Voluntary Employees Research Articles

Mechanisms linking individual and organizational culture change through action research: Creating change agents for organizational and food safety culture development

This article proposes a more individualized approach to organizational and food safety culture development through the creation of culture change agents. The study used action research with individual therapeutic training of sensory and emotional skills as the action intervention to reveal underlying mechanisms of the culture and create long-term culture change. The study was conducted with a group of voluntary employees over a 3-year period at a department under Food Safety and Veterinary Issues in Danish Agriculture and Food Council. Data was collected using individual in-depth qualitative interviews with a novel questionnaire technique that facilitated participants to bring otherwise unconscious underlying assumptions to awareness. The study found that working intensely and therapeutically on an individual and group level, had a significant impact on the surrounding culture and social capital. Five underlying mechanisms were revealed linking individual culture change to changes in the social capital and culture of the department. Going through the five underlying mechanisms may enable individuals to get to the root causes of issues, facilitate more sharing and collaboration to learn from near-misses and failures, and take action despite facing uncomfortable situations, all important abilities to develop FSC. Based on the underlying mechanisms a ‘Change Agent Model’ was developed. The model illustrates the important underlying mechanisms that any individual or group can work through to become culture change agents and drivers for organizational culture and FSC development. This is the first of two articles.

Benchmarking performance in emergency medical services for improving trauma care: A data driven approach

ObjectiveWe propose a data-driven approach, that can be used by any state or region, to cluster county-level emergency medical services (EMS) and subsequently benchmark them against their peers using over- (OT) and under-triage (UT) rates as performance measures. MethodsThe approach consists of three phases: data collection, clustering, and benchmarking. Collected data includes EMS trauma-specific capabilities, volume, and performance improvement activities aggregated at the county level. Clustering approaches include K-means, K-medoids, and CLARANS. Benchmarking of EMS performance in each county against its peer within the same cluster was conducted using guidelines from the American College of Surgeons (ACS) on over- (OT) and under-triage (UT) rates. To illustrate our data-driven approach, we used data collected from the state of Ohio (OH). This included a survey of 318 EMS agencies across 87 counties in the state of OH, and 6002 deidentified patient records from 2012 obtained from the state of Ohio's EMS Division. ResultsOur proposed approach can handle both qualitative and quantitative data. It is capable of identifying key factors that allow for grouping of counties as peers, in a cluster, to enable subsequent benchmarking. Application of our approach on the state of OH data revealed that county-type (rural vs urban), number of trauma-related runs, number of paid vs. voluntary employees, and additional resources provided by EMS agencies in the county (to help with well-being and coping mechanisms for EMS providers) were key factors in clustering. A small number of clusters appeared sufficient to group counties based on various EMS attributes. Benchmarking based on ACS guidelines revealed a large variation in UT and OT rates among counties in the same cluster. Rates up to 3–4 times higher were observed in several counties compared to the best performing county in that cluster, even though some of these counties had better capabilities. ConclusionOur novel, data-driven approach can enable any regional or state EMS agency in the United States (US) to quantitatively compare counties with their peers in the same cluster and help unravel new insights that could be used to target cluster-specific interventions that can achieve improved outcomes.

The Impact of Employee Turnover on Organizational Performance: A Case Study of Mada Walabu University, Bale Robe, Ethiopia

This research focuses on the impact of staff turnover on organizational effectiveness and performance in Mada Walabu University. High staff turnover rates may jeopardize efforts to attain organizational objectives. In addition, when an organization loses a critical employee, there is a negative impact on innovation, consistency in providing service to primary users may be jeopardized and major delays in the delivery of services to customers may occur. The research design used in this study was the descriptive approach, which allowed the researcher to use semi-structured questionnaires when collecting data. The survey method used in this study because the target population only composed of 425 employees. The study employed Purposive, Simple Random sampling, and Convenience sampling techniques. A high response rate of 100% obtained using the personal method of data collection; questionnaire structured in a 5-point Likert scale format. Furthermore, the study interviewed human resource heads and ten voluntary employees with convenient sampling techniques. The study finding suggests that high labor demand and job opportunities in the market, lack of opportunity for career advancement in the organization, Unsatisfied with the working conditions, and no involvement in decision-making, are the foremost causes of employee turnover on organizational performance. The study finding also showed that staff turnover causes loss of some of the very experienced and skilled employees, reduction in work productivity and quality of services rendered as well as it causes too much wastage of resources when new staff settles and loses public confidence in the operation of the organization. In order to return the reduced university’s capacity in terms of national attrition rates, higher education access targets, quality education assurance, significant community, and technology transfer, and standardized research-based problem-solving culture due to staff turnover.

Final Regulations Issued Concerning VEBA/SUB UBI Calculations

The Department of the Treasury and the IRS, on December 9, published final regulations interpreting a statutory limitation (IRC § 512(a)(3)(E)(i)) as to the amount of investment income tax‐exempt voluntary employees' beneficiary associations and supplemental unemployment benefit trusts may treat as nontaxable exempt function income in any year, with the result being that the limit applies to the total amount of investment income earned during the year (T.D. 9886).

IRS Rules as to Computation of VEBA's UBTI

The IRS ruled that a voluntary employees' beneficiary association may, in computing its unrelated business taxable income, include in its applicable account limit, with respect to medical benefits provided through its plan, a reserve and, as to its set‐aside, the applicable account limit may include medical insurance premiums as qualified direct costs (Priv. Ltr. Rul. 201844005).

The Turbulent History of the Nation’s Largest Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association

The Detroit automakers’ Retiree Medical Benefits Trust is the nation’s largest Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association (VEBA). It is an independent trust with assets of $60 billion that is responsible for providing medical, prescription drug, dental and vision benefits to 720,000 hourly retirees, surviving spouses and dependents of General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler. It was established in 2007 through the joint efforts of the Big Three Detroit automakers and the United Automobile Workers Union primarily to protect the health care benefits of hourly retirees and to provide the companies with financial relief from the burdens of legacy costs that eventually contributed to their bankruptcies. Although it is now viewed as a success, there were times in its history when its inception and future were seriously in doubt. A review of its history will inform HR professionals of the problems and solutions they may encounter in establishing a VEBA.

Choice of Employment as a Category Differentiating Peripheral Employees

Some people deliberately choose alternative employment due to its flexibility, freedom and variety of tasks offered. Individuals preferring this type of employment mainly due to the said characteristics are referred to as voluntary employees. A coercive flexible employee is someone who perceives his/her employment as unattractive and undesirable, and it is only inability and lack of chances to find a or a different type of employment that makes them choose this type of employment for a specified period of time or on short-term basis. Given the choice between a flexible form of employment and permanent job, assuming that conditions offered are acceptable, they do not hesitate to choose the latter. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n2s2p127

Change in Health-Related Quality of Life Amongst Participants in a 4-Month Pedometer-Based Workplace Health Program

Regular physical activity (PA) is associated with a reduced risk for chronic health conditions and improved health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Efforts to increase PA have included workplace health promotion. Currently, little is known about the effect of these programs on overall HRQoL. To evaluate whether participation in a pedometer-based PA program in the workplace was associated with changes in HRQoL. 487 voluntary employees enrolled in a health program completed the SF-12 Health Survey at baseline and 4 months. Change in Physical and Mental component summary scores (PCS; MCS) was assessed with multivariable regression analysis, adjusting for covariates. Participation in the program was associated with an increase of 1.5 MCS units (95% CI: 0.76, -2.09). Greater improvements in MCS were observed in those reporting an increased level of PA during the program [1.9 (CI: 0.78, 2.92) versus 0.9 (CI: -0.12, 2.03)] and a lower baseline MCS score [6.3 (CI: 4.80, 7.62) versus -1.5 (CI: -2.21, -0.80)]. No change in PCS was observed. Participation in this workplace PA program was associated with improvements in the mental component of HRQoL. We recommend the use of a broad perspective of health be used in both the implementation and evaluation of workplace PA programs.

Efeitos da idade e dos indicadores de obesidade na pressão arterial de trabalhadores

The objectives of the present study had been to describe the prevalence of Arterial Hypertension (AH) and to verify the effect that age and anthropometric pointers of obesity provoke in the Blood Pressures (BP) of workers of an industry of candies and gums. For in such a way the systolic/diastolic BP, the measures of weight (W), height and waist circumference (WC) had been gotten of 348 voluntary employees (243 male and 105 female). Prevalence of AH in the sample was 8.9%, being higher among men than women (7.2 vs 1.7%). Among the hypertensive, age (SBP r=0.43) and body mass (DBP r=0.39) showed a positive and significant correlation (r). Between the normotensive (317) and the total sample group (348), age and the obesity indices (W, BMI, WC) showed significant and positive association with SBP, DBP and mean BP (MBP) (r=0.23 to r=0.47). Statistic analyses showed hypertensive men and women are older and more obese than their normotensive peers. Except for gender and age, which are non modifiable factors, obesity indices strongly associate to habits and risk behavior and are therefore preventable.

Legal Implications of Proposed GM/UAW VEBA

This research note provides an initial exploration of the potential securities law implications of the proposed Voluntary Employees Beneficiary Association (VEBA) of General Motors and the UAW.

The effectiveness of physical activity counseling in a work-site setting: A randomized, controlled trial

Voluntary employees ( N=155) from nine different companies were screened by questionnaire for the study. They were randomized into three study groups: counseling ( n=52), counseling+fitness testing ( n=51) and control group ( n=52). The counseling was based on a goal-oriented conversation session for each participant and three follow-up appointments with an occupational nurse over a period of 1 year. The fitness tests were adapted from the UKK Health-related Fitness Test Battery. The outcome measures were the changes in the amount of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) assessed by diary, pedometer and questionnaire at baseline and at 6 and 12 month follow-up visits. As a result, no statistically significant differences were detected between the three groups at either of the follow-up visits. It seemed, thus, that the two PA counseling methods implemented had no direct mid- or long-term effects on the LTPA of voluntary employees with no specific disease-related indication to increase LTPA.

An evaluation of the development and functioning of the Boscombe Network for Change, a health alliance or partnership for health in Dorset

This paper reports the results of a process evaluation of the Boscombe Network for Change, a health-related forum of statutory and voluntary agency employees, volunteers and local residents, set up in 1996, born out of a concern to promote 'change' in the deprived ward of Boscombe. The evaluation focused on whether members of the Network felt they were involved equally and whether the Network acted as a forum for the exchange of information, and facilitated the involvement of local people in decision-making. A 'cobweb exercise' identified three process categories which needed further exploration: commitment, community involvement and communication. Although the majority view was that all parties were committed to the Network, local residents did not believe that their views were reflected in many of the decisions made, and expressed concern that often the language used, both written and verbal, contained jargon which excluded some members. The findings of this evaluation demonstrate the tensions that can occur while working with dis parate groups of people. For professionals there was a tension between their desires to focus on the community's priorities while also ensuring that the needs of excluded groups and the disadvantaged were addressed.

Funding Long-Term Disability Benefits: An Innovative Approach

This cost-effective approach to funding long-term disability benefits may be the answer for employers who find their current method of funding such benefits through voluntary employees' beneficiary associations restricted by federal law.

Reconsidering voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Associations Under the Deficit Reduction Act

Reconsidering voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Associations Under the Deficit Reduction Act