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THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HERO TRAINING TO IMPROVE THE

ENGAGEMENT OF DISASTER VOLUNTEERS

Neka Erlyani

, Rika Vira Zwagery, Marina Dwi Mayangsari

Lambung Mangkurat University, Indonesia

[email protected].id

ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT

Received:

October 2021

Revised:

November 2021

Approved:

November 2021

Background: The future development of CCeU ULM needs to consider the

nature of volunteers who do not want to continue to be in the organization.

Therefore, retaining volunteers to continue to be actively involved and

contribute to the organization is a challenge in itself.

Aim: This study aims to empirically test the "HERO" training (Hope,

Efficacy, Resiliency, Optimism) to increase the engagement of disaster

volunteers.

Method: The instrument used to measure psychological capital is adapted

from Cetin and Basim (2012), namely Psychological Capital Scale (R=

0.941). The scale used to measure the Work Engagement of Crisis Center

Unit ULM volunteers was (R= 0.935). The respondents of this study were 53

members of the ULM Crisis Center Unit, divided into men and women, with

criteria for 18-25 years. This research is a quasi-experimental study with a

non-randomized one-group pre-test post-test design.

Findings: Statistical analysis showed 0.699 >, 0.699 < 0.05, so it can

conclude that there is no significant effect of HERO training on the work

engagement of CCU FK ULM members. It means that other antecedents can

lead to one's work engagement.

KEYWORDS

HERO Training, Psychological Capital, Work Engagement

INTRODUCTION

Almost 70% of the disasters in Indonesia are hydrometeorological disasters, such as floods

due to weather changes. Hydrometeorological disasters are increasing every year in line with

the impact of global climate change and environmental degradation, especially floods

(Prawesthi, 2013). South Kalimantan is one of the provinces in Indonesia, which is a province

with a high risk of flooding in terms of its physical condition. Physical conditions in South

Kalimantan are mostly inundating during high rainfall. Geographically, most of South

Kalimantan is below sea level causing the water flow on the land surface to be less smooth

(BNPB). Quoted from detik.com, the South Kalimantan flash flood in mid-January 2021 was

the enormous flood in history that hit ten city districts, causing 15 people to die, 66,768 houses

were submerged, 18,294 meters of roads were submerging, and 21 bridges were damaged. This

flood caused 18,356 hectares of agricultural land in 11 districts/cities in Kalimantan to fail to

harvest and caused 39,549 thousand residents to evacuate (National Disaster Management

Agency, 2021). The victims who died from the flood came from Tanah Laut Regency 7 people,

Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency 3 people, Banjar Baru City 1 person, Tapin Regency 1 person,

and Banjar Regency 3 people.

The South Kalimantan flood disaster caused infrastructure damage and economic

problems, fulfilling clothing, food, physical and mental health for both the survivors and the

families of the deceased. To help solve these problems, Lambung Mangkurat University, as

The Effectiveness of HERO Training to Improve the Engagement of Disaster Volunteers

132 Interdisciplinary Social Studies, 1(2), November 2021

one of the largest universities in Kalimantan, demonstrated its role in society by establishing a

disaster management unit known as the Crisis Center Unit (CCeU) ULM. Some of the goals of

establishing CCeU are as an official ULM institution that will respond to any disasters that

occur locally or nationally, protect ULM students interested in volunteering, and act as

recipients and distributors of aid, both in the form of goods and money.

ULM has potential human resources with various scientific backgrounds that the

community needs when a disaster occurs, such as health and medicine, agriculture, forestry,

animal husbandry, physical structure and infrastructure, social, psychology, and technology.

The Crisis Center Unit ULM (CCeU) is an institution consisting of a team of volunteers who

will provide disaster management responses at every stage of disaster management. The Health

Service Team is led and implemented by the ULM Faculty of Medicine and the Hospital

Network. CCeU ULM carried out Health and Psychological services for refugees during the

Flood Disaster.

A volunteer voluntarily (Uncoerced) donates his time, energy, thoughts, and expertise to

help others and is aware that they will not get wages or salaries from the donation. Volunteering

is an activity that all levels of society can carry out as a form of concern and commitment to a

particular vision (Savutri, 2005). Slamet (2009) stated that volunteers are people without being

paid, provide their time to achieve organizational goals, with significant or limited

responsibilities, without or with little special training, but can be with very intensive training

in specific fields, to work voluntarily to help workers.

Previous research on work engagement was conduct in paid work settings (Bakker &

Leiter, 2010). However, volunteers are still under-appreciated in other ways and do not get paid

(Vecina et al., 2012); one of them is a volunteer. The attachment that exists on volunteers is

related to how volunteers carry out their roles and significantly impact the organization's

operations. Research on work engagement of volunteers is essential because volunteers do not

receive economic remuneration, even though they give their time, effort, and sometimes

materials to the organization (Vecina et al., 2012). Volunteers engaged will dedicate their time,

and they will feel satisfaction (Jenkinson et al., 2013) and well-being (J. Y. Huynh et al., 2014).

In addition, it will also have a positive impact on the organization namely volunteers will stay

in the organization (J.-Y. Huynh et al., 2012). Volunteers engaged in their role will feel satisfied

with their experience and have low intention to leave the organization (J. Y. Huynh et al.,

2014).

Several previous studies have proved that several psychological constructs influence work

engagement in the dimensions of psychological capital, such as self-efficacy, resilience,

optimism, and hope (Bakker & Leiter, 2010). Based on several studies on the factors that affect

work engagement as shown, it can conclude that the psychological aspect of the individual is

an influential factor for the emergence of work engagement. One of them is psychological

capital.

Psychological capital interpreted as an individual's psychological capacity develops with

self-efficacy, optimism, hope, and resilience (Lee & Yang, 2019). Psychological capital

consists of four psychological capacities: hope, self-efficacy, resilience, and optimism,

abbreviated as HERO. Psychological capital defines as a positive psychological development

in individuals (Luthans et al., 2010). Luthans, Avolio, Avey, and Norman (LUTHANS et al.,

2007) explain that psychological capital utilizes an individual's positive psychological

The Effectiveness of HERO Training to Improve the Engagement of Disaster Volunteers

133 Interdisciplinary Social Studies, 1(2), November 2021

potential. It is helpful to develop the potential of living life, which is determining by the ability

to solve problems (Self-efficacy), positive expectations about the future (Optimism), diligently

hoping for success (Hope), and being able to rise and face problems (Resilience) to achieve

success.

Through psychological capital, volunteers will receive education on building hope, setting

goals, and building feelings of optimism and confidence. Optimistic feelings can lead

individuals to view life positively. Optimistic individuals will be able to interpret life now as

something that can support their life goals.

The future development of CCeU ULM needs to consider the nature of volunteers who do

not want to continue to be in the organization. Therefore, retaining volunteers to continue to be

actively involved and contribute to the organization is a challenge in itself. Starting from these

problems, researchers are interested in empirically testing the effectiveness of HERO training

to increase the engagement of disaster volunteers.

METHOD

The research method used a quasi-experiment with a non-randomized one-group pre-test

post-test design. The design was chosen with the consideration that this study did not allow

randomization to divide participants into the experimental group and the control group (Seniati

et al., 2005).

The training was held on August 14 and 15 through Zoom Meeting with student volunteers

at CCeU ULM. The scale was distributed to participants before and after the training activities

were given. The population of this study was all student volunteers of the ULM Crisis Center

Unit, as many as 206 people. The selection of research subjects used simple random sampling

with 100 people for trials and 100 people for research subjects. Individual criteria that can be

involved in this research are: 1) Undergraduate students who are active members of the ULM

Crisis Center Unit, 2) Willing to participate in all HERO training in total, and 3) Willing to fill

out informed consent as written evidence of willingness to be involved in research.

This study collects the data by work engagement scale and psychological capital scale, the

worksheets' results, and the evaluation results. The work engagement scale uses The Utrecht

Work Engagement Scale (UWES) in a more concise version developed by Schaufeli et al.

(2006a) and consists of 9 items. The level of psychological capital is measured using the

psychological capital scale (Cetin & Basim, 2012). This scale in the form of a Likert is the

result of translation and analysis of the psychological capital scale belonging to Luthans et al.

(Luthans et al., 2007), consisting of 24 items.

Quantitative data analysis conducted in this study were assumption test, description test,

regression test, and hypothesis testing. The assumption test includes normality and linearity

tests. Test the description to get an overview of the research data—a regression test to

determine the contribution of training in influencing work engagement. Meanwhile, hypothesis

testing using different tests to determine the effectiveness of HERO training in increasing the

work engagement of training participants—data analysis using SPSS Version 22.0.

The Effectiveness of HERO Training to Improve the Engagement of Disaster Volunteers

134 Interdisciplinary Social Studies, 1(2), November 2021

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The training was held on August 14 and 15 through Zoom Meeting with student volunteers

at CCeU ULM. The scale was distributed to participants before and after the training activities

were given.

Tabel 1.1 Statistical Data Var. Psychological Capital

Paired Samples Statistics

Mean

Std.

Deviation

Std.

Error

Mean

Pair 1

Pre

Test

104,6038

11,99734

1,64796

Postest

109,9057

13,22332

1,81636

In this data analysis, there is a relationship between Pretest and Posttest Var. Psychological

Capital Sig<0.05

Table 1.2 Paired Samples Correlations

In this data, there is a significant effect between the pre-test and post-test Var.

Psychological Capital because Sig. 2 Tailed < 0.05 that is 0.001.

Table 1.3 Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences

Sig. (2-

tailed)

Mean

Std.

Deviati

Std.

Error

Mean

95%

Confidence

Interval of the

Difference

Lower

Upper

Pair

Pre

Test -

Postest

-5,301

10,757

1,477

-8,266

-2,336

-3,588

,001

Table 1.4 Descriptive Statistics Var. Job Engagement in the statistical paired sample table

Paired Samples Statistics

Mean

Std.

Deviation

Std.

Error

Mean

Pair

Pre

Test

127,962

11,959

1,642

Paired Samples Correlations

Correlation

Sig.

Pair 1

Pre Test &

Postest

,640

,000

The Effectiveness of HERO Training to Improve the Engagement of Disaster Volunteers

135 Interdisciplinary Social Studies, 1(2), November 2021

Post

Test

128,377

13,025

1,789

In this data analysis, there is a relationship between Pretest and Posttest Var. Work

Engagement Sig <0.05

Tabel 1.5 Paired Sample Correlations

Paired Samples Correlations

Correlation

Sig.

Pair 1

Pre Test & Post Test

,810

,000

In this data, there is no significant effect between the pre-test and post-test Var. Work

engagement due to Sig. 2 Tailed > 0.05, which is 0.699.

Table 1.6 Paired Samples Test

Paired Differences

Sig. (2-

tailed)

Mean

Std.

Deviation

Std.

Error

Mean

95%

Confidence

Interval of the

Difference

Lower

Upper

Pair 1

Pre

Test -

Post

Test

-,41509

7,774

1,067

-2,557

1,727

-,389

,699

HERO training was successfully held by 53 participants from the Crisis Center Unit (CCU)

of Lambung Mangkurat University. The research design used was a quasi-experimental design

with a non-randomized one-group post-test design. The results obtained from the HERO

training show a significant effect on knowledge of psychological capital. These results can see

in Table 1.1 in the paired sample. Statistically, the table shows an increase in the average value

before and after treatment, namely the average pre-test value (M = 104.6038) while the average

value post-test (M = 109.9057). Then in table 1.2, paired sample correlations show that 0.001

<, i.e., 0.001 < 0.05, meaning that there is a significant effect between the pre-test and post-test

of psychological capital variables after being given HERO training. These findings are in line

with the research of Wijaya (Wijaya, 2021), which also carries the concept of psychological

capital training to increase work engagement. The training in research conducted by Wijaya

(Wijaya, 2021) showed an increase in knowledge of the psychological capital of coffee

restaurant employees after being given training.

Meanwhile, the pre-test and post-test work engagement results did not show any

significant effect from the HERO training, and we can see it from table 1.6, namely the table

paired sample test. Statistical analysis showed 0.699 >, 0.699 < 0.05, so it can be concluded

that there is no significant effect of HERO training on the work engagement of CCU FK ULM

The Effectiveness of HERO Training to Improve the Engagement of Disaster Volunteers

136 Interdisciplinary Social Studies, 1(2), November 2021

members. These findings are not in line with the hypothesis offered by the researcher at the

beginning that HERO training can increase the work engagement of CCU FK ULM members.

According to Schaufeli & Bakker (Schaufeli et al., 2006), the attenuation of work engagement

does not only come from psychological capital. Another factor affecting work engagement is

the JD-R model (Job demand-resources model) or workload model consisting of aspects of the

physical, social and organizational environment, salary, career opportunities, supervisor and

co-workers support, and performance feedback. It means that other antecedents can lead to

one's work engagement. In this study, the researcher only focused on the psychological capital

of the participants as an attenuator of work engagement. Meanwhile, external factors contained

in the JD-R or workload, such as the physical environment, support from supervisors, co-

workers, and performance feedback, escaped the observations of researchers, which should

have been taken into consideration by researchers.

The explanation in the previous paragraph has answered the problem formulation in this

study, namely that HERO training did not significantly affect the work engagement of CCU

FK ULM members. The results of this study are in line with research by Indrianti & Hadi

(2012) with a study entitled "The Relationship between Psychological Capital and Work

Attachment to Nurses at the Inpatient Installation of Menur Mental Hospital Surabaya." The

results of this study did not indicate the influence of psychological capital on the work

engagement of nurses at Menur Mental Hospital Surabaya. So, the results of the research

obtained are a reflection of the researchers so that they consider other factors that exist in the

research participants.

CONCLUSION

Based on the results, we figure out a significant effect between the pre-test and post-test

of the Psychological Capital Variable. We figure out that there is no effect between the pre-test

and post-test of the Job Engagement Variable. It can be caused by other factors that the

researcher does not measure so that this can be considered for further researchers to examine

more deeply related to the same variable.

Suggestions that can be given to volunteers are expected to have a strong work attachment

to volunteer behavior by developing factors that can affect the increase in volunteerism both

from the physical, social and organizational aspects. It is also hoped that volunteers can apply

hope and efficacy that is strong and capable of being resilient and optimistic in daily activities.

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