Dynamic Workforce Research Articles

Balancing Workforce Dynamics: Implementing Voluntary Time Off (VTO) to Mitigate Overstaffing in the Retail Industry

This paper explores the pervasive issue of overstaffing in the retail sector, its implications, and the potential solution of implementing Voluntary Time Off (VTO). Overstaffing, characterized by an excess workforce leading to decreased productivity, increased costs, and employee dissatisfaction, often results from flawed forecasting and hiring practices. The paper delves into the financial impact, employee morale, expansion limitations, and workforce planning challenges arising from overstaffing. To counter these issues, the concept of VTO is introduced as a strategic approach, allowing employees the flexibility of unpaid leave during periods of reduced workload. The study outlines the benefits of VTO, including enhanced corporate social responsibility, improved employee satisfaction, and operational efficiency. Through a multiphase approach, including defining overstaffing parameters, data collection methodology, and decision-making process, the paper proposes a systematized implementation of VTO, integrating it with workforce scheduling and forecasting. The conclusion underscores the importance of this approach in addressing overstaffing, promoting a balanced workforce, and fostering a positive organizational culture.

Mitigating Bias in Recruitment: Attracting a Diverse, Dynamic Workforce to Sustain the Future of Radiation Oncology

Why do we need a diverse workforce? Diversity allows for improved collective intelligence,1 and can include diversity of professional knowledge, interests, and perspectives. Benefits of workforce diversity include providing different perspectives, better serving patients,2,3 and improving outcomes.4-6 Diversity is not only about social justice, but an essential strategy for complex problem solving in clinical care, research, and teaching. However, racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in outcomes remain pervasive in the U.S.

Macroeconomic Trends and Their Impact on Business Strategies

This study explores the intersection of macroeconomic trends with business strategies, emphasizing their impact on operations, decision-making processes, and overall organizational resilience. Key macroeconomic indicators such as GDP, inflation rates, unemployment rates, interest rates, exchange rates, and consumer confidence are analyzed in the context of strategic adaptation. The study examines how businesses can effectively navigate economic cycles, manage inflation and interest rate risks, optimize workforce management strategies during varying unemployment conditions, and mitigate exchange rate fluctuations through hedging and diversification. Case studies illustrate successful and unsuccessful strategies employed by businesses in response to macroeconomic challenges. The importance of continuous monitoring of macroeconomic trends for anticipating challenges, seizing opportunities, and enhancing organizational resilience is underscored. Future outlooks highlight emerging trends such as digital transformation, sustainability, globalization, and evolving workforce dynamics that will shape the business landscape moving forward.

Workplace motivation and job satisfaction among generation Y in India

Employee work motivation and job satisfaction are dynamic and demanding goals for a business. It has been much more daunting in today’s dynamic workforce. A business is a wonderful workspace that serves the expectations of each employee and motivates each one to achieve its objectives. The present research illustrates the desires and aspirations of various employees regarding work encouragement and satisfaction from the organization. The focus is on understanding specific characteristics, needs, and expectations of Generation Y, which in today’s context are considered to be critical. There is also an emphasis on learning how and what motivates workers in Generation Y. In addition, racial and geographic diversity is often taken into consideration in this report. The company that recognizes the requirements and can help its workers improve is producing greater performance. In this analysis, a technique of the interview is used. A group of 254 workers from different backgrounds and ages is evaluated for the quantitative model. Any variables suggesting relevant HR behaviors are taken from earlier research in this report. In the study of human personal variations in organizational efficiency, the “locus of influence” aspect is often taken.

Diversity Management in the Public Sector for Sustainable, Inclusive Organizations: Ideals and Practices in Northwest Florida

Diversity management in the workplace is essential for ensuring a high quality, representative public service and strengthening organizations' sustainability. For the public sector to remain effective and productive, the management of today’s dynamic workforce requires a perspective that values and welcomes diversity. The promotion of diversity in the public sector helps to ensure sustained competitiveness and success. This study explores managing diversity in the public sector and how public organizations' human resources have engaged with diversity. Semi-structured interviews with 37 officials working in Human Resource departments in the public sector, primarily in Northwest Florida, USA, were conducted by student researchers. A grounded theory approach to understanding the interviews was conducted, using two-cycle coding. Interviewees indicated that diversity recruitment and diversity education ensured high inclusion levels concerning race/ethnicity, age, and gender in the public sector, echoing the literature on the topic; this showed the importance of maintaining such emphases. Analysis of the interviews indicated continuing challenges with attaining the ideals of diversity. By providing attention to workforce diversity and insights into diversity management in the public sector organizations in the United States deserving of additional attention, this study contributes to understanding managing diversity to attain public sector success.

The psychology of diversity and its implications for workplace (in)equality: Looking back at the last decade and forward to the next

AbstractIn this British Psychological Society (BPS) landmark paper, we employ an evidence synthesis approach to review the broad range of diversity research published in BPS journals between 2011 and 2021. By focusing on research that investigates stereotypes associated with, and discrimination towards, minority and minoritized groups, we seek to provide readers with a better understanding of the dynamics of a diverse workforce and, going forward, to facilitate the efforts of the psychology research community towards building a body of work that meaningfully addresses workplace inequalities. We thematically analyse and synthesize 25 articles, which fall into four interconnected themes: identity development and management; negative stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination; working in a diverse team; and the broader organizational environment. Highlighting key strengths of this work and areas for future development, we note the absence of overarching theoretical debates and discussions that might facilitate the development of an on‐going narrative across diversity‐related research published within BPS journals. We outline a future research agenda to bridge methodological divides and to connect with diversity literatures in related disciplines such as human resource development (HRD), human resource management (HRM), and organization studies. In so doing, we advocate for psychologists to move beyond a solely individualistic perspective and instead recognize and account for the context within which diversity‐related processes take place.

Conceptual Atlas of the Knowmad Literature: Visual Mapping with VOSviewer

Abstract This research paper aims to contribute to the advancement of the knowmad concept understanding in the academic literature. The relevance of the knowmad worker is sustained by their skills and competencies aligned with the pre-announced requirements for competitiveness in the future business environment, where disruptive changes will become the norm. Knowmads are agile, flexible, determined, and overall resourceful to succeed. During COVID-19 pandemics, companies and employees worldwide have been facing one of the most disruptive events of our times that marked the acceleration of an already shifting paradigm: the migration from rigid work arrangements towards flexible ones. In the context where the knowmad worker assets are seen as the solution to a global crisis, and they continue to be seen as significant competencies for the future, we consider that a better understanding of the concept is currently required. This has been achieved in the present research project by conducting a systematic literature review, enhanced by text mining and scientific mapping analysis. Even though the notion of knowmad worker is relatively new in the knowledge management literature being presented by John Moravec only in 2008, novel research instruments are being used as an innovation factor. Considering the unprecedented access to information and advancements in conducting academic research, in the present landscape of the business research domain, new methods are available to structure and examine a body of literature. The text mining and scientific mapping analysis conducted with VOSviewer software version 1.6.16 is allowing us to identify meaningful insights about the knowmad concept, such as the (1) existing research gaps, the (2) future research directions – understood as the peaks and the valleys are defining our knowmad concept atlas – and (3) the research interest trends seen by this topic for the period between 2008 and 2021. To achieve this, a database derived from Web of Science’s core collection has been used, and the text mining based on term co-occurrence analysis contributed to a deeper understanding of current and future global workforce dynamics.

Sustainability of Health and Care Systems: Modelling the Nursing Employment Dynamics in an Ageing Population

This study aims to develop an actuarial model to recognise and determine the quality of the healthcare policies, needed to ensure the sustainability of health care systems in terms of a sufficient number of skilled nurses that will cater to the demand of healthcare services from a growing number of older adults in an ageing society and due to pandemics. We have applied the actuarial-mathematical method, which resulted in the proposed multiple decrement model of nurse workforce dynamics. It enables the measurement of the quality of a given national policy system. We built the case of the selected EU economy by applying the proposed model to available statistical data and 15 interviews with nurses, analysed by content analysis. The findings emphasise a lack of nurses in the present as well as a possible lack in the future. It is up to national policies to improve this situation based on the use of the proposed multiple decrement model.

Changing dynamics of work and workspaces during COVID-19 pandemic

The past few months have been the most challenging for everyone. Making us realize and foster the power and vulnerabilities we carry as human beings. None of us prepared for navigating through a global crisis of this nature. People and organizations are swiftly adopting the new rules and creating a differentiator will be the winners of tomorrow. It is, therefore, imperative for us to recognize the changing needs of how we communicate and collaborate. These should circle back to the purpose of why we work, which is to make things, systems, and our lives easier and better. Objective of the study: The objective of this article is to identify the changing dynamics of work, workspace and work force; also identified various work practices that the organizations’ are trying adapt and reduce the cost on real estate. Reducing business travels due to the pandemic and getting used to various platforms to conduct business meetings has been on the rise. Pandemic may subside in the near future, organizations may make their workforce work remote and workstations may be very limited operationally. Infosys’s strategies to adapt to new normal are also discussed.

Redesigning Schools of Social Work Into Schools of Social Work and Social Justice: Opportunities for Civic and Organizational Renewal in a Justice Reform Environment

ABSTRACT This paper explores the re-envisioning of a school of social work into a School of Social Work and Social Justice. The thought experiment identifies how a school can meet its educational and social justice mission in response to the historic crises of 2020. An outgrowth of the aspirational strategic vision statement is the proposed strengthening of democratic learning spaces involving students and faculty members, better alignment of school curricular reform with human service workforce dynamics and social work practice needs, and an emphasis on culturally responsive leadership. The overall intention is to identify opportunities for social work schools and departments at public and private universities to advance anti-racist, community-centered innovations in social work education in an uncharted environment.

In Case You Haven't Heard…

To advance their career, Americans say mental health is as critical to address as networking skills. As measures to advance their careers, they are prioritizing work‐life balance (44%), managing their mental health/wellness (37%) and talking with their manager/boss about what they need to succeed (24%). These findings are part of a new report developed and conducted by the University of Phoenix Career Institute. Their first annual Career Optimism Index is a comprehensive study measuring working Americans' attitudes toward their careers to help identify barriers to career advancement and highlight solutions that can help all American workers accelerate their careers. The report also found that 33% of Americans and 37% of working parents have looked for mental health resources to help them manage work‐related stress. The University of Phoenix Career Institute is focused on studying American workforce dynamics to inform societal solutions to spur career growth.

COVID-19 Response Efforts of Washington State Public Health Laboratory: Lessons Learned.

Laboratory diagnostics play an essential role in pandemic preparedness. In January 2020, the first US case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Washington State. At the same time, the Washington State Public Health Laboratory (WA PHL) was in the process of building upon and initiating innovative preparedness activities to strengthen laboratory testing capabilities, operations, and logistics. The response efforts of WA PHL, in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to the COVID-19 outbreak in Washington are described herein-from the initial detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 through the subsequent 2 months.Factors that contributed to an effective laboratory response are described, including preparing early to establish testing capacity, instituting dynamic workforce solutions, advancing information management systems, refining laboratory operations, and leveraging laboratory partnerships. We also report on the challenges faced, successful steps taken, and lessons learned by WA PHL to respond to COVID-19.The actions taken by WA PHL to mount an effective public health response may be useful for US laboratories as they continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and may help inform current and future laboratory pandemic preparedness activities.

An exploratory full-text analysis of Science Careers in a changing academic job market

Science is one of the top interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journals with a very wide audience, and since 1996 it has dedicated a section of its website, Science Careers, to career news and advice. As Science Careers has been active, the academic job market has been transforming, most notably by a decrease in the availability of tenure-track academic positions. Using a dataset of 6111 full-text Science Careers articles we perform an exploratory text analysis to characterize the changes in framing, topics, and scope of career content. We analyzed tag frequency and word frequency to examine topics over time. We tracked the relative prominence of articles that explicitly present advice to the reader, as opposed to more descriptive articles about workforce dynamics or personal experiences of career scientists. We find that although the number of articles tagged Advice had remained consistently high from the inception of the Science Careers section, 2015 marked the beginning of a significant decrease in the number of explicitly tagged Advice articles. The apparent disinclination for strongly prescriptive advice may indicate a growing sense, even within an academic-oriented venue, that career-pathways for researchers have become less predictable, making dispensing broadly applicable advice more challenging.

Patient-Centered Care preferences & expectations in outpatient pharmacist practice: A three archetype heuristic.

Patient-Centered Care (PCC) resides in the center of the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners' "Pharmacists' Patient Care Process" (PPCP) and is essential to successful management of chronic disease. However, the widely recognized importance and relevance of PCC contrasts with the limited number of studies in the pharmacist literature investigating patient preferences and expectations that inform PCC. Filling this gap is vital for improving pharmacist PCC at the micro-level (i.e., within and adjacent to patient-pharmacist encounters), meso-level (i.e., healthcare systems), and macro-level (i.e., legislation, payment, workforce dynamics). The study's objective was to describe, interpret, and compare patient preferences and expectations of Patient-Centeredness in pharmacist outpatient care. This mixed methods study used semi-structured, in-depth phone interviews among a purposive national sample of US adult patients with multiple chronic conditions and the experienced outpatient pharmacists caring for them. Interviews aimed to elicit conceptual definitions and concrete experiences of Patient-Centeredness in pharmacist care, were analyzed following Bengtsson's Content Analysis procedures, and assessed for reliability using Perrault and Leigh's Reliability Index. Data trustworthiness was interpreted using processes outlined by Guba & Krefting. Data analysis revealed a three-archetype heuristic of preferences and expectations for pharmacist care: 'Partner,' 'Client,' and 'Customer.' Each respective archetype is described and distinguished from the others across five common factors: Nature of the Relationship & Locus of Control; Care Customization; Encounter Duration & Care Longevity; Intent of Communication; and Source of Value. Exemplar excerpts from study participants also illuminate the meaning and distinctiveness of each respective archetype across the five factors. Findings suggest a novel approach for exploring pharmacist PCC quality, design, evaluation, and value-based payment at the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels of care. Future research should include operational field testing to investigate the model's validity, applicability, and consistency in pharmacist PCC.

Key factors affecting the quality of maritime education and training: empirical evidence from China

AbstractRecently, the quality of Maritime Education and Training (MET) has drawn more attention from employers of the shipping industry, because incompetent officers have frequently contributed to ship accidents. The authors intend to explore answers to three questions: (1) Is the quality of Chinese MET satisfactory to the maritime stakeholders? (2) What are the major factors affecting the quality of cadet training? (3) Are there feasible solutions to improve the quality of MET? The authors take China, a major seafarers supplying country, as empirical evidence to disclose the causes of the problems. By an exploratory factor analysis technique, this paper presents the findings of semi-structured interviews and questionnaire surveys and identifies four principal factors affecting the quality of MET in China. Shortage of skillful instructors, lack of onboard training, over-reliance on theoretical teaching, and limited funding sources are prominent factors in this context. Practical solutions are proposed for the purpose of improving the overall competence of Chinese cadets expected to become the dynamic workforce for the global shipping industry.

Impact of Dynamic Workforce and Workplace Variables on the Productivity of the Construction Industry: New Gross Construction Productivity Indicator

Construction productivity is the industry’s predominant determinant of performance. Although the construction industry periodically provides large amount of data, existing studies have not fully exploited such data sets, especially relating to the overall productivity of the construction industry rather than labor productivity. This paper addresses this critical knowledge gap by statistically examining and modeling the causalities between different dynamic workforce and workplace variables and the productivity of the entire construction industry. Multivariate time-series data between 2006 and 2019 were collected for the productivity of the construction industry and 11 dynamic workforce and workplace variables: job openings, job hires, turnover or job separations, total compensation, gross job gains, gross job losses, average hourly earnings, fatalities, occupational injuries and illnesses, gross domestic product, and unemployment rate. Statistically significant relationships and causalities were examined between the response variable—productivity of the construction industry—and these 11 variables. A vector autoregression (VAR) framework was developed to model the temporal variations in the productivity of the construction industry. The developed VAR model was validated by predicting the construction productivity for the 2016–2019 period an acceptable mean average percentage error of 5.13%. Based on the findings, the paper concludes that (1) all considered dynamic workforce and workplace variables, except job openings, statistically cause fluctuations in the construction productivity; (2) the new concept of gross construction productivity is justified statistically and should be implemented in the construction industry; (3) the gross construction productivity is an additional valuable information that construction companies should consider to make different insightful and well-educated industry-related decisions; (4) the health of the construction industry needs to be studied based on the productivity of the industry as a whole rather than based on labor productivity alone; and (5) the construction industry should move toward the development of a notion of gross construction productivity indicator used to measure, evaluate, and predict the performance of the entire industry. Ultimately, this paper proposes a new indicator or index for gross construction productivity. The outcomes of this paper add to the body of knowledge by providing a better understanding of the impact of different dynamic workforce and workplace variables on the construction productivity and by offering a new concept called gross construction productivity.

Legacy of COVID‐19 – the opportunity to enhance surgical services for patients with colorectal disease

The COVID-19 crisis has undoubtedly taken a toll on the care of patients with colorectal disease. Elective services, be that face to face contact, endoscopy or operating all but ceased during the pandemic.

Ophthalmology as a Career Choice of Rotatory Medical Interns at Two Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria Middle Belt

The distribution of medical manpower among the various specialties should be of interest to government, health care planners and medical education of any nation. With this in mind, this study was design to determine the factors that may influence this specialty choice amongst interns especially in Nigerian middle belt. Ophthalmology is a unique field of medicine that combines the hypothesis generating intellectual aspect of diagnosis with the opportunity to perform procedures both in clinic and in the operating theatre. A cross-sectional study was conducted at Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi and Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi with a semi structured questionnaire. A total of 61 questionnaires were given out with 52 completely answered and returned given a response rate of 85.2% over a two week period. The mean age of the rotatory medical interns was 30.08 years with the youngest, 23 years and oldest, 42 years and a range of 19. Forty four (44) (84.6%) were male and eight (8) (15.4%) were female. The respondents mean age was 30.08 years with a range of 19. This is a dynamic work force and if effectively utilized will go a long way in the efforts at providing quality health care to the populace. The study also shows a significant relationship between the medical school attended and the choice of specialty. Concluding, factors influencing interns’ specialty choice should guide government’s health administrators and educators as they may be responsible for mal-distribution of medical manpower across the various specialties.

The Impact of Transformational Leadership and Team Innovation on Team Performance: Empirical Evidence from Malaysia

Objective – Leadership and innovation are two related concepts which have gained a lot of interest among researchers focusing on management and entrepreneurship. Research on these topics are important for the development of the dynamic workforce and are useful to various organisations. However, in the real world, the effectiveness of employee performance is considered as unsatisfactory meaning there is room for improvement. Methodology/Technique – Previous literature had found that Transformational Leadership and Team Innovation are among the key factors which can be used to improve employee performance. This study will examine and test the relationship between Transformational Leadership and Team Performance to understand how Team Innovation mediates this relationship. A total of 197 samples are collected from employees in Multinational Companies (MNC). The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. Findings – The findings indicate that Transformational Leadership has a significant positive impact on Team Performance. Further, Team Innovation mediates the relationship between Transformational Leadership and Team Performance. Novelty – The major implications of these findings are further explored. In particular, this paper contributes to leadership literature by recommending that team leaders aim to inspire and empower employees to achieve organizational goals. Type of Paper: Empirical. JEL Classification: M11, M15, M19. Keywords: Transformational Leadership; Innovation; Multinational Companies. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Kee, D.M.H; Rahman, N.A; Tan, A.W. 2020. The Impact of Transformational Leadership and Team Innovation on Team Performance: Empirical Evidence from Malaysia, J. Mgt. Mkt. Review 5(2) 99 – 106 https://doi.org/10.35609/jmmr.2020.5.2(2)

Demand prediction and dynamic workforce allocation to improve airport screening operations

Workforce allocation and configuration decisions at airport security checkpoints (e.g., number of lanes open) are usually based on passenger volume forecasts. The accuracy of such forecasts is critical for the smooth functioning of security checkpoints where unexpected surges in passenger volumes are handled proactively. In this article, we present a forecasting model that combines flight schedules and other business fundamentals with historically observed throughput patterns to predict passenger volumes in a multi-terminal multi-security screening checkpoint airport. We then present an optimization model and a solution strategy for dynamically selecting a configuration of open screening lanes to minimize passenger queues and wait times that at the same time determine workforce allocations. We present a real-world case study in a US airport to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed models.