Turner, Seana L. and Dickinson, Joan RECOGNITION AND ENGAGEMENT AMONG DEALER DESIGNERS: A DESIGN THINKING APPROACH. 2025. Radford University, Thesis. Radford University Scholars' Repository.
 |
PDF
Download (10MB) |
Abstract
Everyone wants to be recognized for what they do: being kind, successful on a project, or good at their job. This recognition seems to be the missing piece in many dealer designer’s careers. It is important to understand the issues around this lack of recognition felt specifically by dealer designers, which is a subgroup of interior designers, because if they are not feeling acknowledged for their work, they may fall victim to burnout leading to significant changes such as leaving the company. In fact, 69% of employees would stay if they received more recognition, and a lack of recognition may lead to burnout, higher turnover, and declining engagement. The purpose of this study was to determine the importance of recognition and engagement that might exist among the designers in the furniture contract industry, aka “dealer designers.” Using design thinking, the student researcher examined the following: (a) what kinds of recognition are currently available for dealer designers, (b) what is the best way to deliver meaningful recognition, and (c) can recognition affect the designer’s engagement in the company. The student researcher works at One Workplace, a national Steelcase furniture dealer. Using a purposive and convenience sampling technique, dealer designers at One Workplace’s locations throughout Northern California and Washington state were recruited to participate. The study was divided into three phases. In phase one (n = 38) dealer designers responded to an anonymous online questionnaire, with both open and close-ended questions about recognition, engagement, and existing recognition programs. Phase two involved (n = 12) one-on-one interviews, where they were asked additional questions for more in-depth responses. After these two phases, the student researched analyzed the responses using affinity clustering and used several of the discovered themes for the final phase of the study, which consisted of two virtual workshops. The workshops were conducted with (n = 9) dealer designers utilizing design thinking strategies (e.g., bull’s eye diagraming, statement starters, round robin, and possibility ranking) with the purpose of generating potential ideas. Overall, the results from the study implied that there is a strong desire for a more structured, inclusive, and impactful recognition system that not only celebrates achievements but also fosters long-term motivation, engagement, and well-being. The next steps would consist of having One Workplace’s design leadership and Human Resources teams review the study results and apply what was learned to either their existing or new potential programs for the design organization. Design leadership would also want to apply some of the specific learnings into their interactions with their design teams for more direct impact. The student researcher feels that future studies need to be conducted to further expand on this topic, as this specific study only involved one company’s dealer design team with an overall participation rate of 50%. There are many more furniture dealerships with dealer designers that may have similar challenges that could be investigated to further add to the body of knowledge regarding recognition and engagement.
| Item Type: | Thesis |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general |
| Divisions: | Radford University > College of Visual and Performing Arts > Department of Design |
| Date Deposited: | 03 Dec 2025 06:48 |
| Last Modified: | 21 Apr 2026 14:32 |
| URI: | http://wagner.radford.edu/id/eprint/1281 |
Administrative Actions
 |
View Item |
