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…

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…

Employers pay higher starting wages to workers requiring less training, but do not give lower starting wages to workers requiring more training. Employers appear to pay most of the cost of and reap most of the returns to training. (SK)

Seven case studies of Dutch organizations were used to analyze the relationship between organizational characteristics and types of on-the-job training (OJT) using contingency theory. When the type of structured OJT corresponded to the type of organization, the probability of effectiveness was greater. (SK)

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…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to contribute to an understanding of how diverse groups of employees perceive their workplaces as learning environments, and to cast light on the learning processes of these diverse groups of employees. Design/methodology/approach: This study was designed to examine employee perceptions of: the extent to…

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)

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)

There is debate about whether the rate of return to education in developing countries declines with the level of schooling. This paper reports evidence from urban Papua New Guinea which shows that the average private rate of return to an additional year of education rises with the level of education considered. This pattern is robust to the…

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…

A national survey of 693 Professional Secretaries International members (306 responses) showed that almost half are training coworkers in software use; more than one-quarter are training coworkers in hardware use; fewer than one-quarter have training included in their job descriptions; and very few have had training on how to train. (JOW)