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In this paper, the author seeks to explore the links between employers and unions using the partnership between British Telecommunication (BT) and the Communication Workers Union (CWU). The paper also examines the role played by CWU in facilitating and promoting workplace learning. The paper begins by briefly setting out the context of partnership within which workplace learning has emerged at BT. A closer look at workplace learning and why it has been accepted and promoted by management and trade unions follows. The BT case study is then outlined and the role of key players is analysed in detail. The paper finds that, while the case study has proved workplace learning worthwhile in this particular context, sustained commitment of leaders and key players is required for the continuing success of workplace learning.

The complete volume, with papers from sections 1-5 listed, is indexed at TD/TNC 71.26; the complete volume, with papers from sections 6-10 listed, is indexed at TD/TNC 71.27; selected individual papers are indexed from TD/TNC 71.28 to TD/TNC 71.75. Show less

This case study investigated an in-company women’s network with the mission of improving recruitment, retention, and advancement of women. The network was unsuccessful in improving women’s standing in the organization due to the nature of the women’s participation and the resilience of the patriarchal culture. The network was impaired by its members’ attitudes, awareness of gendered power relations, and participation. The network was also thwarted by the resiliency of the patriarchal organization culture. Study conclusions include that networks may serve to reproduce patriarchy, not erode it; the level of gender consciousness impacts on network participation and commitment; and network success is impacted upon by organization culture. Networks’ viability as an [human resource development] HRD intervention is assessed.

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With over 3000 entries, the Adult Learning Yearbook 2007 is the most comprehensive source of adult education and professional contacts - the essential reference tool for information officers, practitioners and managers in every area of adult education. Extensively indexed and cross-referenced, and organised logically for fast information retrieval this one-stop directory enables you to find precisely who you want to contact, quickly and with the minimum of fuss. Entries provide details of key contact names, postal addresses, telephone and fax numbers, email addresses and websites. All the information in the Yearbook has been thoroughly researched to ensure that all contact details are accurate and up to date. The Adult Learning Yearbook 2007 contains sections listing contacts in the national and local Learning and Skills Councils, central and local government, the further and higher education sectors, voluntary and community organisations, the skills sector, learning guidance providers, learning partnerships, media organisations and many other areas. There are also individual sections dedicated to geographical areas in the UK and internationally.

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A wide range of policies and programs have been encouraged by governments, and supported by employers and some trade unions in many countries on the education and training needs of individuals in the workplace. It has been assumed that these policies and programs should be targeted at the business, industrial and commercial sectors. More recently, there has been a growing acknowledgment of the need for varied work-related learning (WRL) developments in the public sector. Overall, what seems to be missing in these extensive WRL developments and subsequent policy and academic debates, is the relationship between these and the education and training needs of the voluntary and community sectors. There are a wide range of formal, semi-formal and informal organisations in both the voluntary and community sectors. This paper describes and analyses the recent and current initiatives taken by the University of Leeds in this context. It also outlines the increasing significance of the voluntary and community sectors in the context of changing government policies in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Show less

This paper looks at corporate entrepreneurship (CE) training and proposes some insights for its evaluation. The literature review begins by outlining what corporate entrepreneurship entails and the rationale for a firm adopting a more entrepreneurial posture. Subsequently, organizational devices for encouraging corporate entrepreneurship are explored, with a particular focus on the practice of training. Assessing the effect of training programmes leads to the question of how the programmes, especially CE programmes, can be effectively evaluated. An evaluative framework for CE training initiatives is proposed. The paper draws on evaluation principles from three fields of literature - training, adult education and entrepreneurship education. This study focuses on the 'changes in learners' that occur as a result of training. The evaluation insights gained from these three fields are coupled with an individualized measure of entrepreneurial orientation to present a schematic of effective CE training evaluation.

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The aim of this chapter is 'to confront a number of prevailing theories and ideas about learning in organisations with the growing body of empirical research in that field'. Four topics from recent empirical research into work and learning programs are discussed: tuning learning programs to the work and to the organisation; work and learning in groups; learning programs in different work contexts; and views and perceptions of actors. The conclusions from empirical research include: the methods applied by training professionals do not contribute much to tuning learning programs to work and do not explain much of the variance in training effectiveness; there is little evidence to suggest that learning and working in groups is actually on the rise; the organisation of work shows diversity with a tendency for increasing collaboration of workers, although there is also evidence of developments towards individualisation and standardisation; while there are different learning programs in different work contexts, the relationship between work type and learning programs is ambiguous; and there is a wide variety of ideas and developments in the field of corporate learning which should be allowed for in theory. The chapter concludes that 'theories and concepts are quite remote from actual developments in companies and from the views and needs of managers and workers' and that 'multiple research strategies including action research and field experiments should be applied to produce more practically relevant knowledge'.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/IRD 88.430; individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 86.413 to TD/TNC 86.427. Show less

There is growing concern about the labour force challenges facing the voluntary and non-profit sector. There are more signs that organizations are less and less able to recruit the talent they need in today’s tightening labour market and are also experiencing difficulty retaining employees. This study by the HR Council for the Voluntary & Non-profit Sector takes a comprehensive look at paid employment in the sector in order to create the first-ever labour force strategy for the sector. The intent of this first report is to provide an introduction to the Labour Force Study and to provide a framework for understanding the sector’s labour force as well as the trends and demands that contribute to the sector’s labour force challenges. This report has been organized into four sections: Section 1 defines and classifies the sector; Section 2 describes what is meant by a labour market; Section 3 outlines what is already known about paid employment in the sector; [and] Section 4 looks at the labour market trends affecting the sector, the changing demands placed on organizations and emerging strategies to strengthen the sector and its labour force.

Published National Adult Literacy Database (NALD) abstract reprinted by permission. Show less

The field of workplace learning lacks empirical studies that view workplace practices as places for learning and see these practices in a critical light. Accordingly, the aim of this study is, first, to describe examples of everyday shared practice and consider what kinds of various conflicting aims and demands exist in it. Second, the purpose is to explore what and how it is possible to learn through these shared practices in the area of design and development work. The empirical material consists of ethnographic observations made in two organisations in Finland. Three thematic lines were extracted from field notes and transcribed work talk on the basis of ethnographic and adapted membership categorisation analysis. They suggest that the maintenance of a good atmosphere was an important component of shared practice and learning through it. Shared practice was also found to be situated and open-ended and it contained conflicts and contradictory aims. The findings reported here suggest that to survive, everyday work involves doing and learning, and sometimes disagreeing. Conflicts seem to strengthen a team’s ability to cooperate and to sustain functional social relations. Attention should thus be paid to the constantly changing processes of work and to situational analyses of the different options within practice provided by the various aims of the work itself and the tasks done in accordance with those aims.

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There is a growing awareness of the strategic role of training and learning for organizational effectiveness. This article gives particular emphasis to the planned training and learning programs that occur in the context of the work setting or on the job. On-the-job training (OJT) and learning has garnered increased interest among researchers and practitioners because it addresses a number of practical and theoretical issues. The article discusses the context of workplace training and learning as it relates to the knowledge economy and implications for employee competence. Next, it seeks to define workplace training and learning in terms of the nature of the setting (formal or informal) and the degree of planning that the learning experiences receive. Third, it describes structured OJT (S-OJT) as one example of workplace training and learning that has received considerable interest in organizations and the implementation of S-OJT. Finally it reviews the research on S-OJT and raises issues for future research.

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The education-based [non-governmental organization] NGO sector in India is a large sector and it depends on activities of learning, training and motivation to sustain its underpaid and overworked workers. I articulate a theoretical perspective on the 'learning activity' in these workplaces using ideas of Engestrom and Freire, I focus and problematise the discourse of empowerment and analyse its impact on the learning activity in these organisations focusing on its implications for the worker. I argue that the notion of 'Permanent pedagogy' is an essential strategy of NGOs to position the worker in a deficit perspective and trade their services for low employment, low wages, precarious work and often intensive emotional labour. Permanent pedagogy manifests itself at the levels of cultural norms and ethos of a workplace, socio-historical perception and realities of the workplace and individual consciousness.

Using the lens of [Cultural Historical Activity Theory] CHAT and Freire's pedagogic model, I identify specific features of the learning activity that operates within the logic of the neoliberal order. I propose an alternative framework of workplace learning that focuses on resistance. The paper intends to stimulate critical reflection amongst NGO practitioners and scholars to question the broader notion of empowerment and, instead advance empirical focus on emancipatory learning structures.

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