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As child abuse and neglect in childcare settings continue to occur, a quality childcare workforce is imperative. This paper aims to describe how an efficient and effective childcare Workforce Background Check system was developed and implemented to protect both children and childcare staff in the state of Michigan.

The user-centered design (UCD) approach was used in the creation and statewide implementation of a new acceptable and usable system, the Michigan childcare background check (CCBC) system. The authors conducted focus groups to obtain user feedback and performed several usability evaluations. This approach was used as guidance for the development process and to evaluate the concept designs for the web application that was created.

This paper discusses the overall process of implementing the CCBC program, focusing on successes, barriers and lessons learned in the planning, designing and execution phases. By May 2019, more than 92,069 background checks were conducted on personnel in 8,740 licensed childcare facilities across Michigan. Collaboration across stakeholders in different sectors facilitated the implementation of the new system, while structural barriers and stigma provided barriers to implementation.

Having individuals with various roles, abilities and technical expertise assist with the development and implementation of the system ensured the usability and acceptability of the new system by all types of users.

The general public expects childcare providers to ensure that their employees meet the highest professional standards. Developing effective, easy-to-use fingerprint-based criminal history background check systems to identify ineligible applicants and monitor current employees is one component of an overall strategy to promote child safety and minimize child abuse and neglect in the childcare environments.

This paper provides a practical example of how a CCBC system can be developed, implemented and scaled to be used statewide. This approach can be used by other states or other disciplines with a similar context.

As child abuse and neglect in childcare settings continue to occur, a quality childcare workforce is imperative. This paper shows how this study uses the UCD approach to create an acceptable and usable system and complete statewide implementation of a new Michigan CCBC program. This resulted in an efficient and effective Workforce Background Check system that is essential to protect both children and childcare staff.

In 2008, the United States passed the Higher Education Opportunity ACT (Public Law 110-315). The goal of this legislation was to increase the participation of individuals with intellectual disabilities in post-secondary education (PSE) programmes and improve the abysmal (14%) employment rate among this population. To help start PSE programmes on college campuses, many universities waived their normal enrolment requirements and established unique entrance prerequisites for these specialised programmes to increase inclusive participation. Today, there are 318 PSE programmes located across 49 of the 50 United States. Utilising a qualitative design, researchers conducted semi-focused interviews with 13 recent PSE graduates to give voice to this marginalised group of students. Researchers examined graduates' perceptions of the benefits and shortcomings of their college experiences and how the programme prepared them for life after college. Using thematic and deductive analysis, 14 themes and 3 subthemes were identified. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.

Self-report questionnaires are the predominant method used in human resource management (HRM) research to assess employees’ work-related psychological constructs (e.g., processes, states, and attributes). However, this method is associated with significant shortcomings, including the introduction of self-serving bias and common method variance when used exclusively. In this chapter, the authors challenge the assumption that individuals themselves are the only accurate source of the self-focused information collected in HRM research. Instead, the authors propose that other-ratings – ratings of a target individual that are provided by a workplace observer, such as a coworker, supervisor, or subordinate – can accurately assess commonly measured work-related psychological constructs. The authors begin by explaining the advantages of other-ratings for HRM research and practice, reviewing the history of other-ratings and how they emerged in the personality and person-perception literature, and outlining how they have been used in HRM research to date. Then, the authors build upon Funder’s (1995) realistic accuracy model to develop a theoretical argument detailing why workplace others should be able to accurately judge how another employee thinks and feels about work. Next, the authors highlight existing evidence in the literature on the accuracy of other-ratings and present the results of a preliminary meta-analysis on the ability of other-ratings to predict self-ratings of work-related psychological constructs. Finally, the authors discuss potential moderators of other-rating accuracy and reflect on a number of practical considerations for researchers looking to use other-ratings in their own work. The authors intend for this chapter to meaningfully contribute to the larger conversation on HRM research methods. Other-ratings are a simple, yet powerful, addition to the methodological toolkit of HRM researchers that can increase flexibility in research design and improve the overall quality of research.

This paper aims to explore if and how employees in a healthcare organisation perceive changes in their managers’ leadership behaviour over time.

An interview study was conducted with employees whose managers had participated in a two-year leadership development programme offered by their employer, Healthcare Provision Stockholm County. Qualitative content analysis was applied, and the interview discussions focused on areas in which the majority of the informants perceived that a change had occurred over time and their answers were relatively consistent.

The majority of employees did discern changes in their managers’ leadership over time, and, with very few exceptions, these changes were described as improvements.

The knowledge that employees perceived changes in their managers’ leadership supports investments in leadership development through courses, programmes or other initiatives.

The present findings contribute to a deeper empirical understanding of leadership as it is practised over time in everyday contexts among employees in healthcare organisations.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the determinants of perceived work-related stress among public sector managers.

A general questionnaire-based survey of managers at all managerial levels in Danish organizations concerning the content of their job and the way it is practiced (n=1,500, response rate 72 per cent) are applied. For the purpose of this paper only specific information related to the perception of work stress among public sector managers is analyzed (n=400).

The perception of stress are influenced by factors like gender, managerial level, work load, the influence on own job situation, if they have children living at home as well as the percentage of work-at-home.

In a general survey work stress is one among a larger number of issues. This fact may influence the validity of the information – in a positive as well as a negative way. However, the findings point to issues which call for more in-depth analyses.

The identified significant determinants influencing the perception of stress point to issues where preventive initiatives can be taken.

Since work-related stress may cause absence from work it may influence production and the health system. If preventive measures can be taken a positive impact on the economy may be the result.

Work-related stress has been studied before. But little focus has been given to the public sector and especially managers. Furthermore, including a variety of potential explanatory determinants such a work-life balance, psycho-social work characteristics, gender and managerial level – as well as the potential interaction between them – give a detailed platform for the analyses.

This paper aims to review research of relevance to women with learning disabilities, focusing in particular on literature which is applicable to women with learning disabilities who use forensic services.

Research involving women with learning disabilities over the past 30 years was sought out and reviewed, and literature relating to women living in locked wards (including those without learning disabilities) was focused upon. Related themes such as the BPD diagnosis, self injury, and aggression are explored.

The author found very little research relating to women with learning disabilities who use secure services, particularly which included quotes from the women themselves.

The author recommends that more research in this area is needed, primarily research which includes the voices of women service users themselves.

This paper will be relevant to all staff who work with women in secure services.

This paper aims to develop a conceptual model showing how the concept of distinctive value positioning (DVP) could be a strategic solution for improving marketing performance in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia.

A survey was conducted among owners and managers of creative SMEs using a structured questionnaire to test the proposed model. Additionally, the sample size included 200 respondents who were analyzed using structural equation modeling with the aid of AMOS 23.

This research used serial mediation to investigate the mediating effect of two concepts in the strategic path to enhance DVP. Channel partner power was incorporated to mediate the relationship between product innovation capability and marketing performance.

Service-dominant logic perspective was enriched with diversity through various analyses. This research further contributed to the field of knowledge by developing a new variable known as DVP. However, it did not extensively explore the various cultural elements in Indonesia that could affect the unique values attached to creative industry products.

DVP was reported as a new concept and showed a significant effect on marketing performance in SMEs.