
Introduction
Research Questions
- How have the programs’ processes and organizational priorities changed or persisted because of the pandemic?
- How did the programs’ existing organizational cultures influence their response to the pandemic?
- How has the pandemic affected the organizations’ cultures?
In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck the United States. Many businesses, schools, and government agencies, including those implementing Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs, closed their doors. As cases began to rise across the country and staff were largely working from home, TANF program leadership and staff had to adapt to continue serving their clients. This brief explores how five of the TANF programs included in The Understanding Poverty: TANF Office Culture Study responded to the pandemic and the role that their organizational culture played in those responses.
Purpose
This brief highlights the role that these TANF organizations’ existing culture played in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It represents an important opportunity to understand how organizational culture can support responses to sudden changes to existing processes and workflows, as well as how the specific efforts at organizational improvement in these agencies informed their responses to the pandemic.
Key Findings and Highlights
We examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the organizations’ practices and how the programs’ positive organizational culture informed their response to and handling of the pandemic. Overall, we learned about how programs maintained or adapted their principles of positive organizational culture in the face of the changes brought about by the pandemic.
- Programs continued ensuring that frontline staff understood the goals set out by agency leaders by monitoring adherence to existing agency goals, increasing transparency within the organization, and improving internal communications.
- Encouraging staff autonomy and staff-led innovation remained a priority during the pandemic as programs retained their staff work groups in the remote work environment.
- Programs placed increased emphasis on staff development, empowerment, and well-being by holding remote staff development trainings and introducing self-care and peer-support programming.
- TANF staff and leadership thought of innovative ways to maintain their client-centered focus in remote environments or a modified office space that had to adhere to new health and social distancing guidelines.
Methods
We conducted virtual follow-up interviews between September and November 2020 with leadership from five out of the six sites that were included in the TANF Office Culture Study final report. These sites include:
- Fairfax County’s Department of Family Services (Virginia)
- Mesa County’s Workforce Center (Colorado)
- New York City’s Human Resources Administration (New York)
- Santa Cruz County’s Human Services Department (California)
- Utah Department of Workforce Services
The findings in this brief are drawn from our interviews with 11 leadership staff in five of these sites. The findings may not be representative of the experiences of all staff at these programs or staff at other TANF programs.
Citation
Jen, Jeffery. 2022. The Role of Positive Organizational Culture in a Pandemic Response: Lessons from Five TANF Programs. OPRE Report 2022-106, Washington, DC: Office of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.