Reading Response - Identify A Problem

Common Problem Identified

A common concern among employees in my work environment is the scheduling of professional development opportunities for employees last year (2023-2024). Anecdotal feedback from employees suggests that these opportunities are often scheduled at inconvenient times and days, making it difficult for employees to attend. In reviewing common times and days in which last year’s workshops and sessions were offered, they typically fell on Tuesday afternoons between 1-4PM. Employees shared that sessions occurring during these times coincide with the busiest time of day, reducing their ability to participate. The goal of this research is to identify specific times and days that would work for the majority of employees, thereby increasing the accessibility of professional development opportunities.  

Property of Interest

The Property of Interest is the preferred time and day for professional development opportunities to be offered. This includes evaluating whether the current schedule meets employees’ needs or if adjustments are needed. My question will focus on evaluating employees’ preferences against the current availability of workshops and sessions and identifying potential areas for improvement to improve attendance, and this Property of Interest will directly measure that.

Dependent Variable

The Dependent Variable in this study will be the employees’ preferences for the time and day for professional development opportunities. This information will be obtained through a short survey that lists the days of the week and time of day, allowing employees to select their preferred option(s). Considering an operational definition, employees’ preferences for the time and day for workshops and sessions will be measured using the Likert scale. Respondents will rate their preference of different time slots – morning (8-10AM), early afternoon (11-1PM), and late afternoon (2-5PM), as well as day of the week (Monday through Friday). The scale will range from 1=”Strongly Disagree” to 5=”Strongly Agree”, allowing employees to indicate which times and days they find most available and convenient.

Hypothesis

In considering my hypothesis, I propose that employees are dissatisfied with the current times and days professional development opportunities were offered last year and that significant improvement is needed. This hypothesis is based on the anecdotal concerns previously discussed, which highlights issues between current offerings and employees’ availability.

Testing the Hypothesis

To test this hypothesis, I will compare the survey data on employees’ preferences with the actual schedule of professional development workshops and sessions that were offered during 2023-2024. This will help identify any differences between the current schedule of offerings and noted preferences for different times and/or days of the week, which will confirm my hypothesis and show a need for adjusting in 2024-2025. If the data shows that employees are primarily satisfied with current times and days professional development opportunities were offered during 2023-2024, then my original hypothesis would be false, and we would not need to make sweeping changes to their availability.

Goals

The results of this study will provide important insights into how I can improve the availability of professional development offerings. By aligning the schedule with employee preferences, the company can better support professional growth. This approach will also ensure that scheduling decisions are informed by employee needs, ultimately improving participation rates in professional development programming.