UK government strategies for higher education (HE) continue to emphasise the promotion and enhancement of students' employability skills and subsequent graduate opportunities. The…
Abstract
Purpose
UK government strategies for higher education (HE) continue to emphasise the promotion and enhancement of students' employability skills and subsequent graduate opportunities. The purpose of this paper is to explore what this means for those HE learners already in work.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents the findings of a national study on the impact of Foundation degrees (Fds) on students and the workplace, in the light of government's plans for the continuing expansion of HE, and discussions about employability.
Findings
The study found that the majority of Fd students cited increased confidence as the main gain from their studies; such confidence was expressed in terms of how students' enhanced knowledge and understandings informed their workplace activities and tasks but these expressions did not necessarily fit neatly into narrow skills' definitions. Also the findings hint at some students facing difficulties in using their enhanced “skills” in the workplace.
Research limitations/implications
Although based on a relatively small number of Fd programmes, the student voices represent a powerful message of the value of linking studies to their workplace practices and of the multi‐dimensional nature of “confidence” based on personal experiences and trajectories.
Practical implications
While the term “employability skills” is regularly used in the discourse of graduates' trajectories in to the labour market, more nuanced understandings are needed in relation to HE learners already in the workplace.
Originality/value
Given government's expectation that the next phase of expansion of UK HE will embrace an increase in part‐time study and work‐based learning, the article represents a timely exploration of work‐based students' perceptions of the development of employability skills and how they are able to deploy these in the workplace.
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Olebogeng Glad Dibetso, Margaret Mary Sutherland and Caren Brenda Scheepers
The purpose of this study is to empirically quantify the factors that are perceived to drive or inhibit performance of information technology (IT) outsourced employees from a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to empirically quantify the factors that are perceived to drive or inhibit performance of information technology (IT) outsourced employees from a range of information technology outsourcing (ITO) stakeholders in South Africa.
Design/methodology/approach
The first phase was a qualitative study on 19 stakeholders focussed on the development of the constructs. The second phase was quantitative, with a sample of 116 ITO stakeholders of the largest IT company in South Africa.
Findings
The study revealed that the ITO stakeholders had misaligned perceptions on inhibitors and somewhat congruent perceptions with regards to drivers of performance. Managers and poor performers’ perceptions of inhibiting factors of performance were significantly different. The empirical evidence showed that the key drivers of performance were intrinsic factors and leadership, whilst the inhibiting factors were mainly related to poor leadership.
Research limitations/implications
The major limitation was that the population was represented by one large organisation in the South African IT industry and its clients, thereby excluding the rest of the IT industry participants, specifically the medium and small IT companies. The quota sample resulted in a non-probability study, and thus, the results of this study may not necessarily be generalised to other populations. This study’s findings on differences between good and poor performers must be investigated in other industries.
Practical implications
For outsourced employees to perform optimally, some key intrinsic factors must be fulfilled. Passion and pride, aligned to a meaningful job role, will unleash outstanding performance. Organisations need to ensure that there is regular feedback to managers on their performance and subsequent leadership development. Alignment of managers and poor performers’ perceptions on drivers and inhibitors could improve performance.
Social implications
These findings demonstrate the large gap in perceptions about the key drivers and inhibiters of performance.
Originality/value
The study reveals that top performers tend to have higher order and intrinsic motivators, compared to poor performers, who have a mixture of extrinsic and intrinsic needs, and managers have a misaligned expectation of extrinsic motivators.
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The role and expectations of new professional assistants inacademic libraries are explored. A special balance and a specificemphasis are needed in this formative period, to give…
Abstract
The role and expectations of new professional assistants in academic libraries are explored. A special balance and a specific emphasis are needed in this formative period, to give new recruits the full breadth of knowledge and skills required in the short term and provide the basis for continued training in the future
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The problems of One‐Man‐Bands (OMBs) began to be taken seriously in the early 1980s when the Aslib OMB group was formed. The group received considerable attention in the…
Abstract
The problems of One‐Man‐Bands (OMBs) began to be taken seriously in the early 1980s when the Aslib OMB group was formed. The group received considerable attention in the professional press, and became the object of a study by Judith Collins and Janet Shuter who identified them as “information professionals working in isolation”. Many of the problems identified in the Collins/Shuter study remain — not least of these being the further education and training needs of OMBs. These needs are studied in this report. The author has firstly done an extensive survey of the literature to find what has been written about this branch of the profession. Then by means of a questionnaire sent to the Aslib OMB group and the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (INVOG), training and education needs have been pinpointed. Some of these needs have then been explored in greater detail by means of case studies. The author found that the most common deterrents to continuing education and training were time, cost, location, finding suitable courses to cover the large variety of skills needed and lastly, lack of encouragement from employers. The author has concluded by recommending areas where further research is needed, and suggesting some solutions to the problems discussed.
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This piece explores the philosophical origins of sense-making as defined in Brenda Dervin’s methodology.
Abstract
Purpose
This piece explores the philosophical origins of sense-making as defined in Brenda Dervin’s methodology.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper locates the origins of sense-making's rich ontological, epistemological and etymological heritage to the Classical Greece and the Pre-Socratic period. The Greek origins of sense-making‘s philosophical undercurrents surface again in Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit before the idea is picked up again in twentieth century philosophy and library science.
Findings
This is a conceptual paper and no empirical findings are presented.
Originality/value
This paper makes an original contribution to the study of information seeking and to sense making theory and methodology.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent service delivery in the Canadian federal government actually improved after a decade of reform efforts, and how employee…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent service delivery in the Canadian federal government actually improved after a decade of reform efforts, and how employee empowerment accounted for any improvements that arose.
Design/methodology/approach
Five focus group interviews were conducted in 2002 with federal government employees involved in service delivery. Interview transcripts were content analyzed. The employee empowerment and service quality literatures, including critical perspectives, provide the theoretical underpinnings of the study.
Findings
Productivity and service enhancement did materialize, but little empowerment occurred. Work intensification was revealed. The shortcomings of applying private sector‐style definitions of productivity to the public sector were identified.
Research limitations/implications
Study findings have limited generalizability due to small sample size. Findings must be verified through additional research. Comparative findings from countries that introduced service reforms more comprehensively than did Canada would be of interest.
Practical implications
Public sector efforts to improve service delivery should address possible material barriers affecting service delivery and pay more attention to employee needs. The efficacy of quantitative performance targets should be re‐examined.
Originality/value
The outcomes of a public service reform initiative intended to improve service quality by allegedly empowering front‐line workers are presented from an employee perspective. As there is limited empirical research done on this topic from that perspective it should be of general interest to researchers in the fields of public policy and human resources management.
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LONDON proved to be successful as a Conference centre, and the Fifty‐Seventh Annual Meeting was one of our best. As for the programme generally, the forecasts which appeared in…
Abstract
LONDON proved to be successful as a Conference centre, and the Fifty‐Seventh Annual Meeting was one of our best. As for the programme generally, the forecasts which appeared in THE LIBRARY WORLD last month were in most cases justified. The Presidential address, delivered by Mr. Pitt while recovering from a rather serious illness and while suffering from anxiety as to the health of Mrs. Pitt, was remarkable in the circumstances, and, as we premised it would be, was a statesmanlike survey of the accomplishments of the Library Association in the past, and a forecast of hopes for the future. These it would undoubtedly be impossible to summarise here. They included, however, a suggestion that so far as professional training is concerned, that there should be a joint examination award of the University, the Library Association and the employing authorities. This seems to be an avenue of development worth exploring, to use a Parliamentary phrase.