As employers scan the current workforce and anticipate future workforce needs, they frequently find that employees are not well-equipped with core content knowledge and 21st century workplace competencies, the combination of which the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation defines as "deeper learning." The cumulative effect of these…

Examines a series of managerial briefings of staff in nine stores of a major electronics retail chain. Shows that managers were neither trained nor appraised on their briefings skills, prepared themselves indifferently, and made little use of techniques known to affect attentiveness and recall. Finds that the daily communication session appeared…

The duties of a staff development coordinator at a large residential school for the mentally retarded consist of planning, coordinating, and implementing all training for employees. Such a person must function in the multiple roles of educator, process consultant, mediator, troubleshooter, and manager. Training for such a position should include…

This practicum assisted staff in (1) identifying and prioritizing problems and needs in the areas of communication and decision-making; (2) determining objectives relevant to these needs; and (3) developing a plan of action for attaining top priority objectives. After an orientation meeting, each staff member was interviewed in private and asked…

The Southeastern Teacher Corps Conference on Promoting Faculty Involvement spoke to the following issues: 1) Acquainting conference participants with the processes and problems of institutionalization; 2) Introducing participants to a variety of incentives and rewards useful to promote faculty involvement in field-based activities; 3)…

The problems faced by public managers in managing an agency's internal operations and communicating with the outside world are described, and strategies for addressing these management problems are provided, as is personal advice on how to build and maintain a professional reputation and advance in the bureaucratic hierarchy. The following…

Although organizations spend increasingly large amounts of money on training, little effort or money is spent on evaluating the effectiveness of training programs. When evaluations are done, they are often designed for specific programs and often consider only participant reactions and immediate learning, and ignore behavior changes and long-term…

This monograph describes how to design cash incentive programs in higher education as a way to help employees achieve their best productivity and as the most cost-effective way to communicate and stimulate the work behaviors that the institution values. Including a mentoring role as part of recognition of model departments or model managers not…

Among 17 conclusions and recommendations of a study on current policies and procedures related to campus safety at Florida institutions of higher education are the following: (1) there is a need for an expanded definition or additional category of crime for recording incidents involving students, either as victims or perpetrators, that occur in…

To be competitive in the job market, speech communication students should have courses in technical subjects and business administration. A focused master's level speech communication education can prepare students for two career paths: public relations management (with emphasis on campaign design and corporate communication beyond the required…

The leadership development plan of Hood College (Maryland) is designed to increase opportunities for involvement in college decision making and improve communication within and between faculty, students, and staff. It focuses on meeting the individual development needs of each campus constituency and on the sharing of power. (MSE)

A survey of University of California central administrators sought views on five key aspects of performance appraisal: (1) communication and feedback; (2) work objectives; (3) job duties; (4) communication with supervisors; and (5) effectiveness of communication, training, and rewards. (Author/MSE)

Proceedings drawn from a conference on business communication, the 21 papers in this collection are grouped under the headings Corporate Tower Views, Bridging the Gap, and Ivory Tower Views to better reflect the joint concerns of professional communicators on the job as well as the concerns of those who teach business communication. Among the…

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro student financial aid office undertook a program to train staff in effective listening. Training involved personal videotaping of staff members, followed by feedback to staff and a handout for students (appended) to promote more successful interviews. Initial response has been positive. (Author/MSE)

Based on a spring 1979 survey on communication in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member institutions, this Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) kit focuses on upward communication from staff to administration by looking at individual responsibilities of staff members and supervisors. Results indicate that the two most commonly…