Funding:

The International Warehouse Logistics Association is an underwriter for the Second-Chance Staffing with IWLA Partner Member Allegiance Staffing, the Lacy School of Business, CICF, and an anonymous concerned citizen. Recently the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic through the Lilly Foundation awarded a $15,000 grant that will help expand the project in two ways:

1. Allow data collection at an additional partner organization. Note that given the relatively large size of this organization, its inclusion in the study will approximately double our sample size. From a statistical significance perspective, such an increase is extremely valuable. In addition, given that the new organization is a manufacturing firm, we now have a more balanced sample in terms of industry, partnering with three logistics firms and two manufacturing firms.
2. Provide transportation to and from this new partner organization’s worksite for individuals completing their federal prison sentences at Brandon Hall, a reentry program located in downtown Indianapolis operated by Volunteers of America.

Data Collection:

At each organization, data collection consists of combining information from three sources:

1. employment application information (employee demographics, education, experience, criminal history), which is collected on site by principal investigator;
2. payroll and performance information (wage rate, hours worked, annual rating), which is provided by HR in the form of reports/files;
3. company values survey, which requires employees to complete an on-line survey.

Although the first two sources represent existing data, the third source involves the creation of new information. In particular, employees at each partner organization are being asked to complete the Competing Values Framework (CVF), one of the most used frameworks for assessing culture within an organization. This instrument was selected for a variety of reasons, the most important being its empirical validity. In addition, it is compact, with six aspects that reliably represent an organization’s environment and correspond with four types of organizational culture (Adhocracy culture, Clan culture, Hierarchy culture, and Market culture). Finally, the CVF can be easily related to other human-resource related models, such as the Four Drive Theory and the MBTI, increasing its value and flexibility.

To date, we have been on-site at four of our partner organizations. On-site data collection has been completed at two these organizations and is anticipated to be completed soon at two additional partner organizations. We are still awaiting key files/reports from the HR departments of all of our partner organizations but remain in contact with email reminders. The online CVF survey has been created/activated for each partner organization, and collection at one organization has been completed, with 100-percent employee participation.

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By Tom Landry and Scott Whiting

Tom Landry is president of Allegiance Staffing located in Spring, Texas, an IWLA partner member company. He is the chairman of the IWLA Inclusion & Diversity Council.

Scott Whiting is branch manager of Allegiance Staffing, an IWLA partner member. He is a member of the IWLA Inclusion & Diversity Steering Committee.