Comprehensive Organizational Health
Assessment
Presented by:
Robin Leake, Ph.D
Director of Research and Evaluation
Butler Institute for Families
Paul Fritzler
District Manager
Department of Family Services, Wyoming
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Purpose of the COHA
Develop and test an assessment battery that
accurately captures the organizational strengths
and needs of child welfare agencies.
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
What is Organizational Health?
Holistic conceptualization of
workforce practices and
organizational climate and
culture factors that directly
impact service delivery, the
achievement of agency goals
and objectives and outcomes
for children and families
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
What is Organizational Health?
Organizational Culture:
Organization’s behavioral expectations of employees
and the way the work is done in the organization
Organizational Climate:
Experience of working in an agency
What is it like to work here?
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
What is the COHA?
Mixed-Methods design includes:
• 300-item staff survey (online and
paper/pencil)
• Individual and group interviews
with all levels of agency staff
• Interviews with clients (biological,
adoptive, and foster families and
transitioning youth)
• Interviews with community
partners and providers
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
COHA Survey Domains
Organizational Factors
• Leadership
Unit Factors • Physical
environment
• Supervision
Individual Factors • Cultural
• Professional responsiveness &
• Self-efficacy sharing & support Inclusivity
• Job satisfaction • Team cohesion • Readiness for
change
• Intent to stay • Shared vision &
professional • Public perception
• Trauma
orientation • Community
• Coping skills resources
• Time Pressure
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Western Workforce Project
COHA conducted with:
• Three State Agencies
— State agencies range from 28
to 900 staff
• Two Tribal Child Welfare
Programs
– Tribal child welfare programs
are small, with 12-16 staff
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Methods for the Western Workforce
Project
COHA administered agency-wide at:
Year 1 Year 5
End
Baseline Midpoint
• Two county agencies and two tribal agencies
• COHA adapted for use with two Implementation Center
Projects
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Methods for the Western Workforce
Project
Agency Workforce Initiative Developed:
The Design Team Unit Learning Circles
• Members from all • Led by supervisors
organizational levels
• Identify areas of practice
• Develop & implement or unit climate where
workforce interventions improvement is desired
based on COHA
• Engage in group practice
development using a
group model
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Many Hats of the COHA
The COHA is a multi-purpose assessment:
1. Used diagnostically to help agencies identify areas of
strength and opportunities for improvement and
drive practice changes
• Administration of COHA “launched” the projects and
started dialogue about organizational health
• Results presented in easy to read brief
• Facilitated in-person review of findings and strategic
planning to guide target intervention areas
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Many Hats of the COHA
2. COHA designed as a pre-post assessment to measure
changes in organizational health that result from the
Western Workforce Intervention (evaluation tool)
3. Organizational Climate and Culture measures used to
test theoretical models
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Culturally-based Methods
• Build relationships and trust with key leaders
• When working with tribes:
– Go through appropriate channels to gather permission to
collect data from tribe
– Arrange data sharing and data ownership agreement
• Data collection face-to-face as much as possible
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
• Mixed methods design: Focus on quantitative and
qualitative data, listening and honoring all voices,
providing the story behind the numbers
– Qualitative data is culturally appropriate, and often
quantitative data not feasible due to low n
• Present results that are utilization-focused and
accessible
– Present findings face-to-face
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
COHA Analysis
• Initial Reliabilities ranged from .68 to .97
• Descriptive Statistics re: COHA Scales
• Qualitative Analysis of Interview and Focus Group Data
• Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed that
some of the scales did not factor as unique constructs as
intended
• Revised COHA survey battery and re-tested in Round 2
• Analysis of revised battery demonstrates strong reliability
and validity of measures
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
The Casper, WY COHA
Baseline administered in July 2009
• 100% response rate for staff participating in
the survey (n=28) and focus groups and/or
interviews
• Interviews conducted with families,
community providers and partners
“Results Brief” of COHA results
• Evaluators and project team presented
findings in an all-staff meeting and facilitated
discussion and planning
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
COHA Baseline Results
Coping and Leadership and
Resiliency of staff Supervision
Community resource Job satisfaction
Physical work Readiness for change
environment and Cultural
work flexibility responsiveness
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Casper Intervention
Design Team
• Identified priority focus areas from the COHA results
and developed action plan with goals, objectives
outcomes, timelines and roles/responsibilities
Learning Circles
• Supervisors trained and coached on Learning Circle
approach and LC topics focused on organizational
workforce interventions for the unit level
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Action Plan
Goal 1: Supervision
– Supervisors will provide success-focused supervision
that is consistent, functions as a united supervisory
group, and enhances workers’ ability to do their jobs
• Objectives:
– Consistent case reviews
– Develop standard operating procedures manual
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Action Plan
Goal 2: Job Satisfaction
– Employees at DFS will have improved job satisfaction
• Objectives:
– Flexible workforce (move workers where they are
needed most)
– Develop clear expectations for supervision
– Improve organizational climate
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
COHA Follow-up Results
Participation
• Survey administered in July 2011
• 100% response rate for staff participating in the
survey (n=28) and focus groups and/or interviews
Results Brief
• Highlighted areas of strengths and challenges across
individual, unit and agency-level factors
• Showcased changes since baseline
• Guided planning and next steps for Design Team
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Example COHA Results
UNIT / LOCAL LEVEL FACTORS
Healthy Team Culture and Climate
1 2 3 4 5 6
Challenge/Concern Watch Area Strength
Area Description Score & Standard Deviation (SD)
Community Although still technically in the “watch area”, The mean score
Resources* suggests a somewhat positive perception about the
availability of resources for families served by the agency,
and an improvement from the previous COHA. Seventy-five
percent of staff reported strong positive relationships 1 2 3 4.92 5 6
between the agency and community providers and the (.658)
availability of substance abuse, mental health and domestic
violence services. Staff are less likely to agree on the
availability of housing and employment services.
Area Description Score & Standard Deviation (SD)
Professional This is the highest rated construct, and a clear strength, as
Sharing and well as an area of great gain from the previous COHA. Almost
Support* 60% of staff agreed that co-workers in their unit are
1 2 3 4 5.22 6
committed to continuous professional development and 88% (.626)
agreed that they share and learn from one another, provide
mutual support and strive to better service clients.
Supervision- The mean score suggests a slightly positive perception 4.42
Full Scale (although still in the “watch area”) about the overall quality Overall
of supervision. Ratings of supervision improved somewhat 1 2 3 5 6
from the 2009 COHA. (1.12)
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Example COHA Results:
Individual Factors
Area Baseline Now
Intent to Stay 3.64 4.05
Vicarious Traumatization 4.03 3.80
*Job Satisfaction 3.11 4.32
*Coping 4.39 3.72
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Example COHA Results:
Unit-level factors
Area Baseline Now
Professional Sharing and Support 3.97 5.22
Community Resources 4.08 4.92
Shared Vision 3.30 4.27
*Supervision 3.86 4.42
*Team Cohesion 3.33 4.13
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Design Team Work plan
Identified Issues to address in Action Plan
Goal 1: Supervision
– Supervisor Consistency
– Clinical supervision
Action Steps:
– Supervisors will meet weekly with one another
– Supervisors will meet monthly for leadership meetings & Learning Circles
– Supervisors will conduct regular case reviews using standardized case review form
– Supervisors will receive individualized coaching for 6-months from Western Workforce
certified coaches
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Leadership Strategies to address
Workforce Challenges
PARA approach (Western Workforce) NCWWI Leadership Model
• Plan, Act, Reflect, Adapt • Several state managers
attended LAMM training and
learned adaptive, distributive
and inclusive leadership skills
Supervision Model (NRCOI)
• Statewide initiative, included
in PIP
• Professional development,
use of data, practice
standards
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
Next Steps
• In the 6-months since the
COHA, all of the action
steps have been initiated
• Design team continues • Individualized coaching
to meet monthly begins in May
• The final COHA will be
in July 2013
Comprehensive Organizational Health Assessment May 2012 Butler Institute for Families
