Sunyoung Park, assistant professor of human resource education and workforce development, said professors’ investments in students can improve the educational environment.
Park is presenting her research at the Academy of Human Resource Development’s international conference from Feb. 18-20. Park’s research includes the effect of a team-oriented environment on the workplace, the positive impact of a leader’s evaluation of talent and multigenerational female leadership in Korea and India.
Park’s research method involves analyzing numbers and statistics from target audiences and government agencies to determine trends and behavior in the workplace environment, she said.
“This research showed that leaders and organization culture positively influenced productivity, organization commitment and job satisfaction,” Park said.
One finding revealed team-oriented workplaces enhanced the learning culture of organizations and encouraged positive organization citizenship behavior, increasing employees’ commitment within the organization outside of mandatory duties.
Another result showed a leader’s vision of talent could influence employees’ attitudes, organizational commitment and job satisfaction. When organization leaders show they care about the talent within the company, it boosts employees’ positive feelings and encourages productivity, Park said.
These findings can be applied to classroom settings as well as businesses, she said.
When department directors or professors show interest and investment in students, it increases the students’ trust in the professor and encourages a positive learning environment for both faculty and students, Park said.
“The faculty can play a role in leading students,” she said. “If the faculty show a strong vision of excellent students, they can support students and positively influence the student’s good attitude or achievement.”
Park’s research is not limited to workforce development. She has also partnered with a co-author to analyze the similarities between multigenerational leadership in India and her native Korea. The research is ongoing, and Park’s findings will appear in two books on the topic, she said.
This will be Park’s 10th year attending the AHRD conference. Aside from presenting her research, Park will be networking with fellow scholastics to strengthen the University’s ties with fellow AHRD Program Excellence Network institutions.
Park has also served as the conference’s international, global and cross-cultural issues chair since 2014 and will be reviewing the work of 40 scholars at the conference.