervisory engagement with employees who were new to the programs. Helen managed these programs with assistance from Mary and cited that program changes were often made by her own “gut” reaction and how she felt things were going. This was likely due to her prior experience in developing leadership programs. The need to improve their methods of screening talent for leadership roles was also mentioned by both Helen and Mary. Too often, an employee would attend their programs with absolutely no interest in becoming a supervisor. These individuals had been instructed to go by their managers. Vetting employees more accurately through a combined effort between the leadership training department and the trades managers would allow for more accurate selection of participants. In the past, an excellent welder might have been referred even though their people skills would make them a terrible supervisor. The result would be a great welder quitting to work somewhere else.
Walt’s program evaluation benefited the future of apprenticeship programs in a more reflection-on-action approach. The program was 3 years in length, so there was little known about the success of the first group and he had no way of projecting how employees in this program might feel about the program at its completion. A new group of apprentices was being groomed and the changes that were made were based on vetting employees more thoroughly and reducing the size of the incoming group to a more manageable number. These changes were made based on the current program structure but would not be implemented until future group arrived.
Category 4: Organizational planning. Many participants thought that their lack of understanding of the vision of the organization which made their jobs more difficult to plan for training which was mentioned in four of the seven interviews. The WFD team expressed the 69 need for knowing their specific strategic purpose in order to carry out their plans to develop workforce development programs which would aid them in being more reflective-in-action, but in this circumstance they are more reflective-on-action. The leadership program developers,
Helen and Mary specifically mentioned that it was essential to understand the vision of the organization to develop leadership programs that would help sustain the organization. Pam, who worked in new-hire training programs, also stressed the importance of the company not staying
“stagnant,” adding how necessary it was to maintain awareness of organizational needs.
However, the participants did not specify whether or not they knew what the vision was. Hiring was in a holding pattern and the participants could only surmise that they needed to be prepared for sudden growth.
Category 5: Employee skill development. Four of the seven participants mentioned the importance of employee skill development. Adjustments, although not always done in the moment, although there was mention of some changes made by “gut.” These changes involved development programs in soft-skills leadership and simulated learning opportunities for trades employee development. Hands-on training programs and leveled instruction were also mentioned. An important point was made by three participants regarding the workforce generational divide and the need to find ways to transfer institutional knowledge from the seasoned worker to the new hire.
The future of skill development may rely on a blended learning platform. Although blended learning currently exists for recurring skill training, the apprenticeship and leadership programs did not use this format. Instead, leaders in these programs have looked at ways to address all learning styles by combining instructor-led training with computer-based learning.
The challenge remained the generational divide that many mentioned. The employees who had 70 been with the company for many years, some at 30 and 40 years of service, did not always care about computer-based learning and were inflexible about how they wanted to acquire and retain skill knowledge. Thinking about bridging that divide was a challenge for the apprenticeship and leadership programs.
Category 6: Customized programs. Six of seven participants mentioned the success of the customized programs at the organization due to their continued work on that process.
Perhaps connected to the organizational vision, the customized programs were specific to women joining the trades, off-site training programs in partnership with trade schools, apprenticeship programs offering an associate degree, and leadership programs at senior levels of the organization and in development for all levels of the organization. The leadership programs were the most specific. There were several programs from management development programs to programs at the director level. Those included a director-level program to develop business leaders through course and group work, a manager level programs that developed them into future higher-level leaders, a supervisor-level program to help build the frontline leader, and two programs for the individual contributor who wanted to move into supervisory roles. It is also worth mentioning that new hires that came into the organization also experienced customized training due to the specificity of what they were hired to do at the company (e.g., welder, pipefitter, machinist). From there, it was determined whether they would be trained off-site or in-house with subject matter experts. All of these instances are products of reflection on action as there was little to no evidence the reflection-in-action took place.
Phase III: Trends in the Data
This section pertains to trends in WFD reflection that emerged from the interviews and the document review of all the training programs that involved the two groups of personnel in 71 this study. The general trends related to workforce development employees participating in this study concerning their experience around training. Two general trends are discussed: industry regulations and workforce development organizational structure.
The industry of this organization was highly regulated because the U.S. Navy was its largest client, so employee skill development was required to be in line with the client’s expectations. Should they not have been in line, production could have been shut down. The largest trend seen in the data was for the organization to not only meet government expectations but to create expectations to prevent the organization from deviating from the U.S. Navy’s expectations. If the U.S. Navy was not happy with the quality of workmanship, they would stop production or call for a work review. The need to meet expectations was also a motivator for the state to continue its grant funding.
The second trend was that although these participants worked under the same management umbrella, their work was very individualized. Each participant had ownership of a process and although they could seek help from a superior, they were very much left to their own discretion as to how their programs were designed and how they operated. Their reflective practices were more reactionary than in the moment as most participants used any program feedback to adjust programs for future participants. Although most mentioned that they gained employee feedback from their program participants, either formally or informally, any program changes tended to be implemented for the future.
In this section, two general trends were identified. A discussion of each is presented and insights are identified based on those trends. The following section discusses the insights based on the three research questions framing this study.
72
Phase IV: Analysis Related to Research Questions
This section pertains to the research questions and insights gained from the data. Table 7 shows the categories as they relate to each research question. The purpose of this study was to examine the reflective practices of workforce development professionals who designed and managed training programs to achieve greater gains in employee motivation and organizational outcomes. The focus was on a trade organization in the Northeast and the employees responsible for the development and implementation of training programs for trades, leadership, and apprentice programs. The research questions guiding this study were:
1. How do professionals guiding the workforce development programs within a U.S.
trade association describe their reflective practices as they seek to design
innovative features of their various programs to meet the emerging needs of their
industry?
2. How have the workforce development programs evolved over time?
3. How does the process for developing a comprehensive approach to workforce
development programs meet the needs of the organization?
Research Question 1
A common thread with all of the participants was the effort in program evaluation. As mentioned in the discussion of trends, the participants worked in their specific job functions very independently, and it was found that they were less reflective-in-action and more often planners of how they would change in the future. For example, the apprentice program was very new and
Walt had the “wait and see” mentality. There were some adjustments made for the incoming group of apprentices (e.g., number of participants), but that was based on how he was able to manage the current group of 36. 73
The management level training was developed and changed in two ways. There were only two people managing these programs, so Helen based her changes on personal “gut” feelings and Mary took direction from senior leadership who asked her area to develop new programs. These new programs may have been for those on the floor who were leaders-in-place or programs at the director- or senior-levels of management. Any enacted change to programs in their own departments were ultimately for the benefit of the organizations in its entirety, and change was predominantly reactionary.
Research Question 2
Themes relative to Research Question 2 involved employee mentoring, trades awareness outreach, and customized training programs. Each area is addressed, and any evidence of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action is described.
The workforce development programs evolved over time in the organization. Although participants worked toward continuous change to keep up with hiring demands and trends in the marketplace, the biggest changes that occurred were programs that were strictly on the job training that had moved into a blend of instructor-led training and skill development in conjunction with on-the-job training. When Walt began his career with the company, there were no off-site facilities where training took place. Employees learned as they went. The development of the apprenticeship program he oversaw represented a progressive change in the workforce development programs offered at the organization.
The progress made in new-hire skill development had been great due to the grants provided by the state. Customized training programs were for new hires who had not been exposed to trades training or had been somewhat exposed to the trades but not familiar with the operational side of this organization. The organization had been able to build relationships with 74 local technical schools and community colleges and sent new hires to these sites for skill development in a trade. There had also been a development of active learning centers (ALC) on the production floor for employees who needed to brush up on skills.
Trades awareness outreach was a focus for four of the seven participants. To keep up with future demand, grant funds had been directed toward the organization conducting trades awareness learning and information sessions. For example, there was a focus on attracting more women to trades and a program was developed strictly for women to explore a job in the trades.
This program included 6-week sessions and women experienced a variety of trades through hands-on workshops. This was a well-received program that developed a waiting list for future sessions. There was also an effort to expose trades awareness to elementary-school students with robotics club offerings and explorers’ clubs in conjunction with the local Boy Scouts. The point of these awareness sessions was to inform people who liked to work with their hands that there were jobs out there for them.
Research Question 3
Organizational vision and employee skill development, two themes related to this question, were important to both areas of training development and the participants interviewed.
Planning for growth and setting employees up for success on the front line and in leadership programs was mentioned in all interviews. Planning for new-hire growth in partnership with local technical schools and enhancing trades training delivery through apprenticeship opportunities were just two ways in which employee skill development was addressed by these two groups of participants. The struggle they all faced was uncertainty regarding the organizational vision that would guide their next steps for growth. There had been a change in senior leadership and that had brought up many questions regarding predicted growth in the 75 organization from the production floor to senior leadership. Although current programs continued, new leadership vision, and direction remained uncertain.
Summary
This study explored the reflective practices of workforce development professionals who developed and maintained leadership and trades apprenticeship programs at a trade organization in the Northeast. The resulting categories indicated that reflection was primarily done as a reaction to preceding events and reflection was not necessarily done while events were occurring. Participants may have indirectly reflected-in-action, but responses did not indicate as such. Their reflective practices were primarily reflection-on-action due to results of prior experiences and from events and training that did not go as originally planned. Chapter 5 will present conclusions based upon analysis presented in this chapter, as well as implications for theory, future research, and practice. 76
Chapter 5: Conclusions and Implications
The purpose of this study was to explore reflective practices of workforce development professionals who designed and managed training programs to seek greater gains in employee motivation and organizational outcomes. These programs included leadership training, new employee trades training, and apprenticeship programs in a trade organization. The study focused on the participants’ ability to reflect-in-action or reflect-on-action (Schon, 1982) within their job responsibilities.
The study was an interpretive qualitative study that used semi structured interview questions and an inductive analysis approach (Creswell, 2015) to gauge how participants used reflection in their workforce development experiences. Data analysis followed inductive analysis procedures, moving from description to the categorization of data by theme. Phases of data analysis generated six categories and subsequent trends in the data. Four conclusions were drawn from the data.
The purpose of this chapter is to present the conclusions and implications produced from this study. This includes implications for future research and implications for practice. This section begins with a summary of conclusions followed by a discussion of each.
Interpretations and Conclusions
Four conclusions were made from this study of reflective practices of workforce development professionals in a trade organization. Each conclusion was based on the research questions and is discussed individually along with its implication for practice.
The first conclusion is that the participants worked in a government regulated environment which affected funding for programs and trades awareness outreach efforts. The second conclusion is that employees lacked a clear organizational vision which prevented them 77 from planning effectively. The third conclusion is that most changes in training were made for the future and not for the moment. The last conclusion is that although participants worked in specific teams, they were in highly self-regulated roles.
Conclusion 1: Government Regulation Affects Flexibility
This section examines how government regulation affects the training environment. This aspect can be looked at in two ways: government regulation on standards of operation and government grant distribution for trades awareness outreach efforts. Both will be explained in further detail.
Due to the U.S. Navy being this organization’s largest contract, employees were required to be trained and knowledgeable in their roles to fulfill their duties to the U.S. Navy’s specifications which were tied to the regulations on standards of building operations. Courses that were structural (e.g., blueprint reading, welding operations) adhered to strict U.S. Navy specifications. The researcher observed that there was no flexibility in changing some of these programs due to the regulatory nature of the contract the organization was carrying out. This did not leave room for employee creativity in that trade.
The second aspect of government regulations pertains to grant distribution for the organization to run its trades awareness outreach efforts. A solid workforce development program plan ensures that the local government provides funds necessary to bring manufacturing and trades awareness to the community. The organization had been successful with planning programs to reach women and youth. The struggle was with the degree to which those outreach efforts would continue. This connected to another conclusion regarding organizational vision and how these participants lacked in direction. 78
Schon’s (1982) reflective practice, in this study, provides the researcher little resolution on this conclusion. This regulation was static and there was no way to change this aspect of the training environment, from the apprenticeship programs to the leadership programs.
Government regulation affected some of the flexibility in how these workforce development professionals in this trade organization offered training programs. Some trades
(e.g., welders) must adhere to specific guidelines, strict blueprints, and daily work protocol to perform their jobs. This means that they may not be able to participate in supervisory or management programs due to the specific level of skill that their own job requires. Through
Helen’s experience, she often found that expert welders were not always the best candidates for supervisor and manager roles. This meant if they were not recommended to move up the ladder, there were few other opportunities for them to pursue beyond being a welding instructor. In their practice, the workforce development professionals wanted to develop programs that would enrich the employees who were in trades that might not normally move up the leadership ladder.
Regarding grant management, the money came to the organization when solid trades awareness outreach plans reached the governor’s desk. That money was used to develop youth programs and programs that reached out to underserved populations. Should that source of financing disappear, then the organization would have little opportunity in their own budget to provide for these outreach efforts. Additionally, should a new governor take office, his or her plans for manufacturing may not align with what the previous governor had built. The participants did not appear prepared for that possibility.
Conclusion 2: Reflection on Organizational Planning
The second conclusion is how the lack of reflection on the organizational vision inhibited the participants’ ability to accurately plan for the future. As much as the government regulated 79 the work at the organization, it also was a predictor of what kind of work was on the horizon for the organization. Employees were hired when new work orders were given. For the year prior to the study, the organization had seen some changes in its hiring needs. For example, there had been too many pipefitters hired, so they were given the opportunity to become painters. Most accepted the job change, and some left the company. This ambiguity left the participants in a wait-and-see mode of operation. Although the participants would like to properly plan for the future, this method of operation left them in more of a reactionary state.
This conclusion ties back to the theme of trades training mentoring and trades awareness outreach. Participants believed that in their roles, as Pam stated were “filling the need” but that did not translate into preparing for the future. Additionally, Ivan expressed great enthusiasm about his role training new hires and how getting a job at the organization could be “life changing.” Those employees that embraced their jobs fully, he felt, would see a return on their investment.
As in Walt’s apprenticeship program, institutional knowledge was passed down from more senior workers to newer employees. Trades awareness outreach was important in this conclusion as employees needed to be brought in when new needs arose. The outreach efforts in the community that targeted women and youth allowed the organization to maintain visibility with hopes that when the time came, their outreach efforts would prove fruitful.
Without an organizational vision, the participants could not accurately plan for the future.
This primarily affected those that implemented new-hire programs. They remained in a constant holding pattern while the organization determined who they were going to hire and for which trade. The result was that Ivan, who managed the relationships with the trade schools, relied on 80 the trades training school to send new hires to them. Progress was thwarted until the organization could establish future workforce needs.
Conclusion 3: Change for the Future
In connection with the lack of organizational vision, this section explains how these workforce development professionals were more reactionary than visionaries in the moment.
Schon’s (1982) concept of reflection-in-action was not present in this organization. The participants were more often reacting to events that happened and changing training opportunities for the future. Similar to their lack of ability to understand the organizational vision, participants were observed as not inclined to reflect-in-action but more to reflect-on- action or reflect-after-action. Participants considered past actions to make change for the future and did so by waiting and seeing how things went prior to changing any program.
This conclusion ties back to the themes of program evaluation, employee skill development, and customized programs. Program evaluation was done through experience and gut for some employees. There was some evidence of responding to employee feedback, but the researcher determined that change was implemented after the fact. Walt, who managed the apprentice program, had a wait-and-see attitude with his program and hoped that once employees completed their apprenticeships, there would be value added to the organization. He drew no conclusion as to how the results of the program would be received at the end of the 3-year duration. Customized programs and skill development were completed with the new-hire base and were tailored to the needs of the organization at the time. Needed change were not enacted in the moment but in reaction to what the organization needed and implemented for the future.
With regards to the lack of organizational vision, participant interviews revealed that this workforce development team was more reactionary than they were agents of change in the 81 moment. Adjustments to existing programs rarely occurred while they were happening. Most often, it was determined that changes to programs would be implemented for future situations.
For example, Walt’s first group of apprentice program participants began with 50 employees.
He was the only person managing this program for the entire facility, so there was no forethought in determining that 50 people may be too many for one person to handle.
Subsequently, only 15 participants were included in the next group of apprentices, which was much more manageable. The feeling amongst all participants was that they reacted more to situations instead of planning for the future.
Conclusion 4: Highly Self-Regulated Roles
The group of participants in this study was small, separated into two teams, and very self- regulated. They each had specific duties to perform and had very little interaction with their managers and other team members. They were very capable in their jobs, but decision making was often left up to their own devices or until they were able to discuss it with their manager, who was often on the road and spent time at another organizational location.
The participants of this study worked very independently even though they were part of a larger group. Their isolation led to less opportunities to work as a team to share ideas and cooperate in program planning. Each participant had a unique role in the make-up of their area, and although there was an element of trust from their specific managers, this organizational arrangement presented drawbacks when it came to planning and adjusting their programs effectively in the present and for the future.
Implications for Practice
In this specific trade organization, managers and supervisors were ones to oversee the workforce development staff for the specific purposes of designing workforce development 82 programs. Their experience around organizational hiring practices is that it is random in nature and out of their sphere of influence. This means that the programs they developed need to be universal in nature based on the workforce hired at that point in time. Additionally, the professional development of trainers within the organization is also limited to the influence of external business partners and vendors. Being able to foster training development in this capacity is limited to sharing best practices and through reflection on experience. Other avenues would be through use of webinars and organizationally provided workforce development materials. Any workforce development program feedback for these participants was limited and/or nonexistent.
The workforce development profession is also impacted by the digital age. Advances in technology allow for training to be done virtually, through webinars, interactive skill-based training, or in a blended atmosphere. Implications for this workforce development team limit their abilities to enforce such changes in program and inhibit progression in a field that is influenced by web-based learning.
Workforce development in a government supported organization can be limiting due to state and federal grant funding and the regulation around industry itself. Private sector workforce development may experience more flexibility in its delivery and may be able to deliver more innovative programs as budget and creativity permit them to do so. While this organization may have the opportunity to introduce greater flexibility in training programs, both instructor-led, and online learning, content must be approved by Instructional Design and often takes months for approvals to process.
83
Implications for Theory
Schon’s (1982) concepts of reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action served as the conceptual framework for this study. Based on document reviews, interviews, and observations, reflective practice at the organization in the study more resembled reflection-on-action, but more often reflection-after-action. Although there was some evidence of reflection-in-action, it was not substantial enough to conclude that the department embraced this framework to develop their training programs. There were also government actions that prohibited some forms of reflection.
Namely, the strict adherence to work orders and their unpredictable delivery inhibited the organization from planning for the workforce needed to help build the necessary machinery. The reactive nature of this group relied very much on hiring, and if the government was not producing the work orders, the hiring slowed down and left the group in a holding pattern.
Based on the participants in the study, reflection-in-action was rarely, if ever used.
Reflection-on-action was more often the method of understanding and producing change, and predominantly, reflection-after-action was more in line with the method of operation in this team. This section described the reflective practices found in the workforce development area of a trades organization. The researcher recommends that participants become familiar with
Schon’s (1982) work with reflective practice and incorporate his theory into their practice.
Implications for Future Research
This section describes implications for future research arising from this study. The suggested areas are based on the limitations of this study along with participant interviews, the researcher’s observations, and conclusions from the findings. Specific suggestions are made in the following paragraphs. 84
The participants were unaware of the conceptual framework of the study. They were not familiarized with Schon’s (1982) reflective practices prior to proceeding with the interviews.
They were aware that the researcher was interested in how they thought about their role and how they reacted to training program development opportunities when they arose. Perhaps it was not a useful framework for this study as the context is stagnate, regulated, and there is little change in the nature of the participant’s role in the industry.
In this research, the participants expressed their own perceptions and opinions about their work. A suggestion for future research is to include organizations in other geographic locations with similar workforce development duties and research their reflective practices and compare one location to the next. In that case, the research would not be site-specific as it is now.
The last suggestion for future research is to include the trades training area responsible for ongoing training. This area was responsible for ensuring that trades employees were current with their qualifications so there was no production halt on the floor. This group’s role was much different than the role of the participants in this study and the recommendation would be to research this group independently of any other workforce development area at the organization.
The researcher suggested a few areas where future study could take place arising out of this research. The following section summarizes the study.
Summary
The following section concludes this study. A summary of research is presented along with identification of reflective practices employed by the workforce development participants.
Lastly, the researcher offers reflections on working with these participants in the study.
This study involved the reflective practices of workforce development professionals in a 85 trades organization in the Northeast. There were seven participants working in the apprentice and new-hire departments and the leadership development training department. Overall, it was determined that reflective practice was rarely utilized, and the participants relied more upon reflection-on-action and reflection-after-action to perform their roles in the organization than they did on reflection-in-action. The study also found that the participants were unclear of organizational vision and worked very much on their own. They relied heavily on their own resources and decision-making skills to make changes within their respective training programs.
The goal of this qualitative study was to gain a deeper understanding of how workforce development professionals in a Northeast trades organization used reflective practices to create and maintain meaningful workplace development programs for employees. The research revealed valuable information with regard to how participants think about their own work while they are doing it and contributes to the practices of the researcher as she works alongside these workforce development participants. 86
References
Abu Mansor, N. N., Saidi, M. I., & Idris, N. (2012). Organizational factors in learning and development initiatives. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 40, 565–570. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.03.231
Adler, J., Dunlop, W., Fivush, R., Lilgendahl, J., Lodi-Smith, J., McAdams, D., . . . Syed, M. (2017). Research methods for studying narrative identity: A primer. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8(5), 519–527. doi:10.1177/1948550617698202
Akhurst, J., & Lawson, S. (2013). Workforce innovation through mentoring: An action research approach to programme evaluation. International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation, 20(8), 410–416. doi:10/12968/ijtr.2013.8.410
Apprenticeship basics. (2018). U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved from https://www.dol.gov/apprenticeship/toolkit/toolkitfaq.htm
Argyris, C. (1991). Teaching smart people how to learn. Reflections, 4(2), 4–15. https://hbr.org/1991/05/teaching-smart-people-how-to-learn
Balsas, C. J. L., Swingruber, A., & Lin, Y. (2018). Evaluating local workforce development programs in upstate New York, USA. Local Economy, 33(4), 349–366. doi:10.1177/0269094218777805
Bear, S. (2018). Enhancing learning for participants in workplace mentoring programmes. International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 16(1), 35–46. doi:10.24384/000462
Becker, K., Fleming, J., & Keijsers, W. (2012). E-learning: Aging workforce versus technology- savvy generation. Education and Training, 54(5), 385–400. doi:10.1108/00400911211244687
Briscoe, F. M., & Ahmad, I. (1990). A question of representation in educational discourse: Multiplicities and intersections of identities and positionalities. Educational Studies, 9 (2), 23–41.
Brown, J. S., & Duguid, P. (1991). Organizational learning and communities-of-practice: Toward a unified view of working, learning, and innovation. Organization Science, 2(1), 40–57.
Bruner, J. (1988). Life as narrative. Language Arts, 65(6), 574–583. Retrieved from www.jstor.org/stable/41411426
Cantor, J. A. (1999). Tech prep as a catalyst for community college instructional program development. Community College Journal of Research & Practice, 23(4), 357–369. doi:10.1080/106689299264765 87
Chase, S. E. (2011). Narrative inquiry: Still a field in the making. Norman K. Denzin, Yvonna S. Lincoln (Ed.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (pp. 421–434). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Creswell, J. (2015). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (5th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.
Crick, R. D., Haigney, D., Huang, S., Coburn, T., & Goldspink, C. (2013). Learning power in the workplace: The effective lifelong learning inventory and its reliability and validity and implications for learning and development. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(11), 2255–2272. doi:10.1080/09585192.2012.725075
Daily, W. F., Morris, J. A., Hoge, M. A. (2015). Workforce development innovations with direct care workers: Better jobs, better services, better business. Community Mental Health Journal, 51, 647–653. doi:10.1007/s10597-014-9798-4
Daniels, S. (2013). Informal learning is vital to workforce development. Training and Development, 67(3), https://www.td.org/magazines/td-magazine/informal-learning-is- vital-to-workforce-development
Davies, S. (2012). Embracing reflective practice. Education for Primary Care, 23(1), 9–12. doi:10.1080/14739879.2012.11494064
Governor Raimondo and Electric Boat unveil strategic plan for workforce pipeline at Quonset Point. (2018). Newport Buzz. Retrieved from https://www.thenewportbuzz.com/governor- raimondo-and-electric-boat-unveil-strategic-plan-for-workforce-pipeline-at-quonset- point/9300
Greenwood, J. (1993). Reflective practice: A critique of the work of Argyris and Schon. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 18, 1183–1187.
Griffith, J. A., Baur, J. E., & Buckley, M. R. (2018). Creating comprehensive leadership pipelines: Applying the real options approach to organizational leadership development. Human Resource Management Review, 29(3), 1–11. doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2018.07.001
Gubrium, J. F. (2010). Another turn to narrative practice. Narrative Inquiry, 20(2), 387–391. doi:10.1075/ni.20.2.10gub
Gubrium, J. F., & Holstein, J. A. (1998). Narrative practice and the coherence of personal stories. Sociological Quarterly, 39(1), 163–187. doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.1998.tb02354.x
Guth, D. J. (2018). Training the next generation of workers. Community College Journal, 83(3), 10–11.
Hindman, J. (2016). Retooling apprenticeships: Building the manufacturing workforce. Tech Directions, 13–15. Retrieved from https://www.toolingu.com/ToolingU/Media/News/TechDirections12012016.pdf
88
Hora, M. T., & Smolarek, B. B. (2018). Examining faculty reflective practice: A call for critical awareness and institutional support. The Journal of Higher Education, 89(4), 553–581. doi:10.1080/00221546.2018.1437663
Irwin, G., Hanton, S., & Kerwin, D. (2004) Reflective practice and the origins of elite coaching knowledge. Reflective Practice, 5(3), 425–442. doi:10.1080/1462394042000270718
Jupp, J. C., & Slattery, P. (2010, March–April). White male teachers on difference: Narratives of contact and tensions. International Journal on Qualitative Studies in Education, 23(2), 199–215. doi:10.1080/09518390903107499
Kustush, C. (2019). Today’s workforce needs more than metalworking skills to thrive. MoldMaking Technology, 22(1), 22–26.
Labov, W. (2010). Oral narratives of personal experience. Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language Sciences. Retrieved from www.researchgate.net/publication/251607819
Lykins, L., & Pace, A. (2013). Mastering millennial leadership development. Training and Development, 67(5), 42–45. Retrieved from https://www.td.org/magazines/td- magazine/mastering-millennial-leadership-development
Machi, L. A., & McEvoy, B. T. (2016). The literature review: Six steps to success (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Ltd.
McPhail, I. P. (2004). Apprenticeships: Opportunities for the workforce. Community College Journal, 30–31.
Meyerson, B., Haderxhanaj, L. T., Comer, K., & Zimet, G. D. (2018). Learning in the zone: Toward workforce development of evidence-based public policy communication. BMC Public Health, 18(700), 1–9. doi:10.1186/s12889-018-5617-0
Miles, M., Huberman, A., & Saldana, J. (2019) Qualitative Data Analysis: A Methods Sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Miller, L., Hillage, J., Newton, B., & Jagger, N. (2005). Policies and strategies for workforce development: Encouraging a customised approach. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 10(3), 287–304. doi:10.1080/13596740500200206
Mohamed, A., Rasli, A., & Mansor, N. N. (2012). Business impact and ROI: A proposed approach to learning and development investment. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, 40, 563–603. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.03.236
Mott, V. W (1996). Knowledge comes from practice: Reflective theory building in practice. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 72, 57–63. doi:10.1002/ace.36719967209 89
Nguyen-Truong, C. K. Y., Davis, A., Spencer, C., Rasmor, M., & Dekker, L. (2018). Techniques to promote reflective practice and empowered learning. Journal of Nursing Education. 57(2), 115–120. doi:10.3928/01484834-20180123-10
Peters, J. M. (1991). Strategies for reflective practice. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 53, 89–96. doi:10.1002/ace.36719915111
Powell, T. W., Powell, M. J., Martin, C., Philip, W., Astone, N. (2017). “It’s like a shoulder to lean on”: social support provided by an inner-city workforce development program. Journal of Community Psychology, 45(3), 333–345. doi:10.1002/jcop.21850
Riggio, R. E. (2009). Peter Drucker on leadership. Psychology Today 45 (5).
Rose, S. (2008). Apprenticeships redux: Old tradition is way to new competitive workforce. Tooling and Production, 28. Retrieved from www.toolingandproduction.com
Roulston, K., & Shelton, S. A. (2015). Reconceptualizing bias in teaching qualitative research methods. Qualitative Inquiry, 21(4), 332–342. doi:10.1177/1077800414563803
Schon, D. A. (1982). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. New York, NY: Rutledge.
Schon, D. A. (1992). The crisis of professional knowledge and the pursuit of an epistemology of practice. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 6(1), 49–63. doi:10.3109/13561829209049595
Schrock, G. (2013). Reworking workforce development: Chicago’s sectoral workforce centers. Economic Development Quarterly, 27(3), 163–178. doi:10.1177/0891242413477187
Soliz, A. (2016, December 9). Preparing America's labor force: Workforce development programs in public community colleges. Brookings. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/research/preparing-americas-labor-force-workforce- development-programs-in-public-community-colleges
Sparrow, P., & Makram, H. (2015). What is the value of talent management? Building value- driven processes within a talent management architecture. Human Resource Management Review, 25(3), 1–15. doi:10.1016/j.hrmr.2015.04.002
Uhrin, A., Bruque-Camara, S., Moyano-Fuentes, J. (2017). Lean production, workforce development and operational performance. Management Decision, 55(1), 103–118. doi:10.1108/MD-05-2016-0281 van Manen, M. (1995). On the epistemology of reflective practice. Teachers and Teaching, 1(1), 33–50. doi:10.1080/1354060950010104 van Rooij, S. W. (2012). Training older workers: Lessons learned, unlearned, and relearned from the field of instructional design. Human Resource Management, 51(2), 281–298. doi:10.1002/hrm.21466 90
Ware, J., Craft, R., & Kerschenbaum, S. (2007). Training tomorrow's workforce. Talent and Development, 61(4), 58–60.
Watts, L. (2019). Reflective practice, reflexivity, and critical reflection in social work education in Australia. Australian Social Work, 72(1), 8–20. doi:10.1080/0312407X.2018.1521856
Wilkinson, J. (1999). Implementing reflective practice. Nursing Standard, 13(21), 36–40.
Wuestewald, T. (2016). Adult learning in executive development programs. Adult Learning,
27(2), 68–75. doi:10.1177/1045159515602256 91
Appendix A
Interview Questions
Past • Describe your background about how you got into workforce development. Present • What is your understanding of the overall approach to workforce development here, the role of your department and other groups/people connected with WD overall, any specific features of the WD approach and if/how it’s evolved overtime. • What are the aspects of WD that your group is involved in, how have they evolved overtime, and what are you considering in future? • Can you share with me what general trends you’re seeing in Workforce Development as field, trends in how the government is approach WD, trends in how your department is responding or anticipating or experimenting with new approaches. • What works well now in your area? • Describe a time when there needed to be action taken, such as a change in the WD process, while the training/event was happening? • How do you determine any changes that are needed to the WD program? How has employee feedback played a role in adjustments to the overall training program? Future • Imagine it’s five years from now and your department is being featured as an exemplar for innovative approaches to designing meaningful workforce development experiences. What’s the story – who/what/where/when/how/why? Title? • If you were to select an animal to describe how your department currently approaches the challenges and opportunities for Workforce Development, what would that animal be? Why? • If you were to select an animal to describe how your department could be in future if it’s featured as exemplar for leading innovative approaches to designing meaningful workforce development experiences, what would that animal be? Why
92
Appendix B
Code Categories
Table B
Code Category Table
Category Range of Codes Corresponding participant # evidence on codes Trades awareness outreach Women, youth, scouts, 1, 2, 3, 4 exposure, Explorer program
Grant funding Grants, state funds 1, 2, 7
Trades vs. college Avoid college debt vs. get a 1, 4, 7 degree
Employee mentoring Shadowing, apprenticing, 2, 4, 6, 7 coaching
Program feedback Advisory boards, focus 2, 6 groups, surveys
Program evolution Planning, adjusting, vetting, 2, 3, 4, 6 screening, identifying talent
Leadership programs Leadership paths, promotion 4, 6 of potential
Organizational teamwork Brainstorming, project 5, 6, 7 management, program coordination, behind in trends, strategic
Organizational vision Fill the need, strategic 2, 3, 5, 7 purpose, not stagnant, partnerships
Employee engagement Applying material, 5, 6, 7 networking, self-guided training
Employee skill development Skill adjustment, simulated 1, 3, 5, 6 learning, soft skills
93
Category Range of Codes Corresponding participant # evidence on codes Custom programs for trades Women’s programs, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 training customized training, off-site locations, internal vs. external programs, technical programs, leveled content, leadership track
94
Appendix C
Initial Coding
Table C
Initial Coding Table
Category Codes Participant
Trades awareness outreach; Systems and routines, Participant 1 continued state grant funding; constantly adjusting, adjust to value proposition of trades vs. skills, trained and ready, college grant management, CTE, no other option than college, guys’ job, interns, women in trades, state funds, events, trade stereotypes, women’s work, grants, women only grants, boat for women, trades not college, youth, STEM, college debt, organized, off-site locations, money to train, women’s programs, trades vs. college
Trades awareness outreach; Fill the need, existing Participant 2 creating the exemplary workers, share knowledge, employee model; value in share trade knowledge, youth, trade training mentoring; program exposure, high engages in program feedback school, middle school, exposure, planting a seed, Scouts, hands-on, awareness, knowledge, needs, grants, generation gap, shadowing, mentor, ALCs, knowledge, bridge gap, communication, customize training, planning, employee learning, balancing act, safety awareness, advisory boards, focus groups, perfect employee, break the mold, efficient, best of the best, exemplary employee, off-site locations, something bigger, resonate 95
Category Codes Participant
Feels programs are the model Internal vs. external training, Participant 3 for employee success; trades off-site, set up for success, awareness outreach; engages longevity, not just a number, in program feedback classroom vs. hands-on, partnership, relationships, generation gap, transfer of knowledge, generation divide, instruct vs. teach, drop in sever rate, control, off-site training, training school, hands-on, PowerPoint slides, apprentice, career development, supervisors, work with hands, CTE, high school, women, outreach, youth, Scouts, Explorer program, small state, minorities, trade development, grants, no college, manufacturing, money, unemployment rate, hiring, underrepresented people, simulated learning, retention, off-site programs, girl in a man’s world, stuck in ways, focus groups, exit surveys, curriculum, won’t change for one, safety, current, adjusting, looking forward and back, life changing opportunities, get what you put in, reactionary
Trades awareness outreach; Classroom, OJT, off-site Participant 4 program offerings to locations, ALC, apprentice, employees are evolving, women, veterans, minorities, support outreach, exposure, movement, hiring, vetting, screening, checking, figuring out, evolving, excitement, no college, wasted time, weren’t ready, expectations, employment, less hectic, 96
Category Codes Participant
meetings, office hours, support, rotation, college credit, failed class, motivate, people leaving, classes failing, effort, mentor, exposure, technical path, leadership path, choices, mentor, college degree, waiting, unsure, figuring out
Focused on leadership Supervisors, rotate, shadow, Participant 5 training development; relies soft-skills, leadership, on some elements of evolution, technical, trade teamwork specific knowledge, focus groups, skills, brainstorm, project management, systems and planning, organized, well-run program, leader, program coordination, FLL, BLG, future leaders, well- running, well-developed, FLL high potential, talent development process, behind in trends, self-guided FLL program, participation, room for improvement, soft-skills, potential, excited, TED talks, inspiring, fundamentals, sharing, adjusting, professionalism, future, raw, gut feelings, change, informal, not stagnant, work together, teamwork, under- utilized, strategic purpose
Program offerings to Planning, evolve, disjointed, Participant 6 employees are evolving; leadership, no cohesion, silos, company vision is important pull together, talent in program development and development, 1 umbrella, employee skill development morphed, floundering, no real and employee engagement; vision, leadership programs, engages in program feedback individual contributors, professional development, soft-skills, better leaders, 97
Category Codes Participant
potential leaders, high potential, management development, pipeline, readiness for growth, right training, virtual, computer based, instructor led, growth and nutrition, train up, applying material, experience, executive networking, employee engagement, behaviors, learning styles, engage, leveled content, talent identification, promote potential, attrition, academic, coaching, evaluate, focus groups, onboarding
Programs revolve around Apprenticeship, pipeline, Participant 7 future leaders; value in trades proficient, classroom training, training mentoring; custom hands-on, redesigned, programs meet employee associate’s degree future needs; engages in program leaders, educate, technical feedback track, leadership track, aging population, experts, leaders, subject matter experts, leadership, strategic, flow together, learning, trendsetters, grants, state education institutes, employer demand, customized training, customized programs, state colleges, manufacturing, excellence, high school, DLT, DOE, CTE, RIDE, turning point, trades, dual training, focus groups, feedback, advisory board, dedicated, initiatives, partnership, pro- active,
98
Appendix D
Participant Profiles
Table D
Participant Profiles
Participant # Background and Descriptive statements Contextual notes demographics Participant 1 College educated Retail management responsible Has 2 years in WFD former retail staff for training staff in MA and department; trainer who is now NY and preparing them for jobs proponent of grant management in other stores; training systems and routines in manufacturing management at this company and strict company and called for new role in training organizational marketing due to being a proponent of methods that help a professional “systems and routines;” the person be better at more organized and methodical their job the better the job and the better the person is at their job; managing outreach of trade awareness is a primary role and works with department of labor and training to keep jobs in- state
Participant 2 College educated Customer service role for 25 Has 25 years of and former years and earned college customer service customer service education later in life; had experience and 1 representative who interest in workforce year in the WFD is now an HR development and company hired department; ensures representative of with willingness to train; works that employees who new-hire training with new hires and internal trade come into offered and internal training transfers to ensure employees programs complete it programs complete the programs they came in to take; participates in outreach programs to educate youth and under-represented groups on opportunities at company
Participant 3 College educated Works with new hires and Has 2 years in WFD department; and former middle internal training movement; believes that the future is bright school educator who focused and caring individual for those who see the programs is now responsible who wants employees to see their 99
Participant # Background and Descriptive statements Contextual notes demographics for new-hire jobs as life changing; sees what through and stay with the programs, the future can be for them and for company relationships with the programs provided to them; off-site facilities, with 2 years at the company, has and internal seen shifts in how people cycle in programs and out of supervisory programs; has the philosophy of looking forward, looking back and changing as one goes
Participant 4 College educated Experienced professional at the With the company trades person with company for more than 10 years; for more than 10 manufacturing educated through local university years; feels uncertain company who is and was also experienced in a of the sustainability now a human trade; has seen change in the for current program resource training environment over the professional for years from on the job to apprentice program classroom to off-site training; manages apprenticeship program offered to hourly and salaried employees; unsure of how successful the program will be as it lasts for 3 years; feels success in gaining interest in the program but not all are able to sustain it
Participant 5 College educated Began in manufacturing and Has 16 years in the former customer worked hard up the ladder to a profession and 1 service and HR human resource manager; with the WFD leader and HR encouraged to learn more about department; lawyer in human resources, the company evaluates program manufacturing who paid for an HR law degree; effectiveness while is now the responsible for management trying to keep up workforce development programs and with WFD trends development balances many different professional for leadership programs; evaluates management effectiveness of current programs programs and helps to develop future leadership programs; tries to keep up with every employee level and trends in WFD
Participant 6 College educated Educator who moved into the Has 4 years with the and former state only to become a leader in company with arms 100
Participant # Background and Descriptive statements Contextual notes demographics elementary volunteer programs; became out to all trades educator, volunteer attached to the local chamber of training areas to coordinator and commerce and found job with develop and retain social worker who is company; current leader of talent; wants now management management development programs that development programs and has arms out to all provide opportunity training leader trades areas to help in retaining at all levels and developing talent; wants to have programs that provide growth opportunities to all employee levels
Participant 7 College educated With the company for over a Has 10 years with and former decade; began as an educator and the company with elementary educator did not enjoy the field; the desire to develop who is now human opportunity to help develop highly skilled trades resource trades training programs with people and be a professional in new- company arose and was taken force with the DLT hire and apprentice without hesitation; a leader in so they will provide programs. workforce development more grants to fund programs for new-hire and programs apprentice programs, this employee has desire to develop highly skilled trades people within the company and continue to be a force with the DLT to continue providing funds for these programs
101
Appendix E
Interview Matrix Table E
Interview Matrix
Essence of Response Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant interview summary 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 question
Back- Retail staff Customer Educator Tradesperson Customer Educator, Educator Educators (3 of ground trainer service and human service, social primary 7), service, resources human worker and adult human resources, education resource, and workforce training developme professionals nt lawyer Overall -have people -teamwork -addressing -a lot of OJT -develop -disjointed -training Training Approach to trained and -new-hire internal in the past leaders programs all program WFD and ready to go training and -most -ensuring -areas instructor offerings that evolution -greater use -internal external training is programs were in led encompass the of trade movement needs off-site for help their own -no hands- new hire, the colleges, training -reaching new hires employees silos on internal trade -assist new every -more active stay with -bringing training workers, and programs in employees corner of learning the all -more the employee state through the state centers company operationa interactive that wants to programs and border -more in- -business l programs -offering progress into states house leadership under 1 degree management. - training training leadership programs Three of 7 appreciatio programs team mentioned old 102
Essence of Response Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant interview summary 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 question
n for trades ways of doing jobs things with no -internal hands-on and instruction. external Three of 7 job training mention off- effectivene site training. ss
WFD role -managing -program -new hires -apprentice -leadership - - Managing new and its grant awareness -outreach programs program leadership apprentice hire, future programs work to tech -outreach to developer developm and new- management, -marketing -attend institutions women, -solid ent hire and in-house programs events to -outreach minorities, manageme programs programs training -attending push to women veterans nt program -develop - programs with events to programs -outreach -growing -raising leaders at relationshi an emphasis on push -women, to training instructiona every p building community programs to veterans minorities department l level level of with outreach to more diverse -liaison for and under- -new -promoting the college bring in a more population of knowledge represented programs to TED talks operation and tech diverse people sharing groups offer to help institution population of -Elementary -Elementary -Youth employees participants s people. Four of through high through -Boy -process in their - 7 mention schoolers high school Scouts improvement roles relationshi outreach - tech -Boy s for p building programs. Institutes Scouts, apprentice with dept Three of 7 -Women for Explorer program of labor mention the Boat Program exposure of 103
Essence of Response Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant interview summary 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 question
and trades to youth training population.
WFD trends -model -grants that -state -outreach to -leadership - -state is WFD models and Chicago’s bring grants women and training addressing setting the in different response women’s employees -push for veterans and the way trend in states being trade to the state trades and -apprentice program employees WFD used/modified program -bridging manufactur program trends out learn -Maryland to fit company -women for gap between ing refining there -bringing model of needs. Three of the boat retiree and employmen -trying to in more WFD 7 mention state program gen x t keep up electronic -employer grants. Two of -STEM learners opportuniti - platforms driving 7 mention events -active es developing -virtual demand community -Robotics learning -addressing better learning with state outreach. Two programs at centers unemploy technology -phone funding of 7 identify youth level -apprentice ment rates opportuniti apps to learning needs. and in state es to reach track Two of 7 shadowing -outreach entire employee mention other training to border employee engageme state models of states to population nt WFD. bring in (phone more apps) people to the company
104
Essence of Response Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant interview summary 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 question
Works well -systems and -consistent -length of -excitement - -being - Efficiencies, now routines communicat training around manageme more in collaborati collaboration, -well- ion programs apprenticeshi nt the toddler on with and organized -being -simulated p program. developme stage of the state organization. group aware of the work -getting nt program training on grants -efficiency organization environme potential -level of developm and plans in al needs nts employees in instruction ent funding of place to be -customized developed the door for is being - programs used from training in house information raised identifyin school to and off-site sessions - g talent school inspirationa with (higher ed) l stories via leadership TED talks potential -success of manageme nt developm ent program
Action -adjusting to -safety -instructor- -apprentice -use of “F” -changing -influx of Two of 7 taken during personalities training employee program word on leadership hiring mention events in the room with new clashing transcript the program when adjusting to -adjusting to hires -woman vs. checks manufactur to include programs personalities. vendor -awareness man driven -adjusting for ing floor engageme are not Two of 7 demands campaign to industry those with when being nt by ready mention (e.g., tech employees college credit considered superiors adjusting to 105
Essence of Response Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant interview summary 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 question
schools, to use safety -aligning for -executive -observing work college equipment people with manageme networkin other environment personnel) -identifying instructors nt position g sessions training needs. lack of for better -need to -providing programs knowledge employee develop guidance in state to for those retention professiona in offer who have lism leadership employees never been programs - in to get to a developed manufacturi solution to centers of ng a work excellence environment problem with trade schools and colleges
Deter- -through -monthly -exit -new -gathering - -mixed Two of 7 mining inefficiencies advisory surveys program and data evaluation feedback mention change -through boards -focus continued regarding s from advisory board WFD trends regarding groups learning program -sit-down program meetings. -attending curriculum -curriculum -review of feedback meetings observatio Three of 7 STEM events -instructor developme processes -gut -team n and mention focus and seeing feedback nt and -employee feelings workshops employee group/sit down what other -managers updates feedback - -training feedback meetings. companies of -employee -mid-term collaborati site -focus are doing employees incidents check-ins on with feedback groups keeping in (safety) superiors - contact manageme 106
Essence of Response Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant interview summary 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 question
throughout nt employee advisory training board experience meetings
Employee Yes. Helped Through Focus Bimonthly No Chatbot Quarterly Two of 7 feedback established focus groups and meetings feedback phone apprentice mention focus training for groups class with forms for apps for meetings groups and 3 women and about surveys. apprentices manageme employees and of 7 indicate awareness programs, and nt in some weekly that there is no programs to instructors, scheduled programs. leadership meetings formal way for the and office hours programs. with all to give elementary curriculum with program coordinato feedback on level. coordinator. r the program they are in.
The story 5 The company Company Life Need to wait Looks a lot “Center of We Four of 7 years from is the “go-to” has perfect changing and see when different Excellenc already indicate a now model for employee - opportuniti the group is with larger e” provide vision for WFD breaks the es. Proven done with the manageme Identifyin innovative having the best programs. mold. A success for program and nt g high approache program or high- each get developme potential s and now employee efficiency employee inspirational nt candidates speak with through the model. who puts in stories from programs in a better other WFD the effort. them. and way and business programs programs providing who want offered. that have more to follow “gone tracks of our 107
Essence of Response Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant Participant interview summary 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 question
away”- the progressio business company is n. model. keeping up Celebratin better. g the individual contributo r.
Repre- Jaguar – Hawk or Cub – little Baby animal Loner Bear in A bull Three of 7 sentative sleek and cheetah who and like a lion animal and hibernatio who mention animal in steady but is able to reactionary cub. So new squirrel- n because knows its animals who the present when respond . Need to and learning like. Not something target and are quick to something is quickly be careful and growing much might be pushes for respond. Two needed fast and not teamwork great, but it. of 7 mention we’re right rushed. and in an we pull cubs as they there. atmosphere back in are young and of the cave. growing. isolation.
Repre- Jaguar – the Eagle – Tiger. Lion who is a An animal Curious A bull Five of 7 sentative more integrity, Aggressive powerful that is more cat that’s who mention animal in consistent workmanshi to capture force. organized roadrunne knows its animals that the future you are the p and people and has r like that target and appear high in better you’ll dedication before purpose keeps up a pushes for stature and are be to the Navy others do good pace it. respected in animal kingdom. 108
Appendix F
Informed Consent Letter
DATE Dear participant,
Letter to Participants Requesting Participation in Research
My name is Marianne Lawless, and I am a doctoral student at Northeastern University under the guidance of Dr. Margaret Gorman. I am preparing to conduct research for my dissertation and would like to invite you to take part in my study. Specifically, I am looking to interview participants to get a better understanding of your experiences as a workforce development professional.
The title of my study is Cultivating the 21st Century Workforce: A Narrative Research Study Exploring Experiences in Workplace Development Programs
This research seeks to explore how workforce development professionals describe their reflective experiences as they design and enhance workforce development programs in a trade organization. Specifically, it seeks to uncover how reflective action informs decision-making on organization offerings in leadership and apprenticeship programs.
To conduct this study, I will be asking participants to dedicate 35-40 minutes for an interview about their experiences. The interview will be conducted in a location, and a time convenient for you. During the interview, I will ask participants to answer a series of questions about their experiences within your organization. With your permission, the interview will be digitally recorded and professionally transcribed. After the interviews are transcribed, you will have the opportunity to review your transcript for accuracy and clarification.
Your participation in this study is voluntary. Additionally, your participation in this study is strictly confidential, and your identity will not be disclosed. My advisor and I will be the only individuals to know of your involvement. Although there are no foreseeable risks or discomforts to you for taking part in this study, you may withdraw at any time or refuse to answer any question.
By participating in this study, your experiences and input may help other workforce development professionals reflect on their experiences and design training for their own workforce. Consequently, a summary of the research findings and excerpts from each participant’s interview will be published in my dissertation. These results may also be used in future scholarly publications and presentations.
Although a select number of participants will be used for this study, I ask that you please consider participating in this study. If you are comfortable with the purpose of this study and
IRB# CPS19-02-12 109
Approved: 3/18/19 Expiration Date: 3/17/20 are willing to participate, please let me know at [email protected] or call 401-266- 9538.
Thank you for your consideration,
Marianne Lawless Doctoral Candidate College of Professional Studies Northeastern University
IRB# CPS19-02-12
Approved: 3/18/19 Expiration Date: 3/17/20
110
Appendix G
Informed Consent Form
Northeastern University, Doctor of Education Name of Investigator(s): Principal Investigator, Dr. Margaret Gorman, Student Researcher, Marianne Lawless
Title of Project: Cultivating the 21st Century Workforce: A Narrative Research Study Exploring Experiences in Workplace Development Programs Within an American Trade Association
Informed Consent to Participate in a Research Study
We are inviting you to take part in a research study. This form will tell you about the study, but the researcher, Marianne Lawless, will explain it to you first. You may ask this person any questions that you have. When you are ready to make a decision, you may tell the researcher if you want to participate or not. You do not have to participate if you do not want to. If you decide to participate, the researcher will ask you to sign this statement and will give you a copy to keep.
Why am I being asked to take part in this research study?
We are asking you to take part in this research study because you are a workforce development professional.
Why is this research study being done?
The purpose of this doctoral thesis project is understanding the experiences of professionals making sense of their reflective practices to inform training outcomes.
What will I be asked to do?
If you decide to take part in this study, you will be asked to participate in an interview to describe your experiences a professional in the apprentice and leadership workforce development programs.
Where will this take place and how much of my time will it take?
The interview will take 35-40 minutes in length. The interview and location will be scheduled at the convenience of the researcher and the participant.
Will there be any risk or discomfort to me? Describe the risks, discomforts or inconvenience. Describe follow up for any adverse event (anxiety, physical injury). If there is no foreseeable risk or discomfort, state that.
There is no foreseeable risk to you for taking part in this study. However, there may be discomfort as you reflect on their experiences. Therefore, any question that may provide discomfort may be declined. 111
IRB# CPS19-02-12
Approved: 3/18/19 Expiration Date: 3/17/20
Will I benefit by being in this research?
There are no direct benefits for you. However, potential benefits include a new perspective on the training delivery process in place in your department and/or a change to your current process.
Who will see the information about me?
Your part in this study will be confidential. Only the researcher of this study will see the information about you. No reports or publications will use information that can identify you in any way or any individual as being part of this project. The researcher will take every precaution to keep all information confidential. Research data is used only for reporting of the findings. Pseudonyms will be used for interviewees to protect identity. Audiotapes, transcriptions, and other identifying information will be kept in a personal locked filing cabinet and secured USB drive of the student researcher. All recordings and transcripts will be maintained by the student researcher until the thesis has been approved. In rare instances, authorized people may request to see research information about you and other people in this study. This is done only to be sure that the research is done properly. We would only permit people who are authorized by organizations such as the Northeastern University Institutional Review Board to see this information.
If I do not want to take part in the study, what choices do I have?
You have the option is to not participate. You may stop the process.
What will happen if I suffer any harm from this research?
No special arrangements will be made for compensation or for payment for treatment solely because of my participation in this research.
Can I stop my participation in this study?
Your participation in this research is completely voluntary. You do not have to participate if you do not want to and you can refuse to answer any question. Even if you begin the study, you may quit at any time. If you do not participate or if you decide to quit, it will not affect your relationship with Northeastern University or any other organization
Who can I contact if I have questions or problems?
If you have any questions about this study, please feel free to contact the student researcher, Marianne Lawless at 401-266-9538 or by email at [email protected]. You may also contact Principal Investigator, Dr. Margaret Gorman, at 202.245.7111 or by email at [email protected]. 112
Who can I contact about my rights as a participant?
If you have any questions about your rights in this research, you may contact Nan C. Regina, Director, Human Subject Research Protection, Mail Stop: 560-177, 360 Huntington Avenue,
IRB# CPS19-02-12
Approved: 3/18/19 Expiration Date: 3/17/20
Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115. Tel: 617.373.4588, Email: [email protected]. You may call anonymously if you wish.
Will I be paid for my participation? No remuneration / pay. Will it cost me anything to participate? There will be no cost to participate in this study.
I agree to take part in this research.
______Signature of person agreeing to take part ______Printed name of person above ______Signature of person who explained the study to the participant above and obtained consent ______Printed name of person above ______Date
IRB# CPS19-02-12
Approved: 3/18/19 Expiration Date: 3/17/20