Job Tasks Research Articles

Significance of Blooms Taxonomy in Tartary Education A Case Study in the Maritime Industry

The maritime education is a modern, highly technical, professional discipline. The shipping industry requires a workforce with a great deal of skill, knowledge and expertise. Modern ships are equipped with very sophisticated toots, but having great tools is not productive unless the employees know the best way to use them. Unlike in most job tasks ashore, seafarers need high level of competence to ensure safe, secure and clean shipping industry. This paper discuss about the significance of Blooms Taxonomy in the maritime education and training. The action words of the revised taxonomy considers the cognitive processes to enhance the effectiveness of teaching and training methods. The verbs used in this taxonomy refers to the intended cognitive process that the trainer expects as the result of the educational activities.

Effectiveness of a competence‐based planting support training programme for development agents in Ethiopia

AbstractCompetence‐based education and training (CBE/T) has been implemented in Ethiopia to develop the competences of (future) professionals and to improve their performance. However, empirical evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness of CBE/T is scarce. Positioning the study within the theory of strategic alignment and comprehensive competence‐based training, we used the authentic core job task ‘On‐Site Helping of Farmers during the Planting of Maize’, of Development Agents as problem context and conducted an experimental‐longitudinal research study including multirater performance assessment. The study compared competence development of the Development Agents who received training that could be characterized as ‘High‐CBT’ (N = 33) and ‘Low‐CBT’ (N = 32). ‘High‐CBT’ means that in these training programmes, principles of competence‐based training were used more completely than in the ‘Low‐CBT’ programmes. Experts rated the competence levels of the Development Agents and Development Agents rated their own competence levels. Both groups did that before and after the training. Individual Development Agent performance was also rated by Trained Assessors. Longitudinally, Development Agent performance data was collected during one production year at three points in time. Development Agent's competence development in the ‘High‐CBT’ training condition was higher than in the ‘Low‐CBT’ condition. Observations made on each Development Agent's performance by Trained Assessors both in the Farmer Training Centres and in the authentic job situations, generally confirmed better performance of the ‘High‐CBT’ group compared with the ‘Low‐CBT’ group. The finding contributes to the state of research on the relationship between competence development and performance improvement, which is theoretically postulated although less empirically tested.

Criminal Justice Students’ Perceptions of Their Future Careers

This study examines how criminal justice majors taking courses during the COVID-19 pandemic perceive their future careers. These expectations are compared to those of students majoring in lab sciences and non-lab fields. Variation by race and ethnicity are also assessed. Data were obtained from 188 undergraduate students at a single institution in Spring 2021 and Fall 2021 using an online survey. Results indicated that students’ estimates of their future salaries and job availability were accurate to current labor market conditions. Hispanics anticipated higher salaries and more salary growth than non-Hispanics. Criminal justice majors were attracted to jobs based on potential to help others, challenge, job tasks, salary, and the fun, thrill, or excitement of the job. Health majors were more drawn to features like salary and job availability. Criminal justice students were more likely than others to note power as well as prestige, recognition, or status as appealing job features.

The Impact of Workplace Fun towards Employee’s Working Attitudes at Japanese Companies in Indonesia

Japanese companies strongly implement the Japanese management style, which values time, rules, and seniority. Fun is often considered as irrelevant to work. At work, employees need to be serious,, and fun is perceived to hinder performance. However, contrary to the general view, fun is an important aspect for the employees during their working process. Fun can bring positive consequences to the organization. This study tries to examine the effect of fun at work on Job Satisfaction, Task Performance, and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour. The respondents are 141 employees working in Japanese companies in Indonesia, and the data processing and analysis process is performed using SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) method. The result of this study supports the previous preposition that fun can create positive consequences to work. Thus, fun is a relevant aspect in the workplace.

Occupational safety and health hazards associated with the slaughtering and meat processing industry in urban areas of Zimbabwe: A case study of the Gweru city Municipal Abattoir

This study examined occupational safety and health hazards associated with the slaughtering and meat processing industry in the Gweru City Municipal abattoir in Zimbabwe. Qualitative and quantitative research designs were employed. The study population involved all the 23 workers including flayers and labourers who are directly involved in slaughtering and meat processing. Data was collected with questionnaire administration, interviews and field observations. Safety and health hazards associated with slaughtering and meat processing at the abattoir included physical, biological, ergonomic, mechanical, environmental and food safety hazards, all with the risk of causing significant harm to the workers. The lack of experience on job operations was one of the key risk factors increasing the likelihood of workers getting injured and increased frequency of injuries. Workers who had more working years at the abattoir encountered injuries less frequently than those who had fewer working years. The abattoir’s occupational safety and health management system was not effective in solving safety and health risks and required improvement. One effective way that can be implemented is to establish a stand-alone safety, health and environment department within the Gweru City Council to give priority to occupational safety and health issues. Training programmes for workers and management on safety and health are recommended to improve workers’ skills on job tasks, hazard identification, and risk assessment and to improve workers’ behaviour as well as to enhance awareness on safety and health among management, which ultimately improves management commitments.

Towards a Holistic Framework of Knowledge Worker Productivity

Many jobs today are predominantly knowledge work. This makes organizations dependent on value created by knowledge workers (KWs). Many of the initiatives to improve and manage knowledge worker productivity (KWP) give unpredictable results depending on factors that are often hidden and unknown. It is important to find a holistic approach to improve and manage KWP that gives consistent results across many different organizations. This paper takes us a step closer towards that objective by mapping insights gained from a systematic literature review to activities in a purposeful activity model of the individual KW at work and, based on the findings, proposing a draft of a holistic KWP framework. The main components of the framework are the state of the individual KW, work done and outcome. The systematic literature review searched for papers with topics that touched on approaches, frameworks, tools, or models which aim to tackle the productivity, performance, effectiveness, efficiency, or management of KWs. Relevant concepts were extracted from each paper and categorized into groups. Twelve groups were formed of which six consisted of concepts relevant to individual KWs and their work: organizational commitment and engagement, communication and relationships, personal characteristics and development, personal knowledge management, well-being and job satisfaction and task approach.

COVID-19 in the Construction Sector

This section analyzes the influence of COVID-19 in the construction sector. Construction workers’ high vulnerability to the spread of the virus motivated this entry. The construction sector’s peculiarities and some work procedure characteristics in this sector make telecommuting impossible in most activities. In addition, most of the states and national governments declared the construction sector essential activity due to its high economic impact. The working conditions in this sector are very special: constant trips to work in groups, work group execution with little interpersonal distance, group travel, stays and accommodations away from home, meals in restaurants or work canteens, lunch in restaurants or work canteens, etc. Due to all of this, the contagion rate was very high during the pandemic months. Even today, it is still considered one of the most dangerous sectors for these purposes. With all this in mind, here we discuss why it is difficult to minimize the spread of the virus for construction workers, summarize how to assess exposure risk grades for construction job tasks, and provide possible protection requirements for the different exposure risk grades.

Validity Evidence of Brazilian Portuguese Version of the Professional Fulfillment Index.

The questionnaire "Professional Fulfillment Index" (PFI) was validated to assess emotional exhaustion, interpersonal disengagement, and professional achievement among physicians. This study presents the process of cross-cultural adaptation of the PFI to the Brazilian context. Analytical cross-sectional study carried out between July and October 2020. Settings: For conceptual equivalence, a panel of experts was constituted who conducted analyzes on the translation and back-translation processes from English to Brazilian Portuguese. For the operational equivalence, 432 physicians in the field of Occupational Medicine were invited. They answered the PFI in an online platform. Analysis: Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were performed to seek evidence of the hypothesized structure of PFI item responses. Reliability was assessed using three indicators. The Brazilian version can be considered similar to the original. Most of participants were female (57.6%) and mean age 49.6years-SD 14.0. The mean time since graduation was 18.5years-SD 9.67. Most of them had a full-time job (88.0%) and were trained through post-graduation courses 83.8%. The most frequent job task was to perform worker´s clinical evaluations (84.9%). Exploratory and confirmatory analyzes showed the adequacy of the items in measuring the instrument's construct, with stability for use in other populations and samples. The PFI was developed to evaluate positive and negative aspects of physicians' role and performance. The process described in this article was the first cross-cultural adaptation of the questionnaire. The PFI can help in mapping potential risk situations for negative impacts on physicians' occupational well-being and performance at work, in order to propose interventions that reduce exhaustion and expand professional fulfillment.

Job satisfaction, performance appraisal, reinforcement and job tasks in medical healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

Medical healthcare profession is under immense stress since the COVID‐19 pandemic outbreak on global scale, and medical healthcare professionals are enduring occupational challenges which entail frontline and non‐frontline duties, appraisal and satisfaction with their job. The present study examined perceived job satisfaction as a mediating variable that affects the relationship between performance appraisal and reinforcement on performing job tasks among medical healthcare professionals during COVID‐19. A sample (N = 550) was selected from public and private hospitals' medical healthcare professionals (n = 300 males, and n = 250 females). The results showed that perceived job satisfaction mediates the relationship between performance appraisal and reinforcement on job tasks in medical healthcare professionals. This study could help stakeholders, medical board regulations, mental health practitioners, employers and employees to increment sources which could establish feasible healthcare planning and management. The study has significant implications in mental healthcare, crisis management, human resource planning, effective performance and improvement in well‐being of medical workforce's psychological health.

Exploratory Field Testing of Passive Exoskeletons in Several Manufacturing Environments: Perceived Usability and User Acceptance

OCCUPATIONAL APPLICATIONS Results of the current exploratory study suggest that use of an exoskeleton (EXO) has the potential to be accepted by workers as an intervention in diverse manufacturing environments. Also evident were that the major factors contributing to EXO-use-intention are perceived comfort, task-technology fit, perceived safety, and perceived usefulness. A user’s perception of perceived usability may be established by using an exoskeleton during actual job tasks, yet some aspects of perceived usability likely require multiple exposures to an EXO for an accurate assessment. Many negative comments regarding EXO use were related to physical constraints (e.g., restricted movements, bulkiness), and to the EXO interface (e.g., straps, cuff designs), suggesting a need for further research on EXO design to minimize discomfort. In practice, there is likely value in having workers use and explore candidate EXOs during their actual job, both to accurately assess the usefulness of an EXO and to find the most effective EXO.

Job tasks and cognitive skill accumulation

ABSTRACT Individuals’ cognitive skills can be improved through learning by doing various tasks at work. We report the results of studying rich information on job tasks performed at the individual level based on three measures of job task complexity: (i) overall job complexity, (ii) analytical task intensity, and (iii) interactive task intensity. Controlling for task selection, we show that both overall job task complexity and analytical tasks can contribute to the development of a worker’s cognitive skills, while interactive tasks play a less significant role. Furthermore, we find that complex job tasks can offset the effect of aging on cognitive functioning. We show the implications of our research results for work design, cognitive interventions, and retirement policies.

Return to Work Self-Efficacy (RTWSE-19) Assessment for Patients with Acute Work-Related Low Back Pain

Nurse practitioners (NPs) often see patients with occupational back pain. Research indicates that hesitation to return to work (RTW) is largely due to perceptions of being unable to resume job tasks or meet expectations. This pilot study evaluates whether the Return-to-Work Self-Efficacy–19 (RTWSE-19) questionnaire, which has been used for injuries at other anatomical sites, is appropriate for lower back pain. The RTWSE-19 was administered to 30 patients who presented with a complaint of an acute work-related back pain; however, it was found to be nonpredictive of RTW, suggesting that NPs should identify other tools to assess their patients’ ability to RTW.

Work Related Musculoskeletal Risk Assessment Using REBA Assessment Tool in a Medical Doctor during COVID-19 Pandemic - A Case Study

Purpose: A case study was done to analyze the risk of work related musculoskeletal disorder due to poor ergonomics using REBA assessment tool in Medical Doctor. Design/Methodology/Approach: The researchers use the descriptive research methodology to understand all the activities required in meeting the objectives of the study. The working position of the doctor is described factually and accurately based on the interviews, observation and evaluation. Overall musculoskeletal Pain was analyzed using the Numerical pain rating scale (NRS), and the level of musculoskeletal disorder risk for the job task being evaluated by Rapid Entire Body Assessment tool (REBA). Thus, this design may help to uncover new facts, about the risk of musculoskeletal disorder and importance of ergonomics in medical doctors especially during covid -19 pandemic. Data obtained from the study are recorded, described, and analyzed for comparison and further analysis. The main respondents of the study were a medical doctor who visited physiotherapy out - patient department due to musculoskeletal pain. Finding/Result: This case study has proven that the medical doctors, especially during covid – 19 pandemic are exposed to high risks of musculoskeletal disorders due to their poor ergonomics. So, it is important to give proper guidance in good ergonomics and ergonomically correct workstation to avoid the risk of musculoskeletal disorders among medical doctors. Originality/Value: An ergonomic dimension of this study. Paper Type: Case Study Research Keywords: Ergonomics, Covid -19, Work -Related Musculoskeletal Disorder, REBA, Medical Doctor.

Exposure and work-related factors in subjects with hand eczema: Data from a cross-sectional questionnaire within the Lifelines Cohort Study.

BackgroundHand eczema (HE) is the most frequently occurring occupational skin disease. However, studies on non‐occupational wet exposure, occupations not considered as high‐risk, and socioeconomic factors regarding HE are scarce.ObjectivesTo investigate the association between HE and occupational and non‐occupational wet exposure and work‐related factors in the Dutch general population.MethodsWithin the Lifelines Cohort Study, participants with HE were identified by a digital, add‐on questionnaire that included questions regarding exposure. Data on work‐related and socioeconomic factors were collected from baseline.ResultsOverall, 57 046 participants (42.0%) were included. Occupational and non‐occupational wet exposure were positively associated with HE in the past year (odds ratios (ORs) 1.35, [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.22–1.49] and 1.34, [95%CI: 1.17‐1.53], respectively). Positive associations for high‐risk occupations (OR 1.20, [95%CI: 1.06‐1.36] for personal care workers in health services and OR 1.25, [95%CI: 1.06‐1.48] for nursing and midwifery professionals), occupations not considered as high‐risk (OR 1.19, [95%CI: 1.03‐1.39] for legal, social and religious associate professionals) and higher levels of education were found (OR 1.17, [95%CI: 1.04‐1.32] and OR 1.18, [95%CI: 1.04‐1.34] for middle and high level, respectively).ConclusionPreventive strategies for HE should focus on avoidance of all wet exposure, regardless of origin. In addition, job tasks instead of job title should be taken into account. As previous results on the association between HE and socioeconomic factors differ, future research should focus on a uniform definition of socioeconomic status.

Wellbeing During a Crisis: A Longitudinal Study of Local Government Civil Servants

The COVID-19 crisis has affected numerous areas of civil servants’ working life. We investigate, using the JD-R model, the impact of the current crisis on civil servants’ wellbeing. Furthermore, we argue that the COVID-19 pandemic might have different consequences for civil servants with various role perceptions. We distinguish between traditional, NPM, and NPG civil servants. A longitudinal survey ( N = 569) has shown that: (a) wellbeing decreased over a 6-months period; (b) job demands, including work pressure and work-life disbalance, negatively influence wellbeing; and job resources, including autonomy, task variety, and social support, positively influence wellbeing. In terms of personal resources, self-efficacy positively influences wellbeing; and (c) civil servants’ role perception directly influences wellbeing. Although the effect is small, we found an interaction effect in the relation between leader support and burnout for NPG civil servants. The consequences of these findings for HR strategies related to civil servants’ wellbeing are discussed.

Unfair, uncertain, and unwilling: How decision-making unfairness and unclear job tasks reduce problem-focused voice behavior, unless there is task conflict

In an attempt to expand extant literature devoted to employees' voice behavior, the current research unpacks the connection between their experience of procedural unfairness, such that organizational decision-making lacks transparency, and their problem-focused voice behavior. In this link, the authors predict that job ambiguity functions as a mediator, and coworker task conflict takes a moderating role. Survey data, collected among employees in a large Portuguese retail organization, affirm that perceptions about unfair decision policies can curtail employees’ propensities to raise their voice about organizational failures, because they develop the belief that their employer is failing to provide sufficient job-related information. If they can exchange conflicting viewpoints with others though, this detrimental process might not proceed. Organizations should take care to avoid accusations of unclear job roles, because they create a route by which frustrations about opaque decision-making can escalate into employee complacency; they also should encourage productive idea clashes within their ranks to help block that route.

Data Services Librarians’ Responsibilities and Perspectives on Research Data Management

This study of data services librarians is part of a series of studies examining the current roles and perspectives on Research Data Management (RDM) services in higher education. Reviewing current best practices provides insights into the role-based responsibilities for RDM services that data services librarians perform, as well as ways to improve and create new services to meet the needs of their respective university communities. Objectives: The objectives of this article are to provide the context of research data services through a review of past studies, explain how they informed this qualitative study, and provide the methods and results of the current study. This study provides an in-depth overview of the overall job responsibilities of data services librarians and as well as their perspectives on RDM through job analyses. Methods: Job analysis interviews provide insight and context to the tasks employees do as described in their own words. Interviews with 10 data services librarians recruited from the top 10 public and top 10 private universities according to the 2020 Best National University Rankings in the US News and World Reports were asked 30 questions concerning their overall job tasks and perspectives on RDM. Five public and five private data services librarians were interviewed. The interviews were recorded and transcribed. The transcriptions were analyzed in NVivo using a grounded theory application of open, axial, and selective coding to generate categories and broad themes based on the responses using synonymous meanings. Results: The results presented here provide the typical job tasks of data services librarians that include locating secondary data, reviewing data management plans (DMPs), conducting outreach, collaborating, and offering RDM training. Fewer data services librarians assisted with data curation or manage an institutional repository. Discussion: The results indicate that there may be different types of data services librarians depending on the mix of responsibilities. Academic librarianship will benefit from further delineation of job titles using tasks while planning, advertising, hiring, and evaluating workers in this emerging area. There remain many other explorations needed to understand the challenges and opportunities for data services librarians related to RDM. Conclusions: This article concludes with a proposed matrix of job tasks that indicates different types of data services librarians to inform further study. Future job descriptions, training, and education will all benefit from differentiating between the many associated research data services roles and with increased focus on research data greater specializations will emerge.

Research on job crafting from the perspective of sustainable career: Motivation, paths and intervention mechanisms

<p id=C6>In the era of career boundarylessness, facing with the ever-weaker linkage between individuals and organizations, individuals have to initiate the tasks of self-career management to actively respond to the development and changes of occupational environment. Job crafting are bottom-to-top behaviors which help to actively change the boundaries of resources and daily tasks. Since in relevant with people’s autonomy and the improvement of internal resources and recognitions, job crating behaviors should be potential ways for realizing career sustainable development. However, job crating contains personal resource consuming and reinvest as well. The way people define their value resources determine their job crating motivations and paths. Prior literature mainly limited to the influences of job crating in within organizational context, and research on internal motivational antecedents is relatively insufficient and ignoring the explorations of why and how individuals craft their jobs. In this respect, the study here considers the interactive linkages between individuals’ occupation and daily work behaviors and proposes series of theoretical framework. Specifically, based on 3 successive sub-studies, we explore the potential motivations, paths and intervention mechanisms for individuals to gain sustainable competitive advantages through daily work. In study 1, we stick to the individual’s role of ‘central career agent’ in achieving sustainable career, and define the concept and measurement structure of career sustainability from perspectives of recognition, career development cycles, and individual as well as environmental resources. Meanwhile, grounded in prior literature and longitudinal empirical results, we reveal the potential influencing factors (i.e., demographic variables and personality traits) and dynamic development mechanisms of career sustainability. The effect paths of career sustainability on the occupational proactive behaviors (i.e. job crafting) are discussed as well. In Study 2, we focus the driven-force of job crafting and the driven outcome. Strong career sustainability captures plentiful skills and abilities to continuously respond to changes, which is conductive to the adjustment of job tasks and roles, and therefore should be the motive factor of job crafting. What’s more, based on conservation of resource theory, individuals have the innate motivation to protect and expand their value resources. Nevertheless, value resource differs across individuals and thus influence the investment directions and scale. We contend that individuals with high level of career sustainability, tend to more value the importance of sustainable career development, and consequently are more likely to craft their jobs toward the ways of achieving sustainable career. According to social cognitive theory, the cognition of individuals’ self-ability influences their behavior tendencies, and then influence the follow-up actual behaviors as well as the results of those behavior. Therefore, along with the improvement of career sustainability, the enhanced protean career orientation would directly influence the direction and strength of individuals’ job crafting. Consequently, the dynamic rising closed loop of career sustainability to career sustainability which linked by job crafting forms, which delineate the influence paths from individuals’ job crating to their sustainable career development at the same time. Rooted in the cross-level data which collected from multi waves, study 3 explores the influences of organizational career management supports on career sustainability and job crafting, and thus to interpret the vertical intervention mechanism of job crafting behaviors at organizational level. Formal and informal organizational career management tactics are compared base on quasi-experiments so that to provide theoretical references for managerial practitioners. Moreover, considering that individuals’ daily workplace behaviors (i.e., job crating) indirectly reflect the career value and professional abilities, the present study also offers theoretical implications from perspectives of sustainable career. Firstly, through testing the change and development of job crating, and exploring and motive (protean career orientation) and ability factors (career sustainability), we respond to the calls of exploring job crating motivations from career perspective. Secondly, we test the boost power of job crafting in the improvement of career sustainability, and expand the outcome variables of job crafting to the career horizon. Lastly, we build the theoretical framework of organizational job crating intervention, and expand the application boundaries of organizational career management supports based on empirical and quasi-experimental research. The conclusions here provide strategic bases for individuals to achieve sustainable career development and organizations to carry out win-win career management support.

Effectiveness of a peer-mediated intervention on job and social skills for students with intellectual disability: a pilot study

Building foundational job and social skills for high school students with intellectual disability (ID) is critical for post-school employment success. Unfortunately, students with ID often experience limited opportunities to learn and hone these skills while in school. One way to build job and social skills are through a peer-mediated intervention (PMI) in a work-based learning experience (WBLE). A multiple-baseline design across participant dyads with generalization probes was used to investigate the effects of implementing a PMI on job and social skills for students with ID in a WBLE. Results showed that participants demonstrated improvements in job task independence and social interactions. Furthermore, social interaction quality improved after implementing the PMI for most dyads. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.

A novel independent job rescheduling strategy for cloud resilience in the cloud environment

Purpose Although proactive fault handling plans are widely spread, many unexpected data center outages still occurred. To rescue the jobs from faulty data centers, the authors propose a novel independent job rescheduling strategy for cloud resilience to reschedule the task from the faulty data center to other working-proper cloud data centers, by jointly considering job nature, timeline scenario and overall cloud performance. Design/methodology/approach A job parsing system and a priority assignment system are developed to identify the eligible time slots for the jobs and prioritize the jobs, respectively. A dynamic job rescheduling algorithm is proposed. Findings The simulation results show that our proposed approach has better cloud resiliency and load balancing performance than the HEFT series approaches. Originality/value This paper contributes to the cloud resilience by developing a novel job prioritizing, task rescheduling and timeline allocation method when facing faults.