Workplace training at the British offices of Readers' Digest is designed to improve staff skills in communicating with customers. Evaluation of workshops focused on spelling, grammar, and business writing shows that the company is achieving a return on its training investment. (SK)

Describes two projects: an employee development consortium of small and midsized enterprises in Nottinghamshire and the National Development Project, testing development strategies of further/higher education providers. The projects demonstrate the need for a wider view of workplace learning that recognizes the value of different types and styles,…

Declining popularity of behaviorism is due to social changes, the needs of capitalism, importance of worker ownership, and management attitude changes. Alternative models include action regulation theory, critical reflectivity perspective, and working class adult education approach. (SK)

A study of on-the-job training for 36 Dutch call center trainees and 46 new post office clerks found that training goals were only partly achieved. Self-efficacy, prior experience with tasks, management support, and workload were the most powerful influences on the effectiveness of training. (SK)

While much is known about the economics of training in the developed world, studies of issues associated with training in less-developed countries are rarely found. Based on a survey conducted in China, the present study attempts to fill this gap. Job characteristics and firm background were found to play key roles in determining training…

The broad aims of this study are to gain insight into employees' on-the-job learning activities to help them improve their on-the-job learning. The authors define on-the-job learning styles and operationalize the concept to include both mental and overt learning styles and both interpersonal and intrapersonal learning styles. Organizations and…

This study compares the growth in salaries across three spatial regions in China during the period 1993-1998, when economic reforms were implemented nationwide. Our study compares the impact of three forms of education and training on salary growth, namely pre-job formal schooling, on-the-job-training provided by employers, and adult education…

Currently recommended practice in supported work emphasizes training job skills to workers with severe disabilities while on the job. Early behavioral research indicated that skills needed in natural environments could also be trained in simulated settings. We compared job-site plus simulation training for teaching job skills to supported workers…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to describe the organization of workplace learning in Finnish polytechnics, the models that have been developed for this purpose, and the challenges presented. Design/methodology/approach: First, the models for embedding workplace learning in the curriculum are described and analysed. Second, the conflicting…

This working paper serves as a preview of the second in a series of four policy briefs that will explore the nexus between postsecondary education and workforce development. The completed policy brief will focus on a number of questions about California's workforce and examine economic and workforce trends in California, including projected…

Informal workplace trainers help employees learn what they need to know and do in order to get their job done. Little is known about the actions of informal workplace trainers, who may be colleagues or supervisors. This study provides an empirical basis for actions undertaken by informal workplace trainers. A total of 350 Australian enterprises…

Women's care work sits on the boundary between unpaid work in the private domain and poorly paid, low-status work in the public sphere. It continues to be a site for the expression of complex, high-level knowledge and skills, and of ongoing gender oppression. The aged-care industry is a particularly salient example of such work. It is a…

Utah's Custom Fit Program (CFP) was reviewed in an attempt to evaluate a complex program. CFP provides funding to train employees of private businesses. In general, classroom training and on-the-job training for up to 500 hours is provided to full-time, entry-level employees of companies creating new jobs in Utah. Little legislative guidance had…

A community television project in La Rouge, Saskatchewan is used as a "mirror" instead of a tool -- not to tell people what to think or what should happen -- but what is. (AH)

Describes a job-related foreign language course given to airline employees. Course objectives, course structure, and validation and evaluation procedures are discussed. (PM)