Since I was a young girl,
I have dreamed about getting a doctorate!
Crazy but true! My grandmother was unable to finish high school as she was needed to work on the farm, while my mother was not given an opportunity to attend college until much later in life. In my family, education is not something you take for granted.
This dream led me to a doctoral journey focused on the employee's experience of work.
The Research
Where the research started, and where it went.
Twenty five years inside organizations taught me what the research later confirmed.
Employees rarely leave because of a single event. They leave based on what they have experienced over time. Each experience shapes how employees understand the organization and what the organization is willing to invest in them. By the time the dust settles, it is often too late for a survey to be useful.
I wanted to understand what shapes the quality of the employee-organization relationship, how it relates to engagement, and whether it could be evaluated before it appeared as turnover.
That question became my dissertation, which began with engagement and burnout as the bookends of the work experience and asked how the quality of the relationship affects where employees sit between them.
The answer turned out to be larger than the question.
The relationship was not only shaping where employees landed on that spectrum. It was shaping satisfaction, performance, commitment, and the decision to stay or leave. That became the foundation for a framework that supports organizations in assessing and strengthening the quality of their employee-organization relationships.
Let’s collaborate to empower your employees.
Understanding and improving the employee experience is essential for employee engagement, well-being, and performance.
My journey from dreaming of a doctorate to conducting research on employee-organization relationships has equipped me with unique insights and strategies to elevate your workplace.