Pilot Study (stage 1 only) Introduction

The pilot study was designed to check the usefulness of the main themes emerging from the literature synthesis using the RGT (stage 1 only) and was carried out within the HSC VSO where the researcher worked to ensure that the sample reflected the VSO and HSC, as these will be the focus for the main study. The pilot study was carried out during September and October 2013; although mainly procedural, it looked for any interesting trends that should be considered in the main study. The VSO for which the researcher worked gave permission and agreed to take part in the pilot.

The pilot organisation has not been named for confidentiality reasons and, for the purposes of this pilot, will be known as organisation ‘X’. VSO ‘X’, one of the larger brand partners and one of the largest VSOs in its county, has an annual turnover of approximately £3,000,000, 129 staff and 600 volunteers. The researcher was given permission, as part of this pilot study, to access all staff responsible for hiring paid staff.

Five staff members responsible for recruitment volunteered to take part in the pilot. The seniority levels of staff involved in the pilot ranged from team leader (first line management) to the most senior member of staff (the CEO).

Data were collected using the repertory grid and interviews were carried out on a one-to-one basis, lasting sixty minutes each on average. The researcher recorded the responses by noting the respondents’ answers directly onto a hard copy repertory grid which was shown to the respondent on completion; the respondents confirmed that all of their comments had been recorded accurately.

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The objectives of the pilot study included the following:

1. To check whether the elements derived from the literature review would allow for elicitation of meaningful constructs

2. To establish how many constructs would be elicited on average from each respondent

3. To allow the researcher to apply the RGT and gain experience of interviewing using the grid

4. To establish the average duration of an interview using the RGT

5. To establish whether the respondents would fully engage in a research technique with which they were unfamiliar

6. To assess whether any of the elements would need re-wording or changing 7. To establish whether the ‘laddering down’ technique would be effective with the

respondents (Jankowicz, 2004)

8. To assess whether the chosen method would appropriately address the research question: ‘What key factors, as identified in the literature review, do the practitioners responsible for recruitment feel have the greatest impact on the decision to work for a VSO providing HSC services?’

These largely procedural outcomes are described in the following section. The substantive content results gained from the pilot study grids are then presented in sections 3.3.2 and 3.3.3.

3.3.1 Procedure

The pilot study was carried out by interviewing five staff, each of whom volunteered to take part in the study. Each of the interviewees had responsibility for the hiring of paid staff in a HSC VSO. As mentioned above, the VSO selected for the pilot study is the one where the researcher is employed; it was thus selected for the pilot study for reasons of practicality.

Each of the pilot interviews commenced with the researcher explaining that involvement was optional and that any findings from the grid would be anonymised.

The researcher explained the purpose of the interviews and the process of eliciting the constructs. Once the introduction to the interview had been completed, each respondent was asked whether they were happy to continue, and each respondent consented. An

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RGT template was used during the pilot interviews to record the constructs and ratings, and it is attached as Appendix C. For details on the RGT, refer to section 3.2.2. The

‘laddering-down’ technique (Jankowicz, 2004) was used to distil the meaning of the respondents’ initial thoughts to ensure that the constructs were as relevant and meaningful as possible.

On completion of the interviews, each respondent’s grid was shown to them to ensure that they agreed with it, and the data were later input into the WebGrid (2010) software to allow individual analysis (Appendix D).

Pilot objective procedural outcomes

The following paragraphs address each of the pilot objectives in turn, highlighting lessons learnt that were taken into consideration in the main study.

1. To check whether the elements derived from the literature review would allow for elicitation of meaningful constructs:

This was found to be the case. For example, ‘contract’ elicited constructs with contrasts of ‘length of tenure’ and ‘type of contract’, ‘salary’ produced constructs around

‘meeting expectations’ with contrasts identified as being soft rewards. All of the elements were crucial for teasing out the interviewees’ constructs; refer to Appendix D for constructs.

2. To establish how many constructs would be elicited on average from each respondent:

Each of the five respondents who took part in the pilot interviews offered nine constructs during the interview process, with the tenth being supplied as required for subsequent analysis using Honey’s technique: see section 3.2.3 above.

With nine constructs elicited from each of the pilot interviewees, a total of 45 constructs were elicited in total. As an overall target of 250 to 300 constructs were required in order for content analysis to be carried out in the main study, a further twenty-four repertory grids were required to reach the target number. With eight brand partners taking part as case study organisations, a total of three to four repertory grids per case study organisation were required.

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3. To allow the researcher to apply the RGT and gain experience of interviewing using the grid:

The researcher was able to practice the RGT as part of the pilot and this proved useful as the researcher became more and more proficient with the elicitation of constructs as the pilot progressed. The ‘laddering down technique’ (Jankowicz, 2004) proved successful with interviewees during the pilot interview stage with respondents and aided with the formation of constructs which were recorded in the respondents own words.

4. To establish the average duration of interview using the RGT:

The average duration overall was sixty minutes for each interview.

5. To establish whether the respondents would fully engage in a research technique with which they were unfamiliar:

One of the unexpected outcomes of the pilot interviews was the degree to which all interviewees responded positively to the interview technique, even though it was unfamiliar to them. One executive commented that the RGT would be valuable for use in decision-making in the future. All interviewees responded favourably to the RGT without exception.

6. To assess whether any of the elements would need re-wording or changing:

As all elements appeared to elicit constructs during the triadic phase without issue so the elements as piloted (following the pre-piloting phase) remained the same for the main study.

7. To establish whether the ‘laddering-down’ technique would be effective with the respondents (Jankowicz, 2004):

As referred to in point 3 above, the ‘laddering-down’ technique worked well as part of the pilot, and this technique was therefore used as part of the main study.

8. To assess whether the chosen technique would appropriately address the research question: ‘What key factors, as identified in the literature review, do the practitioners responsible for recruitment feel have the greatest impact on the decision to work for a VSO providing HSC services?’:

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At the beginning of the pilot interviews, in order to provide clarity of purpose the interviewer explained that the RGT was being used to identify the factors that influence recruitment in the VS. As all the interviewees who took part in the pilot were responsible for the hiring of paid staff in HSC VSOs, the topic was familiar to them and was relevant to their roles and responsibilities. It was felt that all responses were relevant to the research question. This therefore supported the decision to adopt the RGT as the chosen technique for the main part of the study.

3.3.2 Pilot Data Analysis

Analysis of the grids involved examination of the constructs elicited during the interviews, including qualitative data for content analysis. However, the rating of the constructs in relation to the elements provided quantitative data, which enabled an analysis of the differences between the constructs. Content analysis was the technique used to analyse the constructs of all grids, and in the main study the findings of the pilot and the main study were combined. Content analysis was used for the analysis of multiple grids because Cluster Analysis and Principle Components Analysis are unsuitable for aggregating results from more than one or two grids. Cluster Analysis and Principle Components Analysis are unsuitable because a) the purpose of this research is to aggregate the information from a group of respondents and to combine it to determine what trends, if any, exist, and b) there is simply too much information to discern any trend across more than two or three cluster analyses or principal component analyses unless the rating data are ignored when identifying content analysis categories.

Honey’s technique was subsequently used to address some of the information present in the ratings.

3.3.3 Results

Five staff responsible for the recruitment and hiring of paid staff were interviewed as part of the pilot study. The results of the pilot repertory grids are shown below in Appendix D for each of the five respondents.

A further objective of the pilot study was to check the information likely to result from a content analysis (see Table 3.5 overleaf showing a content analysis of the constructs elicited during the pilot study):

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Table 3.5: Content-analysis: Pilot study ‘Identify the factors which influence recruitment in the VS (and hence help to define the way the ‘contract culture’ operates)’.

(Note: that the construct column codes relate to the respondent number followed by the construct number elicited for example. 1.5 is the first respondent and their fifth construct)

Category Definition (taken from the constructs categorised under this heading) ^Construct Sum

% Values Personal values aligned to organisation; being a valued employee; personal values

aligned to those of the organisation; emotionally attached to organisations values;

personal values match to organisation; team player purposeful mission versus It’s just a job no personal attachment to organisation; not having hard work recognised; values detached from those of the organisation; alienated from the organisation due to values; no match to organisational values; individualistic rather than team player; just a job – no satisfaction

Skills Capabilities to deal with public administration; skill fit knowing ones role; clarity of message from employer re task; good skill match to role; ability to interact with colleagues; doing what you are good at ‘skill match’; both people and admin skill fit versus inability to manage public sector bureaucracy; skill deficit or uncertainty re knowing role requirements; ambiguity over task role; poor or no skill match to role; no interaction and lack of contact; no skills – doing something you are not good at; complete skill mismatch

Rewards Opportunities to progress within the organisation; treating people fairly for example Equity Theory; rewards linked to expectations’ personal benefits of the role; individual rewards; positive rewards both financial and personal versus no opportunity to progress within the organisation; unfair and disproportionate rewards; low or mismatch over rewards in relation to expectations; corporate only benefit from role; organisation benefits only; absence of rewards

Salary Tangible rewards such as pay and benefits; tangible rewards including pay and benefits;

financial rewards for example pay/ salary; financial incentives as drivers; higher salaries;

competitive salary versus soft rewards for example flexibility and autonomy to make decisions; antisocial hours in a poor working environment; flexibility of contract benefits other than pay; value match to organisation as driver; lower salaries; lack of acceptable financial rewards

Contract Job security able to stay with organisation for longer period; reasonable length of contract for example for more than 2 years; tangible positive terms and conditions; reliable permanent hours offered; feeling you have a secure contract versus dead end job with no job security; short term fixed contracts unattractive to skilled staff; psychological contract unwritten expectations; little security with unsociable hours; precarious tenure re contract

1.2

Other benefits for example TOIL, flexi working, generous annual leave; additional benefits for example TOIL, annual leave; flexibility towards employee; work life balance positive versus rigid work patterns with poor work life balance; lack of contract benefits apart from pay; absence of benefits offered; inflexibility employer – no scope for flexi hours; burn-out with expectations to work overtime for no reward

1.7

Culture Control and autonomy over own work; positive organisation culture; positive culture and impact on employee; caring organisational culture versus lack of control over own working pattern; poor org culture; negative impact of culture on employee/s; ruthless working environment with everyone for themselves

Meeting intrinsic expectations; positive relationship with employer; positive relationship with employer versus meeting extrinsic expectations with competitive pay and rewards;

invisible within the organisation; not feeling part of the organisation

1.1

Clear brand awareness; brand awareness versus confusion re brand for example charities only need staff with soft skills; insignificant or confusing brand

1.4

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The pilot content analysis indicates that 15.6% of the responses elicited during the interviews were linked with values and 15.6% of responses were also associated with skill sets, thus suggesting that values and skills were the most prevalent issues in relation to factors that influence recruitment. Rewards and salary followed, with 13.3%

of respondents’ constructs being linked to these categories, highlighting the importance of these areas in relation to factors influencing recruitment from the perspective of those responsible for hiring paid staff. Contract and work-life balance were linked with 11.1%

of the elicited responses, with culture (8.9%), relationship with employer (6.7%) and brand awareness (4.4%) receiving the lowest percentage of elicited constructs in relation to these categories.

The purpose of the pilot study was to check the information likely to result from a content analysis, and while the above has suggested categories that have higher relevance to hirers of paid staff with regard to the factors that influence recruitment, the sample was too small for the researcher to be fully confident that these outcomes are representative.

While content analysis was carried out on the constructs, at this stage the pilot results were only indicative as they represented the views of five pilot interviewees with 45 elicited constructs, and the analysis had not been checked for reliability. The purpose of the pilot was to establish whether the RGT was feasible for this type of study, and indications from the pilot would appear to show that the technique is compatible. All pilot participants responded well in engaging with the technique, and one senior manager commented on its wider applicability within the organisation in relation to decision-making.

3.3.4 Pilot Study Conclusion

The pilot study indicated that the elements derived from the literature review would allow purposeful elicitation of constructs using the triadic elicitation technique;

therefore, they should remain unchanged for the main study. The number of constructs elicited from each respondent during the pilot interviews was nine, thus suggesting that a further twenty-four repertory grids would need to be completed as part of the main study to reach the required number (250-300) for effective content analysis. Interviews lasted, on average, for one hour; twenty-six hours (excluding preparation, travel,

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analysis and writing-up) were therefore set aside by the researcher to complete the one-to-one interviews.

During the pilot interviews the researcher was able to develop her skills and practise the

‘laddering-down’ technique, which was well received by respondents – it was the aim of the researcher to further develop her interviewing skills and apply the ‘laddering-down’ technique during the main research stage. All respondents’ engaged well with the interview technique even though they were unfamiliar with the process at the time of the interviews.

The results of the pilot study, together with the outcomes of the literature review, formed the basis of the formal theory examined in the main study: The recruitment difficulties experienced by voluntary health and social care providers in the UK are a result of the ‘contract culture’.

The following diagram, fig. 5, shows the progression from the research methodology and the pilot stages of the study through to stage one phase of the research – the case-studies.

Figure 5: Diagram showing progression from the research methodology and pilot stages to the initial stage of the research – the case studies (extract from overall study process map refer to Chapter 7, fig. 7).

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