Orientation and job stability: The impact of supervisory and employee role-playing groups on turnover of potentially unemployable blacks

Abstract

One hundred and seventy potentially hard-core black employees and their supervisors were divided into a 2 × 2 field design. Role-playing group-problem-solving orientation was provided for part of the supervisor sample and part of the employees. To test the impact of orientation, turnover data were compared across the four cells. For the entire group, treated as a whole, there were no significant effects. Dividing the sample in terms of job placement, significant results were found which suggested that orientation can be detrimental in work groups characterized by tight-knit social structures, and insignificant in impact in depersonalized, pressureful job environments. It was concluded that the nature of the job and the job environment certainly were among the significant factors determining the effectiveness of an intervention, although many other factors, including the nature of the total support system, also probably are important.