1. Workforce attachment in
Veteran health care sector
social workers
Michael Clarkson-Hendrix, MS MSW

2. Background
 This project is part of a larger one studying the connection
between interdisciplinary collaboration and workforce
attachment
 Prior research tells us about some things indicative of workforce
attachment (e.g., professional satisfaction, retention, turnover)
but not about workforce attachment itself
 VA as a setting to explore workforce attachment
 Largest employer of master’s level social workers in the nation (NASW,
2012)

3. Attachment theory
 Behavior is organized by innate systems (Bowlby, 1988; Hazan &
Shaver, 1990; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2007)
 Organizational construct rather than a static trait (Sroufe &
Waters, 1977)
 Attachment system organizes behavior to establish
protection and security
 Little research focused on its application to work behavior

4. Workforce attachment
 Attachment theory within a capability perspective(Sen, 2009)
 An affective tie that mediates the interaction between
the person and their environmental context
 Environmental context includes relational, social and
physical aspects

5. Purpose
 Identify types of workforce attachment
 Pinpoint aspects of the relational, social
and physical context that enhanced or
diminished workforce attachment security

6. Research design and sample
 In-depth, semi-structured interviews with Veteran health care sector social
workers
 Combination of voluntary and snowball sampling
 Sample characteristics (N = 13)
 77% female
 White
 77% worked in behavioral health service unit
 23% worked in medical/surgical service unit

7. Data collection
 Interviews audio recorded
 Transcribed verbatim

8. Interview guide
 Motivation to work with Veterans and their
families
 What made them feel secure in their work
 Times they felt particularly attached to their job

9. Data analysis
Thematic analysis (Nvivo)
Member checking (n = 12)

10. Types of workforce attachment
Secure
Insecure: Anxious
Insecure: Ambivalent

11. Secure workforce attachment
 Affective tie characterized by the worker feeling safe
within the organizational environment
 Themes:
 Workforce-related meaning and purpose
 Felt competence
 Trust
 Empathy
 Reward

12. Insecure: Anxious workforce
attachment
 Affective tie characterized by worker
anxiety within the organizational
environment
 Themes:
Concern about performance
Questioning self-confidence

13. Insecure: Ambivalent workforce
attachment
 Affective tie characterized by worker
ambivalence about their organizational
environment
 Themes:
 Evaluating personal and organizational involvement
 Wondering about other patient populations or work
settings

14. Aspects of relational context
Personal
Family members, Friends
Organizational
Administrators, Colleagues, Supervisors,
Patients

15. Aspects of social context
Cultural
Organizational culture, patient culture
Civic
Professional identity, “Loyalties”

16. Aspects of physical context
 Organizational
 Policies, Job tasks, Work setting, Opportunities for
career advancement
 Economic
 Availability of alternative employment opportunities,
Agency resources

17. Limitations
 Researcher position in social space
 Small sample
 VA system
 Voluntary nature of study

18. Conclusions
 Three types of workforce attachment were identified:
 Secure
 Insecure: Anxious
 Insecure: Ambivalent
 Workforce attachment security is enhanced or diminished
by various aspects of the relational, social and physical
context

19. Workforce attachment security in
context
Physical context
Social context
Relational context
Workforce attachment
security
• Organizational
• Economic
• Civic
• Cultural
• Personal
• Organizational

20. Implications
 Research
 Measure of workforce attachment
 Practice
 Conceptualizing worker behavior using workforce attachment
theory
 Assess relational, social and physical context when considering
worker behavior within the organizational environment