An Irish bank's program for entry-level college-educated workers involved short-term training and long-term development activities, structured on-the-job training, personal development planning, peer learning groups, and learning logs. Retention increased 12%; 24% of these workers were promoted to management. The program was highly cost effective.…

Surveys of 38 managers identified critical components in their effectiveness in performing a teaching role with subordinates: acceptance of the manager/teacher role, effective teaching methods, and the acceptance of the teaching by learners. Influences on the role were perceived performance pressures and rewards, ability to simplify complexity,…

Focus group interviews with 49 hourly employees explored job satisfaction and the role of career development activities. Satisfied workers were either not interested in advancement or felt they had advancement opportunities. Dissatisfied workers perceived inadequate rewards and lack of opportunities. Results suggested that fairness issues may…

Human resource functions have "devolved" to line managers, raising issues related to supervisors' ability and willingness to develop employees and the benefits and costs to the organization. Devolution of this work also has implications for the career development of human resource managers and line managers themselves. (Contains 39 references.)…

An ideal world-class corporate university would integrate four elements: knowledge systems, networks and partnerships, learning processes, and people processes. Case studies of two British corporate universities illustrate how they use current technology, develop networks with learning providers, and share information about learning resources,…

Training for small businesses requires an entrepreneurial rather than a conventional approach. Critical trainer competencies include profiling the business, segmenting the market, understanding the business development process, introducing the relevant environment, delivering enterprise skills training, and teaching across the board. (SK)

Describes problems facing personnel preparation in community-based vocational and residential services for adults with developmental disabilities. Recommends plans of action to allay these problems: (1) direction and coordination of adult services; (2) assessment of providers' personnel training needs; and (3) evaluation and strengthening of…

Describes a Sonoma County (California) school district's peer coaching program designed to meet the needs of new, probationary, and experienced teachers. The program succeeded because participation was voluntary, the training empowered teachers and improved their coaching skills, and teachers continued to meet as a group and learn from each other.…

Advocating development for all continuing education staff, the author asserts that staff who understand adult education theory, the goals and visions of the organization, the environmental context of continuing education, and the roles of other staff members will be more effective. Also essential are support mechanisms that facilitate change. (SK)

Discusses four decision-making models and applies them to the evaluation of staff development programs. (SR)

This annotated bibliography recommends 58 readings in 9 categories from the training literature for reference librarians: (1) overviews; (2) establishing an atmosphere to facilitate learning; (3) assessing needs; (4) defining competent performance; (5) writing training objectives; (6) selecting training methodologies; (7) maintaining skill levels;…

The staff development process a school district used to develop a writing-across-the-curriculum program is described. The process's six essential elements involve exploring, shaping, implementing, revising, sharing, and publishing, could be applied to other staff development efforts. (CB)

The skills needed to become a team leader include not being afraid to admit ignorance; knowing when to intervene; learning to share power; being concerned about what one takes on; and getting used to learning on the job. Examples of men and women who have become team leaders demonstrate how these skills can be developed. (JOW)

An adult educator's experience of delivering a paper via videoconferencing led to these conclusions: there is a danger that such technologies will be limited to those with technical skills and knowledge and to institutions able to have such facilities, and adult educators should be trained in the use of the Integrated Services Digital Network and…

Wisconsin Power and Light used results of an employee survey on cultural diversity to develop a training program based on increasing awareness of the significance of being able to work together. At workshops, employees identify specific individual actions they are responsible for and formulate work-group ground rules that respect diversity. (SK)