Training Levels and Number of Research Paper

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Harassment, including sexual and other types as well, is also a common type of formal complaint that must be taken very seriously by contemporary businesses. More extensive employee training can help better inform employees of appropriate work behavior, so that there are less incidences of harassment between employees unknowingly.

Better trained employees makes for a more efficient work environment with less complications. Therefore, the research showed that "many organizations within it industries focus on providing "extensive retraining of employees," especially "as reengineering efforts go forward it is important to define and redefine performance goals and objectives, maintain a strong commitment to the vision, break the barriers between the departments, and be flexible as the business environment changes."

More extensive formal training can help with "nipping negativity before it derails morale" by reassuring the proper procedures but also by explaining appropriate company policy more directly and intimately so that all employees can better understand and internalize it.

Such training measures better inform employees when a complaint is appropriate to file, but also the options they have in regards to approaching management with their grievances. Examinations in other industries, such as the hospitality industry, shows a clear link between low training rates and increased rates of complaints. Poulston (2008) illustrates how poor training can increase problematic behaviors within employee groups that then lead to increased complaints of harassment within the work environment. Some conclusions include the concept that "poor training is associated with workplace problems, and improving training is likely to reduce problems such as theft" and harassment.

More formal training increases employee awareness of their own actions and what is appropriate behavior for the workplace, which has a positive impact on reducing the number of complaints.

Keyton and Rhodes (1999) also suggest that there are less incidences of harassment in environments where extensive formal harassment training has been undertaken by an organization. Training helped allow employees understand what constitutes as sexual harassment, but also helped managers be able to see sexual harassment cues before complaints were manifested, allowing for a proactive approach to minimizing harassment in the work environment. Additionally, training should not just be limited to employees, but should extend to managers within the industry as well. The more training managers have in regards to how to handle complaints allows them to focus on the nature of the problem in a way which is proactive in finding solutions to make for a better work environment for all employees involved. Extending training to management allows them to receive tools they can use to adapt their strategies and the work environment of their employees in a way that can help reduce the most common complaints by attacking the problems directly.

X. Research Findings Summary & Conclusion

This research used reports on employee complaints within the it industry. It coded the studies for signals that positively or negatively associated the level of complaints with the degree of formal training individuals within the study were exposed to. Three studies were analyzed using content analysis, with the findings provided here.

Batt, Colvin, and Keefe (2002)

This is a research study focusing more on telecommunications than it, but its findings still have significance within the it industry itself. The study focused on an analysis which was "measured by a single variable consisting of the annual number of grievances or complaints per employee brought under the applicable union or nonunion procedure."

It found an average of six complaints per every 100 employees. Yet, this is from a standpoint of a much more highly trained workforce that had an average of at least 2 full formal training weeks annually. This study is unique because it brings in the concept of the peer review processes, which is a style of processing complaints that is sometimes used by organizations. Peer review processes for handling complaints relies on a panel of employees to make a decision regarding the complaint brought up by an individual employee. Here, the research suggests that "presumably, employees are more willing to trust the effectiveness of a procedure in which their fellow employees decide grievances."

Moreover, the nature of such panel reviews requires much more formal training, because employees will often have to serve on panels. As such, there is a higher degree of training involved with organizations that choose such methods. The study here showed a positive correlation between this increased formal training and the lower incidences of complaints, but also the greater trust in the decisions of those complaints.Frequently Used Words or Meanings

Strength of Relationship

Sign of Relationship

Assumption

Peer Review Process

High degree of relationship involved with formal training, based on the nature of these complaints being held before a tribunal of employees and peers

Positive relationship between increased training and lowered complaints, but also the increase in trust regarding the decisions on those complaints

More training in how to handle the processing of complaints lowers the number because employees better understand what constitutes grounds for an appropriate complaint

Training

Strong relationship between the higher number of training days per year and reduced complaints

Positive relationship between increased training and lowered complaints

Training regarding how to file, handle, and process complaints often led to reduced number of complaints

Quits

Not a strong relationship between level of training and number of employees quitting

Negative correlation between training and quitting

The more training employees received, the more likely they were to make a complaint and not simply just quit when they felt they were wronged in the workplace

Smith, Carayon, Sanders, and LeGrande (1992)

This is a very early study, yet one which still has relevance within the context of this research. Essentially, the study examined the use of electronic performance measures within it and telecommunication industries. A survey was distributed to employees in order to gauge complaints regarding the work environment and the presence of new electronic performance measurements. There were two main repeating concepts here, the issue of electronic performance measurement and health. Both appeared frequently throughout the text and showed a significant positive relationship between the level of formal training the employees had received with the level of complaints these employees had about their work environment. The study was aiming to investigate the presence of electronic performance reviews, yet it proves to add more data in another context here. Throughout the explanation of the study results are discussions on the small amount of formal training these employees had in regards to the new implementation of the electronic system. It was later assumed that more formal training could have reduced the high level of complaints seen in the context of employees whose performance was being electronically monitored.

Frequently Used Words or Meanings

Strength of Relationship

Sign of Relationship

Assumption

Implementation of Electronic Performance Monitoring

There is a strong relationship between employee complaints of psychological stress with the implementation of electronic performance monitoring in it and telecommunications without extensive training on the process

Positive relationship between the level of training employees received on new electronic monitoring processes and the number of complaints regarding psychological stresses

The less formal training employees receive regarding the nature of electronic monitoring and how it works, the greater incidences of complaints. This study assumed that more training on such programs would help reduce employee complaints.

Health

Strong relationship with less formal training on performance measurements

Positive relationship between the level of training employees received on new electronic monitoring processes and the number of complaints regarding health related stresses

Again, the less formal training led to higher incidences of health-related complaints

Training

Strong relationship with less formal training on performance measurements

Positive relationship between level of training and satisfaction with work environment

When there was less formal training, there were higher incidences of complaints

Salin (2009)

This study focused on the presence of harassment in the work environment. Salin (2009) posits that higher rates of harassment not only increase harassment complaints, but also health-related and complaints in the work environment. With increased training on how to avoid harassment in the workplace and how to address it when it occurs, there are lower incidences of harassment overall, therefore leading to lower complaint numbers in the context of the contemporary work environment. Harassment goes far beyond a limited definition of sexual harassment, and includes a number of different incidences. The more formal training employees have, the less likely they are going to act in a harassing manner, which can then reduce the overall number of harassment complaints in the workplace. Moreover, managerial training can help spot harassment very early on and take disciplinary measures before an employee feels the need to make a formal complaint.

Frequently Used Words or Meanings

Strength of Relationship

Sign of Relationship

Assumption

Health

Strong relationship between level of training and the number of complaints relating to health-related issues

Positive correlation between the two variables

The more training results in a more empowered employee, who….....