We use experimental survey methods in a nationally representative survey to test alternative ways of identifying (1) individuals in the population who would be better able to work if they received workplace accommodation for a health condition; (2) the rate at which these individuals receive workplace accommodation; and (3) the rate at which…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the distribution of learning and training opportunities in the Finnish workforce. It will concentrate on the sectors of the workforce that lack these opportunities. Design/Methodology/Approach: The Working Conditions Barometer (WCB) data from 2008, 2009 and 2010 are used (N = 3,326) in this…

Top-down processes for institutionalizing ideas can stifle creativity. Xerox researchers learned how to combine process-based and practice-based methods in order to disseminate best practices from a community of repair technicians. (JOW)

Although there are important human resource basics, such as competitive pay and benefits and career growth opportunities, retention of information technology (IT) workers is less about money than it is about respectful treatment. Retention involves designing interesting jobs, giving recognition, providing regular feedback, and being flexible about…

In a learning organization, growth, learning, improvement, and everlasting experimentation are woven into its culture and employees not in a perpetual state of change will be unable to cope. Mentors can assist by finding a teachable moment, providing support without rescuing, and demonstrating authenticity, not perfection. JOW)

A temporarily disabled executive experiences first hand what those who are disabled regularly face. He offers suggestions for going further than the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and making the workplace work for those with disabilities. (JOW)

Focus groups with 50 managers and interviews with 14 adults in "Generation X" (aged 24 to 32) elicited three themes: the work environment must support continuing learning, mentors and leaders should lead by example, and this age cohort places major importance on multidimensional lives. Mentor relationships in the workplace were valued.…

A revolution in workplace rights thinking and practices is occurring. Related factors include professionalization and technocracy, management orthodoxy, and corrupt organizational structures. Because of the correlative link between rights and responsibilities, organizational researchers should be concerned with identifying and describing…

A company can undo a generation of organizing and collective bargaining by redesigning the technology of the workplace. Unions must define a different vision of how production can be organized--a vision that is worker centered and skill based--and struggle for it in decision-making arenas of government and private enterprise. (Author)

Discusses "career resiliency," a relationship in which the employer and the employee share responsibility for maintaining the individual's employability inside and outside the company. (Author/JOW)

Develops a preliminary model of workplace dynamics based on behaviors rather than attitudes and argues that the behavioral categories of good soldier, smooth operator, and saboteur are key modes of adaptation. The model facilitates the integration of studies of the workplace with broader themes in a way not allowed by the concept of job…

More employers are offering opportunity for career development and continuous learning in return for high performance and productivity during an employee's tenure. (Author)

In today's ever-expanding U.S. economy, unemployment levels are at 30-year lows and the job market continues to swell. Every industry is fighting a labor shortage and bemoaning the costs of employee turnover. Companies with extensive training and career development are most likely to retain employees. (JOW)

Results of recent studies on why people leave or stay with an employer identified organizational, job, and leadership issues. Factors included job satisfaction, organizational climate, salary and benefits, loyalty, and anxiety about the economy and job market. Research showed three periods of highest risk of turnover: after the initial 30-60 days,…

Responses to midcareer issues must develop from the recognition that some values of the emerging work force differ from those of staff in their 50s. An organization's best interest lies in listening to the needs of staff, finding new ways to enrich their lives and accommodate its policies to their legitimate drive for self-direction. (JOW)