Presented by Jason T. Munro Course 613 July 28, 2012 Transformational Leadership Style and Employee Engagement: In and out of a labor union environment

Purpose of the study and delimitations Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between transformational leadership and employee engagement in non-union and union nursing homes. Delimitations: Difficulty of building trust with participants. Inability to maintaining confidentiality. “Backyard” research consist of “studying the researcher’s own organization, or friends or immediate co-workers setting”

Definitions: Nursing Home – (noun) a privately operated establishment providing maintenance and personal or nursing care for persons (as the aged or the chronically ill) who are unable to care for themselves properly (Merriam-Webster) Nursing Assistant – Nursing assistants have a great deal of contact with patients and provide personal care such as bathing, feeding, and dressing to people that are unable to complete the tasks themselves. Activities of daily living – ADLs are defined as “the things we normally do…such as feeding ourselves, bathing, dressing, grooming, work, homemaking, and leisure.” (Wikipedia)

Definitions: (cont) Non-union environment: Does not have a labor or bargaining representative Governed by state and federal regulations and laws Company set policies based on their decisions with or without input from employees Union environment: Active labor and or bargaining representation Signed agreement in place to govern interactions between staff and management in addition to state and federal regs and laws Labor union members participate/negotiate benefits and wages during their contract terms

Theoretical perspective Non-Union Nursing Home Union Nursing Home Employee Engagement

Theoretical perspective (cont) Transformational leadership: “Burns distinguished between two types of leadership: transactional and transformational.” (Northouse, 2010) Transactional refers leadership models with a focus on exchange between leaders and their followers. Transformational leadership involves the behaviors of a person engaging with others, it creates a connection that raises the level of motivation and morality in both the leaders and the follower. Employee Engagement: “Kahn (1990, 1992) is frequently credited as the first scholar to apply the concept of engagement to work. He suggested that employees vary along a continuum with regard to the extent to which they feel able to express their preferred selves in their work role.” (Avery, McKay, & Wilson, 2007)

Research Question To what extent does a moderating effect between transformational leadership and employee engagement in and out of a labor union environment?

Research Question/Hypotheses (cont) H1: There is a positive relationship between transformational leadership style and employee engagement. H01: There is not a positive relationship between transformational leadership style and employee engagement. H2: There is a positive relationship between employee engagement and non-union nursing homes. H02: There is not a positive relationship between employee engagement and non-union nursing homes. H3: There is a moderating effect of transformational leadership style and non-union nursing homes. H03: There is not a moderating effect of transformational leadership and non-union nursing homes.

Methods: Research Design Quantitative survey Cross-sectional field study - participant’s place of employment in VA. Certified nursing assistants (CNA) working in a nursing home setting for more than 3 years. CNAs have the most interaction with the resident’s

Method: Sampling Convenience sampling method 100 participants in non-union homes 100 participants in union nursing home

Method: Sampling Procedure Random selection of 280 nursing homes in VA and placed into two groups Group 1 – non-union nursing homes Group 2 – union nursing homes Estimated 6-10 units in each nursing home Selection of 12 nursing home for group 1. Selection of 12 nursing homes for group 2. With a minimum of 8 nursing homes participating an estimation of 64 units will be targeted to obtain the required number of participants.

Method: Participants Participants must have a current CNA certificate in the state of Virginia. Participants must be currently employed at the nursing home participating in the study. Participants must have more than three years experience working in the role of a CNA. Participants must be employed with the present company for the past year, without a break in service.

Method: NH Selection The entire state of Virginia will be reviewed to obtain a sample size. Both union and Non-union nursing homes must be owned by the same company for a minimum of 5 years. Once the nursing homes have been identified a letter will be sent to the administration requesting a meeting to explain the need for the study and how beneficial it would be for the company. All results from the study will be shared with the administration with no identifying information about the participants. Once approval from the administration is received flyers will be placed in the nursing home requesting participants. All participants will be entered in a raffle to win a prize.

Data Collection (instruments, variables and materials) Gallup scale to measure employee engagement The Q12 questionnaire will be utilized to measure employee engagement The questionnaire will be delivered to the staff in small groups of 5, by researcher and or research assistant, over a period of three months. Instructions will be read to the employees The surveys will be provided in several different languages

Data analysis - Regression Hierarchical Linear Regression because I will enter predictors that I already have information about It’s also a predictive model F-test will identify a statistical significant relationship between variables Correlational procedure – looks at relationship between predictor variable and a criterion variable (gives a correlation output)

Ethical Issues Research needs to be meaningful to others Participants should never be placed at risk especially disadvantaged groups The IRB is required to ensure that physical, psychological, social, economic, or legal harm is not caused to the participants consent prior to the start of data collection Confidentiality of the participants is maintained participant’s identity all risks should be explained to the participants In collecting data, the researcher should leave the site how it was prior to conducting the study

Validity & Reliability Validity: Whether an instrument actually measures what it sets out to measure. Criterion validity is whether the instrument is measuring what it claims to measure. Content validity represent the construct being measured, and cover the full range of the construct Reliability: Whether an instrument can be interpreted consistently across different situations. Ability to measure to produce the same results under the same conditions. Test the same group of people twice (test-retest reliability)

Preliminary studies Transformational leadership: a cascading chain reaction Journal of Nursing Management, 2005, 13, 128–136 Authors: Lorraine Murphy RGN, PGDip (Hons) To achieve a chain reaction, charismatic transformational leaders support intellectual stimulation and individual consideration to empower staff and enhance patient care. Employee engagement: the benefits of empowering nurses are enormous for the nursing profession.

Appendixes: Instruments, timeline, and proposed budget Survey (paper) 3 months (from start to finish) 2 research assistance - $ stipend each = $1, $50.00 per building for raffle = $50.00 x 8 = $ Printing and postage - $300.00