Job-specific Training Research Articles

Grassroots ergonomics: initiating an ergonomics program utilizing participatory techniques

The introduction of ergonomics programs throughout the world requires an easy to understand and inexpensive process. Participatory ergonomic intervention techniques have proven to be beneficial in the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders. The participatory approach to ergonomics has also been found to be a useful application within industrialized (developed) countries and industrially developing countries (IDCs). Grassroots Ergonomics principles utilize expertise within a workforce that focuses on participatory ergonomics interpretations of quantitative and qualitative risk and exposure assessment information that in turn results in a peer-developed ergonomics training. Regardless of the intricacy of the exposure assessment tools, workers should fully assist in gathering and analyzing data, then in identifying and implementing solutions. A coordinated and multidisciplinary application of this approach within IDCs would succeed in the creation and sharing of job-specific ergonomics training information for high physical exposure professions, such as agriculture, fishing, forestry, mining, and small-scale enterprises, to initiate ergonomics programs regionally.

Small Colleges May Lead the Way in Curriculum for the 21st Century

As we barrel toward the 21st century, we must ask ourselves how to look in the mirror with a clear conscience. The more difficult question, however, may be how to tell classrooms of eager, naive, would-be communications professionals that the courses we have offered for the past 30 years will adequately prepare them for their futures. The students come with clear visions of wealth and fame and fuzzy understandings of history--dreaming their futures in MTV-inspired visual images. They have much to learn, and we must examine how we approach them. Just by being there with our professorial status, we encourage them, or merely allow them, to coast toward the front lines of journalism--a field most of us have abandoned in frustration or disillusionment. We gained our professional credentials with the energy of our youth, climbed the ladder to the extent of our talent or ambition or perseverance, and finally opted for something less intense and probably more profitable as our desire for middle-aged comfort, adult furniture, and off-duty holidays increased. And now, we stand before them clinging to the belief that journalism provides a vital support to our democracy as waves of shallow reporting, horse-race analysis, choking cynicism, and profit-driven presentations dilute our words and our faith and hope for the future. Our personal frustrations are not, however, the end of our problems. Lee Becker's annual studies at Ohio State University continue to pound us with the message that journalism and mass communication graduates are not doing so well. Graduates are not finding the jobs they prepare for, and are losing ground financially. Yet we continue to spoon from the plate of staples we've been serving for decades: industry-specific courses such as broadcast announcing, advertising campaigns, radio and TV production I and II, and sales management. In fact, for most students, job specific training is a poor use of time. Learning to operate a studio camera takes away valuable time needed to sort through, organize, and analyze the mountains of information now available with the click of a mouse. The warnings about industry sequences were sounded long ago in the widely heralded--but generally disregarded--Oregon Report. The grim reaper has already appeared at several universities. And still students come with their Dan Rather/Diane Sawyer visions of fame and wealth. More than 400 accredited communication programs enroll close to 140,000 students, mostly in curricular paths long viewed as passageways to dream jobs in the Big Four--print and broadcast journalism, advertising, and public relations. Yet, despite the new evidence in support of old warnings, our curriculums continue to offer narrow, industry-oriented sequences. For a time, sequences aimed at newspaper, television, or ad agencies served students well. Earlier in the century, reporters, public relations or advertising specialists, even TV anchors, might spend an entire career with one company, but today's pattern often requires changing both job and location to climb the career ladder. Increasingly, skill changes are required as well, and corporate downsizing will continue to put a premium on people who can perform numerous tasks. For example, TV reporters are now facing the prospects of editing their own stories on computer while newspaper journalists are being asked to present stories for cable newscasts. Public relations departments invariably deal with video production. In the future, skills in preparing newspaper layouts, advertising campaigns, and public relations materials will be interchangeable, grounded in the fundamental understanding of design, persuasion, and computers. If we teach communications solely to bring home a paycheck, we can continue to coast along. But if our mission truly is to prepare students for 21st century careers and for a future filled with jobs that don't currently exist, we must make some changes. The narrow model is out of date. …

The Impact of Credentials, Skill Levels, Worker Training, and Motivation on Employment Outcomes: Sorting Out the Implications for Economic Development Policy

It has long been clear that increased education is associated with improved employment outcomes. However, the reason for this relationship is not fully understood. The purpose of this research was to examine the relative impact of general skill level, job-specific training, credentials, and motivation on employment outcomes for labor market entrants who have recently finished their education. The data for the study were drawn from the 1986 follow-up of the High School and Beyond longitudinal survey sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. The sample consisted of 1980 high school seniors and sophomores who were interviewed first in 1980 and reinterviewed every two years thereafter to 1986. The research findings are examined for their implications for economic development policy.

Women's Employment During Pregnancy and After the First Birth: Occupational Characteristics and Work Commitment

Using data on womens employment in the US the authors examined the argument that predominantly occupations attract women because they are relatively easy to combine with family responsibilities. Some traditionally female occupations offer relatively low penalties for labor force withdrawal but others reduce the costs of employment to mothers by facilitating the combination of worker and mother roles. The authors test the hypothesis that a womans response to the characteristics of her occupation and to other factors depends on her preference for employment vs homemaking over the long run. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth in the US the analysis focuses on the period from the year prior to the 1st birth through the 2 years following the birth as a time of maximum conflict between employment and childrearing. The authors find no effect of occupational sex composition on the likelihood that prospective or recent mothers are employed. Occupational characteristics that raise the cost of labor force withdrawal (high education high wages and job-specific training) tend to decrease the probability of womens withdrawal from work as do nonmonetary occupational characteristics. All women are influenced by the cost of labor force withdrawal but women with low work commitment are also influenced by financial pressures and convenience of the work setting. (authors)

The Dynamics of Reference Librarianship

The reference environment is constantly changing and hence there is a growing concern for improving the quality of service. Job specific training is an important and viable option for improving these services. This training should be organized and continuing. Basic steps for such a program include (1) providing a positive environment for learning (2) initiating a good orientation program, (3) undertaking a needs assessment, (4) selecting approriate training methods, (5) selecting trainers, (6) selecting those to be trained, and (7) continuously evaluating the results of the program. Examples of topics for training include traditional reference sources. However, the tremendous impact of computer technology on librarianship has necessitated the need for technical training on a multitude of computer systems.

Ergonomics, legislation and productivity in manual materials handling

Abstract Manual-handling-related injuries remain a fairly high and constant proportion of all injuries at work in Australia. To assist in reducing the number and severity of these injuries, the Occupational Health and Safety Manual Handling Regulations 1988, came into effect in February 1989 in the state of Victoria. The regulations do not specify any weight limits but require employers to ‘assess and control risks arising from manual handling activities in workplaces’. The regulations are supplemented by a code of practice to provide practical guidance in the three stages of risk identification, assessment and control. There is a risk-identification checklist and the assessment is based on the NIOSH formula and factors by means of a calculated weight table. Risk control establishes a priority order of job redesign, mechanical aids and specific training. Practical examples illustrate the processes, and the possible control options. The positive role that ergonomics can play in solutions and improving productivity is discussed.

Identifying the gaps between education and training

This paper discusses some of the issues concerning education in the academic environment and training in the industrial work environment. Recent college graduates, “new-hires”, must realize as they enter the workforce, that even though they have completed four year degree programs, they are beginning at an entry-level position. They will need job specific training to make them productive software engineers from their employer's perspective. The aspects of distinguishing between education and training are discussed along with an understanding of how college prepares graduates for employment in the computer industry; specifically, the field of military software development as developed at Texas Instruments.

Labor Turnover, Job-Specific Skills, and Efficiency in a Search Model

This paper analyzes the implications for turnover of costly job-specific training. The presence of such costs in a search model implies that turnover decisions reduce the value of potential trades that are available to other market participants. There is too much turnover because of this external effect, and, therefore, too much retraining. When the investment in job training is endogenous, inefficient turnover again occurs, and the investment in specific skills is inefficiently high. The interactions between skill acquisition and turnover imply that it is essentially impossible for a brokerage institution to achieve efficiency.

The School Relations Bureau

A number of police-school liaison efforts have been reported, many of which focus on delinquency prevention and improved police-youth relations. This paper presents a general rationale for police prevention-diversion programs and describes a three-year project in which police teams were assigned to schools. Program features included job-specific training, supervision and consultation by a full-time psychologist, and numerous informal police-youth contacts. Student and teacher acceptance was high, most officers successfully moved into helping roles, and several specific benefits accrued to students.