A short course in the testing of electrical machinery for non-electrical students,

Mode of access: Internet.

OHS in the nursing workplace: accountability and the management of stress

There has been growing interest in occupational stress in the nursing context, both in New Zealand and internationally. This article takes a critical approach to the literature on nursing stress by examining the implications of a body of research largely informed by a theoretical approach which highlights the individual. In spite of evidence that the main sources of stress for nurses are related to workplace conditions, the focus is on the individual nurse and his/her personal response to stress. This approach encourages the development of interventions where the objectives are the individual management of stress, and thereby consolidates nurses' perceptions of powerlessness. Alternatives to these palliative measures, such as highlighting the legal obligations for employers to provide a safe workplace or collective industrial action for change, are glaringly absent in the literature. The importance of such an approach is supported by recent findings from the United States on the advantages of hospitals which promote nurses' autonomy and control.

Workplace familism and psychological contract breach in the Philippines

The present study addresses the call for theory-based investigations on workplace familism. It contributes to the literature by proposing and testing the moderating role of workplace familism between psychological contract breach and civic virtue behaviour. We surveyed 267 full-time employees and found main effects of both types of workplace familism (i.e. workplace organisational and workplace supervisor familism) and breach of relational obligations on civic virtue behaviour. Workplace supervisor familism also moderated the relationship between breach and civic virtue behaviour, with the negative relationship between breach and civic virtue behaviour stronger when workplace supervisor familism was high. This suggests that employees with a high level of workplace supervisor familism may feel a sense of betrayal and, therefore, respond more negatively to contract breach. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

To learn from one's mistakes: The role of impulsivity in positive workplace behaviours

Recentiy a neuropsychological model of learning has been proposed Qackson, 2002) which argues that Responsibility provides a cognitive re-expression of Impulsivit)' in the prediction of functional and dysfunctional behaviour. Jackson argues that primitive, instinctive impulses lead to antisocial behaviours and socio-cognitive regulators such as Responsibility leads to the re-expression of Impulsivity in terms of pro-social behaviours. Study 1 tests and supports the measurement properties of the assessment methodology associated with the model. Study 2 provides evidence in favour of the instinctive basis of Impulsivity and the conscious basis of Responsibility, which reinforces the underlying neuropsychological basis of the model. Study 3 uses structural equation modelling to determine if Responsibility mediates Impulsivity in the prediction of a latent variable representing work performance, work commitment and team performance, but does not mediate Impulsivit}' in the prediction of a latent variable representing sexual proclivity, workplace deviancy, gambling and beer consumption. Results provide strong support for Jackson's model and suggest that Impulsivity and Responsibility are fundamental to both functional and dysfunctional learning

Corruption in the post-Soviet workplace: the experiences of recent graduates in contemporary Ukraine

While Ukraine was bestowed market economy status by the European Union in 2005 its labour market still endures many structural problems. By exploring the experiences of young graduate employees this article highlights the difficultly in obtaining work within Ukraine's labour market and the problems they face once they have secured employment. Rather than seeing the development of a transparent labour market the collapse of the command economy has seen a relatively closed system develop. The article demonstrates how many jobs are secured through the use of connections or the demanding, and payment, of bribes.The situation does not improve once graduates obtain long-term employment. Interviewees discuss the lack of job security, the informal payment of wages and the lack of legal protection from corrupt employer practices. The article has broader resonance outside of the Ukrainian case study as the discussion of workplace corruption highlights how the issue is concerned with much more than simply cash based transactions and how those that endure it are likely to turn to the informal economy for employment.

Kindness is the parent of kindness: reciprocity in the UK call centre workplace

This research developed, proposed and tested an integrated psychological process to performance model. The model utilized the overarching theory of social exchange to incorporate the climate perceptions and affective reactions of 3,012 employees across 88 UK call centres. In the pursuit of parsimony, a review of the applied psychology literature gave rise to a model where the path between global service climate and contextual performance was fully mediated by, first, perceived organizational support, second, job satisfaction and third, affective commitment. The resulting integrated and parsimonious model was tested via SEM and the mediation hypotheses were tested via a series of nested competing models. A moderate fit and partial, rather than full, mediation were reported. Nested Competing Model 4 proved to be the most parsimonious and to have the best fit. It is important to recognise, however, that Nested Competing Model 4 is not intended to be the most comprehensive model (which would include all significant paths), but a more practically useful one (i.e. parsimonious), that focuses on the main relationships.

The management of workplace conflict: Contrasting pathways in the HRM literature.

This paper reviews the human resource management literature on the management of workplace conflict. It suggests that workplace conflict is commonly viewed in the literature as a symptom of management failure: the notion that conflict may be intrinsic to the nature of work because employees and managers have hard-to-reconcile competing interests is given short-shrift. At the same time, the paper identifies important differences in the literature, which the authors call ‘pathways’, about the best methods to manage problems at the workplace. It is argued that four contrasting pathways can be detected in the literature with regard to how organizations approach workplace conflict management practices. Each pathway is examined fully and their respective strengths and weaknesses are assessed.

Professional Practice in Learning and Development: How to Design and Deliver Plans for the Workplace

Introduction The world is changing! It is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. As cliché as it may sound the evidence of such dynamism in the external environment is growing. Business-as-usual is more of the exception than the norm. Organizational change is the rule; be it to accommodate and adapt to change, or instigate and lead change. A constantly changing environment is a situation that all organizations have to live with. What makes some organizations however, able to thrive better than others? Many scholars and practitioners believe that this is due to the ability to learn. Therefore, this book on developing Learning and Development (L&D) professionals is timely as it explores and discusses trends and practices that impact organizations, the workforce and L&D professionals. Being able to learn and develop effectively is the cornerstone of motivation as it helps to address people’s need to be competent and to be autonomous (Deci & Ryan, 2002; Loon & Casimir, 2008; Ryan & Deci, 2000). L&D stimulates and empowers people to perform. Organizations that are better at learning at all levels; the individual, group and organizational level, will always have a better chance of surviving and performing. Given the new reality of a dynamic external environment and constant change, L&D professionals now play an even more important role in their organizations than ever before. However, L&D professionals themselves are not immune to the turbulent changes as their practices are also impacted. Therefore, the challenges that L&D professionals face are two-pronged. Firstly, in relation to helping and supporting their organization and its workforce in adapting to the change, whilst, secondly developing themselves effectively and efficiently so that they are able to be one-step ahead of the workforce that they are meant to help develop. These challenges are recognised by the CIPD, as they recently launched their new L&D qualification that has served as an inspiration for this book. L&D plays a crucial role at both strategic (e.g. organizational capability) and operational (e.g. delivery of training) levels. L&D professionals have moved from being reactive (e.g. following up action after performance appraisals) to being more proactive (e.g. shaping capability). L&D is increasingly viewed as a driver for organizational performance. The CIPD (2014) suggest that L&D is increasingly expected to not only take more responsibility but also accountability for building both individual and organizational knowledge and capability, and to nurture an organizational culture that prizes learning and development. This book is for L&D professionals. Nonetheless, it is also suited for those studying Human Resource Development HRD at intermediate level. The term ‘Human Resource Development’ (HRD) is more common in academia, and is largely synonymous with L&D (Stewart & Sambrook, 2012) Stewart (1998) defined HRD as ‘the practice of HRD is constituted by the deliberate, purposive and active interventions in the natural learning process. Such interventions can take many forms, most capable of categorising as education or training or development’ (p. 9). In fact, many parts of this book (e.g. Chapters 5 and 7) are appropriate for anyone who is involved in training and development. This may include a variety of individuals within the L&D community, such as line managers, professional trainers, training solutions vendors, instructional designers, external consultants and mentors (Mayo, 2004). The CIPD (2014) goes further as they argue that the role of L&D is broad and plays a significant role in Organizational Development (OD) and Talent Management (TM), as well as in Human Resource Management (HRM) in general. OD, TM, HRM and L&D are symbiotic in enabling the ‘people management function’ to provide organizations with the capabilities that they need.