Empirical Talent Development and Retention Strategies
In today's dynamic and competitive landscape, an organization's sustained success hinges on its ability to develop and retain a thriving and competitive workforce.​​​​​
I work with organizations to identify actionable insights and strategies that help them develop and retain a thriving and competitive workforce. My experience - which spans a variety of industies, including adult education, construction, and government - has allowed me to hone my ability to translate research insights into actionable strategies that help organizations grow, engage, and retain their talent over the long term.
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Fostering Talent Development and Growth
Adult education programs serve adults who need to improve their basic skills with an emphasis on literacy, mathematics, and English language proficiency. Effective professional development and ongoing support are essential for adult educators to excel in their roles. Equipping them with the necessary skills, tools, and resources helps them to better engage learners and adapt to evolving educational needs.
Context and Challenge. ​Teaching Skills That Matter (TSTM) is a well-known adult learning framework. To help adult educators effectiveness incorporate TSTM into their instruction, our team partnered with a software development company to pilot and assess the effectiveness of teachers
using an app to integrate TSTM into their instruction. The idea here was that delivering TSTM-aligned instruction through the app would make it easier for adult educators to use the TSTM framework in their instruction. To understand its effectiveness, our research team introduced the framework and app through professional development webinars and additional supports, and then evaluated its use by educators period.
Our Solution. The research designed and introduced the intervention (i.e., TSTM-aligned content delivered via the app) to adult educators across multiple states via professional development sessions.
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Role: Mixed-methods Research Lead
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Team: 7 Researchers with backgrounds in adult education, instructional design, economics, and I/O Psychology
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Timeline: Multi-year
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We first piloted the professional development materials ("PD pilot") with a small group of adult educators. We used insights from this pilot to refine the professional development webinars and support resources. To evaluate the intervention, we adopted a mixed-methods approach that combined quantitative and qualitative methods. We collected and analyzed data from pre- and post-surveys along with rich qualitative data to tell a more complete story of the educators' experiences.
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My Responsibilities. My primary role was as the survey and qualitative lead. I worked closely with the project director and led key research activities.
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Survey Lead: I led the development of the pre- and post-surveys for the quasi-experimental study, developed the analysis plan, and conducted cognitive interviews - all of which involved extensively collaborating with the project team and our subcontractor.
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Qualitative Lead: I spearheaded the data collection and analysis for the PD pilot interviews and focus groups at the end of the intervention period to understand teacher experiences with the app and how they used it to identify and leverage TSTM-aligned resources and content. This included developing data collection protocols, conducting interviews, and leading focus groups to understand teacher experiences with the tool.
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Team Mentorship: I mentored junior staff on qualitative analysis techniques, helping them develop their research skills.​
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Impact and Why This Matters. The findings from the pilot interviews informed substantial changes to the professional development webinars, ensuring they were more effective and better met the needs of the adult educators. The data collected, including both the survey results and the rich
qualitative feedback from interviews and focus groups, gave the team a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the educators' experiences. This allowed the project to not only measure the tool's effectiveness but also to explain the "why" behind the results. Ultimately, this helped the team present a complete and compelling story to the federal funder and underscored the importance of providing high-quality training and support to adult educators as they integrate new instructional tools.
2. Data-Driven Retention Strategies
Apprenticeships are a crucial tool for building a strong talent pipeline by providing hands-on training and a clear pathway to skilled employment. Driven by bipartisan support and a recognition of their value in addressing workforce shortages, investments in apprenticeship expansion across the U.S. have grown significantly in recent years However, for this promise to be fully realized, apprenticeship providers must focus on strategies that ensure high program completion rates.
Context & Challenge. One of the nation's largest apprenticeship and training programs faced a significant yet unaddressed challenges: 30% of their apprentices were not completing the program and there had been an increase in training director attrition over the past 5 years. Recognizing this
critical pain point, I translated their need into a formal research question and a study.
Our Solution. I spearheaded a comprehensive, multi-faceted research project to address the retention challenges among apprentices and apprenticeship staff.
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Role: Mixed Methods Research Lead
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Team: 4 I/O Psychology Researchers
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Timeline: 9 months
My team and I used a data-driven approach that combined several methods to get a complete picture of the problem, including a thorough literature review to understand existing research, analysis of administrative data to identify initial trends, a nationwide survey, and focus groups to collect rich, qualitative insights from diverse apprentices and staff.By triangulating these findings, we developed practical and contextualized strategies to improve retention. We then communicated these actionable insights directly to the client's executive team and at their annual conference via a detailed report and presentation.
My Responsibilities. As the project director, I was responsible for all aspects of this work, from its inception to its conclusion. My responsibilities included:
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Securing the contract by pitching our research approach to the client.
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Leading and overseeing all technical tasks, ensuring the quality and integrity of our research.
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Managing the project from a budgetary and timeline perspective.
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Serving as the primary point of contact for the client throughout the project.
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Presenting our findings to both the client's executive team and attendees at their annual national conference.
Impact and Why This Work Matters. This project provided the client with the first comprehensive understanding of their retention challenges. The strategies we developed directly addressed the diverse needs of both apprentices and staff. By presenting these findings at the national conference,
we not only informed the client's leadership but also empowered their broader community with the knowledge needed to create more supportive and effective apprenticeship programs. Ultimately, this work is essential because it helps to build a more stable and successful workforce, ensuring that both apprentices and the staff who support them are more likely to stay and thrive.