In this new policy report, the fourth in a series examining the impact of human capital in the American labor market from the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Center for Research on Human Capital Education, the authors take a unique perspective on the critical link between human capital and labor market outcomes by expanding the analysis to…

The topic of this study was the perception of online learning in an exploratory context. The problem addressed the high attrition rates among first-year employees in the financial industry. The problem negatively impacted the overall well-being of organizations, customers, and employees. The study aimed to explore new employees' and managers'…

Workplace learning initiatives are influenced by perceptions, and negative perceptions hinder organizational innovation and productivity. This exploratory study presents an argument that messages shared among trainees regarding their training experiences shape such perceptions. The application of Symbolic Convergence Theory reveals two discursive…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper aims at manager-as-coach applying experiential learning processes to aid an employee to learn and improve performance ultimately resulting in a more skilled, work-engaged employee. The action guide presented offers activities for: positively influencing employee retention in the organization and improving the…

The pandemic has caused a major economic shift for businesses and workers. Countless companies have had to quickly upskill their workers, equipping them with the skills they need to pivot to digital or remote services. As a result, the importance of efficiently and effectively training and onboarding workers with the right skills for the job has…

This report explores the links between trade unions and workplace training, and the potential benefits of social partnership in the skills system. The UK is relatively unusual in having no formal role for trade unions in the training system. In most advanced economies, trade unions and employers work alongside government in shaping the skills…

Small businesses are characterised by resources constraints; therefore, their managers need to know the exact nature of additional benefits, beyond knowledge and skill acquisition, that might accrue from employee participation in different types of learning activities. However, research that simultaneously examines the attitudinal and behavioural…

This study investigates the relationship between job insecurity and the willingness to undertake training, accounting for perceived employability. Drawing on conservation of resources theory, we hypothesize that job insecurity negatively relates to the willingness to participate in training to strengthen the internal and external labor market…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the distribution of learning and training opportunities in the Finnish workforce. It will concentrate on the sectors of the workforce that lack these opportunities. Design/Methodology/Approach: The Working Conditions Barometer (WCB) data from 2008, 2009 and 2010 are used (N = 3,326) in this…

Incorporation into the labour market is a key endeavour, of heightened importance in recent years due to high migration flows, for both immigrants and their recipient countries. Hence, activation and employability are major themes in both transnational and national policy discussions, which have generated various programmes and policy measures.…

Purpose: Human resource development (HRD) is an important field within management. Developing employees is often regarded as an instrument to improve the internal labor market and support organizational change. Organizing HRD to these ends, however, is frequently a problematic affair, in terms of training effectiveness, participant motivation and…

When it comes to digital literacy, how do we know what kind of skills America's workers need for the workplace, how they can best acquire them, and what competencies or credentials can help them signal their preparedness to employers? Over the past four months, National Skills Coalition staff interviewed business, education, and workforce leaders…

Concise, clear and comprehensive snapshots of vocational education and training systems in EU, Iceland and Norway: this is what the Cedefop Spotlight on VET series offers. Building on individual country Spotlights, this publication provides an overview of VET systems with their distinctive qualities, such as main accession and progression routes…

Work-based learning (WBL) has risen rapidly in the policy agenda over recent years in the European Union. Efforts to strengthen WBL, particularly in vocational education and training (VET), are increasingly common throughout European countries. This report analyses the 2016 EU labour force survey (EU-LFS) ad hoc module, which covers the topic of…

Human capital theory was developed to study how individual agents make rational choices or how they invest in human capital to maximize their welfare. One of the leading founders of this perspective, Becker, argues that schooling, on-the-job training, medical care, migration and searching for information about prices and incomes are different…