Current challenges that New Zealand small: Medium sized enterprises face in retention of employees: With a focus on the landscape industry

Employee retention is a growing concern in Human Resources. Poor employee retention results in businesses incurring increased expenses. Businesses have to search for, recruit and retain employees when job vacancies occur. This is a costly process; therefore businesses are taking a greater interest in human resources and the retention of employees. There is very little literature focusing on employee retention in the landscape industry, so research collected was broadened to other industries with similar attributes to create viable results. The study investigates what factors influence employee retention in small to medium-sized enterprises with a focus on the landscape industry in New Zealand. Research is done on employee retention influencers in similar industries due to the limited amount of research on employee retention in the landscape industry. No research on large businesses was used as the principles of a large organisation would not be compatible with small – medium-sized enterprises. No primary research was used as there was only an available candidate pool of four people and it was believed this would not give viable results or insight into the topic. It was found that employee retention improved in businesses when the business’ organisational culture, values and beliefs matched those of the employees. It was found that when there was a mismatch between culture and employees, employees did not identify with or connect as well with the business, and this caused conflict and resulted in employees wanting to leave the organisation. Leadership was another key influencer on employee retention. Poor leadership causes misunderstanding, miscommunication, and therefore conflict and poor productivity, and has negative effects on organisational culture, resulting in worsened levels on employee retention. Career advancement was another significant influence on employee retention. When employees see a path to both develop and move forward within the business, this is firstly a highly motivational factor but also a factor that improves employee retention. When employees see that the business promotes internally, employees will feel there are greater opportunities at that particular business. Remuneration/ Rewards are the reason employees work in the first place. In industries such as the landscape industry where the hours are long and tiresome, improved remuneration package/rewards improve employee retention, as employees’ most desired need is being better satisfied. The final factor influencing employee retention is employee engagement, which can be improved to better retain employees. This can be done by giving employees more opportunities to take on responsibility and more challenging tasks. This will improve employee engagement as the work employees do gains more variety, and employees are actively challenged and pushed to work at their best

Reflection: Beverly Rosa Williams

https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/legacy1968/1006/thumbnail.jp

Utopian Thought as a Factor in Social Change

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Bachelor of Arts Degree, Sociology Department, Salve Regina College, Newport, Rhode Island, May 6, 1968.https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/legacy1968/1045/thumbnail.jp

A Study of Addressing Chronic Absenteeism and Truancy: The Attendance Improvement Program at Emil G. Hirsch High School (Chicago, IL)

This project examines the historical barriers and challenges of chronic absenteeism and truancy and offers an intervention strategy aimed at reducing these rates at one specific school, Emil G. Hirsch High School in Chicago, IL. The detrimental effects problematic absenteeism has on individual students, schools, the Department of Education, and the community has been researched extensively. Building on this existing literature, this project explores further the mitigating factors for chronic absenteeism and truancy and proposes a new intervention strategy to increase student attendance rates. The Attendance Improvement Program was designed through this capstone project-draws on elements of social control theory and existing literature on best practices to develop and then implement realizable strategies for addressing chronic absenteeism and truancy, that included frequent needs assessments, a reward, and incentive structure, and collaboration between community stakeholders, parents, and teachers. This pilot program aims to decrease student absenteeism and truancy rates at Emil G. Hirsch High School through programmatic elements that include repeated student/parent needs assessments, reward and incentive structures, and activities offered in collaboration with community stakeholders, parents, and teachers. The Attendance Improvement Program also has the potential to serve as a model for other low-performing, urban schools facing similar issues with chronic absenteeism and truancy to consider. Practical strategies and recommendations to reduce and eventually end chronic absenteeism and truancy in the institution are derived from a set of best practices identified through a comprehensive literature review. More specifically, needs assessment, rewards, counseling programs, and parent-teacher collaboration will be utilized to reduce truancy and chronic absenteeism in Hirsch High School

An economic analysis of four milking systems with emphasis on the labor factor

Dairying is an important agricultural enterprise in Tennessee Ranking second only to beef cattle as a source of agricultural income.Labor is responsible for a large portion of the dairyman\u27s production cost, and quality hired labor is becoming more difficult for a dairyman to obtain. Dairy scientists and agricultural engineers have developed many innovations which reduce labor requirements, improve sanitary conditions or improve working conditions. However, few studies have been conducted to examine the economic aspects of these innovations. Using primarily secondary data, this study attempted to analyze the interrelationships between the physical quantities of labor used, capital requirements,and costs of production. The annual total costs of operation and upkeep of four types of milking parlors were analyzed graphically to determine the range of herd sizes for which each parlor has the lowest costs. Since it has been found that a man cannot milk for more than two hours and retain his mental alertness and effectiveness, the maximum number of cows which could be milked in each parlor within a two-hour time, i.e., the maximum effective capacity of the parlor, was determined. This was found to be a herd of 91 cows for a double-four herringbone parlor, 58 cows for a double-two walk-through parlor, 51 cows for a three-in-lineiii_ivside-opening parlor, and 43 cows for a ten-abreast stanchion parlor.It was assumed that 89 percent of these cows would be milking during the winter season and 84 percent of these cows would be milking during the summer season. Using the maximum effective capacity of each parlor, feeding,housing, and manure handling systems were evaluated to determine the appropriate ones to combine with each parlor. It was concluded that the appropriate innovations to use with a double-four herringbone parlor would be an upright stave silo with mechanical unloader and feeder, free-stall housing, and a liquid manure operation. A double-two walk-through parlor was coupled with an upright stave silo with a mechanical unloader and feeder, free-stall housing, and ramp system for handling manure. For a three-in-line side-opening parlor, it was also concluded that an upright stave silo with mechanical unloader and feeder, free-stall housing, and a ramp system for handling manure would be most appropriate. The ten-abreast stanchion parlor was combined with a self-feeding horizontal silo, free-stall housing, and a ramp system for handling manure

Editorial - Special Issue: Organisational Project Management

Organisational Project Management (OPM) is an emergent paradigm that examines the nature of project, program and portfolio (PPP) activities within the context of an enterprise. This view incorporates the three roles for which PPP’s are formulated and deployed: execution, adaptation and transformation. This special issue has been designed to showcase researchers and project managers whose work highlights each of these roles

New-New Trade Policy

When national competitiveness is invoked as a policy objective, trade experts have learned to retort that countries don`t trade, firms do. This focus on the importance of the firm in international trade is consistent with the most recent developments in trade theory, but policy needs to catch up. Recognizing the growing anomalies in observed trade patterns relative to traditional models of trade based on national comparative advantage, the "new trade theory" of the 1980s looked at industries not countries, leading Nobel prize-winner Paul Krugman, a pioneer in this literature, to suggest the need for a new trade policy. Recent work on what some call the "new-new trade theory" focuses on the trading behaviour of individual firms, making a tight link between trade and productivity. In this paper we demonstrate how focusing on firms should be the foundation for a new-new trade policy, one that creates exciting opportunities for trade and investment promotion strategies, along with the need for much more targeted consultation strategies. We also discuss the implications of the new-new theory for regulatory coordination, and on new ways to cooperate with interlocutors in developing countries on the evolution of 21st century trade policy.New-new Trade Theory, Trade Policy

Exploring the Experiences of Female Student Veterans with Disabilities Entering Higher Education during Reintegration: A Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of female student veterans with disabilities entering higher education during reintegration in order to improve programs, services, and support available to female student veterans with disabilities. A screening questionnaire, interviews, a focus group, and journals were used to collect data. Participants consisted of 11 female student veterans with disabilities who were purposively selected using criterion, snowball, and maximum variation sampling. The central research question was: What are the transition experiences of female student veterans with disabilities entering college during reintegration into society? Four sub-questions were also addressed. Data analyses were conducted using Moustakas’ (1994) recommendations of a transcendental phenomenological study, and five themes were identified. Textural and structural descriptions were written and integrated into the composite description to reveal the essence of participants’ experiences. Findings served to inform post-secondary institutions of the diverse needs of female student veterans with disabilities so they can better serve them, increase student veterans’ perseverance and academic success, and provide a smoother reintegration for all student veterans with disabilities

From Crossing Campus to Crossing Continents: Faculty, Chair, and Global Partner Perspectives on an International Sabbatical

A sabbatical – a period of paid leave granted to faculty for research or study - is a construct in higher education that has experienced ebbs and flows in its favorability, though there are persistent arguments that it is important for research-active faculty (Pietsch, 2011). Early career faculty are focused on achieving tenure as this is high stakes at most institutions. Once tenure is achieved, the next goalpost is full professor. The day-to-day responsibilities of faculty can distract from and dilute efforts aimed at strategic planning, long-term planning, and reflection necessary to achieve this level of promotion. So it follows that faculty place a very high value on sabbatical leave time for its impact on career progression, with one study ranking sabbaticals second only to successful external funding (Smith et al., 2016). Faculty and institutions can benefit from sabbaticals through collaborative ideation to reveal new research ideas, development of new expertise, strategic dissemination efforts, support of student research, and much more. Individual faculty members who have engaged in a sabbatical report stronger engagement with colleagues and sense of social responsibility, with a higher tendency towards teamwork, creativity, and innovation (Shirbagi & Gholami, 2020). Sabbatical could also serve as a tool to combat imposter syndrome and reduce the gap between academics and non-academics through “experimental” sabbaticals (e.g., a year of consulting) (Bothello & Roulet, 2019). It is important to note, though, that benefits to students are not inherent in sabbaticals, as one now-dated study reported no difference in student evaluations of teaching before and after faculty sabbaticals (Miller & Bai, 1998). Faculty overwhelmingly agreed that sabbatical improved their attitude, making them a better faculty member (Miller & Kang, 2006)