Volume 13 Issue 4 of Journal of Workplace Learning: Employee Counselling
Today, is now available via the Emerald Library.
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Table of contents follows :-
Title: Competencies and workplace learning: some reflections on the
rhetoric and the reality
Author: Thomas N Garavan (Senior Lecturer in the Department of Personnel
and Employment Relations at the University of Limerick) and David McGuire
The use of competency frameworks as a basis for workplace learning
initiatives is now relatively commonplace in organisations. This is
reflected in the emphasis given to competencies in the HRD literature.
However, the terrain of the competency discussion is somewhat ill-defined.
This article attempts to define the context within which the value of
competencies as a basis for workplace learning can be considered and
discusses the philosophical and epistemological perspectives found in much
of the literature. Competency definition and competency measurement issues
are explored, as is a range of other issues concerning the value of
competencies in a workplace learning context. The article concludes that, in
the interests of clarity, consistency and reliability of measurement,
consensus needs to be reached on the basic parameters and definition of
competency.
Keywords: Competencies
Pages: 144-164
Keywords: Competencies; Workplace learning; Human resource development;
Competency framework
Article Type: Theoretical with worked example
Quality Indicators: Research - ** Practice - ** Originality - **
Readability - *
Title: Staff meetings: an opportunity for accelerated training of
employees
Author: Sherry A Pattison
Pages: 172-179
Keywords: Training techniques; Meetings; Learning styles
Article Type: Case study
Quality Indicators: Research - * Practice - ** Originality - **
Readability - **
Authors:
Gail Kinman is a Lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Psychology,
University of Luton, UK; and Russell Kinman is a member of the management
team of Luton Business School, UK
Title: The role of motivation to learn in management education
Recent research indicates that UK companies value employees who have the
capabilities that a �traditional� academic education aims to engender
(Harvey et al., 1997). This suggests a recognition by employers that
degree-level education develops the knowledge and skills required of
individuals to develop and sustain a �learning� organisational culture. The
competitive advantage of the learning organisation is well recognised as one
of the ways of ensuring survival in an increasingly turbulent global
industrial environment. The most successful corporations of the future will
be �generative� learning organisations � capable of continuous change and
improvement, through gaining insight and understanding from experience
(Senge, 1990; McGill et al., 1992).
In order to help foster a learning environment, as well as recruiting more
graduates, UK employers are seeking to provide post-experience, degree-level
education for the high proportion of managers who have no such qualification
(Salaman and Butler, 1995). There are problems, however, with the
traditional model of degree-level education which render it less than
satisfactory for continuing management education: first, regular release of
valuable employees to attend university is disruptive and costly for
organisations; second, the entire educational process (including curriculum
design) is controlled by an external agency likely to deliver, in the minds
of some employers, an education �couched at too high a level of generality
to provide practical guidance to the manager� (Hickie and Sawkins, 1996, p.
6).
In order to address these perceived shortcomings, a growing number of UK
companies are discovering the value of operating �in-house� part-time degree
programmes for their managers. These allow for greater influence on the part
of the company over where, when, what and how the manager learns, and
provide greater synergy between work roles and an academic curriculum. For
their part, as they endeavour to retain their present role in management
education, universities are seeking to develop or �translate� the curriculum
to meet the requirements of industry (Portwood, 1993). There is, however, a
growing recognition by stakeholders that it is necessary to achieve a
balance between the practical immediacy of knowledge and the necessary
adaptability to meet changing work practices and future market skills needs
(Davies and Csete, 1998). An increasingly popular route to achieve these
objectives is the integration of the curriculum into the daily work of
employees through �work-based� learning. As this model requires students to
negotiate their own learning programmes and apply their theoretical learning
to workplace realities, work-based learning is thought likely to develop
autonomous, life-long learners who can acquire personal meaning from
theoretical concepts, solve problems creatively, and prioritise and
re-prioritise goals (Pillay and Boles, 1998).
The advantages of a learning organisation are widely acknowledged, but
several difficulties and obstacles to its development have also been
highlighted (for example, McGill et al., 1992; Henderson, 1997). Whilst
curriculum content, mode of delivery and style of assessment will be central
to the development of life-long learning skills, characteristics of the
organisation and its managers are also likely to impact on learning
outcomes. It will be argued in this paper that of crucial importance to the
outcomes of academic programmes are managers� attitudes to learning � in
particular, their motivational orientation to learn.
Pages: 132-144
Keywords: Management learning; Workplace learning; Learning styles;
Motivation
Article Type: Theoretical with worked example
Quality Indicators: Research - ** Practice - ** Originality - ***
Readability - **
Title: Some intervening and local factors among shift workers in a
developing country - Bangladesh
Author: M Rabiul Ahasan; Donna Campbell; Alan Salmoni; John Lewko
Pages: 164-172
Keywords: Shiftwork; Patterns of work; Bangladesh; Culture; Children
Article Type: Theoretical with worked example
Quality Indicators: Research - * Practice - ** Originality - **
Readability - *
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Cybercollegially,
Charles Wankel
mg-ed-dv discussion fomenter
wankelc@stjohns.edu