Discusses pertinent aspects of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, Civil Service Commission and Air Force regulations, and judicial decisions and remedies that bear on the responsibilities and rights of the Air Force. Available from Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402; sc $1.80.…

Surveys appointments in the areas of energy and environment made by President Carter. Reviews appointee's past experience. Covers appointments in Environmental Protection Agency, Council on Environmental Quality, Department of Agriculture, and the Federal Energy Administration. (CS)

Summarizes current trends in public employee pension systems, discussing the present and potential problems facing such systems and suggesting ways to keep public pension plans financially solvent. Available from: Salary and Merit, Suite 908, 1835 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006; single copy $2.50. (JG)

Summarizes public-sector research related to employee burnout in 34 work settings. Findings fall into three major categories: (1) many variables co-vary with the phases in regular and robust ways; (2) incidences of advanced phases vary in burnout populations; and (3) burnout in the U.S. public sector is not appreciably worse than in business. (JOW)

Data were collected from 12 states with Certified Public Manager training programs to establish benchmarks. The 38 benchmarks were in the following areas: program leadership, stability of administrative/financial support, consistent management philosophy, administrative control, participant selection/support, accessibility, application of…

Factor analysis of data from 1,070 federal employees, 575 undergraduates and 575 graduate students, faculty, and staff uncovered some weaknesses in the Merit Systems Protection Board's sexual harassment survey instrument. This type of survey does not adequately measure sexual coercion or quid pro quo forms of harassment. (SK)

Studied change in the customer service department of a utility company and an inner-city low-income school. Findings show that the traditional contradiction between socially progressive education and preparation for work is, at least, in some areas, waning, as workers begin to do more of the whole job and act "less like a robot." (SLD)

Today, public services are often delivered by purchase-of-service agreements, privatization, franchising, vouchers, or other alternatives to civil service. Public personnel managers must now deal with broader policy issues, relationships with external organizations, and tighter focus on cost control, requiring new knowledge, skills, and abilities.…

Responses from 140 of 323 state agencies indicated the following: only 13% use formal needs assessment for 80% of their training; 39% survey employees about their needs; 31% depend on management mandates; group discussion and lecture were most often used methods; and 47% do not assess employees' job performance after training. (SK)

Notes that during 1996, overall job gains were moderated by losses in nondurable goods manufacturing and federal employment, and that declining unemployment was tempered by persistent long-term joblessness. (Author)

Employee empowerment in the United Kingdom manufacturing industry (through total quality management, delayering, and business process reengineering) was examined in a survey of 103 companies. Success factors included a solid business rationale, organizational culture, and staff decision making power. Culture was also the most influential…

Examines the congruence of occupations into which injured workers were placed in comparison to those performed in the past. Analysis indicated that three variables--demonstrated temperament for working with people, loss of strength capacity after the injury, and case velocity--correctly classified 37.9% of participants into the observed…

Proposed a three-phase model for program theory building and testing in evaluation and tested the model in studies involving 540 employees and 315 elementary school teachers. The studies show how to cumulate knowledge about evaluation and how knowledge can be derived from evaluation. (SLD)

Investigated contents of communications between supervisors and subordinates in the context of occupational stress as potential forms of social support for registered nurses (N=225). Determined nurses' perceptions of social support from their supervisors (functional social support) were more closely related to positive job-related communications…