Utilization Of Skills Research Articles

A checklist for facilitating training transfer in organizations

Organizations leverage training as a means of improving the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of trainees; but, effective training requires that this learning is transferred from the training environment to the actual performance of the work (that is, training transfer). Unfortunately, despite billions of dollars invested in learning each year, the ‘transfer problem’ represents a persistent challenge for organizations who wish to reap the benefits of training in that trained skills are often not used on‐the‐job post‐training. In order to address this issue, we have surveyed the existing research, identified practical considerations for maximizing training transfer, and organized them in the form of a checklist for those who design and deliver training. The checklist provides evidence‐based, actionable guidance for practitioners before, during, and after training program implementation to increase utilization of trained knowledge and skills on the job.

African-American Adolescents’ Weight Loss Skills Utilization: Effects on Weight Change in a Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial

ObjectiveSuccessful weight loss interventions for African-Americans adolescents are lacking. Cognitive-behavioral interventions seek to develop weight loss skills (e.g., counting calories, goal setting, managing one's environment). Little is known about how well adolescents implement such skills in their daily lives. Study aims were to (1) examine weight loss skills utilization at midpoint and end of a 6-month cognitive-behavioral/motivational interviewing weight loss sequential multiple assignment randomized trial (SMART), and (2) determine if greater skill utilization predicted weight loss at treatment end and 3 months post-treatment. MethodOne hundred and eighty six African-Americans adolescents with obesity and their caregiver were first randomly assigned to complete 3 months of cognitive-behavioral and motivational interviewing family-based weight loss treatment in their home or in the research office (Phase 1). Nonresponders (i.e., those who lost < 3% of initial weight, n = 161) were rerandomized to 3 months of continued skills training (n = 83) or contingency management (n = 78) for Phase 2; responders were allocated to 3 months of relapse prevention (n = 20). Adolescents’ frequency of weight loss skills utilization was assessed via questionnaire at treatment midpoint and end. ResultsHigher treatment attendance was associated with better skill utilization. Higher skill utilization was associated with more weight loss at treatment end, whereas higher baseline confidence was associated with more weight loss at follow-up. ConclusionsThis study indicates the importance of attending weight loss intervention sessions to develop and strengthen weight loss skills in African-American adolescents with obesity, and strengthening confidence to use such skills for continued weight loss.

The Human Sustainability of ICT and Management Changes: Evidence for the French Public and Private Sectors

We investigate the human sustainability of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and management changes using a French linked employer-employee survey on organizational changes and computerization. We approach the human sustainability of changes through the evolutions of work intensity, skills utilization, and the subjective relationship to work. We compare in the private sector and the state civil service the impacts of ICT and management changes on the evolution of these three dimensions of work experience. We find that intense ICT and management changes are associated, in the public sector, with work intensification and knowledge increase. In the private sector, ICT and management changes increase the use of skills, but at a rate decreasing with their intensity and without favoring the accumulation of new knowledge. However, their impacts on the subjective relationship to work are much stronger, with public sector employees expressing discouragement, as well as the feeling of an increased effort-reward imbalance when private sector employees become more committed. We find that this divergence is neither explained by the self-selection of employees in the two sectors nor by implementation of performance pay. We identify two partial explanations: one is related to employee turnover in the private sector, the other to the role of trade unions. These results suggest that the human sustainability of ICT and management changes depends on their intensity and on how their implementation takes into account the institutional context of the organization.

A multilevel examination of skills‐oriented human resource management and perceived skill utilization during recession: Implications for the well‐being of all workers

This article examines whether organizations can enhance employee well‐being by adopting human resource management (HRM) practices strategically targeted to improve skill development and deployment in a recessionary context. Employee skill utilization is proposed as the mediating mechanism between HRM practice and well‐being. The role of workplace skill composition is also examined as a boundary condition within which HRM differentially impacts employee outcomes. Using a nationally representative survey of UK workplaces (Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2011) and matched management and employee data, the analysis focused on organizations that had implemented some recessionary action following the 2008–2009 global financial and economic crisis. The findings show that human capital enhancing HRM and enriched job design positively influenced both job satisfaction and work‐related affective well‐being through increased employee skill utilization. Organizations with predominantly high‐skilled workforces were more likely to adopt these skills‐oriented HRM practices. Nevertheless, the effects of HRM on employee outcomes via skill utilization applied across organizations, regardless of workforce skill composition. The findings demonstrate employee skill utilization as a driver of HRM outcomes and the sustainability of “best practice” HRM arguments across all skill levels, even in the face of recession.

Practice Makes Perfect: Student Employee Transferable Skill Utilization in Campus Recreation

Student employment is a vital aspect of development for many college students during their matriculation. This exploratory study examined the self-reported utilization of desirable transferable skills by student employees in a variety of campus recreation settings. A survey of 417 campus recreation student employees was conducted, asking how often different transferable skills were utilized within the course of their employment. While it is recognized that no one environment may be able to provide for all transferable skills, analyses were undertaken with regard to the skills that were reported to be the least utilized (writing and computer skills) in an effort to understand what recreational environments better allow for the ongoing development of these skills and to identify areas of improvement for student employees in campus recreation with regard to transferable skill development.

Academic use of engineering students in first semester systems

The use of learning strategies facilitates the student's formative process, achieving deep learning related to academic performance. The low amount of work on the learning techniques used by students in engineering training contexts was the motivation to carry out this descriptive exploratory study. The level of utilization of learning skills was investigated to 145 first-semester students, taking into account the academic history of the participants and their availability of time to study, assessing the difference in the use of the different study methods. The data on the use of the learning techniques were obtained through the strategy and motivation questionnaire, which was collected with populations of two academic sections, in the year 2017 and 2018. The corresponding statistical analyzes were carried out that allowed having the results according to the effort made, the economic and social characteristics of each student; the design and results of this research explain the levels of use of learning tactics of participating students; It also allows creating the bases to design future educational interventions in order to promote among students the use of learning skills.

How to Do Corporate Volunteering Right – Investigating the Optimal Design of Volunteering Programs

Corporate volunteering is the most rapidly growing form of corporate citizenship, but still, many questions concerning the design of these corporate volunteering programs and their effect on employees’ intention to participate remain unanswered. Conceptual academic contributions as well as anecdotal evidence from business practice suggest that skills-based volunteering is superior to other, more traditional, forms of volunteering. However, until now, there is no empirical evidence for these claims. Moreover, the effect of the intensity of company involvement in the volunteering program on volunteers’ intention to participate still remains unclear. This study draws on sensemaking and self-determination theory to investigate the effects of the type of volunteering program (i.e., utilization of professional skills or not) as well as the effect of varying degrees of company involvement in the volunteering program on employees’ intention to participate. The results indeed confirm that employees prefer volunteering programs in which they can dedicate their professional skills and experiences to a good cause. In addition, the results indicate that high levels of company involvement may adversely affect employees’ intention to participate. The implications of these findings for theory, future research on corporate volunteering, and managerial practice are discussed.

Work stress, personality traits, and cortisol secretion: Testing a model for job burnout.

Job stressors can cause a salivary cortisol secretion dysregulation which in turn can lead to burnout. However, job stressors do not induce the same cortisol secretion dysregulation and psychic consequences systematically to all workers. Personality traits may influence job stressor's adaptation. The objectives of this study were (a) to verify the mediating effect cortisol has on the relationship between work conditions and burnout, and (b) to identify the moderate mediation effects that personality traits have on the relationship between work conditions and salivary cortisol secretion. Multilevel regression analyses were carried out on a sample of 352 employees in 34 Québec firms. Saliva samples were collected five times a day (on awakening, 30 minutes after awakening, at 2 p.m., 4 p.m., and bedtime) on three days (1 day off, 2 work days). Work conditions variables comprised skill utilization, decision authority, psychological demands, physical demands, job insecurity, irregular schedules, number of working hours, and social support. Personality traits included self-esteem, locus of control, and the Big Five. Both work conditions and personality traits were assessed with a psychosocial questionnaire. The level of salivary cortisol secretion was negatively associated with burnout. Certain workplace and personality variables had a significant effect on emotional exhaustion (psychological demands was positively associated, social support from supervisors was negatively associated) and on cortisol levels (job insecurity was negatively associated). Cortisol did not play any mediating role in the relationship between work conditions and burnout, which is moderated by personality traits. We conclude that work conditions (skill utilization, decision authority, psychological demands, physical demands, job insecurity, irregular schedules, number of working hours, and social support) and the interaction of personality traits with work conditions have no indirect effects on burnout.

Just-in-time adaptive interventions: A novel approach for enhancing skill utilization and acquisition in cognitive behavioral therapy for eating disorders.

The most widely researched treatment for bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge-eating disorder (BED) is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a present-focused, active, skill-oriented treatment. However, despite the success of CBT, many patients fail to achieve sufficient rates of skill utilization (i.e., the frequency with which a patient practices or uses therapeutic skills) or adequate skill acquisition (i.e., the ability to successfully perform a skill learned in treatment) by the end of treatment and outcomes suffer as a result. One method for improving skill acquisition and utilization in patients with BN or BED could be the augmentation of in-person treatment with just-in-time adaptive interventions (JITAIs), which use smartphone technology to deliver real-time interventions during app-identified moments of need. The current article discusses how novel JITAI systems that utilize machine learning or other predictive algorithms could be used to detect momentary risk for eating disordered behavior and provide tailored interventions to enhance outcomes. We will consider technologies that may help reduce patient burden and suggest avenues for future research on developing acceptable and effective JITAIs that can be used as an adjunct to CBT protocols.

Building resilience: a mental health intervention for Tanzanian youth living with HIV

ABSTRACTDespite a growing population of youth living with HIV, few interventions have been developed to address their unique mental health needs and to promote resilience. Based on our prior needs assessment, a mental health intervention, Sauti ya Vijana (The Voice of Youth), was developed to address identified mental health needs and promote resilience. The intervention emphasized resilience strategies for identifying and coping with stressful events, supporting strong familial and social relationships, and planning for a safe and healthy living environment through stigma reduction, planning for disclosure, and instilling hope for the future. Ten group sessions (two of which were joint youth/caregiver sessions) and two individual sessions were developed around these three resilience domains. Youth living with HIV (average age 17.4 years), who were receiving antiretroviral therapy and attending HIV adolescent clinic in Tanzania were randomized to intervention or treatment as usual. Trained group leaders led the intervention sessions. Near perfect program fidelity by the group leaders and unanimous acceptance of the intervention by the youth was documented. SYV successfully promoted youth resilience as measured by youth-reported utilization of new coping skills, improved peer and caregiver relationships, reduced stigma, and improved confidence to live positively according to their personal values.

Relative Education and the Advantage of a College Degree.

What is the worth of a college degree when higher education expands? The relative education hypothesis posits that when college degrees are rare, individuals with more education have less competition to enter highly-skilled occupations. When college degrees are more common, there may not be enough highly-skilled jobs to go around; some college-educated workers lose out to others and are pushed into less-skilled jobs. Using new measurements of occupation-level verbal, quantitative, and analytic skills, this study tests the changing effect of education on skill utilization across 70 years of birth cohorts from 1971 to 2010, net of all other age, period, and cohort trends. Higher-education expansion erodes the value of a college degree, and college-educated workers are at greater risk for underemployment in less cognitively demanding occupations. This raises questions about the sources of rising income inequality, skill utilization across the working life course, occupational sex segregation, and how returns to education have changed across different life domains.

Knowledge Sharing: A Key Role in the Knowledge Management Process

Knowledge is and has remained a core competence of all thriving organizations and so, the management of knowledge will remain a key competitive strategy for any organization that wants to remain innovative, sustainable and profitable in this dynamic world of business volatility. The difference between one organization and another, in term of performance and skill utilization has been linked not only to the quality of their knowledge repositories, but also to how knowledge is shared among organizational members. This paper reviewed some extant literature and discovered that the most important of all knowledge management processes lies in knowledge sharing. Rather than keeping our stock of both tacit and explicit knowledge to ourselves, we should endeavor to share knowledge because our stock of knowledge does not deplete when we share it. Rather, knowledge sharing reinforces our knowledge base and makes knowledge to stick and become more permanent. As a matter of fact, the tacit knowledge which resides in the knower goes with the holder when he or she dies. This paper also supports the formulation of a conceptual framework that will establish a link between knowledge management and the organizational learning process.

고령근로자의 문해력, 수리력 및 일터 활용도: 학습 경험과 조직 및 개인적 요인의 영향 분석

이 연구는 국내의 고령근로자(50-65세)의 학습 경험을 포함한 다양한 조직적, 개인적 수준의 요인들이 그들의 숙련 및 일터 활용도에 미치는 영향을 실증적으로 검토하였다. 이를 위해 OECD의 PIAAC(Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies) 자료를 활용하여, 1,247명의 고령근로자들에 대한 인구통계학적 및 고용 특성과 학습 참여의 특징에 관해 초기분석을 실시하였다. 이후 다중회귀분석을 통해 다음의 주요 결과를 도출하였다. 먼저, t 검정결과에 의거 남성, 전일제, 민간조직 근무, 관리직, 비형식 교육 참여 경험이 고령근로자의 문해와 산술 부문의 숙련 및 일터 활용도에 유의미한 차이를 가져왔다. 다음으로, 중다회귀분석 결과에 의거하면 교육수준, 경력 기간, 근무 융통성, 비형식 교육에 참여 경험, 무형식 교육 참여도, 적극적 학습 전략이 그들의 문해와 산술 부문의 일터 활용도에 정(+)의 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 이러한 연구 결과를 토대로 이론 및 실천적 함의와 더불어 정책적 시사점을 제시하였다.

The Influence of Emotional Intelligence on Social Adjustments of Tenth Grade Students of SMA Unggul Negeri 2 Banda Aceh

Emotional intelligence is an individual’s ability to manage emotions by controlling the negative condition into a positive force and its relationship with social adjustment. In this case, the social adjustment in question is the adjustment of students in interacting with teachers, peers, and specific situations in the school environment effectively through the development aspects of self-awareness, emotional management, and utilization of emotions, empathy, and social skills. The purpose of this study was to describe the emotional intelligence and social adjustment variable of students as well as to determine how emotional intelligence influenced social adjustment of students. This research used a quantitative approach and ex-post facto method. The number of population was 118 students consisting of all tenth-grade students of SMA Unggul Negeri 2 Boarding School of Banda Aceh. Data were collected by using a closed questionnaire method with the scale 1-5. The data were processed and analyzed by using descriptive statistics and the coefficient of determination. The results showed that the influence of emotional intelligence on the social adjustment of students was 0,656 (coefficient of determination) that is 65%. Thus, it can be stated that Ha is accepted which means that emotional intelligence has a significant influence on the social adjustment of students.

Using NCLab-karel to improve computational thinking skill of junior high school students

Increasingly human interaction with technology and the increasingly complex development of digital technology world make the theme of computer science education interesting to study. Previous studies on Computer Literacy and Competency reveal that Indonesian teachers in general have fairly high computational skill, but their skill utilization are limited to some applications. This engenders limited and minimum computer-related learning for the students. On the other hand, computer science education is considered unrelated to real-world solutions. This paper attempts to address the utilization of NCLab- Karel in shaping the computational thinking in students. This computational thinking is believed to be able to making learn students about technology. Implementation of Karel utilization provides information that Karel is able to increase student interest in studying computational material, especially algorithm. Observations made during the learning process also indicate the growth and development of computing mindset in students.

Phenomenological Study of Confrontation Experiences :Suggestion of methodology for the conditional utilization of confrontation skills

Phenomenological Study of Confrontation Experiences :Suggestion of methodology for the conditional utilization of confrontation skills

Atypical use of audience response system provides opportunity to formatively assess teaching and improve learning outcomes

PURPOSEAlthough audience response systems (ARS) are frequently used to formatively assess student learning, this technology is rarely employed to formatively assess teaching. Aim of study was implementation of novel approach using ARS to assess teaching methods in order to enact rapid improvement.METHODSSecond‐year students of large multi‐center medical school participated anonymously. Study involved nine sequential, three‐hour pulmonary class sessions delivered live on one campus and livestreamed to others. Following each session, ARS delivered three Likert scale and one open‐ended question: 1)What degree have you utilized higher order skills; 2)Rate your level of engagement; 3)Estimate percentage of time focused; and 4)What went well/suggestions for improvement. Following each session, course leaders considered student input and adjustments made before delivery of next session. Faculty also quantified parameters including number of cases, key concepts, videos, and slides per session and “Bloomed” embedded questions.RESULTSApproximately 60% of students responded to ARS questions. Results indicated consistent improvement from session one to nine in all parameters: number of students perceiving very high use of higher order skills increased from 10% to 30%, students rating the session as highly engaging rose from 55% initially to 80% for final session, and ability to remain focused for more than 70% of the class time rose from 55% of students to over 75%. Comparison of student perceptions to objective measures is underway.CONCLUSIONInnovative ARS use allowed faculty to immediately gather feedback from diverse students at distributed locations. Feedback guided change leading to improved student engagement, focus, and utilization of higher order skills. Students were also highly appreciative of opportunity to impact change in the class while participating.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

CORRELATION OF ACADEMIC AND VOCATIONAL TRENDS IN HIGHER EDUCATION AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY (USING THE EXAMPLE OF MARITIME EDUCATION)

The article is devoted to the issue of correlation of vocational and academic approaches in providing maritime education and training. The aim of the article is to analyze the processes of globalization in the system of higher education using the example of maritime education. Education and training can be the instrument of social changes to maintain status quo in the society. Any kind of education should be considered in the context of society and be evaluated depending on its influence onto an individual in terms of its personal development in future. Alongside with legislation and market, education is the key factor for social changes. Traditionally education and training of seafarers was focused on obtaining and practical utilization of practical skills and competencies required to efficiently perform duties onboard the ship. Modern worldwide trend of higher education, including maritime education, is to combine academic education with vocational training. It is so due to growing demand of modern youth for getting higher education on the one hand, on the other – saturation of modern vessels with state-of-the-art modern electronic, electric and mechanical equipment. The reason for emerging such a trend is social and economic development of countries and innovation technologies entering everyday professional routine of a seafarer. Analysis of this new trend implementation in different countries of the world is given here. Special emphasis is paid to the problem of correlation of training for practical skills and abilities to critical thinking in the context of competency based and result-oriented approaches of modern education. Combination of vocational competences and empiric skills to think critically and analyze in maritime education and training is the main problem of maritime education in the 21st century. There was found out irrelevance between national educational standards and requirements defined by the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers. There was made a conclusion that the difference between academic and vocational education is becoming more and more indistinct due to social, economic and technological factors. Maritime higher educational institutions have designed multileveled education alongside with constant certified refresher training. All these measures correspond to general educational trend of the 21st century – life-long education and training.

Intercountry master's degree in nursing: policy implications for the Mozambican health system.

Within an overarching evaluation framework, this study explored the experiences of course participants and administrators of an intercountry master's degree in nursing between South Africa and Mozambique. The lessons learnt were used to inform nursing and health policy for the Mozambican health system. Kirkpatrick's four levels of training evaluation and a results-oriented approach to capacity change were integrated to form a hybrid evaluation framework to capture information about course implementation and the context/environment within which it was delivered. The study used quantitative and qualitative methods including a self-administered survey of course participants, document review, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with course administrators and two focus group discussions with course participants. Participants enrolled in the course primarily to gain new knowledge and to improve health outcomes; course participants and administrators responded positively to the course design, course implementation and the quality of teaching. Knowledge and skills gained help to build graduates' confidence and boost their attitude towards nursing. Paradoxically, graduates felt powerless to transfer knowledge and effect change in practice. This collaborative, capacity development project produced postgraduate nurses in two areas of specialization, namely, critical care and trauma nursing and maternal and neonatal health. While course participants gained significant benefits in new skills and knowledge and a higher degree qualification, the rewards available to them in the public health system remain unclear. Lessons learnt may serve to influence policy decisions about the role of the Ministry of Health and other stakeholders in sustaining the output and quality of postgraduate nurses for the Mozambican health system. A strategic approach informed by multilevel policies at government, organizational and managerial levels should be adopted to systematically minimize and remove barriers to the transfer and utilization of knowledge and skills in the workplace.

Skills use in the workplace and its effects on wages and on job satisfaction

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of labor mismatches on wages and on job satisfaction for the Spanish case, with a distinction been made between educational and skills-related measures of mismatch.Design/methodology/approachThe focus is placed on the usage that the individuals do of their skills in the workplace and different measures of skills use are considered to check the robustness of the results.FindingsUsing data from PIAAC, the results suggest that whereas educational mismatch shows greater effects on wages, the effects of labor mismatch on job satisfaction are better explained by the relative use of individual skills in the workplace.Research limitations/implicationsBoth educational and skills mismatches are relevant for understanding the economic effects of labor mismatch. Nevertheless, it should be taken into account that educational mismatch is not an accurate proxy for skills mismatch, mainly when the non-monetary effects of labor mismatch are addressed.Practical implicationsThere is room to increase workers’ skills utilization in the workplace, which, in turn, would contribute to enhance individual job satisfaction and, consequently, workers productivity.Social implicationsA process of upgrading in the Spanish labor market would allow to take full advantage of recent investments in education and skills formation done in the country in the last decades.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature on labor mismatch by explicitly considering that educational and skills mismatch might reflect different phenomena and by analyzing the effects of both types of mismatches on different labor market outcomes.