Organizational Clarity: Critical issues about data collection

In this forum, we'll discuss critical issues about data collection as they relate to our reading in this Module. I'll post a question to start our discussion and please chime in with your ideas and opinions. Feel free to add additional questions to generate discussion. Only start a new thread if you want to post a new question. To answer questions, click on the thread title and then reply.

Survey design by nature has several limitations, one being the response rates typically are low -- maybe 15-28% depending on sample population and also I would add culture of the sample org culture. What increases the response would be clarity and simplicity and the message of how and why the data is being collected

However, if one organization has a low tolerance for technology any survey given out will usually be on paper reducing the confidentiality of and likelihood that the survey would be taken. Plus, these surveys are could be collected by staff who will read the survey responses and possibly ask publicly why an individual has answered a certain way to the questions upon it. This action carried out about the management of the department also deters participation, creating a negative organizational culture. This air of intimidation can play a heavy factor in survey response rate.

Reference
Anderson, D. L. (2013). Organization development: The process of leading organizational change. Sage Publications.

Organizational Clarity: Leadership styles -Visionary Leadership

This assignment for Organizational Development touched upon different leadership styles and what I would consider is my leadership style. Also, why I would be comfortable implementing this leadership style in the workplace or in my career in the near future and why it should be implemented. I have posted the assignment below:

Well, in the same theme as my first posting I consider my leadership style more in the area of the Visionary Leadership as I stated before my style as I have gotten (way) older is one of inclusion instead of exclusion, I prefer to build up the people around me than follow a one goal, one vision purpose (Cameron, & Green, 2015). Getting people on board and developing their professional skills is very important for any organization to grow and prosper.

Although it is important to have direction in an organization, relying on the members there within is also important, meaning that you must be able to trust your employees to do their job, instead of micromanaging them to do what it is you hired them to do. This type of leadership style also builds upon the integrity and respect of the individual to do the right thing for the organization as a whole.  Creating a “company culture” that builds trust and communication, which then can lead (as I stated before) to an atmosphere of positive morale and innovation that will help the organization overcome issues that may plague it. The relationship builds on trust and personal/professional development assist a leader when they need to “see” what others see and develop solutions in areas they themselves are not too familiar with (Cameron, & Green, 2015).  Plus, innovation of course, buffers an organization against negative changes within the marketplace or help it develop new products/service that will give it an advantage over the competition, thereby leading to new sources of revenue.

Also, this leadership style personalizes the employees instead of look at theme as mere cog in the machine, that personalization to me, means that the organization wants to keep you around and understands that you are essential to its profit margin than simply being replaceable. With this type of leadership an organization essentially values the employee’s experience whether it is in areas of productivity, to problem solving or even developing market plans, the organization, wants to the employee to reach the highest potential in each area.  It’s my experience when management develops their employees they stick around longer, work harder and become more knowledge in the field of their expertise. These managers usually lead teams that are very successful in the past organizations I have worked for and are usually the ones that are most imitated.

However, this is more of a personality characteristic than a leadership style, building trust with others, a rapport and helping them grow professional although to me, is essential with working with others, is not always something that many of the managers I worked with, chose to do. Therefore, leading to high turnover rates, or migrating from one crisis to another on a daily basis without any end or positive turnaround in sight for the organization. I always felt this was a very tiring way to manage people (adults), it has been my experience to find out what motivates an individual, then personalize a goal for an activity’s completion and you will be to get a 110% every time out of an employee. Meanwhile you can be developing skills that will make the employee more productive and enhance their problem-solving skills in ways the organization and (yourself) as a manager can benefit from.

Reference
Cameron, Esther, and Mike Green. Making sense of change management: A complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers, 2015.

Organizational Developmental: A trip to Boston pt 3

To help combat the boredom that occurs after hours during an out of state event for your employees/team it is best to research events during the date(s) of the event, retail shops or restaurants nearby, to even different mode of transportation. This information can be used for team building events, ways for the team members to blow off steam. Also, this information can be used to solidify or build relationships between managers and their team.

Nothing informs an employee that you have their best interests at heart than informing them of either the respective hotspots near the venue you are staying at, or maybe where to grab the best burger. So long as it shows that the leaders who organized the trip and event were thinking of more than just the event itself. Empathy towards the employees you dragged across state lines to even five blocks down the street goes a long way.

It builds trust, comradery and a healthy dose of positivity in an event that employees/team members could just be viewing as a necessary evil to get a couple overtime hours in order to pay off some bills. The little extras can go a long way, even if you do see an immediate return it creates an organizational culture that will expect more and do more (production wise) in the future.

Organizational Developmental: A trip to Boston pt 2

I wanted to actually go through and have a non-eventful trip. And try to learn something about a process called onboarding along the way to increase my professional skill set. Of course, things do not go as planned and it made the event more complicated than it needed to be unfortunately things happen or turn out like that. Being the new person, I really could not just take control or offer too many suggestions because I did not have all the data to give a proper assessment. As the say experience is the best teacher and within this event there were a lot of issues that occurred that I believe could be easily handled or eliminated from occurring the next time around.

From an organizational development perspective, it is required, necessary to baby step and focus on smaller problems or issues that can be fixed immediately, in a short span of time or with a limited amount other resources. I realize that I went through a crash course of training but in the near future I will be assigned to different events on my own. And after I lose the training wheels I will be able to make adjustments or add certain accompaniments that will streamline some of the processes that I immediately identified as ineffective or not as efficient. In other words, it is important as you start your own training process in an organization to not try to reinvent the wheel in your first couple of months there.

Because as much as you want to change the world there is simply too many x-factors or variables to truly state definitively that the "solutions" you are proposing are correct or would be effective. With time and some trial and error you can develop the right methodology or procedures that will make your organization a better place it simply takes time, patience and a couple of implementations to get it right.

Organizational Developmental: A trip to Boston pt 1

From an organizational developmental perspective, it was a nightmare, just terrible. The whole thing was simply a catastrophe. The client’s needs were met during an out of town excursion however the environment in which we all found ourselves in was way below our expectations. For example, the public area we had interviews which was reserved on the last day was no longer roped off not reserved in the early morning. Leaving us scrambling for tables and staff to clean the area that now being used for breakfast by different individuals and families.

These were the same areas that were being used to facilitate the applicants to fulfill the client’s employment needs. Now imagine having applicants entering the lobbying and being directed to an area where there are not but families eating breakfast. You as an applicant would wonder what is going on? Is this so type of a scam? How legit and on point is this organization if they cannot get an area to together for my interview and maintain it?

The event was successful and that was mainly due to my team’s never say die attitude. However, this hiring event (sorry I cannot disclose too many details) was still marred by the unprofessionalism of an external organization. Simply put the organization we paid and put our faith in simply had to be prodded at every turn to perform up to the basic standards in which we contracted them by. If it was not the area being unreserved it was not enough coffee and water for the staff and candidates. The other issues were rooms and hallways littered by other guests from the night or two nights before. We even had issues getting meals for our team, or even is a timely (up to 45 minutes to get a burger and thirty for the check) and clean manner (dirty silverware/dishes).

The organization hosting the event was simply not up to par. When dealing with clients and/or trying to meet their (staffing) needs is already stressful as is, for all the stakeholders involved. But to add the third-party organization enlisted (paid) to assist in the endeavor as part of the stress is not something an OD professional and/or event planner is clearly counting on to be. Although the next event can be scheduled elsewhere possibly eliminating this problem, what are so other solutions or actions that can be taken beforehand or during an issue like this?

Organizational Development: Challenging Questions about Data Collection

During an Organizational Development class, it was asked about our take on how to collect data or feedback from stakeholders within a corporate environment and during the class we needed to interact via an online discussion. Every once in a while, we have to pose questions to one another, in this post I have posted the question and my response to that question. I hope the interactions below assist in research, or even understanding the concepts of the data collection that engage stakeholders in a positive manner and what from some academic sense future practitioners think of these concepts and the arenas it can be used in.

Question: When maintaining open communications can often replace surveys. However, if I am seeking to gain collective insights and opinion on a program or service, I like to use the survey approach. Remember though that surveys in fact seek the information that we want to know, not necessarily the information that people want to share. This is the fine balance that you need to maintain when it comes to a survey design when seeking information. 

Anytime we have a question or a problem that requires input from others, it seems that we rush to create a survey. When exactly should we use surveys to collect data? What tools can we use to create better surveys?

I usually think of using surveys in larger organizations like a for profit institution, or an organization that is global, dealing with larger group of people with different cultural and geographical backgrounds, I would want to ask specific questions that are organization based without any leeway for interpretation or the introduction of personal opinion. I would also use surveys to clarify or support what was covered during another data gathering interactions such as a focus group or interview, that way it can lessen the bias in reporting the data given by the employee(s).

The only way I can think of creating a better survey is to use video or audio presentations coupled with the survey to make the person taking the survey more engaged and increase the likelihood of future buy ins for the audience the survey is intended for.

Organizational Development- Data collection methods

One of the data collection (gathering) methods I am most familiar with, are electronic surveys/questionnaires  (Anderson, 2013). This is a great icebreaker to start the discussion about daily work flows to what a team should order for lunch during a team building exercise. Also, with electronic surveys can be coupled with other data gathering methods fairly easy without that much setup. For example, if you require members of a focus group to complete a survey about what was discussed or how effective the meeting was before they leave the group not only have you increased the response rate but also increase the amount of data you gathered (Anderson, 2013).

Whenever I saw electronic surveys used as icebreakers to other topics or used with other data gathering methods in the workplace I have noticed that participation from employees increases the next time a survey is given. I have even created two electronic surveys via survey monkey for a Final project in my Human Performance Improvement class, although the electronic surveys were not used, I found that it was simple to create and not as time-consuming as if I was required to do the other data collecting methods. However, I feel that if I could correlate those two electronic surveys with another data collection methods I would have had more success with my response rate and commitment for those reviewing my work.

My question is when using electronic surveys as a primary data collection method what other method would you use as an additional method to increase the response rate (commitment) or would you just follow up with another survey? Also, how would you ensure the probability of following up with the survey takers if you coupled it with another data collection method?

Reference
Anderson, D. L. (2013). Organization development: The process of leading organizational change. Sage Publications.

Organizational Development-Toys R Us

When it comes to Toys r us going out of business I am happy, and I am sad, now coming from someone with a Masters in OD (Organizational Development) that must sound fairly “simple” and I admit it is. I am sad because a big part of my childhood and Americana is gone from the retail landscape. I still remember begging my mom to take 25 minutes into the suburbs to get the newest Universal Monsters action figures and playset. It was a place of wonder and imagination, in fact I still have one of those figures still.

But over the years a lot of the wonder and imagination Toys R US created faded, not because kids got involved in video games and the toy industry suffered. No, they sold video games at various Toys R US locations, and at any location you could find various adults spending their paychecks on not only video games but action (the collector’s type) figures as well.  The problems were more than that from expensive prices, lack of sales and advertisement, to even a lack of energy within the stores. Now these are off the top of my head, and I would not get into the condition of the packaging of anything I bought at (or nearly bought) Toys R US. Most of the items looked like they were used as footballs by store staff and with the attitudes they exhibited they truly must have.

I could say only there were only few other big chains that had as many disgruntled employees as Toys R US, but only a few. So, I am fairly happy that they have gone out of business because the company that went out of business in 2018 was destroying my recollections of the company that gave me and a lot of other children hours of fun with the products they sold years ago. Going by a model like Amazon the company could have rebounded if they would have made their stores “must see locations of wonder” they would have gotten bodies into their stores, along with their dollars. But none of that happened the company seemly filed bankruptcy and went about business as usual, then they had to close, duh.

I was not pleased with Toys R US when it closed but I was still happy. Much like that always-failing ex that you hear stories about how bad they are doing after you dumped them, you wonder where it all went wrong, or maybe it was always there and no one saw it coming. With Toys R US the “writing was on the wall” and the chain could not have ended their time in the retail marker any sooner. My hope is that all those employees can find jobs doing something that pays the bills or that they love to do. Meanwhile I also hope this opens up customers to those smaller online and mom and pop stores that did not get noticed before, with the shadows of the combined might of Toys R US, Walmart, Target and Amazon looming over them. With at least one of these mammoths gone there can be a chance for the little guys (smaller stores) to break through and take Toys R US’s place in the hearts of Americana.

Organizational Development: Challenging Questions about Interventions

When an intervention fails the consultant can use this opportunity to just reexamine the situation and use that data to reconstruct a better intervention or an entirely new one that is better suited or the client’s organization. I believe that an intervention although can have negative effects if it is one of multiple failed interventions that have been implemented in a short amount of time, thereby ruining the credibility of the consultant and possibly lowering the percentage of engagement of the stakeholders.

Also, if the employees of the organization feel that the intervention does not have a positive impact on their professional development it may cause resistance or an increase in the organization’s turnover rate.

Were there any interventions or changes in procedures in the organization that you are presently with that occurred for only a short amount of time, only to go back to the “way thing was”? In your professional experience, have you seen coworkers become disgruntled by organizational changes that they simply resisted the change until it was repealed, or they left the organization because of it?

Organizational Development Article: Intervention Round Up-Sensitivity Training

During an Organizational Development class, it was asked about our take on models that seeks to engage stakeholders within a corporate environment and during the class we needed to interact via an online discussion. Every once in a while, we have to pose questions to one another, in this post I have posted the question and my response to that question. I hope the interactions below assist in research, or even understanding the concepts of the different models that engage stakeholders in a positive manner and what from some academic sense future practitioners think of these concepts and the arenas it can be used in.

Sensitivity Training is one of those interventions that is great (like my choice 360 Feedback) if properly used and everyone bought into the use of the intervention. However, I can see it be used in a negative connation to gauge where employees stand on certain organizational issues, or how employees feel about the current structure and policies of an organization only to have management use that information against the employee. In my experience when management asks “how do you feel...” about a certain issue, the current direction of or the leadership in the organization, they are usually mining for data to find the” trouble makers” in a department and make their time with the organization uncomfortable as possible.

With a lot of this depending on the emotional intelligence and egos of those participating how would you ensure that when this intervention is used, that participants do not act negatively in and out of group sessions?  How would you ensure that the original focus of this intervention stays on point for future usage after the OD Practitioner is gone?

http://www.citeman.com/979-sensitivity-training.html

Organizational Development Article: Intervention Round Up-Mentoring

During an Organizational Development class, it was asked about our take on models that seeks to engage stakeholders within a corporate environment and during the class we needed to interact via an online discussion. Every once in a while, we have to pose questions to one another, in this post I have posted the question and my response to that question. I hope the interactions below assist in research, or even understanding the concepts of the different models that engage stakeholders in a positive manner and what from some academic sense future practitioners think of these concepts and the arenas it can be used in.

Mentoring is an interesting intervention because much like other intervention like 360 Feedback (my choice) it can be used in a positive manner or with a negative connation for corrective action purposes. Through my professional experiences I have had great mentors and terrible ones, usually the latter I had to deal with supervisors or management that were busy trying to teach me how to disregard procedures to complete activities in order to raise overall productivity percentages.

However, it made them look good to upper management, this type of mentoring caused issues with the task completion when the completed activities were quality checked or needed to be replicated.
Keeping this in mind, in your experiences with mentoring have you encountered any ineffective mentors that simply stunted your professional development? Were there times in the mentoring process that you received duplicate training for two different individuals to the point it seemed repetitive?

Organizational Development Article: Intervention Round Up-360 Feedback

During an Organizational Development class, it was asked about our take on models that seeks to engage stakeholders within a corporate environment and during the class we needed to interact via an online discussion. Every once in a while, we have to pose questions to one another, in this post I have posted the question and my response to that question. I hope the interactions below assist in research, or even understanding the concepts of the different models that engage stakeholders in a positive manner and what from some academic sense future practitioners think of these concepts and the arenas it can be used in.

Question: The 360 Feedback tool which I think is overused and overcommitted to as a tool to provide feedback. The problem often comes from misperceptions as to what 360 is and how it can be effectively used to advance employee effectiveness.
Not to take a reductionist stance, but in essence evaluation must have a clear and focused context and a process that is consistent and valuable for everyone, not just a supervisor. Also, consider the variance between a transformational 360 feedback session versus a transactional session.

Most of my experiences with 360 Feedback as a process comes from supervisors using the process as a corrective actions tool, emphasizing more of the negative aspects of my performance than including the feedback from myself or my peers.

Most of my coworkers and I would joke that it is called 360 Feedback because the process just runs the employee around in circles (360 degrees) without having any point to it. The only person who could make sense of this process was maybe the supervisor, who had an opportunity created by the one-way feedback session a scape goat.

Usually when I experienced or heard (from other employees) about this one-way feedback process, the purpose it seemed was to find the easiest person to blame for the team not meeting productivity goals. This process was filled, non- transformational sessions that caused more division and chaos than necessary and creates the misperception that the process is not for advancing employee effectiveness as you stated, but to punish.

I hope to be able to use resources such as my schoolwork, textbooks and the interactions with you and my fellow classmates to find ways to enlighten and teach organizational management in the future on the proper way to use the 360 Feedback process.

Organizational Development Article: Intervention Round Up

During an Organizational Development class, it was asked about our take on models that seeks to engage stakeholders within a corporate environment and during the class we needed to interact via an online discussion. Every once in a while, we have to pose questions to one another, in this post I have posted the question and my response to that question. I hope the interactions below assist in research, or even understanding the concepts of the different model that engage stakeholders in a positive manner and what from some academic sense future practitioners think of these concepts and the arenas it can be used in.

Question: I especially liked how you included self-concept or self-delusion of oneself. It is important to understand how we are viewed by others, especially if there are conflicts within a group/team/department. As you mentioned too often, I have too, 360-degree feedback is used incorrectly, and the focus is only on the negative versus the positive aspects. In this module, reading on 'Positive Organizational Scholarship and Appreciative Inquiry' it explains by focusing on the positive you can correct negative behavior without all the negative connotations.
Do you believe the 360 Degree Feedback can tied with POS or AI? Or that there would be benefits of realigning it so that it can be used more frequently as a way to improve an employee’s development?

Actually, I would use neither with the 360 Feedback. Unfortunately, it has been my experience that the individuals implementing the Feedback have no training whatsoever in the process and that is why it is done incorrectly, adding something extra to me is asking for more trouble.
For example, with Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) I can see management telling the individual how to be motivated as it benefits the organization not the individual leading to all types of conflict. With Appreciative Inquiry, again I also see organizational management taking control of this process in a negative manner and telling the individual employee again what should motivate them also that it is beneficial to them (management) or the organization but not upon the professional development of the employee.

It has been my experience that many individuals in management have no idea about these concepts and would rather practice aspects of each that would benefit their agenda. I would hate to take the chance and subject employees with management that can add extra ways to torment their employees due to my additional training, even I would hate me! I would rather keep it simple with one concept (the 360 Feedback intervention) train the management on how to properly use it and monitor them excessively to make sure the entire concept is being practiced and the training of how to use the 360-feedback process is permanent.

Organizational Development related post: MTBI and possible usage in the workplace.

During an Organizational Development class, it was asked about our take on the Meyer Briggs test within a corporate environment and during the class we needed to interact via an online discussion. Every once in a while, we have to pose questions to one another, in this post I have posted the question and my response to that question. I hope the interactions below assist in research, or even understanding the concepts of MTBI and what from some academic sense future practitioners think of these concepts and the arenas it can be used in.

Question: I have been an avid reader and fan of Carl Jung 's work. Over the years I have taken the Meyers-Briggs Test to satisfy my own personal curiosity and consistently I have been typed as INFJ.  I took the test recently and my result was personality type ENFJ. I attribute the change to work experiences that have forced me to be more extroverted. Do you think that an individual's personality type can change? Do you think the personalities of individuals can be adaptable to a workplace environment? How does the MBTI compare to other personality assessment tests administered to employees in the workplace?

It has been my experience that people do change aspects of their individual personality that they exhibit in the workplace. It is what I like to call a “workplace mask” in which individuals adapt (as you stated) or change their attitudes and responses to match certain instances or events. Usually I see this change in attitude is evident when managers or onsite directors are visited by out-of-town CEOs or COOs, they become positive and outgoing trying to interact with their employees, when otherwise they try to avoid those same employees at all costs.

To answer your question about administering personality tests at an organization, it has also been my experience that the organizations are not interested, whatsoever for understanding employee personality types. Organizations are more concerned for conformity to the culture that is present within the workplace, and any personality traits one exhibits that run counter to that culture must be eliminated or suppressed. A personality assessment test like MTBI is unfortunately not even on the radar for organizations like this.

Organizational Development article: The Learning Organization Revisited

As part of one assignment I had to read a Organizational Development themed article and comment upon it. This article was located on the Roosevelt University blog entitled: “The Learning Organization Revisited” I will post my response to the blog below, but I recommend reading the blog and maybe even commenting upon the article itself. Here is my posting which you will find also upon the site:

I like the idea of what respecting others in the workplace to create a learning environment, in my experience so far I have not seen any organization, department or team that meets or exhibits this type of thought process. Usually when it comes to stimulate any type of learning it is done by self-motivated employees or individuals from the training and development department, the managers play no part in the learning process. What managers can do, as mentioned in the video, for assisting employees contributing to the learning process are not instilled in the usual organizational culture and instead are thought of as characteristic of “weak” leadership. Giving a chance for employees to have a debate regarding ideas, policies and procedures even during “open house” discussions that I have seen, are just opportunities for managers to identify troublemakers or squash “challenges” to the current method of “doing things” in regular organizations.

Although I believe organizations that have this type of learning environment established, have managers who openly encourage innovation, and the dissemination of best practices will be highly productive and successful, I have not seen it yet. To do so most organizations need a change to their entire organization’s culture, to reverse the mindsets of CEOs and management staff included that believe creating supportive learning environment in which best practices can be shared and discussion of alternative points of view are not complete wastes of time. If the organization is serious about change, and the management staff is not it is in the best interest of the organization to move forward with personnel changes and recruit leaders who are to committed to this new environment.
I have taken the Learning Organization Survey as recommended by the authors of the article and my organization scaled highest score was in the area of “Time for reflection” at 48.6 I had five of these categories in averaging at 14.3% the others in the low twenties and thirties. This was far above what I expected to score for my organization but quite accurate in various areas.

Reference
Iverson, Kathleen (2012) “The Learning Organization Revisited” February 13, 2012 RU Training @ Roosevelt University in Chicago, Graduate Program in Training & Development, Roosevelt University Retrieved on April 5, 2017 from:
https://rutraining.org/2012/02/13/the-learning-organization-revisited/

Organizational Clarity: When is an Internal/External Organization Development Professional needed to create Organizational Change?

In one of my classes for Organization Development we were asked about what we as individuals would choose from possible candidates form the Organization Development (OD) field in regard to a particular skill set we believed is needed. The skill set of this individual must be one that can easily facilitate Organizational Change in the best or Worse case scenario. This is a fictional account for this assignment, of course, is with an organization that has an unlimited budget and resources was crafted with those variables in mind. Please post any comments or questions to facilitate a discussion in the comments sections below.

Please read the exercise on Page 292 in your text and answer the following questions. Check back often to create dialogue and discuss your answers.

When would you use an internal consultant for this position? When would you use an external consultant? Why?

The best way to answer this question and overcome any team building exercise to effectively assess and craft a program that meets the organizational goal of increasing team productivity is to hire an outside consultant. One of the skills I chose was Objectivity, and to be totally objective the Organization Development (OD) Practitioner should come into the organization from the outside, although one would argue an internal consultant would be more effective (Anderson, D. L. (Ed.), 2011). However, in this scenario even the leader is “feels” that the team functions “well” but wants to improve the team’s performance with this type of indecision from management I would hazard a guess that might be the prevailing attitude of the organization. Therefore, bringing in an outside consultant who can objectivity look into the processes and procedures decisively is needed to overcome this possible roadblock of Organizational culture.

Reference
Anderson, D. L. (Ed.). (2011). Cases and Exercises in Organization Development & Change. Sage.

Organizational Clarity: What the top 10 skills needed from an Organization Development Professional needed to create Organizational Change?

In one of my classes for Organization Development we were asked about what we as individuals would choose from possible candidates from the Organization Development (OD) field in regard to a particular skill set we believed is needed. The skill set of this individual must be one that can easily facilitate Organizational Change in the best or Worse case scenario. This is a fictional account for this assignment, of course, is with an organization that has an unlimited budget and resources was crafted with those variables in mind. Please post any comments or questions to facilitate a discussion in the comments sections below.

What are your top 8 to 10 skills needed for a position by an Organization Development (OD) Professional to be hired for an Organization in need of Organizational Change?
I believe in this scenario as a leader of a management team when tasked to hire an Organization Development (OD) Professional these are the top 10 skills needed for this position (Anderson, D. L. (Ed.), 2011):

1. Sense of Humor
2. Objectivity/Neutrality
3. Group Development
4. Written Communication
5. Strategic Planning
6. Team Building
7. Training Delivery Skills
8. Designing Interventions
9. Managing Stress
10. Leadership

Even though the team performance is great I would focus on these ten skills, having a sense of humor myself I would need a professional with the same skill however I would want them to be objective as possible to give the situation an outsider’s point of view of how the team could improve.
Group Development, Team Building and Written Communication are essential skills for an OD Professional to have for this endeavor due to its focus on a team based intervention. To implement the intervention properly, I think Strategic Planning is a required skill that coupled with Designing Interventions or the proper one in this case will only assist in the program being a success (Anderson, D. L. (Ed.), 2011).

The team’s productivity overall after the program depends on how the OD Professional leads the program (Leadership), clarifies the program’s content and intent (Training Delivery skills) to the team and does it with a level head (Managing Stress) so that the focus is on the learners. An OD Professional with all these skills I believe would be the most effective person for this type of opportunity, while helping the organization achieves its goal of increasing team productivity.

Reference
Anderson, D. L. (Ed.). (2011). Cases and Exercises in Organization Development & Change. Sage.

Organizational Development: Common Theories, Models, and Methodologies covered in Organizational Development

Common Theories, Models, and Methodologies covered in Organizational Development

Theory/Model/Methodology	Description
Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation	Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation are Level One-Reaction, Level Two-Learning, Level Three-Behavior, and Level Four-Results.  Kirkpatrick’s method is the standard for evaluating demonstrating the value and effectiveness of training and development programs. Giving the practitioner an easy method for translating the date from the training program into an easily translated presentation that properly explains the organization’s Return on Investment (ROI) as a result of the program’s implementation.
Gap Analysis	Gap Analysis like Rothwell’s Six-Cell Gap Analysis, is a tool within the HPT model that determines opportunities to improve performance. By comparing an organization’s desired level of performance to the employees’ actual (expected) performance, the performance gap is confirmed and thereby part of the focus for the Performance Improvement program. From this data performance, prioritization of the gaps occurs, realistic performance goals are created, and techniques based on the resources available to be used, hence this is the step setting up for the Cause analysis. Gap analysis determines the potential gaps, past, and future included while identifying an opportunity or opportunities that exists for an intervention.
The Performance Improvement/Human Performance Technology (HPT) Model	The Performance Improvement/HPT Model establishes a foundation for bridging performance gaps found in the workplace. By gathering data through organizational and environment analysis, the HPT model establishes the organization’s desired and actual performances; then both are compared through gap analysis. The HPT model is adaptable in meeting various organizational needs and workplace challenges, as evident by the cause analysis stage which analyzes further factors which influence performance and is the cause of the performance gap. With this data, the required intervention selection process occurs and then one is implemented. Furthermore, the changes are then maintained until evaluation of the program is completed. Through the four types of evaluation (Formative, Summative, Confirmative and Meta) the processes of the program are assessed and what the Return on Investment from the program for the organization is determined and available for reporting to sponsors and clients.

Organizational Clarity: Human Performance Improvement -PDI Feedback

In another assignment in Human Performance Improvement class I was given the assignment to focus upon a creating change to a fictional organization (or part three) it focused upon the external stakeholders involved and how HPI can be used towards this group. Again, this is a fictional account with the details listed in an assignment and the parameters dealt with worst case scenario type issues in an organization so therefore with the idea of unlimited budgets and resources (I know when does that happens?) this assignment was crafted with those variables in mind. Please post any comments or questions to facilitate a discussion in the comments sections below.

Focusing on the Human Performance Technology (HPT) Model and building on the Cause Analysis mechanism, in the form of student surveys we build a foundation to gain an understanding of the environment factors which impact the team's and organization’s overall productivity. We also implement employee, management surveys to recreate the team spirit that is missing from the department. Therefore, using the HPT Model as the basis, we have selected five interventions for this project as defined in the Performance Support Tool 9.1:

1. Personal Development Interventions (Feedback).
2. Performance Support Interventions (Documentation and Standards)
3. Organizational Design and Development Inventions (Empowerment-Team Strategies)
4. Human Resource Development Interventions (Organization Growth-Management Development/Individual Growth-360-degree Appraisals).
5. Organizational Design and Development (Organizational Values-Culture).

Of all the five interventions chosen, the number one intervention I deemed necessary to the success of this project is the Personal Development Interventions- Feedback. (Van Tiem, et al., 2012). This way team management The FA email team and site directors can discuss the issues of the Email backlog, low student survey score, lack of support, etc., in a collaborative manner. Done without fears of corrective action or further isolation occurring with the 360-degree feedback model (Hamilton, & Patel, 2012). This I feel is the easiest method to communicate solutions regarding the dysfunctional structure of procedures and processes that the organization’s customers are complaining about.  Since the organizational culture is embedded and the likelihood of a miraculous 360 change for the entire department or organization will not happen overnight.

I believe this is a more team oriented approach that allows all those concerned to gain an understanding how to improve their overall team performance and create an immediate but practical solution for productivity. This speedy intervention from an internal standpoint, allows immediate feedback and focus on the problem. From an external standpoint it immediately deals with issues that presently concern the student body. If we were to implement the other, protracted interventions first, the University would possibly face a major exodus of students as a result.

By administering a 360-degree survey the employees express their individual perceptions through the rating process of how the organization perceives them and their effectiveness in their job roles (Hazucha, et al,.1993). Included in that is how effective each individual perceives the impact of their coworkers and management staff this is all done anonymously so that the data is accurate as possible.

Coupled with the data gathered by the student surveys employees are then presented with all the material in a supportive atmosphere so that it facilitates effective coaching and development amongst the team members (Hamilton, & Patel, 2012). In this environment constructive feedback is shared between the employees and management staff so the performance responsibilities are clearly understood and the team’s performance can be improved. 360-degree feedback meetings and duplicate surveys are rescheduled for reinforcement purposes on a monthly basis are added to complement the original surveys and 360-degree meetings. This is done to judge the impact of the program upon the initial perceptions of the employees and what degree of change has occurred as a result.

Steps to administrating 360 Feedback Sessions

1.      Conduct Student Survey

2.      Gather Student Surveys

3.      Conduct Employee and Management Surveys

4.      Gather Employee and Management Surveys

5.      Tally all three surveys to rate the effectiveness of Management and Staff

6.      Constructive group feedback (through FA Jeopardy/team strategy meetings)

7.      Constructive individual feedback (through role playing/discussion of strengths and areas of development regarding performance)

8.      Monthly Follow up Surveys

My second choice was the Performance Support Intervention of Documentation and Standards, although I feel that employees need to be clear about the job requirements for their daily tasks, the Feedback intervention (360-degree feedback) would cover the basics of the intervention (Van Tiem, et al., 2012).  I would also add that the FA Email team overall customer service score on the student surveys was 63%, therefore one can concur the foundations for job expectations is already exists. Understanding why the performance gap happened and how to reach the desired performance in this situation could not be solved with just repeating current policies and procedures, to the employees.

Discussion for solutions for faulty procedures and policies as covered in the Feedback intervention would astern workable approaches to the enormous time sensitive problem that faces the team.
My third choice is the Organizational Design and Development Invention of Empowerment: Team Strategies again the basics of this intervention will be emphasized in the Feedback intervention (Van Tiem, et al., 2012). The problem here is that the FA email team is on an island by themselves, the organizational culture divides its departments into task oriented teams and by the type of Financial Aid knowledge needed to complete daily tasks. Included into the factors the strengthen this division are the competitive goals set by the organization which increases the negative effects that occur.

Stressing team exclusion is part of the organizational culture this problem is far-reaching to the point that there is a division between the FA email team and its management staff. The Beginning for the viable lines of communication with Feedback intervention starts the baby steps to becoming a true cohesive unit and meets the basic needs of all the stakeholders, now.

My fourth choice is Human Resource Development Interventions whether it is Organization Growth with Management Development or Individual Growth with 360-degree Appraisals the feedback approach is well and alive in both methods (Van Tiem, et al., 2012). In the 360-degree appraisals the customer surveys I have included in the Feedback intervention echoes here. However, there is no intent to “soften the blow” of the information given to the employee with the Organizational Culture that exists such an exercise would have a negative effect. This is due to the lack of knowledge that team management and FA site directors have of the expected job duties of the FA email team therefore without further information about these duties the ratings will be askew. The same holds true from the Management Development approach this is a lengthy approach that addresses the lack of interpersonal skills of the management staff, however due to time constraints training to bridge this lack of knowledge and personality is not suitable for this situation (Van Tiem, et al., 2012). The break between team management and the team itself is based on the lack of problem solving skills of management which this method adheres to solving. But an extensive needs assessment is required to fully understand that performance gap, something the organization is not willing to endure as the issues of low productivity numbers by the FA email team are affecting the rest or the organization.

To explain why my final choice is Organizational Design and Development, Organizational Values-Culture there is a realization that the Organizational culture is the initial cause for divisions in the department and the rest or the organization (Van Tiem, et al., 2012). This division is paralyzing the entire Organization to the point where simple restructuring of teams or the temporary assignment of employees to assist the FA email team is almost impossible. From a clinical and realistic standpoint, the organization needs to change entirely but not all of the stakeholders can wait for widespread modifications. As the survey data shows the student population is not elated with the University’s performance so far, and will not be patient. With any Organizational culture there is resistance to change for the organization to be successful in meeting the needs of its students it must have zero resistance to change. Therefore, the Feedback intervention is chosen to focus mainly upon the immediate team involved with this issue to get to the heart of the matter and work on creative solutions that address the issue at hand.
           
The best practices as demonstrated by the 360-degree feedback implementation at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. would be replicated here at Omir University (Caruso, 2011). For example, in the survey process, Starwood decided that their survey questions would be adjusted or aimed at the skill levels of management, not just the employees. Furthermore, this process addressed individual strengths along with areas that still needed development, through positive assessments and not the usual one on one coaching methods, that have considerable negative conations. This way everyone can add into this data their unique perceptions of how they contribute to the organization, what they do best and what they believe they need improvement with on a daily basis, without judgment.
           
As at Starwood, the 360-degree feedback implemented at Omir University would give the entire team a structure or foundation of “what to focus on” the team’s knowledge of individual expectations so that bridging any performance gaps will be simple (Caruso, 2011). From an organizational standpoint, the benefits gained from these best practices is a foundation of data to grow upon. Additionally, from this data, the University’s Human Resource department can develop additional programs with a distinct scope that reaches into each part of the department. This extended reach allows the University to reduce the waste of previous resources similar to the implementation at Starwood (Caruso, 2011).

References
Caruso, Karen N. (2011)“Case Study: Starwood Hotels Takes 360 Degree Feedback to a New Level” viaPeople Insight - Performance Management & Succession Planning Blog Mon, Aug 29, 2011 ViaPeople Retrieved on February 23, 2017 from: http://web.viapeople.com/viaPeople-blog/bid/65018/Case-Study-Starwood-Hotels-Takes-360-Degree-Feedback-to-a-New-Level

Hamilton, Diane, & Patel, Nilesh (2012) “Best practices in 360-degree feedback” Forward HR Aug 22, 2012 In Business Madison Retrieved on February 16, 2017 from: http://www.ibmadison.com/Blogger/Forward-HR/August-2012/Best-practices-in-360-degree-feedback/

Hazucha, J. F., Hezlett, S. A., & Schneider, R. J. (1993). The impact of 360‐degree feedback on management skills development. Human Resource Management, 32(2‐3), 325-351.

Van Tiem, D., Moseley, J. L., & Dessinger, J. C. (2012). Fundamentals of performance improvement: Optimizing results through people, process, and organizations. John Wiley & Sons.

Organizational Clarity: Human Performance Improvement -Cause Analysis

For one assignment in Human Performance Improvement class I was given the assignment to create a Cause Analysis for a fictional organization to understand their work place environment to adjust it for the better taking into account all the stakeholders involved. Again, this is a fictional account with the details listed in an assignment and the parameters dealt with worst case scenario type issues in an organization so therefore with the idea of unlimited budgets and resources (I know when does that happens?) this assignment was crafted with those variables in mind. Please post any comments or questions to facilitate a discussion in the comments sections below.

Organizational Background

Omir University is a for-profit, online education institution that has recently experienced a disruption in the production and communication within its Financial Aid (FA) department specifically with the email team at the downtown Chicago office. The Chicago Financial Aid email team consist of ten representatives, two Financial Aid team lead team leads and a Manager designated especially for that team; there is also an Associate Financial Aid Director and the site Financial Aid Director that the entire team reports too. The Financial Aid department (organization-wide), is divided into teams based upon specific job assignment or into specialized roles to create a stronger focus on productivity and task completion.

The impact of this disruption has spilled over into other Financial Aid teams and other Organizational departments (Academics and Admissions). The original reason for specialization was to reduce errors and meet the 90% Student (survey) approval rating created as a standard or overall goal by the organization; now the team is barely at 63%. Other teams in Financial aid (such as verification) and the other departments have seen a 33% increase in “traffic” (communication) and an increased number of follow-up requests (2,731 emails) by students for the email team to address their concerns.
Omir University has a standard procedure in which management staff creates daily reports to detail and track performance scoring, individual employee production, and procedure comparison methods. Therefore, the management staff can track what methodologies, policies, and procedures from the past, and present assist in maintaining and meeting optimal levels expected by the organization, present, and future. But the breakdown of this process is at the currently implementing of action to bridge these performance gaps.

The emphasis of individual teams with the Financial Aid department has created a culture of competition and isolationism organization-wide. Therefore, employees and managers alike are no longer cross trained upon policies that role distinctive, and therefore the Email team cannot receive help or explain their issues properly from other Financial Aid officers or managers. This lack of knowledge deterred the FA email team from communicating with departments and individuals with their department or assigned management staff.

To overcome these issues and reduce the number of the email backlog of more than 5,000 emails an independent Gap Analysis has been completed to determine and compare past performance to the present performance of the Financial Aid email team. This way I can determine for the organization the best methodology close the gap between the current (Actual) performance and what is expected (desired) (Van Tiem, et al., 2012). During the Cause Analysis phase, since student surveys have inferred the problem that the organization is focusing on using that data and including pre-training session surveys of representatives and management (Van Tiem, et al., 2012). This method would fit more along the lines of a 360-degree feedback because as I aforementioned, I have have the organization produce past and present performance reports to be included for assessment by the FA email team. Included in this process are Focus groups which will be scheduled before the training sessions to determine the direction of the sessions from the information gathered (Van Tiem, et al., 2012). There will be an additional survey with the team a week and two weeks (identical each time) after as part of the follow-up process (Lavoie, 2017).

1. Identifying and analyzing actual and desired performance

Actual performance (present-day)

• There is a lack of clarity and uniformity to information given to students regarding their Financial Aid questions via email.
• Management is unable to provide student or representatives with via solutions (responses) regarding Financial Aid questions.
• Management is unaware of how to reduce response turnaround time, by individual representatives.
• Financial Aid team representatives are responding to an average of barely under 18 emails a day.
• The low number of responses has caused a backlog of an approximate number of 5,000 emails that were ignored, with additional new 75 emails entering the Email Que per day.
• There are 1,000 emails that have been read therefore classified “lost” due to a lack of response as reported by the student surveys.
• There is little or no communication with the Financial Aid team management or Departmental leaders.
• Other departments in the organization are included in the “lack of communication” issue as students are reaching out requesting follow-ups to their emails. The 2,731 emails or 33% increase in the additional traffic which these the Admissions and Academics departments are reporting but cannot answer due to federal regulations.
• The Financial Aid team has a score for the month and this quarter an average of 63% on student surveys in regards to customer satisfaction of their Financial Aid inquiries.

Desired performance (to be met by the next quarter)

• The Financial Aid team needs to score the required average of 90 % for the month and this upcoming quarter on student surveys in regards to customer satisfaction of their Financial Aid inquiries.
• Financial Aid team representatives are expected, individually (not average) to complete a minimum of 25 email responses a day.
• Management must be knowledgeable of federal regulated, approved responses to student questions.
• All responses to all stakeholders (internal/external) by the Financial Aid email team must be uniform, clear and consistent.
• Management must assist in the reduction of the email backlog i.e.: determining which email that additional responses are not needed and therefore, eliminated from the overall scoring process.
• Reduction of the email backlog to under 1,000 emails maximum not responded to, 200 emails is the minimum.
• Increased involvement and communication between Financial Aid email team, their assigned manager, and team leads, along with the Associate Director of FA and site Director of FA.
• Increased communication with other departments by FA email team and site management to reduce the number of response requests gathered by these departments by at least 50%

2. Identifying the gaps-present and future; positive, neutral or negative-between the actual and the desired performance state.

As aforementioned the student survey data will be included in determining of the performance gap as they are directly affected by the lack of productivity of the FA email team. In order, to increase their understanding of the impact and awareness of negative productivity, the FA email team will be engaged in a survey as well (Appendix C). This method will identify how they comprehend their team performance score and gain data on what factors have impacted their individual performance about the team score. These surveys were sent anonymously to gain the best (and accurate) response possible (Son, 2015). Identical surveys were sent to team management and their immediate directors to indicate that they are also held responsible for the FA email’s production and scoring on the student surveys (Appendix A).
Present gaps:

• Management involvement is minimal at the time and solutions to issues are not developed or implemented.
• Departmental specialization of all team and individual roles and assignments are intact and have not changed. The organizational culture of competitiveness and segregation is still intact.
• Email backlog is currently approximately more than 5,000 emails and increasing due to an average of 75 emails per representative per day. The Customer service score given to the FA email team by the students through anonymous surveys stands at 63%.

Positive Gaps	Neutral Gaps	Negative Gaps
Management awareness of the issues that presently face the FA email team has increased	Organizational culture remains the same, all roles and assignments for the teams and individuals (divisions) in the Financial Aid department in Chicago endure.	Email backlog is above acceptable organizational standards, and the customer service score is currently below organizational standards.

Future gaps:

• In the future, increased disconnect of communication with a student will lead to a reduction of enrollments and erode the current student body. As discontent amongst the customers/students grows, many will be deterred from attending the University, decreasing profits and the University’ market share.
• With further inaction, other departments will request a direct intervention by the Organization’s Executive staff (CEO, CFO, etc.) to solve the issues facing the Chicago FA department and specifically the FA email team. The organizational division between departments and the teams within will increase as a result.
• The Email backlog will increase in number, the FA email team’s Customer service score will decrease even further. As a result restructuring of the team and management staff will

Positive Gaps	Neutral Gaps	Negative Gaps
The Organization’s Executive staff awareness of the issues that face the FA email team will increase.	Organizational culture along with all assignment and roles (divisions) in the Financial Aid department in Chicago will endure.	Email backlog will increase, and the customer service score will decrease even further below organizational standards. Restructuring of FA email team and management staff (termination) is inevitable.

3. Prioritizing the gaps

The entire team is under scrutiny due to limited skills and knowledge shown apparent through the performances of the Fa email team, their immediate management staff, and site directors. It is almost evident that interaction between the team and their immediate higher-ups is strained and limited to meet the minimum of organizational expectations.

The lack of communication between the FA email team and the management staff, site Directors and other departments affects the organization on the whole. The miscommunication or inconsistency of answers given by the FA email team to students regarding their questions compounds the problem as they ask other teams departments in search for a straight forward consistent answer.

Without clear answers about their Financial Aid plans, the students become frustrated and are likely to look at different educational opportunities. As students leave, the revenue that the for-profit institution brings in reduces, as for-profit institutions do not take in donations from alumni as non-profits do. Therefore, maintaining a positive social media presence, staying within the guidelines laid out by the Department of Education, and receiving high customer service ratings, in general, all translates into money or enrollments for the University. The issue facing the FA email team becomes a deterrent for Omir University and deviates from this medium.

            The deviation then becomes a problem for the organization overall as a decline in revenue is inevitable, the problem ripples over the entire organization as enrollments and maintaining a healthy student body by the other departments becomes more challenging. The longer the problem exists means that the organization will be forced to restructure departments with higher demands upon individual/team performances. This problem also increases the percentage/number of employee turnovers as employees become more frustrated working towards unattainable goals inside an ineffective system.

With dwindling revenue becoming a steady trend because of not resolving the problem of inconsistent service will, in the end, compel the organization to resort to layoffs, thereby compounding the problem and leading to an increase in employee turnovers. 

Performance gaps

1. Be able to distribute clear, uniform statements to answer the concerns of the student body that is consistent with all FA email Team members and assigned management (as necessary).
2. Student backlog of 5,000+ emails is 90% cleared by the end of the quarter, 33% by the end of the month.
3. Increased communication and cooperation amongst the FA Email Team, assigned management, and site Directors.
4. Management and site Directors will be able to identify and create solutions per DOE regulations for dealing with student issues. This same group can understand the policies and procedures that help and able to complete common tasks that face the FA email team.
5. FA Team management will also streamline coordinate workflows that create the best practices for daily task completion for the team and reducing the Student email backlog.

Analyzing the causes.
We have confirmed that there is a limited time for training the small number of FA email team representatives, the assigned management team and the site Directors. Due to the specialization of the team’s roles allowing for no “backup” team of individuals to cover the team during a prolonged training period properly. To maximize this time there will be a combination of tools used, focus groups and the 360-degree feedback before the required training reflecting upon the data given by student surveys and what observations and experiences the team has had in the field.

1. Identify the driver or cause of the performance gap:

Understanding that as in many organizations that the organization’s culture plays a major part within the issues of the dysfunctions and probe for environmental causes that are affecting performance we will use the tried and tested an adaptation of Gilbert’s Probe model (Appendix B). Specific individualized roles create an atmosphere of segregation from the rest of the FA department and organization not allowing for assistance on major issues from inside or outside the department.
This separation also exists between the team and the assigned team management as the management team is unaware of how to assist the representatives or plot strategies to clear the email backlog. Due to the specialization of their individualized role the FA email team, is considered almost “untouchable” and thereby immune to discipline as employee turnover for this team is highly feared. Hence, whether the FA email team performance is at 90% or 63% the everyday results for the team is the same.

1. Classify the driver or cause by understanding the origin:

To understand where the origin of the cause, focus groups, and 360-degree feedback meetings consist of the entire team, for two weeks, and twice a week for two hours. We will present a review of the student surveys in the form of a “team Jeopardy” question-and-answer format, role-playing scenarios, and a review of Financial Aid job aids.
The entire FA email team (with site directors) will be allowed to reflect on student survey responses and why they occurred adding to that reflection of their team’s performance about its creation.
360 Degree meeting feedback consists of:

• Lack of management knowledge (cross-training) site directors included assisting the representatives with daily task completion and issues.
• Management does not engage the representatives on possible solutions, such as a standard email template for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) i.e.: proof of citizenship requests from DOE.
• FA email team requires direction as well as additional assistance around the University’s busy times, such as enrollment drives at the beginning of the school terms, to address student questions/emails.
• FA email team needs a simple, standardized uniformed message that is consistent to all students regarding solutions to student issues (i.e.: proof of citizenship requests from DOE).
• FA email team needs to increase daily email responses per representative, to meet the influx of incoming emails and decrease the probability of email backlog issues.

Focus Groups meeting feedback consists of:

• Understanding how student surveys affect the organization, the negative impact (possible layoffs) it will have on the department and the team.
• Dissemination to FA Email team, team management, and site directors to find online, solutions for FAQs and Job Aids created by the DOE; Introduction to ifap.ed.gov site (Appendix D).
• How segregation from the rest of the organization, department and specifically site directors created by the organizational culture, leads to a lack of leadership and understanding of the challenges that face the FA email team.
• Scheduling of future focus groups for Site Directors, FA email team and team management staff to discuss progress on the Student Email backlog, any new or consistent issues that representatives see the effects performance (Van Tiem, et al., 2012).

1. Prioritize the drive or cause (in the performance environment):

To quickly address the lack of performance by the FA Email team, growing student email backlog and to take the first “baby” steps to solve the issue of the organization’s negative culture.

1. The priority to create a highly functional inclusive atmosphere between the FA email team, its assigned team management, and the site director is the highest priority.
2. Secondary to that priority is creating a uniform, consistent response(s) to student concerns that the can be easily understood and explained by every member of the team and if necessary the site directors (if involved).
3. Cross training of daily tasks with the FA Team management staff are third in priority, but the cross training of site Directors are of medium priority due to scheduling and prioritization of their individualized daily tasks. Cross training will assist in assisting the representatives clear the backlog and help the management team gather data on effective strategies for the future.
4. Generate cause examples:

• FA email team representatives, assigned team management or FA site directors do not face discipline for poor Therefore, the solutions for the poor customer service student have not created.
• Organizational culture divides the FA email team from (for example) the FA Verification team into responsibilities and job functions, when applying daily performance standards. Hence the focus and need to communicate with other departments or even other departments is not considered by the organization as completely necessary since you are in “competition” (production-wise) with them.
• Without standards for email responses also referred to as canned responses the FA email team are creating various responses to students in length, terminology, etc., to causing more confusion amongst the student body inquiring about their Financial Aid.
• When asked FA email team management expresses that they cannot schedule interventions for their team due to lack of task and procedural knowledge.
• Without communication or exposure to the rest of the organization (site directors, departments, etc.), comprehension or knowledge of how low production outputs (by the FA email team) impacts the organization overall is at an all-time low, this includes student requests and complaints about the team.

FA email team feels that they are an “island” alone within the “sea” known as Omir University. In other words, the team of representatives feel that they are not getting the proper support from management and other higher ups like the site directors, and therefore are performing their job functions aimlessly and individually.

• Verify causes with another performance improvement colleague by asking questions:
• What can be done to create and implement solutions among the members of the FA email team representatives, assigned team management, and site FA directors before corrective action (for low performance)?
• With a prevalent Organizational culture is including team management and FA site directors into daily activities of the FA email team the logical first step to broadening communication across the FA department and into other departments organization-wide?
• Will creating a standard email template for FAQs solve the problem of the inconsistent content in the email responses by the FA email team eliminating the confusion the lack of standards creates?
• Would cross-training the FA email team management bridge the gap in their task and procedural knowledge?
• Would daily reports and communication from team management and FA site directors increase the FA email team’s knowledge of student complaints, their team production, and the team’s impact on the organization?
• Increasing involvement through cross-training and discussing ideas to meet production requirements decrease the isolation and lack of support the FA email team feels and give them the direction they want?

Appendix A: Student satisfaction surveys that are sent immediately after sending an email via Omir University’s Financial Aid Portal Survey gauging customer satisfaction and informing the organization of performance gaps. The students are given a 10-question anonymous survey to understand their perspective on the service supplied by the FA email team (each survey is team specific) the questions are listed below:

1. Was this the first time you contacted the Fa email team regarding this issue?
2. Were you satisfied with the level of service you received today?
3. Was the answer(s) to your questions clear and concise?
4. Was the representative that answered your question knowledgeable about giving you a solution for your issue?
5. Would you recommend Omir University to friends and family?
6. If this was not your first time contacting the FA email team is it regarding a new issue?
7. Did you have to, at any time contact an FA email team manager or team lead for assistance?
8. Have you received consistent answers each time you contacted the FA email time?
9. How likely are you to continue with Omir University for other educational opportunities after this experience?
10. Have you contacted other departments or teams to follow up on an email request with the FA email team?
11. How many times have you contacted the FA email team regarding the same issue without a solution?
12. If this was not your first time contacting the FA email team how times did you have to contact the team to resolve your issue?
13. What can we do to serve you better?

All the questions focus towards the service the student received and how clear the answers were to how difficult it was to receive a workable solution/clear answer for their issues Breaking it down further:

• Questions 1 to 7 is yes or no questions/answers.
• Question 8 was a scoring question,
• Question 9 yes or no question/answer
• Questions 10 to 12 were multiple choice questions/answers of how many times they contacted the FA email team or Omir University in general regarding their issue(s)
• and Question 13 was a “what can we do better” essay.

Please note: the survey starts with “Please take my survey” and ends with “Thank you for taking my survey,” you can take the survey yourself:  https://surveyplanet.com/589b7475e7e2c70ac63e2f2a Created by Mart Pro, Consultant
Appendix B: A modified addition of Gilbert's Probe Model (King Jr, 2013).

Questions	Yes	No
Category: Information
Has the organization clearly informed its employees the performance expectations of their assigned roles?
Do the organization’s employees comprehend facets of their position and the importance of daily task competition?
Does the organization give any distinct feedback in a structured and timely manner to its employees?
So that supervisor can inform employees of what are the tasks requirements, and the culmination of their work is there a performance management system in place to assist in this task?
Do employees have access to Job aids that are clear and relevant to performance expectations?
Category: Resources
Does the organization provide the necessary materials for employees to complete daily tasks?
Does the organization provide the necessary equipment for employees to complete daily tasks?
Does the organization provide the necessary time for employees to complete daily tasks?
Does the organization augment the performance of their employees by having specific processes and procedures that optimize it?
Does the organization provide a safe, clean, and organized work environment that specifically favorable for professional and performance development?
Category: Incentives
Does the organization ensure optimal performance have in place a financial motivation system in place?
Does the organization ensure optimal performance have in place a non-financial motivation system in place?
Does the organization have systems in place for reporting and calibrating purposes so that expected activities and results are achievable?
Is the fulfillment of an employee’s higher level needs to be improved by job performance under current organizational expectations?
Does the organization provide opportunities for professional development?
Category: Motives
Do the employees and their environment within the organization have similar or identical motivations?
Are the employees self-motivated to execute their roles in the organization?
During the recruitment process are the best employees selected to match the circumstances of the workplace accurately?
Does the organization punish the top performing employee and rewards the inadequate performing employees?
Is the University viewed as a positive place to work by its employees?
Category:  Capacity
Are there any employees with people with physical disabilities?
Have the employee aptitudes been tested to match their position?
Are employees proficient in understanding the policies and procedures to complete daily tasks as assigned to the job position and the requirements that follow?
Are there any employees with people with emotional or mental disabilities?
As part of professional development by the organization are employees hired, chosen and coordinated with the stressors and expectations of the position in mind?
Category: Knowledge and Skills
For successful job assignment and daily task completion do employees possess the required Financial Aid knowledge?
For successful job assignment and daily task completion do employees possess the required Financial Aid skills?
For successful job assignment and daily task completion do employees possess the required Financial Aid experience?
Does the organization have a standardized training program to improve the knowledge and skills for their employees?
Do the organization’s employees comprehend their importance in accomplishing their roles daily and what effect it has on overall organizational performance?

Appendix C: Employee Engagement Survey a survey for the FA email team, and assigned management team to complete to gather data for the 360 Degree feedback and Focus Groups meetings. To gather the team’s perspective of the organization that relates to job functions they are assigned 20 questions listed below:

1. The Communication between employees and senior management is great.
2. I feel that I am very knowledgeable in my role within this organization.
3. The work I do has an incredible impact on my organization.
4. The students I come in contact with are completely satisfied with how I assist them
5. I do my job with enthusiasm, and I am confident in meeting all the goals the organization assigns to me.
6. There are opportunities for professional growth, and I have the support of the organization for development.
7. My organization provides me the training and resources to do my job effectively.
8. All the departments and teams within the departments communicate effectively on a periodical basis.
9. The leaders of my organization keeps me well informed of my impact upon the organization.
10. The leaders of my organization keeps me well informed of current events, and issues that have an impact on the organization.
11. There are areas in which I feel that I could use additional training in.
12. There are areas in which I feel that my team could use additional training in.
13. The University’s students are satisfied with the services my team and department provide.
14. The different departments communicate with each very well, and the organizational culture supports it.
15. The different teams within my department communicate with each very well, and the organizational culture supports it.
16. Would it be more effective to use predesignated email templates to complete your tasks.
17. Would you be more productive if you used predesignated email templates to complete your tasks.
18. Are there currently effective policies and procedures in place for you to complete your daily tasks effectively.
19. Is there support within the organization for you to complete your daily tasks effectively.
20. When you need assistance, your organization has resources in place to help in any situation.

The employee survey is scored “1” lowest through “5” highest, with the designation of “1” begin No not likely and “5” being definitely. Allowing for easier scoring of the FA email team’s satisfaction with environmental issues that impact their performance.

Please note: the survey starts with “Please take my survey” and ends with “Thank you for taking my survey,” you can take the survey yourself: https://surveyplanet.com/589b7475e7e2c70ac63e2f2a Created by Mart Pro, Consultant

Appendix D: Information for Financial Aid Professionals website an information resource to assist FA email team, assigned management team and FA site directors, to find and create solutions per Federal regulations for the University’s students.

References
King Jr, C. L. (2013). An exploration on the use of Gilberts behavior engineering model to identify barriers to technology integration in a public school.

Lavoie, Andre (2017) “4 Ways to Get Truly Honest Feedback From Employees” Entrepreneur Media, Inc. Retrieved on February 8, 2017, from:
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/246556

Son, Sabrina (2015) “Employee Engagement Surveys: The 20 Questions You Need To Ask” Oct 7, 2015, TinyPulse Retrieved on February 8, 2017, from:
 https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/sk-employee-engagement-survey-questions

Van Tiem, D., Moseley, J. L., & Dessinger, J. C. (2012). Fundamentals of performance improvement: Optimizing results through people, process, and organizations. John Wiley & Sons.