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Browsing by Author "Sarason, Yolanda, committee member"

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    Job hunting in the digital age: how socialization messages are communicated to information seekers through corporate websites
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) White, Hillary, author; Williams, Elizabeth, advisor; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Sarason, Yolanda, committee member
    This thesis examines organizational socialization. It seeks to understand how socialization messages about performance proficiency, people, organizational politics, language, goals and values, and history are communicated on corporate websites. Specifically, this study uses Chao and colleagues' (1994) typology to explore how messages about job performance, people, politics, language, organizational goals and values, and history are communicated on organization's websites. Through a grounded theory analysis of 10 of the 2013 "Best Corporate Websites" several similarities are identified in the way socialization messages are communicated to potential employees through websites. Organizations use similar language and format in order to present information relevant to job and information seekers. This research has implications for both individuals who seek information online about organizations and organizations that want to encourage organizational socialization of employees prior to entry into the organization. Using similar strategies may help organizations clearly and convincingly communicate messages to the desired audience.
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    The perception of organizational prestige and employee engagement
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012) Smith, Christine L., author; Byrne, Zinta S., advisor; Steger, Michael F., committee member; Sarason, Yolanda, committee member
    Interest concerning employee engagement is on the rise, especially given the reported financial and behavioral gains of engaged employees. Naturally, as a consequence of the astounding reports from consulting firms that significant dollars are saved because of engaged employees, organizations are seeking ways to hire, retain, and foster employee engagement. This study contributes to the literature by examining how perceptions of organizational prestige, a construct studied in recruitment and attraction of employees, relates to experiences of employee engagement. Full-time, working adults completed a web-based survey assessing employee engagement, organizational identification, and perceived organizational prestige. It was hypothesized that perceived organizational prestige would be positively related to employee engagement. This study used this archival data to explore this relationship. Results support the positive association between perceived organizational prestige and employee engagement. Furthermore, results indicate organizational identification partially mediates this relationship. By examining the relationship between employee engagement and perceived organizational prestige, a variable that organizations can influence, this study contributes to the practical application of initiatives to increase employee engagement, as well as the scientific understanding of employee engagement.
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    The young, the old, and the in-between: constructing intergenerational identities and interactions in organizational contexts
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Reifschneider-Smith, Tiffany Lynn, author; Broadfoot, Kirsten J., advisor; Aoki, Eric, committee member; Sarason, Yolanda, committee member
    Professional organizations are currently facing a phenomenon that has not been experienced or seen before. As the economy remains fragile and the cost of living continues to rise, a greater number of students are entering the workforce while working to complete their college degrees, and the more seasoned professionals are working well past what has traditionally been called the "retirement years." Due to this increasing number of the young and old entering the workforce, four generations are now working side by side on a daily basis, and this is leaving many professional organizations to wonder "How do we manage, motivate, and communicate with four increasingly diverse age groups?" Interviews were conducted and participant observations took place within one professional Colorado organization to gain a better understanding of how multiple generations working within one company communicatively construct and perform their generational identities. Through the interview and observation data, six themes emerged illuminating both similar and diverse ways as to how the four generations prefer to communicate and interact in the workplace. In this study the meanings of these themes are discussed in order to shed light on the consequences, both positive and negative, of having four generations working together every day.
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    What motivates healthcare workers? Using latent profile analysis to understand healthcare workers' motives and their relationships with work outcomes
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Ospina, Javier H., author; Fisher, Gwenith, advisor; Gibbons, Alyssa, advisor; Henry, Kimberly, committee member; Sarason, Yolanda, committee member
    Healthcare workers (HCWs) are an integral part of the U.S. healthcare system. Despite their importance, healthcare organizations often struggle to attract, retain, and manage these workers due to various challenges inherent in this type of work. Human resource management interventions that target HCWs' motivation have been proposed as a means to help address these issues. However, HCW motivation is complex and multifaceted and prior work has not thoroughly accounted for how multiple motives influence HCWs' work. The current research seeks to understand how various HCW motives identified in the literature relate to each other and to important work outcomes. Specifically, I used latent profile analysis to identify distinct HCW motive profiles, evaluated the degree to which each profile was characterized by extrinsic or intrinsic motivation or amotivation, and then examined whether these profiles were differentially related to client-related burnout, work-related burnout, turnover, job satisfaction, meaning in life, and job performance. My results revealed three latent profiles: an incentive-driven profile, an altruism-driven profile, and a broadly-driven profile. The incentive-driven profile displayed low intrinsic motivation and was associated with the worst outcomes. The altruism-driven profile displayed moderate intrinsic motivation and was associated with better outcomes than the incentive-driven profile but worse outcomes than the broadly-driven profile. The broadly-driven profile displayed high intrinsic motivation and was associated with the best outcomes. All profiles displayed high extrinsic motivation and low amotivation. This study's results demonstrated that HCWs who reported multiple motives for engaging in their work fared better than those who reported only one or two motives, and that a higher degree of internalization (i.e., intrinsic motivation) was associated with better outcomes. This study also found, counterintuitively, that being driven solely by altruistic motives was detrimental to HCWs. Implications for research and practice as well as future direction are discussed.
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    Workplace health training: a theoretical and empirical model
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Drake, Travis, author; Kraiger, Kurt, advisor; Gibbons, Alyssa, advisor; Graham, Dan, committee member; Sarason, Yolanda, committee member
    For the current study I proposed a complete, integrated model of workplace health training including its antecedents, structure, and outcomes. Additionally, I proposed the concept of 'training enrichment', where different types of training would have a multiplicative effect on relevant work outcomes. Based on this proposed model, I empirically tested the longitudinal effects of workplace health training on employee attitudes, employee performance ratings, and learning culture. I hypothesized that: 1) the structure of my empirical model would fit the data, 2) workplace health training would positively impact employee attitudes and employee performance, 3) a strong learning culture would lead to increased employee participation in workplace health training, and 4) workplace health training would interact with leadership training to positively impact employee attitudes and employee performance. Results from the structural equation model and associated statistical tests showed that while the structure of the model was appropriate, the longitudinal effects of the training were minimal. Overall, this study provides a strong foundation for structuring workplace health training, as well as some evidence of its longitudinal effectiveness.