On-the-job training (OJT) is enjoying a surge of interest because of ISO 9000, the certification standards of the European Community. Negotiating a balance between training staff and frontline supervisors who are often made responsible for OJT is one way to improve it. (JOW)

The British Labour Force Survey indicates that work-based training is skewed toward service sector occupations and high-level workers. Few employers have a formal or systematic training approach. Lower-skilled, more disadvantaged workers have the least access to education and training. (SK)

Describes the RADIAL model, an approach to in-house organizational communication training, which (1) tailors communication topics to meet specific and changing industry needs; (2) places the training function in the hands of organizational members themselves; and (3) facilitates the transfer of skills from the classroom to the workplace. (SR)

Describes and provides an orientation to nonformal vocational training (vestibule training, on-the-job training, apprenticeships, training for unemployed persons) and increases awareness of the potential and the legitimacy of out-of-school vocational training efforts. (JOW)

A literature review and survey of 127 (26 percent response) businesses produced suggestions for improving on-the-job training (OJT): establish policy and accountability, review precedents, design and conduct structured training, provide specialized support for trainers, avoid turf battles, and consider literacy skills. (SK)

A study of production workers, supervisors, and peer trainers in three manufacturing companies found that most workers were trained by peers; neither peer trainers nor supervisors received trainer training; training was wholly outside the oversight of training/personnel departments. Training practices evolved from experience rather than from…

Employers who have used natural supports in providing accommodations to supported employees were interviewed to determine their perceptions regarding the accommodation process. Results indicate that employers did not provide natural supports to supported employees beyond those offered to other employees; additional supports changed work…

A profile of small businesses in the Irish hotel industry shows that all claim to believe in human resource development but few practice it. Small hotels favor informal, specific job training focused on solution of immediate problems rather than long-term development. (Contains 119 references.) (SK)

At Western Michigan University, the Graduate Center for Research, Writing, and Proposal Development sustains both doctoral students and graduate advising faculty through the doctoral dissertation process and represents one best practices approach that promotes persistence in graduate education--an especially important benefit, given the national…

A recent study carried out by European and African organizations into the potential for electronic distance training (EDT) on sustainability in African local governments concluded that EDT was both "useful and feasible". This article reflects on some of the theoretical and practical implications of that study. It focuses on the…

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to examine the ways in which Australian companies can achieve high quality apprenticeship and traineeship systems in a time of labour shortage through close attention to the recruitment and development of apprentices and trainees. Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on six qualitative case studies…

This guide is aimed at anyone in work-based training who is responsible for learners during their first few weeks. Readers will (1) understand the value and purpose of initial assessment in key skills and Skills for Life; (2) become familiar with a range of techniques for the initial assessment; (3) plan an initial assessment system that is…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report and discuss research that sought to explore how the individually purposeful nature of new employee workplace learning might be understood through its conception as epistemological agency, that is, the personally mediated construction of knowledge. Design/methodology/approach: Using a sociocultural…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight some methodological problems concerning the neglect of participants' voices by workplace ethnographers and neglect of the highly interactional and co-constructive nature of research interviewing. The study aims to use discourse analysis, to show the phenomena of workplace learning and expertise to…

Purpose: This paper aims to focus on examples of the perceived tensions of the healthcare work-based learners as they experienced paradigm shifts in both practice and education. Design/methodology/approach: Examples are drawn from a qualitative study to examine work-based learning (WBL) workshops in a Dutch healthcare setting, and a developmental…