Transformational Leadership Style and Employee Engagement: In and out of a labor union environment

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

2. 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”

3. 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)

4. 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

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

6. 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)

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

8. 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.

9. 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

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

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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)

16. 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

17. 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)

18. 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.

19. Appendixes: Instruments, timeline, and proposed budget • Survey (paper) • 3 months (from start to finish) • 2 research assistance - $500.00 stipend each = $1,000.00 • $50.00 per building for raffle = $50.00 x 8 = $400.00 • Printing and postage - $300.00