In today's changed environment where the economy and industry are driven by customers, business is open to worldwide competition. Manufacturing firms have looked at employee performance improvement as a means to succeed. These findings advocate setting up priorities for employee performance improvement. This requires a continuous improvement…

Discusses personal mastery for organizational change based on experiences used by Learning as Leadership at Fairchild Semiconductor. Topics include individual change leading to more accountability in workplace performance improvement; examining the past to uncover behavioral and communication patterns; creating goals for the future; and taking…

Discusses high-involvement work teams, in which groups of workers participate in improving their work activities; describes how a typical work team progresses through a project; and introduces a systems model of interrelated steps through which teams may progress to solve problems. (LRW)

Presents a guide, derived from the Situational Leadership model, which describes the process that should be used in facilitating a group discussion. The process includes preparation, assessment, diagnosis, prescription, development, reinforcement, and follow-up. Three figures depict the Situational Leadership model, the facilitation process, and…

Discusses retention of learning; training methods; maintenance issues; the effect of punishment; reinforcement; the performance environment; transfer of training; forgetting; implications for designers of instructional materials or designers of training programs; and the division between training and on-the-job performance. (LRW)

There are a number of problems posed by employee evaluation, and professional development often suffers from similar issues. Suppose employee evaluation and professional development were intertwined in a collaborative and evolving relationship, and both components were brought to bear on linking individual and company goals. The answer is the…

Proposes a four-level model for adapting the Kirkpatrick model of training evaluation to suit technical manuals and services assessing: (1) user satisfaction; (2) user performance; (3) client performance; and (4) client satisfaction. Discusses assessing of the value of work, limitations in evaluating technical communication products, and the…

Human performance technology (HPT) models are compared. One model groups performance factors by their relation to the performer (internal or external). A second model categorizes factors by which organizational level has the most control over them (executive, managerial, or individual). A third model considers rational and emotional intelligences;…

Discusses employees on international assignments and describes a study that examined reasons for the failure rate of expatriates. Topics include business issues; employee issues, including psychological and professional; personal factors; organizational factors; cultural factors; and the need for cultural training prior to departure. (LRW)