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Looking within: social networks and organizational social capital in professional development programs for university employees
Dissertation   Open access

Looking within: social networks and organizational social capital in professional development programs for university employees

Latasha M. Shears
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Drexel University
Sep 2020
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00000148
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Abstract

Employees--Training of Labor market Personnel management Career development Social networks
Many organizations use professional development programs (PDP) to attract, develop, retain and deploy the best employees. Universities are complex organizations that struggle with measuring the effectiveness of social networking and resource sharing in its professional development programs for high performing (HIPO) staff. The purpose of this study is to explore the ways in which high performing administrative staff utilize opportunities during and after the PDP to expand their network and develop organizational social capital through resource sharing. This study will use mixed methods to analyze networking behaviors that expand a PDP participant's professional network, examine the impact of resource sharing on organizational social capital, and fill the gap in literature on PDPs for high performing administrative staff in a university setting. Research suggest that social networks play a vital role in an employee's perception about the workplace, performance and organizational benefits (Pretty & Ward, 2001; Freely & Barnett, 1997; Mankin, 2009). The organizational benefits derived from social networks build organizational social capital which influence the employee's competency, improve productivity, increase revenue, and build a community of peers (Casanueva & Gallego, 2010; Dess & Shaw, 2001; Kianto & Waajakoski, 2010). By expanding and converging research regarding social networks, organizational social capital, and resource sharing, the outcome of this study will help organizations understand how networking behaviors can be used to navigate the social landscape of a PDP to impact resource sharing, and identify best practices in the use of social networking as a means to save the university money and time while improving productivity and PDP effectiveness (Hester, 2013).

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