Conall

Operational Performance

By Josh Williams, Ph.D. Effective leaders continuously look for ways to increase employee safety commitment. Employees who feel committed to the organization are more likely to work safely, caution others for safety, and get actively involved in safety efforts. Those who aren’t committed rarely go beyond the call of duty for safety or anything else. In fact, they may have more serious issues such as non-compliance, absenteeism/tardiness, and confrontations with others. Organizational commitment consists of (Saal & Knight,1995): Strong support and acceptance of the organization’s values and goals. The willingness to put forward considerable effort for the organization. A strong desire to maintain membership

READ MORE

By Madison Hanscom, PhD Virtual training is becoming more and more common, which begs the question: does it work? Does virtual training work? Researchers have looked into this question and the answer is yes, but it depends. Classroom instruction (traditional training) and web-based instruction (virtual training) can be equally as effective on trainee learning if both programs are developed and implemented using best practices. This conclusion makes sense: good training is good training, and bad training is bad training. The delivery medium is not as important as the content and the instructional method (1). At Propulo Consulting, we partner with you to improve the

READ MORE

By Madison Hanscom, PhD Learning organizations are those that acquire information, share it, process it, and use it for continual improvement. All teams must develop mechanisms and buy-in for supporting this knowledge-sharing cycle, though it is particularly important that companies utilizing a flex work model do this well in order to succeed. Without a strong collective knowledge bank, it is likely your company will spend a lot of time taking one step forward and two steps back. When working in a virtual or remote team, knowledge will be dispersed. It is no longer an option to stop by someone’s office to ask

READ MORE

By Madison Hanscom PhD As more individuals are working from home than ever, this raises interesting questions and important considerations regarding ethics. When working remotely, there are more circumstances in which employees and leaders alike operate under little surveillance. There are several ethical perspectives that should be considered in a flexible work environment. Two important ones are the ethics involved with employee work and the ethical situations leaders might encounter. Employees Performing Work Duties When employees are performing their work from home, it is important to remember that regulations and contracts with employers should still be upheld. Some of these expectations are clearly

READ MORE

By Eric Johnson Further into the future as the pandemic has waned for some time, the idea of flex work as a normal aspect of business operations may become permanent as organizations grow accustomed to the cost savings and flexibility offered to workers. With several considerations, organizations can plan around the culture shift and assist employees by creating purposeful guidelines and norms for the future. Communications Training Currently, many individuals in offices may have their own conference number that they can use to create conference calls through their own setup. As we move into the stable future, we expect individuals to have a

READ MORE

By Madison Hanscom, PhD An interesting study was published recently in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology exploring the effects of standing desks. Employees who worked in sedentary jobs were randomly assigned to a control group (no change in their usual behavior) or an intervention group (were provided with adjustable sit-stand desks and instructions on how to use them). Do Sit-Stand Desks Work? After 6 months of using the sit-stand desk, the intervention group reported significantly fewer musculoskeletal problems in the neck, the back, and the shoulders than the control group. They also reported significantly less psychological tension, less mental tiredness, and more

READ MORE