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Abstract
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Before
Effective communication skills are essential ingredients for a healthy and cohesive work environment. This study aims to test whether reinforcing these skills via a creative training program offered to white-collar professionals improves workplace climate and enables better social interactions in large corporations. The evaluation sample contains white-collar professionals of all ranks from 20 large corporations in Turkey representing the chemistry, defense, construction, textiles, energy, and finance sectors. The intervention involves a series of workshops where a professional implementing partner uses unique interactive methods, including creative drama and role-playing, to improve social and interpersonal skills. A critical component of the intervention is a series of team exercises following workshop sessions, lasting over eight weeks, managed and monitored by the implementing partner.
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After
Effective communication skills are essential ingredients for a healthy and cohesive work environment. This study aims to test whether reinforcing these skills via a creative training program offered to white-collar professionals improves workplace climate and enables better social interactions in large corporations. The evaluation sample contains white-collar professionals of all ranks from 20 large corporations in Turkey representing the chemistry, defense, construction, textiles, energy, and finance sectors. The intervention involves a series of workshops where a professional implementing partner uses unique interactive methods, including creative drama and role-playing, to improve social and interpersonal skills. A critical component of the intervention is a series of team exercises following workshop sessions, lasting over eight weeks, managed and monitored by the implementing partner. While the intervention targets all white-collar workers from all ranks, team and department leaders are particularly encouraged to attend.
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Last Published
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April 13, 2021 11:33 AM
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May 31, 2021 03:20 AM
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Intervention (Public)
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Before
The intervention involves a series of workshops where a professional implementing partner uses unique interactive methods, including creative drama and role-playing, to improve social and interpersonal skills. A critical component of the intervention is a series of team exercises following workshop sessions, lasting over eight weeks, managed and monitored by the implementing partner.
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After
The intervention involves a series of workshops where a professional implementing partner uses unique interactive methods, including creative drama and role-playing, to improve social and interpersonal skills. A critical component of the intervention is a series of team exercises following workshop sessions, lasting over eight weeks, managed and monitored by the implementing partner. While the intervention targets all white-collar workers from all ranks, team and department leaders are particularly encouraged to attend.
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Primary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
We designed a wide range of outcomes to test the effectiveness of the training program. To construct our outcomes, we use three main data collection tools:
1) Survey questions
2) Incentivized experiments
3) Social networks
See below for detailed explanation
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After
We designed a wide range of outcomes to test the effectiveness of the training program. To construct our outcomes, we use three main data collection tools:
1) Survey questions
2) Incentivized experiments
3) Social networks
See below for a detailed explanation
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Primary Outcomes (Explanation)
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Before
Our primary outcomes of interest are
1) Perceived workplace climate indicators. Using a large number of item-response questions and we will construct the following indices:
a) Behavioral norms
b) Sense of belonging
c) Workplace satisfaction
d) Meritocratic values of the firm
2) Social Skills (measured via incentivized games)
a) Trust
b) Reciprocity
c) Toxic competition/performance sabotaging
d) Altruism
3) Social Networks
a) Professional and personal support links with leaders
b) Professional and personal support links with colleagues
Our central hypothesis is that the training program will improve the aforementioned workplace climate indicators, improve social skills and strengthen social bonding between colleagues.
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After
Our primary outcomes of interest can be grouped into three categories.
1) Perceived workplace climate indicators. Using a large numbers of item-response questions and we will construct following indices:
a) Behavioral (descriptive) norms
b) Workplace satisfaction
c) Meritocratic values of the firm
d) Occupational satisfaction
e) Within-department cooperation
2) Social Skills (measured via incentivized games)
a) Trust
b) Reciprocity
c) Performance sabotaging behavior
d) Inequality acceptance
3) Social Networks (Departmental Level Network Structure)
Using professional and personal support links with colleagues
a) Closeness index
b) Density index
c) Share of isolated individuals in the department
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Power calculation: Minimum Detectable Effect Size for Main Outcomes
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We assume 5% significance level and 80% power. Our intracluster correlations for primary outcomes range between 0.02 and 0.05. Unit is corporation. We set the sample size per unit to 150. Given these, we will be able to detect 21% change in descriptive norms, 30% change in sense of belonging, 26% change in workplace satisfaction, 30% change in perceived meritocratic values, 11% change in cooperation, 17% change in altruism, 28% change in the probability of receiving professional help from department leader, 31% change in the probability of receiving personal help from department leader. Note that all these values are unconditional. The actual MDEs are likely to be much lower than these values as we will be able to control for baseline values of all our primary outcomes.
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After
We assume 5% significance level and 80% power. Our intracluster correlations for primary outcomes range between 0.02 and 0.05. Unit is corporation. We set the sample size per unit to 150. Given these, we will be able to detect 21% change in descriptive norms, 30% change, 26% change in workplace satisfaction, 30% change in perceived meritocratic values, 11% change in cooperation, 17% change in altruism, 28% change in the probability of receiving professional help from department leader, 31% change in the probability of receiving personal help from department leader. Note that all these values are unconditional. The actual MDEs are likely to be much lower than these values as we will be able to control for baseline values of all our primary outcomes.
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Keyword(s)
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Behavior, Firms And Productivity
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Behavior, Firms And Productivity
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Intervention (Hidden)
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Before
The intervention involves a series of workshops where a professional implementing partner uses unique interactive methods, including creative drama and role-playing, to improve social and interpersonal skills. A critical component of the intervention is a series of team exercises following workshop sessions, lasting over eight weeks, managed and monitored by the implementing partner.
We performed the randomization after collecting baseline data from all 20 corporations in Fall 2019, assigning 10 firms to treatment, 10 to control. The Covid-19 disruptions made it impossible to implement the training program in the initially intended period of Spring 2020. Therefore, the intervention's implementation in 10 treatment firms was re-scheduled for November 2020-April 2021. The intervention is currently ongoing using online platforms. Endline fieldwork is planned for Summer 2021. This is a phase-in design where control firms will be scheduled to receive the training program after the completion of endline.
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After
The intervention involves a series of workshops where a professional implementing partner uses unique interactive methods, including creative drama and role-playing, to improve social and interpersonal skills. A critical component of the intervention is a series of team exercises following workshop sessions, lasting over eight weeks, managed and monitored by the implementing partner. While the intervention targets all white-collar workers from all ranks, team and department leaders are particularly encouraged to attend.
We performed the randomization after collecting baseline data from all 20 corporations in Fall 2019, assigning 10 firms to treatment, 10 to control. The Covid-19 disruptions made it impossible to implement the training program in the initially intended period of Spring 2020. Therefore, the intervention's implementation in 10 treatment firms was re-scheduled for November 2020-April 2021. The intervention is currently ongoing using online platforms. Endline fieldwork is planned for Summer 2021. This is a phase-in design where control firms will be scheduled to receive the training program after the completion of endline (Summer 2021).
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Secondary Outcomes (End Points)
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Before
Our secondary outcomes are:
1) Perspective-taking
2) Gender role beliefs
3) Perceived leader qualities
4) Mental well-being
5) Prescriptive norms
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After
Our secondary outcomes are:
1) Perceived Leaders' quality
2) Leaders' ability to take perspective (from the viewpoint of subordinates)
3) Prescriptive norms
4) Receiving professional support from the leader (networks)
5) Receiving personal support from the leader (networks)
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Secondary Outcomes (Explanation)
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Before
All secondary outcomes will be constructed using a number of item-response questions. We will use these outcomes mainly to identify/rule out various alternative mechanisms that might explain our results.
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All secondary outcomes are to be used to identify/rule out various alternative mechanisms that might explain our results.
1) Perceived Leaders' quality: An index constructed using item-response questions
2) Leaders' ability to take perspective: An index constructed using item-response questions
3) Prescriptive norms: An index constructed using item-response questions about team leaders
4) Support ties: network measures
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