Utilization Of Skills Research Articles

Wages and skills utilization: effect of broad skills and generic skills on wages in Singapore

Many people go for training to upgrade their skills which is hoped to pave the way for better pay. But what are the kinds of skills that really affect wages? Employers have emphasized the value of generic skills such as interpersonal and communication skills, teamwork and problem solving. Does possession of these skills translate to at least the same or better wages as compared with having broad skills represented by educational qualifications and job‐related training? This paper, arising from the research project on the Skills Utilisation in Singapore, aims to answer which skills can have more influence on wages and which job‐related training in terms of training duration can have more impact on wages. Using ordinal logistic regression, our findings show that educational qualification and initial training time can influence wages as well as utilization of leadership, planning and problem‐solving skills.

Education programmes preparing independent prescribers in Scotland: An evaluation

Nurse prescribing (NP) is part of the modernisation of the health care workforce and contributes to patient care by improving access to quality services and medication, through utilisation of advanced professional skills. Nurses and midwives need to complete additional education in order to prescribe. This paper explores pedagogical issues relevant to professional training programmes. To assess if programmes of education for nurse prescribing in Scotland were fit for purpose, from both the student and educator perspective with recommendations for future educational delivery. Data were collected using several methods: a questionnaire to all course members on prescribing programmes followed by focus-groups; and interviews with programme providers. Nurses and midwives training as prescribers work in a wide range of healthcare settings, in different geographic environments. They tended to be experienced, educated to degree level and most are over forty years of age. Most undertook the course to develop professionally and to improve patient care. Existing provision of education for prescribing is deemed appropriate and fit for purpose. The NP programme greatly enhances pharmacological knowledge building on existing clinical experience. The nature of these programmes works well and should be retained. However, whilst the educational programmes were centrally funded, less than half of students were provided with any allocated study time from their employers preventing nurses from maximising the gain from the educational preparation for prescribing. Nurse and midwife generic preparation for independent nurse prescribing in Scotland greatly increases professional expertise and is appropriate and fit for purpose. As other countries beyond Scotland and the UK seek to further progress nursing roles, learning from this controlled and structured development of prescribing underpinned by evidence could be of significant benefit.

Perceived overqualification and withdrawal behaviours: Examining the roles of job attitudes and work values

The current study examined a moderated mediation model of perceived overqualification and job search, with job attitudes as mediators and the competence and growth work value as a moderator. We also hypothesized a positive relationship between overqualification and actual voluntary turnover behaviour. College graduates from diverse occupations completed two surveys spaced 6 months apart (n = 368). Results suggested that perceived overqualification at Time 1 led to active job search behaviour at Time 2, both directly and through job satisfaction. The direct link was moderated by work values, such that the overqualification–job search relationship was stronger for employees who highly valued work which offered skill utilization and growth. Perceived overqualification was also predictive of voluntary turnover behaviour; those at the high end of the overqualification scale were over four times more likely to have left their position than those at the low end of the scale. Finally, those who left their original positions reported less overqualification in their new positions. The current findings extend the limited existing literature by establishing relationships between overqualification and withdrawal behaviours 6 months later, and also providing evidence that individual differences may influence reactions to being overqualified.Practitioner points The current study found that employees who feel overqualified were more likely to be searching for a new job 6 months later, especially among those who strongly value work that utilizes their skills. Perceived overqualification was also linked to future actual turnover behaviour. Thus, organizations stand to potentially lose talented employees if they feel underutilized and underchallenged in their jobs. These trends are particularly true of employees who strongly desire work that takes advantage of their talents, suggesting that the most ambitious employees are likely to seek alternate employment if they feel underutilized. To retain these employees, supervisors first need to identify employees who might be feeling overqualified and underutilized, as these perceptions may or may not line up with ‘objective’ overqualification. The supervisor can then consider ways to empower the employee through increased involvement in decision‐making or offering more advanced job assignments.

Effect of Obstetric Team Training on Team Performance and Medical Technical Skills

Please cite this paper as: Fransen A, van de Ven J, Merien A, de Wit-Zuurendonk L, Houterman S, Mol B, Oei S. Effect of obstetric team training on team performance and medical technical skills: a randomised controlled trial. BJOG 2012;119:1387–1393. Objective To determine whether obstetric team training in a medical simulation centre improves the team performance and utilisation of appropriate medical technical skills of healthcare professionals. Design Cluster randomised controlled trial. Setting The Netherlands. Sample The obstetric departments of 24 Dutch hospitals. Methods The obstetric departments were randomly assigned to a 1-day session of multiprofessional team training in a medical simulation centre or to no such training. Team training was given with high-fidelity mannequins by an obstetrician and a communication expert. More than 6 months following training, two unannounced simulated scenarios were carried out in the delivery rooms of all 24 obstetric departments. The scenarios, comprising a case of shoulder dystocia and a case of amniotic fluid embolism, were videotaped. The team performance and utilisation of appropriate medical skills were evaluated by two independent experts. Main outcome measures Team performance evaluated with the validated Clinical Teamwork Scale (CTS) and the employment of two specific obstetric procedures for the two clinical scenarios in the simulation (delivery of the baby with shoulder dystocia in the maternal all-fours position and conducting a perimortem caesarean section within 5 minutes for the scenario of amniotic fluid embolism). Results Seventy-four obstetric teams from 12 hospitals in the intervention group underwent teamwork training between November 2009 and July 2010. The teamwork performance in the training group was significantly better in comparison to the nontraining group (median CTS score: 7.5 versus 6.0, respectively; P = 0.014). The use of the predefined obstetric procedures for the two clinical scenarios was also significantly more frequent in the training group compared with the nontraining group (83 versus 46%, respectively; P = 0.009). Conclusions Team performance and medical technical skills may be significantly improved after multiprofessional obstetric team training in a medical simulation centre.

Immigrant Skill Utilization: Trends and Policy Issues

Since 1996, the problem of underutilization of immigrant skills in Canada has grown significantly. University-educated immigrants are more numerous, and census analysis shows their access to skilled occupations in the professions and management decline between 1996 and 2006. The decline in access since 2001 coincided with increased program efforts, including foreign credential assessment, bridge training, and others. Policy differences among provinces, or in occupational groups targeted, also have had little impact on aggregate trends. The value (in today’s dollars) of work lost to the Canadian economy grew from about $4.80 billion annually in 1996 to about $11.37 billion in 2006.

1804 – Mental health at work, structures of daily life and individual characteristics

Aims To analyse variations in workers psychological distress, depression and burnout within a model encompassing the stress promoted by constraints-resources embedded in structures of daily life (workplace, family, social networks outside the workplace) and worker individual characteristics (demography, physical health, psychological traits, life habits, stressful childhood events). Methods Data were collected in 2009-2012 from a sample of 64 Quebec (Canada)workplaces, where 2162 employees were surved, for a response rate of 73.1%. Multilevel regression models were used to analyse the data. Results Variables explain 31.8% of psychological distress (GHQ), 47.7% of depression (BDI) and 48.1% of burnout (MBI). Associations are not the same for each outcome. Skill utilization (BDI, MBI), decision authority (GHQ), abusive supervision (BDI, MBI), conflicts (BDI, MBI) and job security (GHQ, BDI, MBI) are related to the outcomes. For the family, being in couple (BDI, MBI), minor children (BDI, MBI), family to work conflict (MBI), work-to-family conflict (GHQ, BDI, MBI), strained marital and parental relations (GHQ, BDI) associated with the outcomes. Social support outside the workplace predicts both psychological distress and depression. Most of the individual characteristics correlated with the three outcomes. Conclusions The results of this study suggest expanding approaches in occupational mental health in order to avoid coming to erroneous conclusions about the relationship between work and mental health. Depression and burnout seem to share a similar explanatory structure, while psychogical distress appear mostly explained by non-work factors.

The Need for Novel Development Methodologies for Software Projects in Universities: A Sri Lankan Case Study

Software engineering requires coordination across a number of disciplines and is concerned with theories, methods and tools for professional software development. Project management is considered as the main function which facilitates better utilization of knowledge, skills, resources, tools and techniques in any such project to achieve its intended objectives. But, there is no such standard method that can be used in every project. Project Management practices mainly depend on the industry it is been used; i.e. construction, manufacturing, marketing, auditing, software engineering, etc. For software engineering there are number of standard Project Management methods used in different circumstances. Nevertheless, it was difficult to find a specific methodology that can be used in a university context, which is more focused on innovations, research and learning. The paper aims to motivate why a novel software product development methodology should be developed for used within universities, such methodology may even be possible to be later implemented within the software industry, where innovation is a major ingredient.

A Cross-Level Analysis of Innovation Project Team Members’ Functioning under Stress

Innovating activities are affected by a multitude of stressors. Although their impact on innovation project teams’ performance is increasingly investigated in stress literature, their influence on team members’ ability to incorporate their skills and knowledge to their project, thereby contributing to team performance, however, remains largely untested. By drawing on a multi-informant cross-level research design on 121 innovation projects in the electronics industry, this study identifies significant negative interaction terms for the moderating influence of cross-functionality on the effect of three resource stressors, i.e., retrenchment of personnel, budget, and equipment, on the individual-level outcome skill utilization. Contrary to expectations, the contingency variable cross-functionality does not moderate the relationship of the fourth examined resource stressor, i.e., retrenchment of time, and the individuals’ ability to leverage their full potential during teamwork. Resulting theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

English Language and Skill Mismatch: The Case of South Korea.

Abstract Most prior research addressing the topic of job mismatch focuses on educational mismatch, while the economic analysis of skills-job mismatch in terms of skill utilization has received relatively little attention in the literature. Using the 2007 Korea Labor and Income Panel Survey (KLIPS), this paper examines the impact on wages of skills-job mismatch between acquired and required English language proficiency in the Korean workplace. The major findings confirm the validity of the assignment theory proposed by Sattinger (1993), which asserts that the returns to additional investment in human capital appear to depend in part on the quality of the assignment of heterogeneous workers to heterogeneous jobs, and thus returns to investment in skills are limited by how well jobs exploit workers’ skills. Specifically, the results are first, that skills-job mismatch based on English language job requirements has a strong statistically significant impact on wages, second, that the returns to over-skilling are negative (the wage penalty), while the returns to under-skilling are positive (the wage premium), and third, that the wage penalty associated with over-skilling is stronger than the wage premium associated with under-skilling.

Skill-Based Bimanual Manipulation Planning

The paper focuses on specification and utilization of manipulation skills to facilitate programming of bimanual manipulation tasks. Manipulation skills are actions to reach predefined goals. They constitute an interface between low-level constraint-based task specification and high level symbolic task planning. The task of the robot can be decomposed into subtasks that can be resolved using manipulation skills. Rubik’s cube solving problem is presented as an example of a 3D manipulation task using two-arm robot system with diverse sensors such as vision, force/torque, tactile sensors.

The nature of coping in treatment for marijuana dependence: latent structure and validation of the Coping Strategies Scale.

The Coping Strategies Scale (CSS) was designed to assess adaptive changes in substance-use specific coping that result from treatment. This study sought to examine the latent structure of the CSS in the hope that it might shed light on the coping processes of drug users and guide the development of a brief version of the CSS. Respondents on the CSS were 751 men and women treated in 3 clinical trials for marijuana dependence. Posttreatment CSS data were analyzed to determine the nature of coping responses in patients who have been trained to use specific strategies to deal with substance use disorders. Exploratory factor analysis yielded 2 factors, categorized as problem-focused and emotion-focused coping, but confirmatory factor analysis did not support this structure. When infrequently endorsed items were removed, however, confirmatory factor analysis revealed a good fit to the data. Contrary to expectations, practical strategies that often form the basis for coping skills training, such as avoiding those who smoke, were not frequently endorsed. Problem-focused items reflected cognitive commitments to change. Emotion-focused items included cognitive reinterpretations of emotions to help manage emotional reactions. Brief versions of the CSS based on these factors showed good convergent and discriminant validity. The CSS, and the brief versions of the CSS, may prove useful in future treatment trials to evaluate effects of treatment on coping skills acquisition and utilization in substance dependent individuals.

Coping skills and mental health status in adolescents when a parent has cancer: A multicenter and multi-perspective study

ObjectiveParental cancer increases the risk of psychosocial problems in adolescents. We investigated the frequency and efficacy of adolescents' coping strategies and relationships between those strategies and mental health status. Age and gender differences regarding coping and mental health were also investigated. MethodsIn total, 214 adolescents from 167 families participated in a cross-sectional, multicenter study. All participants were recruited from standard oncological care. Among the participants, 52% utilized a child-centered intervention program. Adolescents' coping skills were measured using KIDCOPE. Mental health status was rated by adolescents and parents by the SDQ for symptomatology and the KIDSCREEN for well-being. ResultsWe found that 29% of the adolescents showed emotional and behavioral problems. We found gender differences in mental health status but not in coping. Adolescents used a broad spectrum of coping strategies. Active problem-solving, distraction, acceptance, wishful thinking and seeking social support were the most frequently used coping strategies. The utilization of certain coping skills was mediated by their perceived efficacy. Problem-focused or approach-oriented coping strategies generally are associated with better mental health, while avoidance-oriented coping are associated with worse mental health. Emotion-focused coping was associated with both lower and higher mental health. ConclusionThe strategies used by adolescents to cope with parental cancer are associated with their mental health. Problem-solving and approach-oriented coping strategies should be facilitated by psychological interventions regardless of age and gender. Age and gender differences in adolescents' mental health should be further investigated because these differences are not explained by differences in coping strategies.

Online Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Training for Therapists: Outcomes, Acceptability, and Impact of Support

The objectives of the present study were to assess the effects of online cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) training for therapists on measures of CBT knowledge, skills, confidence, and utilisation; to determine what differences might exist between a group supported by regular telephone contact and an independent group who undertook online training without additional support; and to determine the acceptability of CBT online training among rural and remote mental health professionals. Mental health practitioners were randomly allocated to a supported training group (six sessions of 15‐min support) or an independent group. They undertook a 12‐week online CBT training program. The two groups showed similar gains on an objective test of knowledge of CBT, and on self‐report measures of knowledge, skills, confidence levels, and utilisation of skills. However, the supported training group had a significantly higher program completion rate than the independent group. Participants evaluated the program favourably. The results suggest that online CBT training represents a promising and cost‐effective approach to training the mental health workforce, and may be particularly attractive for those who live in regional, rural, and remote communities. A challenge is to determine the most cost‐effective ways to enhance program completion rates and trainee skills.

Genitourinary Exam Skills Training Curriculum for Medical Students: A Follow-up Study of Comfort and Skill Utilization

We developed a genitourinary skills training (GUST) curriculum for incoming third year medical students (MS3) and performed a follow-up study of comfort with and utilization of these skills. GUST consisted of a didactic lecture followed by skills sessions including standardized patient testicular examination (TE) and digital rectal examination (DRE), male and female Foley catheter (MFC and FFC) placement training, suture-knot tying, and a faculty-directed small group learning session. Precourse and postcourse, and 6 and 18 months after the course, MS3 rated comfort with each skill (Likert scale 0-5), and quantified skill usage. Results were compared with 4th year students (MS4) who had not undergone GUST. Participants were 281 MS3 GUST students and 44 MS4. Post-GUST, mean comfort on a Likert scale (0=uncomfortable) increased for all four skills (88.2%-96.9% vs 8.3%-18.5%, P<0.0001). This was maintained at the 6-month and 18-month follow up time points (P<0.0001). At 18 months, MS3 trended toward higher comfort with TE compared with MS4 (74 vs 54%, P=0.068), while with the other skills, both groups showed equal comfort. MS4 learned exam skills from faculty and MFC and FFC from nurses on the wards. Eleven percent of MS4 were never formally taught TE or DRE. MS3 and MS4 performed TE and/or DRE on <8% of newly admitted patients. MS3 described improved comfort with the GU skills at all time points during follow-up. This was particularly important because both MS3 and MS4 reported using their skills infrequently during their clinical training years.

Effect of obstetric team training on team performance and medical technical skills: a randomised controlled trial

To determine whether obstetric team training in a medical simulation centre improves the team performance and utilisation of appropriate medical technical skills of healthcare professionals. Cluster randomised controlled trial. The Netherlands. The obstetric departments of 24 Dutch hospitals. The obstetric departments were randomly assigned to a 1-day session of multiprofessional team training in a medical simulation centre or to no such training. Team training was given with high-fidelity mannequins by an obstetrician and a communication expert. More than 6 months following training, two unannounced simulated scenarios were carried out in the delivery rooms of all 24 obstetric departments. The scenarios, comprising a case of shoulder dystocia and a case of amniotic fluid embolism, were videotaped. The team performance and utilisation of appropriate medical skills were evaluated by two independent experts. Team performance evaluated with the validated Clinical Teamwork Scale (CTS) and the employment of two specific obstetric procedures for the two clinical scenarios in the simulation (delivery of the baby with shoulder dystocia in the maternal all-fours position and conducting a perimortem caesarean section within 5 minutes for the scenario of amniotic fluid embolism). Seventy-four obstetric teams from 12 hospitals in the intervention group underwent teamwork training between November 2009 and July 2010. The teamwork performance in the training group was significantly better in comparison to the nontraining group (median CTS score: 7.5 versus 6.0, respectively; P = 0.014). The use of the predefined obstetric procedures for the two clinical scenarios was also significantly more frequent in the training group compared with the nontraining group (83 versus 46%, respectively; P = 0.009). Team performance and medical technical skills may be significantly improved after multiprofessional obstetric team training in a medical simulation centre.

Making the Most of Structural Support: Moderating Influence of Employees' Clarity and Negative Affect

We investigated structural support as a work design characteristic potentially enabling employee effectiveness in demanding contexts, proposing that structural support enhances job and role outcomes for employees but that effects depend on both the outcome under consideration (job vs. role) and the employees themselves. We tested hypotheses in a within-persons quasi-experiment in which 48 hospital doctors carried out their work with and without structural support. Structural support had positive effects on perceived core job performance, and these effects were stronger for individuals with higher clarity about others' work roles, suggesting that individuals can better mobilize available support when clear about how to allocate it. Support was also associated with improved role outcomes although, consistently with conservation of resources theory, effects differed with affect. For individuals with higher negative work affect, structural support was associated with lowered perceived role overload (a resource protection mechanism). For individuals with lower negative work affect, support was associated with higher perceived skill utilization and proactive work behavior (a resource accumulation mechanism). We approach social support at work in a novel way, extend relational approaches to work design, and show the value of considering both job and role outcomes in work redesign research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-Level Effects of Collaboration and Competition on Individual Gains and Skill Utilization

Organizations increasingly collaborate with their suppliers to jointly develop new products. While prior research investigated the positive and negative effects of such projects on organizations an...

The Incidence and Wage Effects of Overeducation Using the Worker's Self-Assessment of Skill Utilization

This paper proposes an improved concept of educational mismatch that combines a statistical measure of over- and undereducation with the worker’s self-assessment of skill utilization. In that way, we account for worker heterogeneity in skills whose omission may generate biased estimates of the incidence and wage effects of over- and under-education. Using cross-sectional data from the Swiss Household Panel survey, the empirical analyses provide the following results: (a) at least two third of the statistically defined overeducated workers perceive their skills as adequate for the job they hold and are then apparently overeducated; (b) among the overeducated with a given schooling level, the wage return to education is lower for those who are mismatched in skills than for those who are not; (c) apparently overeducated workers have similar wage returns compared to others with the same schooling level but who are statistically matched. These findings confirm that most of those overeducated according to the statistical measure have unobserved skills that allow them to work in a job for which they are well-matched.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for adults who stutter: Psychosocial adjustment and speech fluency

The aim of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy group intervention program for adults who stutter (N=20). The program consisted of 2-h therapeutic sessions conducted weekly for eight consecutive weeks. It was an integrated program designed to improve: (a) psychosocial functioning, (b) readiness for therapy and change, (c) utilisation of mindfulness skills and psychological flexibility, and (d) frequency of stuttering. The findings provide innovative evidence for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as an effective intervention with statistically significant improvements in psychosocial functioning, preparation for change and therapy, utilisation of mindfulness skills, and overall speech fluency. Follow-up data collected at three months post-treatment revealed that therapeutic gains were successfully maintained over time. These findings enhance the understanding of the impact of stuttering on psychological wellbeing and offer a new perspective on what might constitute successful stuttering treatment. Further, clinical research support is provided for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy delivered in a group format as a promising and novel intervention for adults who stutter.Educational objectives: The reader will be able to: (a) appreciate the potential for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for adults who stutter; (b) identify the improvements participants experienced in psychosocial functioning and frequency of stuttered speech; (c) appreciate the six core processes of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; and (d) appreciate the differences between an ACT model of intervention for adults who stutter compared to a CBT approach.

STRESS IN MEDICAL EDUCATORS

Background: Workplace or occupational stress are harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when there is anapparent mismatch between what doctors are trained for and what they are required to do. Data on workplace stress experienced by medicaleducators is scarce. Objective: To asses stress in medical educators and its job related predictors. Setting:Lahore Medical &amp; Dental College(LMDC), Lahore and its affiliated Ghurki Trust Teaching Hospital (GTTH). Period: Three months, between January and March2009.Methods:A cross sectional survey was conducted. A structured questionnaire for background information and Workplace Stress Scale(WSS) were the data collection tools to survey 110 medical educators. Data was recorded and analyzed in SPSS 16. Chi Square test with p ≤0.05 as the cut- off point was applied for statistical significance. Results: Stress was present in 94% of respondents, with 21% having severestress. Age had statistically significant bearing on stress status (p=0.02), severity of stress (p=0.04), designation (p= &lt;0.001) and monthlyearnings (p= &lt;0.001). Main workplace stressors included inadequate control (96%), difficulty in expressing opinions (70%), unsafe workingconditions (66%), work overload and un-realistic deadlines (62%) and job pressures interfering with life (59%). Workplace motivators includedfull utilization of skills and ability for 97% (p=&lt;0.001) and recognition or reward for good performance for 84% (p=0.06). Conclusions: Medicaleducators at LMDC, especially at junior level, reported high levels of both frequency and intensity of stress which need to be controlled.Autonomy and reward for good performance were motivational for our respondents.