Are Current Efforts to Prevent Grooms from Leaving the Industry Effective? An Analysis Based on Principles of Behavior Change
Keywords:
Grooming industry, human behavior, staffing crisis, equestrianism, sustainabilityAbstract
Grooms play a vital role in the equestrian sector, providing horses with expert care. Yet the grooming industry is finding itself amid continued outflow of experienced staff due to poor working conditions, insufficient remuneration, and lack of respect towards the profession. In 2022, four high-profile initiatives, the formation of the International Grooming Association (IGA), the 2022 FEI ECCO World Championships, the #ChampionsAsOne initiative, and the Cavalor Best Groom Award aimed to galvanize the grooming industry. Drawing on the COM-B model and Behaviour Change Wheel as a theoretical framework and using a four-part online questionnaire, the current study aimed to determine whether these initiatives were perceived by grooms (N = 1389) as addressing prevalent barriers that currently prevent them from staying in the industry. Statistical analysis using chi-square tests, Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests revealed that the initiatives were not perceived as effective. 58.5% of the grooms indicated that the initiatives had no impact on them personally, arguably because the initiatives failed to address those issues perceived as most pressing, namely a high mental and physical workload (physical opportunity) and insufficient remuneration and time off (physical capability). Grooms considered employers, followed by the FEI and the IGA as the most important stakeholders to work towards sustainable change in the grooming industry.
References
Grooms: A profession finds its voice. Boehringer Ingelheim 2022. https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/animal-health/companion-animals/horses/supporting-grooms-equestrian-sports (accessed November 1, 2022).
Elder L. 'We must clean up our industry': experts debate how to solve the equestrian staffing crisis. Horse & Hound 2023. https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/staff-shortages-equestrian-industry-845232 (accessed January 1, 2024).
Grooms. British Equestrian 2022. https://www.britishequestrian.org.uk/workforce/grooms (accessed November 1, 2022).
Grooms, a dying breed? World of Showjumping 2022. https://www.worldofshowjumping.com/en/Exclusives/WoSJ-Focus/Grooms-a-dying-breed.html (accessed December 1, 2022).
Kerkdijk E. [How satisfied are employees in the primary equestrian sector?]. Aeres Hogeschool, 2022.
Horses.nl. [Should equestrian workers be paid better?]. Horses 2023. https://www.horses.nl/infos/moeten-hippische-werknemers-beter-betaald-worden/ (accessed March 31, 2023).
What is the IGA? International Grooms Association 2022. https://internationalgrooms.org/what-is-the-iga (accessed November 1, 2022).
FEI launch #ChampionsAsOne. International Grooms Association 2022. https://internationalgrooms.org/international-grooms-life/fei-launch-championsasone (accessed December 1, 2022).
FEI rules & regulations. FEI 2024. https://inside.fei.org/fei/about-fei/fei-library/rules (accessed February 1, 2024).
Herning sets the bar high for grooms. International Grooms Association 2023. https://internationalgrooms.org/international-grooms-life/herning-sets-the-bar-high-for-grooms (accessed May 1, 2023).
Groom recognition. International Grooms Association 2022. https://internationalgrooms.org/cavalor-fei-best-groom (accessed January 1, 2023).
Reflecting on herning 2022. International Grooms Association 2022. https://internationalgrooms.org/international-grooms-life/reflecting-on-herning (accessed November 1, 2022).
Kwasnicka D, Dombrowski SU, White M, Sniehotta F. Theoretical explanations for maintenance of behaviour change: a systematic review of behaviour theories. Health Psychol Rev 2016;10:277–96. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2016.1151372.
Kwasnicka D, Presseau J, White M, Sniehotta FF. Does planning how to cope with anticipated barriers facilitate health-related behaviour change? A systematic review. Health Psychology Review 2013;7:129–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/17437199.2013.766832.
Michie S, van Stralen MM, West R. The behaviour change wheel: a new method for characterising and designing behaviour change interventions. Implementation Science : IS 2011;6:42–42. https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-6-42.
Michie S, Atkins L, West R. The Behaviour Change Wheel - A Guide To Designing Interventions. Silverback Publishing; 2014.
Wolframm IA, Douglas J, Pearson G. Changing hearts and minds in the equestrian world one behaviour at a time. Animals (Basel) 2023;13:748. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13040748.
Jones E. Eventing groom paid £100 per week told she should feel privileged to work for that rider. Horse & Hound 2022. https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/eventing-groom-paid-100-per-week-told-she-should-feel-privileged-to-work-for-that-rider-779909 (accessed January 1, 2023).
Jones E. Groom who was kicked in the face and sacked weeks later has 'lost all faith in the horse world.' Horse & Hound 2022. https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/groom-who-was-kicked-in-the-face-and-sacked-weeks-later-has-lost-all-faith-in-the-horse-world-780926 (accessed January 1, 2023).
Late-night jumping: "It's not fair on anybody, especially not on the grooms." World of Showjumping 2020. https://www.worldofshowjumping.com/en/Exclusives/WoSJ-Focus/Late-night-jumping-It-s-not-fair-on-anybody-especially-not-on-the-grooms.html (accessed January 1, 2023).
Juckes E, Williams JM, Challinor C, Davies E. Racing to a staffing solution: an investigation into the current staffing crisis within the UK horseracing industry. Comparative Exercise Physiology 2021;17:73–89. https://doi.org/10.3920/cep200018.
Davies E, McConn-Palfreyman W, Parker JK, Cameron LJ, Williams JM. Is injury an occupational hazard for horseracing staff? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2022;19. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042054.
Horse care guidelines. The Humane Society of the United States 2023. https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/horse-care-guidelines (accessed January 1, 2024).
The voice of the grooms: are grooms getting enough recognition? World of Showjumping 2021. https://www.worldofshowjumping.com/en/Exclusives/WoSJ-Focus/The-Voice-of-the-Grooms-Are-grooms-getting-enough-recognition.html (accessed January 1, 2024).
Featherstone H, Reed H, Jarvis M, Michie S, Gilmour A, West R. APPG Enquiry into the effectiveness and Cost Effectiveness of Tobacco Control: Submission to the Spending Review and Public Health White Paper Consultation Process. London 2010.
West R, Michie S. Behaviour change: The importance of seeing the whole picture and a critique of 'nudge': Submission to the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee call for evidence: behaviour change. London: London House of Lords; 2010.
Novoradovskaya E, Mullan B, Hasking P. Acceptability of a behaviour change intervention aimed at increasing the use of a reusable hot drink cup. Evaluation and Program Planning 2023;97:102203. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2022.102203.
MOU signed with FEI. International Grooms Association 2022. https://internationalgrooms.org/international-grooms-life/mou-signed-with-fei (accessed November 1, 2022).
Nisbett RE, Wilson TD. The Halo Effect: Evidence for unconscious alteration of judgments. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1977;35:250–6. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.35.4.250.
Henley N, Raffin S, Caemmerer B. The application of marketing principles to a social marketing campaign. Marketing Intelligence & Planning 2011;29:697–706. https://doi.org/10.1108/02634501111178712.
Morris J, Marzano M, Dandy N, O'Brien L. Forestry, sustainable behaviours and behaviour change – a discussion paper 2012.
Kimball B, O'Neal E. Health care's human crisis: the American nursing shortage 2002.
Daniels A. The nursing shortage keeps getting worse, and foundations and major donors are pouring in millions to stem the tide. Fortune 2022. https://fortune.com/2022/12/06/nursing-shortage-keeps-getting-worse-foundations-donating-millions-stem-tide-health-care-pandemic-covid-resilience/ (accessed January 1, 2023).
Mahoney MJ. Human change processes and constructive psychotherapy. In: Freeman A, Mahoney MJ, Devito P, Martin D, editors. Cognition and Psychotherapy. 2nd ed, New York, NY, US: Springer Publishing Co; 2004, p. 5–24.
Kunst J. There's only one way to change: slowly, over time. Psychology Today 2011. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/headshrinkers-guide-the-galaxy/201109/theres-only-one-way-change-slowly-over-time (accessed May 1, 2023).
Downloads
Additional Files
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Susanna L. Ole, Inga A. Wolframm
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain the copyright of their manuscripts, and all Open Access articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.
