Changes in the economy and declining profit margins are prompting many businesses to question the value of their training investments. Companies that had been operating under the assumption that they were reaping positive benefits from their training efforts are asking their human resource managers to provide proof that their training programs are…

This employer resource provides practical information and technical assistance on America's Workforce Network, a new national system of employment and training services. Five sections guide employers to services that assist in various areas. "Expanding Your Workforce" explains how employers can find and hire qualified workers; team with…

Employer-sponsored recurrent (or lifelong) learning has grown from its World War II beginnings to become a large, important, but little-studied aspect of American education, one with major implications for the U.S. economy and society. U.S. employers spend from 20 to 100 billion dollars on educational programs for anywhere from 37 to 73 million…

The nine papers in this volume represent a majority of the presentations at a conference that examined in detail employee development (ED) initiatives from Europe and North America. An introduction provides a contextual background to the vocational training and education debates characterizing policy development in the European and North American…

The authors offer career development principles, outline the processes in a career development workshop, and discuss measures being taken by a number of companies. (CH)

This paper describes an experiment with background material designed to promote problem (learning disabled) employees as human resources rather than rejects. The material is presented in the form of the transcript of a fictional advisory committee meeting attended by the human resources manager, assistant corporate counsel, training director, line…

This study described current and past levels of casual employment (CE) and outsourcing in the Australian work force and identified how they are related to training. Data sources included two rounds of the Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey and Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) surveys of training and education experience. ABS…

The first of the three papers in this symposium, "Conflicts that Arise in Small Group Facilitation: A Descriptive Study of Accounts, Actions, Outcomes, and Assessments" (Judith A. Kolb, William J. Rothwell), contains self-report verbatim accounts contributed by facilitators and the results of a literature review on small group conflict.…

A stratified random sample of Virginia's 4,000 employers with over 100 employees was surveyed about workplace-based foundational basic skills (oral and written communication, reading, math, thinking skills, teamwork, English proficiency, and basic computer literacy). A total of 446 surveys were sent with a usable response rate of 18 percent.…

Human resources, together with physical and financial resources, are the three most important means of success available to the manager of an organization. The human resource is the most crucial element for achieving productivity, but it is also the most difficult to manipulate. Alienation in the workplace is one cause of low productivity. Factors…

These four papers were presented at a symposium on human resource development (HRD) and business outcomes moderated by Barbara L. Swanson at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development. "Incorporating Continuous Learning into a Cultural Change Process" (Carol Ann Zulauf, Joseph A. Ilacqua), focuses on best practices at…

"Foreword" (Handy); "Creda's Vocational Training Scheme" (Bradley); "IBM: Learning for Life" (Stevenson); "Personal Development at Sainsbury's" (Deaves); "Ford Employee Development and Assistance Programmes" (Moore); "Hotpoint North Wales" (Jones); "Derbyshire Employee Development…

Intended for the front-line practitioner, this toolkit provides tips, options, and practical how-tos for designing and implementing quality, youth-focused, and business-focused services for out-of-school youth (OSY) who are currently in, or about to enter, the workforce. It outlines an "income growth strategy" (IGS) that addresses what…

A study investigated the influence of information technology (IT)-industry-sponsored credentials from both organizational and individual perspectives. A senior-level human resource (HR) executive from each of 33 organizations with 500 or more employees completed a paper-and-pencil questionnaire (response rate=66% of the 50 organizations comprising…

The Manufacturers' Alliance for Productivity and Innovation surveyed the members of its two Human Resources Councils to obtain feedback on the training employers provide their employees. The survey inquired about features of company training initiatives, special training programs that arose from a specific training need that had been instituted,…