THE IMPACT OF HUMAN RELATIONS TRAINING ON

SELECTED LEADERSHIP SKILLS

A B S T R A C T

This article reviews the literature on the importance of human relations’ skill for leadership. In a pilot research study, the author found that most leaders (N=45) were lacking in ability in this area, while six leaders who had received human relations’ training had significantly better scores than those who had not received training. The author also found that very few leadership training institutions provide curriculum in the area of human relations.

Introduction

Is skill in human relations the most important skill for effective leadership? A review of the literature revealed a great deal of support for the theory that human relations skill is critical for effective leaders, but there were very little data on how to improve this skill. According to Sass (1989), interpersonal communication skills, human relations, and leadership are the most important skills for educational leaders. This finding was based on the results of a survey that was sent to superintendents and professors of leadership training institutions across the U. S. This finding has been supported by many others who investigate those competencies and skills that are critical for educational leaders. Stanton (1994), in a survey mailed to all South Dakota school board members and superintendents, also found that the most critical competencies for leader effectiveness were skill in human relations, communication, and leadership. A South Carolina study by Harrill (1990) that investigated competencies and skills needed by district level curriculum and instructional leaders, found that interpersonal communications, human relations, and management were the most important competency areas. Harrison (1993), in an investigation of effective principal preparation programs, had similar findings. The research of Harrill (1990), Hutchison, (1988), Jolly (1995), and Rouss (1992) also support the premise that human relations and interpersonal skills are competencies needed for effective leadership.

The movement during the last decade to implement site-based management or school based decision-making has created an even greater need for skill/competency in human relations, interpersonal communications, and leadership. Either approach involves a committee, and in some cases, the principal has no more power than other members of the committee. This requires the principal to rely on the above skills as opposed to relying on those forms of power typically used by educational leaders, e.g., position, reward, and coercion power. Thomas (1994), in a case study of a collaborative school environment, found that collaboration requires an awareness of facilitation and human relations’ skills. Kramer (1993), in a meta-analysis of school site leader behaviors in 35 studies, also found that expertise in communications and human relations was associated with effective leadership.

While there is agreement on the importance of the above skills for educational leaders, there is also a belief that the absence of these skills is the major factor resulting in job loss. Davis (1998), in a survey of California school superintendents, found that the major reason most principals got fired was a result of poor interpersonal communications. He stated that most people do not write about the dark side of administration or what leaders do wrong.

Bulach, Boothe, and Pickett (1998), however, did investigate that area. They surveyed 375 teachers to find out those behaviors their principals practiced that they identified as mistakes. They identified 14 categories of mistakes or harmful behaviors of principals. Mistakes in human relations and interpersonal communications were the most frequently reported. Specific behaviors in the human relations area were a lack of trust and an uncaring attitude. The most frequently occurring behavior in the area of interpersonal communications was failure to listen.

There were also data collected during assessments at the Professional Development Center at the University of West Georgia that support the belief that this is an area where educational leaders need to improve. The assessments, during the years 1995-1998, used the Professional Development Inventory developed by the National Association of Elementary School Principals. The skill area of greatest deficiency was in the area of human relations.

Schneider (1998), who is the deputy director of the American Association of School Administrators, stated that instructional leaders are not coming out of leadership training programs with the skills necessary to do the job. Brent & Haller (1997) went further and stated that there is little evidence that leadership training programs increase the effectiveness of educational leaders. Is it possible that leadership training programs do not provide any training on the areas that are the most critical for the effectiveness of educational leaders, i.e., human relations, interpersonal communications, and leadership? Bulach et al. (1998), in reviewing the literature and curriculum of four leadership training programs in three states found very little curriculum that provided training in human relations or interpersonal relations. Assuming that such a curriculum could be developed, would it impact ability or skills in the human and interpersonal relations domain?

The purpose of this research was to develop an experiential curriculum in the area of human relations and interpersonal communications and investigate the effect of that training on selected leadership skills that involve this curriculum domain.

Experiential curriculum: a curriculum that allows participants to experience and practice the skills that are being taught.

Human relations: behaviors that foster the development of trust and openness between the leader and the followers. Trust is defined as an interpersonal condition that exists between people when interpersonal relationships are characterized by an assured reliance or confident dependence on the character, ability, truthfulness, confidentiality, and predictability of others in the group (Bulach, 1993). Openness is defined as an interpersonal condition that exists between people in a group when they tell each other what they think about: (1) facts, ideas, values, beliefs, feelings and the way they do things, and (2) the recipient of a transmission is willing to listen to that transmission (Bulach, 1993). Human relations and interpersonal communications are closely intertwined because of the openness dimension.

Interpersonal communications (IPC): there are five basic skills associated with IPC. They are the following: paraphrasing or reflective listening, behavior description, description of feelings, perception checking, and giving and receiving feedback (Jung, Howard, Emory, and Pino, 1977).

Selected leadership skills: Three of the thirteen skills identified by the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) have a number of behaviors that require skill in human relations, interpersonal communications, and communication. They are communications, group leadership/team development, and climate development. These are the skills that have been selected for investigation in this research. The remaining ten skills, for example, planning, organizing, etc., were ignored because they did not have a strong human or interpersonal relations component.

Methodology

There were 51 educational leaders involved in this study. All 51 leaders had their leadership skills assessed by the Professional Development Inventory (PDI) at the Professional Development Center (PDC) at the State University of West Georgia. The PDC administers the PDI under the supervision of the NAESP and the Georgia Association of Elementary School Principals. The assessment process involves all participants in seven different activities to assess their strengths and areas needing improvement on the 13 leadership skills measured by the PDI (Bulach and Potter, 1998).

The validity and reliability of the PDI, according to the NAESP has been carefully monitored. "Development of the instrument began with a process that would assure content validity" (P.4 of their administrative manual). "Reliability is ensured by the licensing requirements for a PDI assessment center and by the process that has been established for administration and scoring of the PDI" (p.5 of their administrative manual).

Most of the participants were leadership interns and a few were assistant principals and principals. These individuals were selected by their districts as part of their in-district leadership development effort. All districts were near Atlanta with the exception of one district 100 miles south and west of Atlanta. Sixty percent of the individuals were female and 30 percent were minority. Six of the 51 individuals took part in a ten-hour experiential human relations curriculum that was provided by personnel from the Professional Development Center. One month after the training, these six individuals had their leadership skills assessed at the Professional Development Center. All six of these individuals were leadership interns. Their scores on communications, group leadership/team development, and climate development were compared with the 45 educational leaders who were also assessed, but were not involved in human relations’ training. The six individuals who took part in human relations’ training were similar in age and training to the control group.

This writer was the lead trainer and was assisted by a co-trainer. The curriculum relied heavily on material developed by the Northwest Regional Laboratory (Jung et al. 1977). The following topics were covered in the human relations' seminar:

- Dealing with arguments/conflict

- Fostering a climate of trust

- Reducing defensiveness in others

- Opening the communication process

- Constructive use of feelings

- Assess your communication style

- Interpreting nonverbal behavior

- Nine (9) techniques for motivating and influencing others

- Empowering others

In covering the above topics, participants were given ample opportunity to practice five basic interpersonal communication skills. These skills are the four uses of paraphrasing as a way of understanding verbal behavior; perception checking as a way of understanding the nonverbal behavior of others; describing feelings as a way of helping others understand their own nonverbal behavior; the use of behavior description as a tool for reducing defensiveness; and guidelines for giving and receiving feedback as a tool for facilitating personal growth in self and others. Stress throughout the seminar focused on trust building and how to open up the communication process by empowering others. Nine forms of power (Bulach, 1999) that can be used to empower or control subordinates were introduced and practiced. Information, expertise, personality, ego, and moral power are the forms of power used to motivate subordinates intrinsically because they allow subordinates to choose a form of action. They remain independent of the leader and are empowered in the process. Position, reward, coercion, and connection power are extrinsic motivators, since the subordinate is controlled by and is dependent on the superordinate.

Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was the statistical test of significance to determine if there was a difference in the scores of the individuals (experimental group) who received human relations’ training versus those individuals who did not receive such training (control group).

Results

The scores for the three leadership skills were reported as percentile scores. The percentile scores are the result of a comparison of individual scores with the scores of experienced principals in the NAESP data base. The mean climate score for the experimental group was 60.3 compared to 41.2 for the control group (see table # 1). The ANOVA to determine if there was a significant difference in the scores of the individuals who received human relations’ training versus those individuals who did not receive such training yielded an F-score of 5.7 which was significant at the .02 level (P < .05).

--insert Table # 1 here--

The mean group leadership score for the experimental group was 57.0 compared to 4.8 for the control group (see table # 1). The ANOVA to determine if there was a significant difference in the scores of the individuals who received human relations’ training versus those individuals who did not receive such training yielded an F-score of 2.129 which was significant at the .15 level

( P >.05)

The mean communication score for the experimental group was 60.7 compared to 53.1 for the control group (see table # 1). The ANOVA to determine if there was a significant difference in the scores of the individuals who received human relations’ training versus those individuals who did not receive such training yielded an F-score of .876 which was not significant at the .05 level.

Discussion

The behaviors that are measured by the leadership skill "climate" are those that shape the psycho-social environment of the school to promote accomplishment of the mission. The percentile score of the control group was below the national average based on the NAESP data base. The experimental group, on the other hand, with a score of 60.3 was above the national average. Bulach, Boothe, and Michael (1999) in their research on supervisory climate found that most teachers rated their principal’s as lacking on this domain.

The behaviors measured by the "group leadership" skill are those that mobilize others to collaborate in accomplishing school goals and solving problems. A similar pattern was found with the experimental group having a score above the national average and the control group having a score below the national average. The reason for the lack of significance was the small N in the experimental group and the great variation in scores within the control group. Scores ranged from a low of eight to a high of 89. This resulted in a standard deviation of 24.8, making it impossible to get statistical significance even though there were higher scores for the experimental group. While the difference was not statistically significant, there was a difference of more than 15 percentile points, which for practical purposes should be considered.

The behaviors that measure the "communication" skill are those related to processing messages with precise understanding. Both the control and the experimental group had scores above the national average. With a percentile score of 52.6, the control group was barely above the national average. Even though the experimental group had a percentile score of 60.6, the difference in scores was again not significant at the .05 level. From a practical standpoint, however, it appears that the human relations’ training did have an effect on the communication scores.

The range of scores for the control group versus the experimental group was found on the other two skill dimensions as well. The control group's scores ranged from a low of five to a high of 82 on the climate dimension. The experimental group on the other hand ranged from a low of 45 to a high of 82. On the communication dimension, the control group's scores ranged from a low of 16 to a high of 86 while the experimental group's scores ranged from a low of 36 to a high of 75. There is some evidence that the training helped those individuals who were lacking in human relations skills. For example, in the experimental group only two scores (11% of the total scores) were below the national average. In the control group on the other hand, the percent of scores below the national average were as follows: 56% for the group leadership dimension; 53% for the climate dimension; and 33% for the communication dimension.

The small number of individuals in the experimental group is a serious limitation of this study. It is possible that the individuals in the experimental group are not representative of the overall educational leader population. Their human relations’ skill could already have been above the national average. In order to control for this possibility, a larger number of individuals have to be trained and assessed to see if the same results occur. The need to encourage other leadership training institutions to provide curriculum in this area is desperately needed. Research to determine the impact of this kind of curriculum is needed. An instrument has been developed by Bulach (1999) that measures leadership behavior in the following five domains: human relations, instructional leadership, trust, methods of control, and conflict management. Human relations training should impact all of these domains except instructional leadership.

Preliminary results suggest that human relations’ curriculum/training impacts an individual's skill in this domain. Another finding is that more than 50% of the individuals who are or want to be educational leaders have weaknesses on this leadership dimension. Leadership training institutions are going to have to address this deficiency in their curriculum. Failure to do so will result in other organizations stepping in to remedy this problem as stated by Schneider (1998). He reported that the American Association of School Administrators, the National Association of School Administrators, and the National Association of Elementary School Administrators are planning to develop a meaningful leadership training program. Other weaknesses in the curriculum of university leadership training programs, according to Bulach and Potter (1998), are in the areas of conflict management and group process skills. Hopefully, this research will encourage others to develop curriculums that address these deficiencies in our training programs.

References

Brent, B. O., & Haller, E. J. (1997). Does graduate training in educational administration improve America's schools? Phi Delta Kappan, 79(3), 65-70.

Bulach, C. R. , Boothe, D., & Pickett, W. (1999). Teachers’ perceptions of the extent to which principals practice effective supervisory behaviors. ERS SPECTRUM: Journal of School Research and Information, 17(4), 25-30.

Bulach, C. R. , Boothe, D., & Michael, P. Analyzing the Leadership Behavior of School Principals. A presentation at the Association for the Advancement of Educational Research on 12-1-1999 at Pointe Vedra, Fl.

Bulach, C. R. (1993). A measure of openness and trust. People in Education, 1(4). 382-392.

Bulach, C. R., & Potter, L. (1998). Assessment centers: Meeting the needs of educational leaders. NASSP Practitioner, 24(3), 1-4.

Davis, S. H. (1998). Superintendents' perspectives on the involuntary departure of public school principals: The most frequent reasons why principals lose their jobs. Educational Administration Quarterly, 34(1), 58-90.

Harrill, J. L. (1990). A descriptive study of South Carolina district-level curriculum/instructional leaders' perceptions of needed competencies and skills. Dissertation Abstracts International, 51(08), 2620. (University Microfilms No. AAI9101463)

Harrison, P. T. (1993). The critical elements of effective principal preparation: A

Delphi study (effective principals). Dissertation Abstracts International, 54(03), 0753. (University Microfilms No. AAI9322195)

Hutchison, C. I. (1988). Leadership skills. Performance and Instruction, 27(8), 2-5.

Jolly, R. A. F. (1995). The effectiveness of secondary educational administration preparation at Kansas regents universities. Dissertation Abstracts International, 56(11), 4224. (University Microfilms No. AAI96099508)

Jung, C., Howard, R., Emory, R., & Pino, R. (1977). Interpersonal Communications. Portland, OR: Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.

Kramer, B. H. (1993). Empirically indicated effective school-site leader behaviors:

A meta-analysis and theoretical comparison (effective leadership). Dissertation Abstracts International, 54(09), 3282. (University Microfilms No. AAI9803729)

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Sass, M. W. (1989). The AASA performance goal and skill areas' importance to effective superintendency performance as viewed by professors of educational administration and practicing superintendents. Dissertation Abstracts International, 50(09), 2742. (University Microfilms No. AAI9006076)

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Tables

Table # 1.

Climate                    

    Treatment            60.3                    13.9            5.715*            49                .018

    Control                41.2

Group Leadership

    Treatment            57.0                13.9                .876                49                .354

    Control                41.8                24.8

Communication

    Treatment            60.7            13.4                    2.124        49                       .151

    Control                 53.1            19.1

*p < .05.

THE IMPACT OF HUMAN RELATIONS’ TRAINING ON

SELECTED LEADERSHIP SKILLS