Meeting the Performance Challenge of Low Wage Workers Who Need to Perform at a High Wage Standard; Engineering Aggressive Learning Interventions into Work

本研究聚焦于绩效不佳组织中低工资、一线员工参与的组织变革。该项目考察了学习干预的效果，如模拟和反馈，以改变低薪工人的工作效率，即使工作本身的性质没有改变。在这项实地研究中，工作人员是支持生物技术和医学研究的动物护理技术人员。在这里，监管环境变得更加严格，而对动物的研究变得更加复杂。从理论上讲，该提案关注的是员工如何思考和理解变化，以及这如何影响组织绩效。这项研究基于成人认知、学习和组织变革的理论。关键的假设是，员工将使用模拟和反馈数据来提高个人和团队的表现。第二个假设是，不同的员工会使用不同形式的反馈来理解和提高绩效。更广泛的影响是为那些能够为高绩效做出贡献并了解自己在组织成功中所扮演的角色的员工提供更大的工作保障和满足感。这项研究的结果还将为组织变革理论提供关于教育干预和工作环境变化各自作用的信息，展示如何协调它们以实现最大利益。

This research focuses on organizational change involving low wage, front-line workers in poorly performing organizations. The project examines the effect of learning interventions, such as simulations and feedback, to change the work effectiveness of low wage workers, even when the nature of the work itself does not change. In this field study, the workers are animal care technicians supporting biotech and medical research. Here, the regulatory environment has become more rigorous, while research on animals has become more complex. Theoretically, the proposal focuses on how workers think about and understand change and how this affects organizational performance. The research is based on theories of adult cognition and learning and change in organizations. The key hypothesis is that workers will use simulation and feedback data to improve individual and team performance. A second hypothesis is that different workers will use different forms of feedback to understand and improve performance. The broader impact is greater job security and satisfaction for workers who can contribute to high performance and understand their role in their organization's success. The study's results will also inform theories of organizational change on the respective roles of educational interventions and work environment changes, showing how they can be coordinated for maximum benefit.