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'Nobody wants to get one. Nobody wants to give one.' The problem was that the supervisors and managers of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC) did not know how to use the Institute's new performance management system and had not been trained on how to prepare and deliver effective performance appraisals. The problem further included the fact that RIC was required to improve its effectiveness and timeliness with performance appraisals in preparation for its 2002 Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) review and felt bound to be timely for its employees as sound management practice. The research question was: 'What should be contained in a training program for effective performance appraisals that drives performance accountabilities in a mutually satisfying way for adults who can find themselves as either appraisees or appraisers?' Procedures to develop a performance appraisal training program included a review of the literature, selection of formative and summative committee members, and design and validation of criteria and contents of a performance appraisal training program. The results of the study included the creation of a two-module performance appraisal training program that included a module on the new performance management system contents and the manager's role within that system, and a module on preparing, delivering and assessing effective performance appraisal experiences. The conclusions reached included that it was possible to design a performance appraisal training that incorporated adult learning principles including learner-centered strategies that also reinforced ownership of timeliness. Face-to-face training experiences were augmented by online training materials, allowing for access by 20 RIC locations. RIC has approved recommendations for further evaluation of the effectiveness of the performance appraisal system. Recommendations to apply adult learning principles to internal adult learning venues have received broader acceptance within the wider management and employee groups.

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E-learning is such an attractive opportunity for training providers to reconfigure delivery and support that it presents compelling reasons to engage with the practice. A broad range of provision is therefore available for every type of market segment, including small firms. Sustaining a competitive advantage from a host of offers is a practical challenge for providers. In many industries, competitive advantage lies in the value of intangibles presented by an enterprise. In this paper, dimensions of perceived value are examined in the context of delivery to SMEs. Competences for a training provider can be grouped into specific operational and system competences of value assurance, enhancement and innovation.

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E-learning is a global phenomenon and is central to many industries as an additional method of training that complements more traditional methods of learning. In this paper, the practice of a blended approach adopted by an anonymised large multinational banking organisation is presented as a case study. E-learning is in its infancy within this organisation with pilots taking place in their overseas branches. However, questions arise as to whether adopting overseas implementation approaches will work in their UK branches. Are the implementation/change management approaches compatible with the UK culture and technology infrastructure? This paper investigates the implementation of e-learning by this particular company, including the pre-implementation attitudes and perceptions of employees. The findings are discussed together with the implications for research and practice.

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Are appropriately qualified trainers educating the workforce? The purpose of this study was to investigate the qualifications and competencies of workplace trainers and, determine if there is a relationship between these attributes and their effectiveness. Using a survey questionnaire, 303 trainers responded to an effective trainer model developed from the literature and validated in a Delphi study. The variables of interest were statistically tested using factor analysis, discriminant analysis, Pearson correlational analysis, and MANOVA. The results of this research show that trainers who have formal teaching qualifications and who have been in training positions for more than ten years, identify with the effective trainer model. This Australian research supports much of the previous research conducted in North America with some interesting differences.

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This study identifies and empirically tests factors that may influence learners' use of a computer-based training support system (TSS). The areas of research and theory were drawn from human-computer interaction, information and business management, and adult education. The factors suggested in the literature that may affect learner's use of a TSS were developed in an instrument using 12 subscales. Four hundred and forty six government employees responded to the survey instrument. Multiple regression was used to test the factors that influenced the employee's use of the TSS and the relationships among the factors. Implications of the findings for further research and for human resource development managers are discussed.

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In this paper, the author analyses the different patterns of learning one can find in the organisations of two contrasting economic fields representing different contexts for learning. The analysis concentrates on two different occupational groups at the medium skills level: specialists in the IT sector and skilled workers in the timber and furniture (T&F) sector. One of them belongs to the 'new' and another to the 'old' economy. He explains some of the reasons for the emergence of different patterns of learning and consequences they might have on the development of the organisations and individual workers. Also treats workplace learning as a means to overcome the gaps between the skills and competences 'required by the job' and the competence workers have. The author tries to argue that learning, competence development and identification in cases of IT specialists and skilled workers in the T&F sector with one's work is mutually closely connected, and 'space of work values' determined by the identification patterns can be a factor as facilitating as well as limiting the learning and competence development in these cases.

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Training designs are critical to the success of intercultural training programmes. A common typology for classifying intercultural training designs distinguishes among the following dimensions: experiential discovery versus didactic expository and culture-specific versus culture-general training. The purpose of this paper is to assess different intercultural training designs referring to this typology. First, a concept of intercultural competence is developed. Based on this concept experiential training designs are favoured as they allow to train the cognitive, affective and behavioural component of intercultural competencies. In the second part of the paper an empirical study in the USA and Germany is conducted in order to assess whether the degree of intercultural competencies differs between the two nations. As no considerable differences can be identified the benefit of culture-general training is discussed. Significant skills to be focused on in intercultural training are described and specific measures for pre-assessment devices in intercultural training are presented.

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This paper raises the question whether or not a social and economic dimension exists (community and social involvement, career service intervention/assistance, employer requirements, qualification building) within the Jobskills Training Programme in Northern Ireland. For many young school leavers it has undoubtedly assisted them in the transition from school to the world of work. In addition, many of the cohort study gained an accredited qualification for the first time. All of this, of course, has the aim of making them more employable within the labour market. However, with the local economy becoming stronger and skills shortages rising quickly we have to ask what real contribution does a training intervention like Jobskills really make. In order to determine the effectiveness and contribution to the local labour market, a comparison is made to the Danish vocational and education training model, which highlights significant fundamental differences. The paper concludes by demonstrating the key policy differences and thus presents a new vocational model for youth training in Northern Ireland.

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Human resource development (HRD) occupies some interesting educational territory. Given the rapid pace of development and innovation in education and in the practice of HRD, coupled with alternative approaches to learning, a re-evaluation of HRD might be expected to be a prominent feature within discussions of the future practice of HRD. However, while there has been a growing demand in the academic literature of the last few years for management educators to engage more critically with their subject than has been the tradition in business schools. The case has been argued for strengthening the critical perspectives in contributory disciplines within management and for a revision of management more generally. Yet, while examples of critical pedagogies are accumulating, they seldom exhibit corresponding changes in HRD practices. Where HRD does depart from mainstream practices, alternatives are typically based on humanistic student-centred aspirations for social equality, rather than on an analysis of HRD in terms of power, politics and social dynamics. The intention of this paper is to highlight what is not being talked about in HRD in order to illuminate the importance of power to the study of HRD. The paper will explore the significance of power in HRD, drawing on ideas from critical and post modern perspectives. By illuminating social and power relations embedded within HRD practices, the aim is to present a more contextualised and processual account than the proceduralist recipes that currently dominate the study of this vital aspect of educational and organisational practice.

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This paper addresses the influence of information technology in human resources management (HRM) and specifically on training policy through the experience of a Spanish telecommunications firm, Telefonica. The characteristics of the training model designed by this firm to face new environments is considered and the technologies used, the key actions, the disadvantages and success factors are detected in trying to grow an E-learning company. Success factors in training policy are identified. These include flexibility in time management for training; active participation by trainers; the establishment of control mechanisms that ensures training occurs; the creation of quality content; the promotion of interactive elements among trainers, students and with each other; the use of standardised and developed technologies and gradual implementation. Objectives of the company for the future are to maintain progress in the use of E-learning as a way of adapting the training process to the new E-business culture.

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