Current Research Projects
Queen's University Survey of Core Competencies Pilot Implementation in the Developmental Services Sector
This report presents initial descriptive statistics and preliminary findings of the first stage of the evaluation of the pilot implementation of core competencies in the developmental services sector. In February 2010, sixteen agencies across Ontario began the pilot implementation process.
Researchers at Queen’s University have formed a partnership with the Developmental Services Human Resources Strategy Committee to evaluate and provide feedback on this initiative. This report is based upon a survey that was conducted at these pilot sites between May and June 2010.
The evaluation of the pilot implementation of the core competencies model is a part of a larger study by researchers at Queen’s University of strategic human resource initiatives in the developmental services sector. This study focuses on the perspectives and work experiences of direct support employees in the sector.
The survey includes questions about job satisfaction, experiences of burnout and occupational stress, organizational commitment as well as a range of demographic information and personal characteristics.
Key findings include:
The most striking finding in this initial review is how much people enjoy working in this sector. Direct support workers report high satisfaction levels with the nature of the work in the sector. Over 94 percent of survey respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the nature of work.
The vast majority of direct support employees are women (84 percent). Most direct support workers have a college diploma (50.9 percent) or university/advanced degree (26 percent).
Benefits and opportunities for advancement are critical concerns, especially among workers new to the sector. 36.8 of survey respondents were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their benefits at work.
Mean rates for burnout (emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of personal accomplishment) were low compared to other benchmark studies in the health and human services sector.
Despite low burnout rates on average, more than 17 percent of survey respondents reported high levels of emotional exhaustion.
The experience of occupational stress, especially role overload, is a concern for direct support workers in this sector. Some 7.7 percent of all survey respondents reported high levels of occupational stress from workload demands compared to a rate of 2 percent in survey instrument benchmarks.
Prosocial motivation, that is the desire to do work that is beneficial to others, appears to mitigate feelings of burnout but not occupational stress.
Respondents who scored high on a negative affect measure experienced emotional exhaustion and role overload much more acutely than others in the study.
Survey respondents identified the list of behavioural core competencies as important for supporting people to achieve greater social inclusion, independence, and dignity.
The initial findings raise many important questions for future research. Researchers at Queen’s will continue to analyze data and share findings with all stakeholders. Reports and working papers will be available at www.professorhickey.com.
Working papers
Families as employers: Family experiences managing paid support.
Conference presentations & workshops
Activism and union renewal: Britain and the USA. Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations Collective Bargaining Workshop. April 21, 2009. Ithaca, New York.