Organizational and Individual Determinants of Evidence Use by Managers in Public Human Service Organizations

Factors Associated With Managerial Innovation in Public Human Service Organizations

“…This initial research showed that evidence-informed managers review agency reports, search for research literature and other evidence, and use online resources to identify promising practices. In addition, our findings suggested that managerial use of evidence may be contingent upon access to organizational resources, work role, and individual attitudes such as responsiveness to organizational change (McBeath, Jolles, Carnochan, & Austin, 2015). These survey findings are complemented by qualitative research from the same parent study, suggesting that the daily efforts of human service managers to engage in evidence-informed practice involves the cognitive skills of curiosity, self-reflection, and critical thinking.…”

“…This process is likely to lead to a dynamic work environment in which new ideas are developed into strategies that are in turn tested to better address service delivery challenges (Briggs & McBeath, 2009;Kovner, 2014;McBeath et al, 2015). These innovative managerial efforts also serve as an anticipatory strategy to ensure that evidence collected in the past remains relevant for future agency work.…”

“…The connection between evidence-informed management practice and the social network aspects of human service innovation is the development of these communities of learning. It is within learning communities that managers may be able to discuss new ideas, paving the way to greater evidence use and interest in the implementation of evidence-informed practices (McBeath et al, 2015).…”

“…If innovation-mindedness is associated with evidence use (McBeath et al, 2015), then what factors drive the innovation process in the first place? And how can managers and supervisors promote an innovative workforce?…”

“…This sample allowed us to examine both individual managerial characteristics and the perceptions of managers, across diverse managerial levels, in relation to their perceived ability to introduce and use new ideas in their workplace. This is a relevant area of inquiry as the development of an innovative workforce that routinely incorporates new ideas into daily routines to problem solve and make decisions has been shown to contribute to organizational effectiveness, adaptation to evolving contexts, higher use of evidence-informed practices, and ultimately to gaining a competitive edge (McBeath et al, 2015;McLean, 2005).…”