The person responsible for skills training in an industrial company has a greater role to play than simply linking hardware and people. The training department should also contribute to the organization's productivity. (SK)

Some suggestions for training office clerical employees to help them become more productive are outlined; suggestions are based on observing problem areas that can be improved by training and treating clerical workers as important members of the team. (MF)

A system labeled FORCE (Formulation of Relevant Creative Environments) solved one large company's problems of developing potential creativity, cohesiveness, and increased work productivity within the organization. (MW)

Literature describing the scope and characteristics of employer-based training (EBT) in the United States and the evidence to date about the effectiveness of such training was reviewed in order to help categorize the types of programs or strategies that show promise in terms of improving skills or increasing productivity. For the review, training…

The experience of a number of specific local workplace programs indicates a definite connection between the provision of employee basic skills programs and increased worker productivity. One Tennessee company, for example, reports a 95 percent drop in costs resulting from worker mistakes and a doubling of worker productivity since the company…

This document contains in-depth descriptions and assessments of 17 exemplary employer-based training (EBT) programs that were studied as part of an examination of EBT programs. The case studies are based on site visits to each firm, during which interviews were conducted with company management, supervisors of workers in training, individuals…

Mass production, introduced into the factories of the United States in the early 1900s, required workers who were trained to be cooperative, loyal to the company, and possessed specific job skills to operate the machinery. To produce these workers, American corporations turned away from the educational programs of the public schools, and began to…

Some of the few U.S. studies on the link between training and productivity have used a subjective measure of productivity or a measure of the productivity of the most recently hired worker relative to a fully trained worker, rather than output, labor productivity, total factor productivity, or value-added measures. Administered by the U.S. Bureau…

The National Center on the Educational Quality of the Workforce's National Employer Survey represents a unique source of information on how employers recruit workers, organize work, invest in physical capital, and use education and training in the workplace. The U.S. Bureau of the Census administered it as a telephone survey to a nationally…

A review of the literature on employer-based training (EBT) and case studies of 17 exemplary EBT programs (9 of which were Job Training Partnership Act [JTPA] programs) were used to determine best practices in EBT and make recommendations for effective strategies for implementing EBT programs. Some of these strategies included the following: (1)…

With the increase in workplace English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) literacy education programs, there is a need to assess whether the attention given to improving basic skills and English language proficiency has made a change in the participant and in the workplace. Such evaluations often use both qualitative and quantitative measures of program…

This document contains minutes of the fifth meeting of the National Advisory Commission on Work-Based Learning. The meeting's stated objective was to produce a set of specific action steps for the U.S. Department of Labor to promote work-based learning. A summary of introductory remarks (Jack MacAllister) is followed by a description of the…

Recent Australian research provides a solid body of evidence that training investments can yield very high levels of returns for firms across a range of sectors. It highlights these important factors about returns on investment (ROI): ROI come in many forms; immediate ROI are highest when training is highly focused; measuring ROI is not always…

Five papers and 14 forum/workshop summaries from the 1982 Creative Responses to Changing Realities Conference are presented. The following papers and authors are included: "Global Interdependence: From Exploitation to Partnership" (Denis Goulet); "Our Changing World--New Curriculums and New Delivery Systems" (Donald Leu); "Education and Business:…

This report is an evaluation of an adult workplace literacy and English-as-a-Second-Language program for Napa Valley (California) vineyard workers of limited English proficiency. Many of the classes were held at the worksite. The first section of the report details the project's stated objectives and measures of accomplishment, anecdotal success…