The work of the human resource development (HRD) practitioner is continuously evolving. Human resource development is now expected to make a strategic level contribution and contribute to individual and organizational effectiveness. Human resource development practitioners are increasingly required to network and build relationships to obtain…

Recent research on reported work stress indicates stress may not always be deleterious for an individual or organization. Research in this area, however, has not yet examined a variety of work outcomes, the mechanism by which stress leads to such outcomes, and the moderators of this effect. The present study hypothesized that two types of reported…

A functional assessment procedure, which was designed to identify insufficient skills that may have been responsible for employee performance problems, was administered to four foremen employed in a large construction organization. Results of this assessment procedure identified two skill areas, product knowledge and data entry, as deficient.…

People may be an organization's most important resource but their performance is absolutely critical to the organization's survival and ultimate growth. What produces human performance? What are the critical components? This manuscript develops the basic thinking about what causes a human to perform and then presents evidence for the addition of…

People vary considerably in their work performance as well as their overall approach to work. At one extreme are the outstanding performers, who approach work with enthusiasm and energy, and, at the other extreme, are those who seem to do only what is necessary to get by. Organizatins often invest a good deal of energy in trying to improve the…

Traditionally, policymakers have attempted to improve the quality of the teaching force by raising minimum credentials for entering teachers. Recent research, however, suggests that such paper qualifications have little predictive power in identifying effective teachers. The authors propose federal support to help states measure the effectiveness…

In multiple-cue learning (also known as probabilistic category learning) people acquire information about cue-outcome relations and combine these into predictions or judgments. Previous researchers claimed that people can achieve high levels of performance without explicit knowledge of the task structure or insight into their own judgment…

Worldwide interest in work and learning is generating a large volume of disparate disconnected studies which can help improve the understanding of both work and learning as separate domains, but which lack an overall perspective. This paper proposes the outline of a conceptual framework for relating work and learning by an individual worker as a…

The issue of whether professional social workers make better child welfare workers than nonsocial workers is a considerably complex one. Simply determining better is itself a difficult undertaking. For example, does better mean reduced turnover among professionally trained social worker child welfare specialists, or should it mean better outcomes…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to improve assessment and feedback processes in the training practices of very small firms, thereby improving the firms' human capital. Design/methodology/approach: The paper reviews research and practice on effective assessment and feedback. Findings: Based on this paper, human resources are increasingly seen…

Task analyses have traditionally been framed in terms of overt behaviors performed in accomplishing tasks and goals. Pioneering work at the Learning Research and Development Center looked at what contribution a cognitive analysis might make to current task analysis procedures, since traditional task analysis methods neither elicit nor capture…

This book examines faculty performance appraisal especially in light of ethical and legal issues involved in the appraisal process. Part 1 contains three chapters concerned with the structure and ethics of evaluation. These chapters provide a frame of reference for the next two chapters that deal with criteria used in performance appraisals and…

This paper briefly reviews the higher education literature on nonacademic staff evaluation, followed by a description of the development of process of staff performance appraisal being implemented at Atlantic Baptist College (New Brunswick, Canada). Steps in the development process are outlined starting with the writing of a report on compensation…

Findings from a study that designed a theoretical compensation system for school administrators incorporating concepts of career/work development and adult life stages are presented in this paper. Methodology involved: a literature review of compensation practices in education; a discussion of new forces in the field affecting considerations in…

This practicum sought to elevate the morale level of direct-care staff in a residential group care setting providing residential care to dependent, neglected, and/or abused children ages 7 through 17. Four solution strategies were attempted that addressed the areas of staff support, communication, and recognition. A representative of a top…