*WINNER* Using Creative Inquiry to Answer Human Resource Questions

Abstract

This won best undergraduate poster in Business, Decision Sciences and Management.

How will the big data revolution inform the field of human resource management? One particularly valuable source of big data is the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS). The FEVS is an 84-question survey that measures 400,000 employees’ perceptions of their organization. We used data from the survey to explore 1) predictors of turnover intentions and 2) the consistency of these predictors across government agencies. The three factors that most strongly predicted employees’ intent to remain with their agencies were:
1. Supervisors who have worthwhile discussions about employee performance with their employees.
2. Employees who have trust and confidence in their supervisor.
3. Supervisors who support employee development.
Furthermore, the results were very consistent across more than 20 different agencies in the federal government. From a practical standpoint, effective human resource managers must help employees understand how the employees’ work connects to a broader purpose. To achieve this, the training and development of supervisors is crucial for HR to implement. The way employees view their company is directly related to their work situation. If employees are not satisfied with their work environment, they will not contribute their best efforts toward the primary goals of their company. If these negative feelings continue, employees will separate themselves from their work and their company.