Research Articles Base: Employment Sector

Aiding Employees in Realizing their Potentials

Training is an attempt to improve employee performance on a currently held job or one related to it. This usually will lead to changes in specific knowledge, skills, attitudes, or behaviors.  These changes can result to long-term productivity. However, it often the case that companies only consider training for new hires. Many feel that training is just a way of introducing to the new hire the culture of the organization. It is also an opportunity to impart with them the lessons that senior employees had that helped them in furthering the growth of the company.   According to Allis (2003), the quality of the employees are determined by their development through training and education. In turn, quality employees are factors in defining the long-term stability and profitability of the company. It is a fact that the rigorous hiring process of many companies a ways of ensuring that they will only be hiring the best of the best.   However, this is not enough to say that the people they hire will be delivering effective performances.  It might be true that they can see potential in those people and that is why they hired them. Nevertheless, these potentials cannot be put into use unless they are accordant with the company’s visions. This is the reason why training must take place.   Training of employees’ pertains to giving the employees the basic knowledge necessary for them to be able to perform their tasks. In addition, employee training will also enhance the inherent capacity of the employees. Development needs to be dealt with continuously enhancing employees’ abilities through training to match the changes in the business industry.   According to Graham and Salas (2002), training is being used to facilitate education.  In addition, training is also seen as a tool to retain employees, improve corporate culture and design incentive programs for employees (Graham & Salas, 2002).                Trainings are also being conducted so that the company will be able to create a pool of employees that can readily and adequately replace those who have left the company. Due to fast technological developments, employees must be continuously and/or regularly trained to be able to adapt to the developments that will affect the company. Training also motivates a team by allowing them to become more efficient.  If a company is able to train and develop highly-competent employees then they will be able to fill positions needed for expansion (Allis, 2003 ).               Since training can develop efficient employees and create rooms for expansion, this means that training can also result to lower employee turnover rates. According to a survey conducted by Sibson and Company (as cited in Cooper, 2000), high turnover rates resulted to 38 percent decrease in earnings and stock prices in 4 industries. This means that many companies are losing precious capital in attempting to replace the employees that left the company. So if training can reduce turnover rates, it means that companies will also be able to reduce costs of operation.               The results of training and development start a chain reaction.  When the company is able to produce effective employees then their profitability will increase.  When this happens, they will also be able to compensate their employees based on their contribution to the company’s growth.  In turn, it will create a feeling of satisfaction that will motivate them to improve further their efficiency and then the cycle will once again begin (Parker, 2005).   This means that training motivates employees. Training motivates employees by empowering them. Through training, they acquire skills and knowledge that will help them in improving their performance. According to the intrinsic motivation theory, the feeling of autonomy drives employees to persist in their work.   In addition, autonomous employees report that they enjoy their work and they have high interest in their work as well (Deci 1975). White (1959) added that people are motivated when the feel that they affect their environment. This means that employees will be motivated if the feel and see that they are competent in what they do. Therefore, in order for employees to become competent in their work, they must undergo continuous training to enhance their skills.               Consequently, when employees exhibit excellence, employers must see to it that they are being reward. This is to let employees know that their hard Work and work competence are being recognized. As such, it can be said that the implementation of an efficient rewards system is a result of effective employee training. Pay is an integral concern of the organization. In addition, Schuster and Zingehim (1992) stated that pay is explicitly associated with business performance. This means that pay or reward systems also act as motivators for employees.               People work because they want career opportunities that would allow them to explore their capabilities as individuals and team players. People want to grow and this drives them to improve themselves in the workplace. However, it is also a fact that people work because they have financial gains, which is one of the main factors why people work. Therefore, if companies have reward systems, involving monetary benefits, employees will have something to look forward to when they are able to do a good job. This means that financial benefits or reward can drive employees to worker harder and be more competent in what they do.               However, money does not always answer the needs of employees as stated earlier. Employers must recognize that their employees are human beings who have hopes and dreams that they want to fulfill. This means that there must be a balance between the kinds of reward the companies provide their employees. It is essential that the holistic need of a person for improvements be taken into consideration upon the formulation and implementation of key activities such as training, motivating and rewarding.             Reference Allis, R 2003, Zero to Millions: How to Build a Company to One Million Dollars in Sales Virante Inc.: Raleigh, NC.   Cooper, E 2000,  Turn, Turn, Turn. More Business, viewed 6th April, 2006,  http://www.morebusiness.com/running_your_business/ management/d968034020.brc.   Deci, EL 1975, Intrinsic Motivation.  Plenum: New York.   Graham,HD & Salas, E 2002, Creating, Implementing and Managing Effective Training and Development: State-of-the-Art Lessons for Practice. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco.   Parker, O 2005, The Real Bottom Line on Training: It’s How, Not How Much. Conference Board of Canada, viewed 6th April, 2006, http://www.conferenceboard.ca/humanresource/training-inside.htm.   Schuster, JR & Zingheim, P 1992, The New Pay: Linking Employee and Organizational Performance. Lexington Books: New York.   White, RW 1959, ‘Motivation reconsidered: the concept of competence, Psychological Review, 66, pp. 297–333.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Aiding Employees in Realizing their Potentials

Training is an attempt to improve employee performance on a currently held job or one related to it. This usually will lead to changes in...

Unemployment in London

Unemployment in London has risen more or less continuously in the past fifteen years and is ‘the single most serious challenge facing Member States today’ (CEC 1993).  In 1994 registered unemployment stood at over 12 per cent, with sixteen million officially unemployed. The number of people seeking work is even higher as official statistics underestimate joblessness. Unemployment levels vary a great deal between Member States, with very much higher rates in certain regions and countries of the Community. The problems arising from unemployment are not only economic problems of inefficiency arising from wastage of human resources, rising public sector deficits and possible monetary instability arising from this, but also an increase in social tension and social costs in terms of ill health, increasing poverty, family and community breakdown, and arguably increasing crime levels. The economy of London is said to have special features that result in the levels of unemployment than similar advanced industrialized economies (Gordon:1988). This is the question that will be addressed first of all, as the implication is that if the factors behind the higher unemployment level can be identified, action can follow to reduce the problem. Unemployment in the period 1976 and 1983 was higher for London Community as a whole than in other major economies. London had lower unemployment rates in both 1976 and 1983. Individual countries within the EC show greater disparities in unemployment rates ranging in 1983 from 4.3 per cent to 16 per cent in Spain. In 1983, of the unemployed in London only 13.3 per cent had been unemployed for more than a year. This had fallen to 5.7 per cent by 1983 (Hedges amd Prescott-Clarke:1983).  In London the proportion of long-term unemployed was over three times that in London ranging from 39.3 per cent 52.4 per cent.  The proportions had increased to 46.3 per cent and 54 per cent by 1990.  In the three other countries it had reduced but was seven and nine times the rate of the United States. Many studies have addressed the questions ‘Why has London unemployment been persistently higher than that of the USA and Japan?’ and ‘Why has the number of long-term unemployment differed so much in London? ‘The explanations for the former can be categorised into the effect of aggregate demand; the role of wages in turn affected by the unemployment compensation and institutional factors; and structural change. Long-term unemployment is again linked to the unemployment benefit system but also to hysteresis effects and discrimination. Taking the first of these explanations, the role of aggregate demand, Bean, Layard and Nickell (1986), Blanchard and Summers (1986), Lawrence and Schultz (1987), Drèze and Bean (1990) all identify demand conditions  in London as being important  in creating and maintaining high levels of unemployment  especially  in the EC. Tight monetary and fiscal contractions in the 1980s in most EC countries, with the exception of Mitterand’s expansionary programme  In the early 1980s, and the interdependence of London economies with high levels of inter-London trade, made any expansionary strategy by individual economies impotent. It is argued that these aggregate demand shocks left a serious legacy in destroying investor confidence, and damaged the ability of the labour markets to function effectively. Underutilized capacity affected the demand for investment. The growth of demand is linked to both government expenditure and world trade. Governments were cutting back on expenditure and reducing public deficits (Franz:1987). High interest rate policies to control inflation further reduced investment, and at the margin caused closures through rising business costs. London shares of world trade fell as a result of differences in the growth rates of domestic and foreign prices through the price elasticity of demand for imports and exports. The sustained growth in unemployment in London since 1970 challenged the premise of a ‘natural’ or Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment (NAIRU) toward which an economy will gravitate. The idea is that an increase in unemployment will lower the rate of inflation since wage costs will lower as a result of unemployment, unemployment will then reduce as the demand for labour increases with falling real wages. It was found, however, that high rates of unemployment had little impact on inflation. In fact unemployment and inflation in London often went up together. It was reported (Blanchard and Summers 1986) that the NAIRU rose from 2.4 per cent in 1967–79 to 9.2 per cent in 1981–83 Policy makers in this situation were unwilling to stimulate demand as it was thought that it would lead to higher inflation not higher output. Control of inflation was the major preoccupation of macroeconomic policy in London in the 1980s in an attempt to generate export led growth through more competitive prices and reduced uncertainty on future prices. As previously mentioned any expansionary policy that would be effective in reducing unemployment would have to be a concerted effort by all major EC economies. Expansionary fiscal policy was also seen as capable of exerting only temporary effects as it would induce balance of trade and public deficits and lead therefore to a reversal of policy (Drèze and Bean 1990). The share of wages in national income rose after the oil price shocks of 1974 and 1979–80, which suggests that workers were compensated for the supply side shocks at the expense of profit.  Between1982 and 1987  in Britain, even with over three million unemployed, wages rose steadily at 7.5 per cent p.a. Productivity gains  in the 1970s and 1990s were incorporated into real wages quite rapidly  in London with a short-run elasticity of 0.4 to 0.8 per cent and a long-run elasticity closer to 1 per cent (Drèze and Bean 1990). Both compensation per employee and unit labour costs in the period 1978–93 grew faster in London despite higher unemployment levels. It has been suggested that the difference in unemployment persistence in London.   One of the reasons for real wage rigidity and the insensitivity of wages to unemployment levels could be explained by the ‘insider–outsider’ hypothesis (Flanagan 1987, Lindbeck and Snower 1988).  In this hypothesis unions’ bargaining objectives are set according to the interests of employed union members (insiders) subject to the constraint of employers demand for labour but with no reference to unemployed members (outsiders). When unemployment increases wage objectives are traded against the job security interests of a decreased number of employed union members. After a price shock real wages will rise as the trade unions consider only the effect of prices on the living standards of their working members and not the effect of higher wages on reducing the number of potential jobs for the unemployed. Price shocks and demand shocks which can both reduce employment will mean that more workers lose ‘insider’ status, and the remaining ‘insiders’ set the wage to maintain a new lower level of employment. Unemployment, therefore, persists at a new higher level (Blanchard and Summers 1986). London as a whole, as has been shown, has higher unemployment rates than the national averages. Can one use the findings on unemployment in cities as a microcosm of a wider pattern? Is there such a thing as ‘London’ unemployment that is fundamentally different from the problems experienced elsewhere in the industrialised world? Before attempting to address these questions, one must first ask whether or not it is valid to compare information on levels of unemployment and the numbers of unemployed and their characteristics, when the available statistics at city level do not exactly correspond, and precise information on different aspects of policy is not  in all cases. Growth or loss of employment reflecting changes in local demand do not, therefore, on their own, result in a decrease or increase in unemployment. Change in population (and by implication active population) must also be taken into account, as at a national level (Fothergill, Kitson and Monk:1985). One would expect to find that if population growth outstripped employment growth there would be an increase in unemployment,; that if employment growth was higher than population growth there would be a fall in unemployment and that if job loss was greater than population less unemployment would arise. What is not expected is that a loss in population greater than a loss in employment would result in increased unemployment. Conditions of local labour market demand and population change do not appear to give a satisfactory explanation of changes in unemployment levels. Policies which assume that employment creation or job retention policies on their own will solve the problem of unemployment in cities are only relevant in some situations. While London experienced a fast growth of jobs in growth sectors, unemployment grew more serious since the prospect of work encouraged immigration from the surrounding region of very high unemployment. In order to understand London’s problem one must examine the characteristics of the urban unemployed in relation to jobs available. In relation to this it would be useful to examine the concept of mismatch of skills in relation to local economies (Flanagan:1987). The basic idea that structural change, for example from a manufacturing economy to one dominated by the service sector, will result in initial unemployment of workers from one sector in the short-term, is a simplistic one and sectoral shift as such implies that in the medium term, with a modicum of training for adaptation to new skills, the problem should disappear, and that mismatch is only a temporary problem. Growth in employment continues to be in sectors requiring a very high level of professional skills and much of the demand for labour is supplied from the national market, not just the regional market. The local supply of labour is predominantly unskilled and of low educational attainments, migrants from the surrounding region and from North Africa. As has been pointed out, it is very unlikely that these residents could fill the vacancies, even with very extensive training. In London there has been a shift from manufacturing to services in the past twenty years (Dreze and Bean:1990).  The service jobs created have gone largely to women, many to part-timers, so while female unemployment has declined male unemployment has risen, and males are more likely to be unemployed in all age groups. Again though, the growth in demand for labour is for those with a high level of education and training in managerial skills, while over half the unemployed and a higher proportion of those long-term unemployed hold no formal educational qualifications. In the area of manufacturing, construction and commerce all declined, while services grew to be the major employer during the 1980s. One third of all those unemployed come from ethnic minorities who had manual jobs in industry, the docks and construction, where most jobs were lost. This group has very low educational attainments on the whole, and this is the case also for the youngest age group of ethnic minorities, who account for 40 per cent of the young unemployed. There is a clear mismatch between the growth in white-collar work and the skill levels of the unemployed London and non-London citizens, and an increasing number of jobs being taken up by commuters from outside the city. In conclusion there is an enormous gap between the qualifications and education of the majority of the unemployed, available work, and areas of employment growth. Both male and female manual workers with low educational levels are most at risk of long-term unemployment, and unskilled jobs are becoming a smaller and smaller proportion of total employment. The depressing longer-term pattern is that the percentage of the young with qualifications is growing only very slowly, so the overall character of the labour force in the cities will not change significantly until educational standards of the most deprived groups are raised. Eighty per cent of the London workforce in 1976 and 1983 is already part of the workforce now. The problem of mismatch and unemployment of the least qualified is unlikely to reduce much within the formal labour market. Turning now to how far minimum wage levels and unemployment compensation schemes affect unemployment in London, the answer appears to be very little. The standardised national minimum wages are, with respective minimum monthly wages in sterling (1991) of approximately £658, £585 and £284. The London government attempted in March 1994 to introduce a lower pay rate for young people  in work experience/employment, on an upwards scale from 30–65 per cent of SMIC (according to age) up to the age of 21, an effective cut of 20 per cent  in remuneration (Blanchard and Summers:1986). Vast and often violent demonstrations by the young in London and other large cities forced withdrawal of the scheme. A removal of minimum rates, once existing, does not seem to be a socially or politically acceptable option judging from this, even if it might, in the case of the young, result in more employment opportunities.    References   Bean, C.R., Layard, P.R.G. and Nickell, S.J. (1986) ‘The rise in Unemployment: a multi-country study’, Economica 53. Blanchard, O.J. and Summers, L.H. (1986) ‘Hysteresis and the European unemployment problem’,  in National Bureau of Economic Research Macro Economics Annual, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. CEC (1993) ‘Growth, competitiveness, employment, the challenges and ways forward into the 21st century’, Bulletin of the European Communities, Supplement 6/93, Luxembourg. Drèze, J.H. and Bean, C.R. (eds) (1990) Europe’s unemployment problem, Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press. Flanagan, R.J. (1987) ‘Labor Market Behavior and European Economic Growth’  in Lawrence, R.Z and Schultz, C.L. Barriers to European Growth: a Transatlantic View, Washington D.C.: Brookings Institution. Fothergill, S., Kitson, M. and Monk, S. (1985) ‘Urban industrial change: the causes of the urban rural contrast’, Manufacturing Employment Trends, London: HMSO. Franz, W. (1987) ‘The end of expansion in employment in Germany. Beginnings of an attempt at evaluation of structural unemployment as a partial component of joblessness’, in Pedersen, P.J. and Lund, R. (eds) unemployment : theory, policy and structure, Berlin: Walter de Groyter. Gordon, I.R. (1988) ‘Evaluating the effects of employment changes on local unemployment’, Regional Studies 22: 135–47. Hedges, B. and Prescott-Clarke, D. (1983) ‘Migration and the inner city’, Inner Cities Research Programme, London: Department of the Environment. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Unemployment in London

Unemployment in London has risen more or less continuously in the past fifteen years and is ‘the single most serious challenge facing Mem...

Gender issues in Employment

INTRODUCTION It is true that gender issues in employment are evident in different contexts and have frequent components. A related measure is the distribution by gender across occupational lines and the average relative salaries of jobs that tend to be occupied by workers of one gender. Thus, statistics show that men earn significantly more than women as it is true no matter what year the figures whether they are weighted such as age, labor status and if financial compensation for work is an indicator, women are worth significantly less than men in the UK.  Thus, women are not worth as much as men in the labor market because notions of traditional gender roles continue to result in the prescriptive assignment of responsibility for children and home to women even if it may be true that more women than men would prefer to care for home and family, even in the absence of cultural pressure, not all women desire such a role. It is equally true that not all men would eschew primary caretaking roles. Although it is currently possible for an individual to rise above cultural pressures and claim a role different from that encouraged for their gender, the mere fact that a hurdle can be cleared does not justify its existence. The strong influence of prescriptive gender roles is an unnecessary hurdle barring individual choice and a major factor in gender inequities in employment.       MAIN BODY Gender issues in employment seems to be a controversial issue as of today’s workplace and that men are considered to exercise higher status over women in terms of handling business firms and organizations and that because of gender inequality it is true that more women do not achieve senior management positions in the hospitality industry because of the fact that the emphasis on the individual women employee disguises the fact that many women in business ownership are in partnership with others with men to differential patterns of kinship with the respondent; the allocation and perception of specialist roles within the business; and the fact that women are less likely to be associated with the nature of the business implying that management is not for women within the gender perspective. True, women managers are rare in a wide field of men bit startups have swelled their number so that now the woman who heads a company is no longer the exception as the capable woman, business is a sensible choice, devoid of conflict between her professional and working life. (Carter & Cannon, 1991; Brush, 1988; Birley, Moss, & Saunders, 1987; Cromie & Hayes, 1988).         The social conditions that reinforce gender inequalities may impinge on her business and personal life at several levels (Hamilton, Rosa, & Carter, 1992). These may well be manifest in the types of relationships she has with others in both the business and domestic domains. (Hamilton, 1990). Modernization of the gender regime has restructured the inequalities in gender relations and created new political constituencies that support social democratic policies within the impact of changes on policies at gender equity in the workplace in the UK and that the power of global economic markets reduces the political capacity of nation states (Crouch and Streeck, 1997; Ohmae, 1995) because of increasing competition between states to deliver environments of lower state expenditure in order to attract business (Cerny, 1996; Hay, 1997; Wickham-Jones, 1995) which leads to the degradation of employment (Standing, 1999) with the ways in which the state can impact on women’s employment, restricting primarily to issues of care and rejecting (Ostner and Lewis, 1995) the significance of the state in the constitution of gender relations in its role in labor market. Thus, underlying these gender issues of the theorization as women is not treated fairly at work and has been effectively reduced to a reflection of gender relations in the family and needs to invoke not only the family and care, but also at least the state and the labor market (Walby, 2003).       Gender inequality in the workplace is most obvious in the case of pay. In the UK, women who work full time earn 82 percent of men’s hourly pay, whereas those who work part time earn only 61 percent (New Earnings Survey, 2000). Women are less likely than men to receive fringe benefits such as occupational pensions, are less likely to be in jobs that have security and often are in a restricted range of occupations (Labor Market Trends, 2001; Walby, 1997) as the gaps were varied such as fewer educational and vocational qualifications, lesser labor market experience, interruptions to labor force career, occupational segregation, and discrimination (Dolton et al., 1996; Harkness, 1996; Jones and Makepeace, 1996; Joshi and Paci, 1998; Wright and Ermisch, 1991). In recent years, younger women have closed the gap in educational qualifications with young men, a gendered education and training gap remains among people from their middle years onward. Gender differences in education and training remain an important element in the gender wage gap (Harkness, 1996). Women have less labor market experience than men as related to women’s work although the role of does not always reduces labor market experience. The impact of being a caretaker on employment depends on the level of wages and on social policy, both of which affect the possibility of finding substitutes for women’s care work. Women who are more educated and in higher socioeconomic groups are much more likely than poorly qualified women in lower socioeconomic groups to have near continuous employment even if they have children.   Furthermore, women who re-enter the labor market after a period of childcare in the UK often do so part-time and at a lower occupational level than what they had before childbirth (Blackwell, 2001). When women re-enter the labor market after unemployment, they take a job that pays on average 16% less than their former job (Gregg, 1998). Occupational segregation, in which women are to be found in a different and narrower range of occupations than men, is a marked feature of UK labor markets (Hakim, 1992; Siltanen, 1990) and is a further source of unequal pay. Occupational segregation is at least partly a result of historical practices of discrimination that have become sedimented into institutional structures (Walby, 1986, 1997). Discrimination is a significant element in gender issues and inequity in the workplace. There is a continuing stream of legal cases through the Employment Tribunal system in the UK, complaints about illegal and discriminatory dismissal on pregnancy constitute the largest part of the complaints with which the Equal Opportunities Commission is asked to assist (Wild, 2001).           Work-life Balance Initiatives There has to be such polices for gender issues in the workplace that implies to education and training eliminating the work gap between men and women as the disadvantaged position of women in lieu to education has ended. There has to be gender policy challenge concerning education and training today relates to women beyond the typical age of school and college. In particular, women are more likely to provide training for full-time employees than part-time employees (Rix et al., 1999) and the most valuable employer-provided training that leading to a formal vocational qualification as it is to be given to men rather than women (Blundell et al., 1996). There have been a series of initiatives (PIU, 2001), including Learn-Direct and Individual Learning Accounts (Owens, 2001) at developing the market in substantially financing such education. For example, mature women seeking to go to University face serious financial barriers (Callender et al., 2000). The UK developed a set of active labor market policies known as the “New Deal,” which includes access to training and advice to help the unemployed return to work. These programs have been tailored for the young, the over-50s, for lone parents, and disabled people and have generally been regarded as successful (HM Treasury, 2001; Riley and Young, 2000).       Several policies address the equalization of the length of men and women’s labor market experience and the reduction of interruptions that occur for women as a consequence of their care for children and others. One involves access to quality affordable convenient childcare, because many women break their employment to care for children. This is true for poorer women, because women in higher socioeconomic groups with high levels of education already take significantly fewer and shorter breaks from employment than  in lower socioeconomic groups. In 1990s, the UK underwent a very significant change in policy toward publicly funded childcare, moving from a minimal one to the goal of ensuring that parents have access to quality affordable, convenient childcare. The strategy involves the expansion of for-profit childcare, although additional resources are available to set up facilities in neighborhoods of great deprivations. The UK has abandoned the notion that childcare is a private matter. It did not adopt the social democratic pattern established in the Nordic countries of publicly provided childcare that is either subsidized for the citizens (Esping-Andersen, 1990; Sainsbury, 1996). Most of the assistance is highly targeted to child poverty and the working poor of the tax system in the UK. The financial support for childcare is aimed at supporting parents’ employment and is not available to support women looking after children at home, as has developed in some European countries (Hobson, 2000). The new childcare policies are part of an employment-led strategy of reduction of poverty and gender redistribution as a by product.  There has been pressure across the Western world to introduce legislation to provide equal treatment for women at work, the implementation of which often depends on worker and other organizations (Rees, 1998; European Commission, 1999; European Parliament, 1994; Hantrais, 1995; Pillinger, 1992). There should be process for the implementation of such initiatives in forms of union action, in support of women’s functions at work in the UK than many other member states (European Commission, 1994) as there is representation of women and their interests in business activities (Pascual and Behning, 2000). Moreover, gender is a set of socially constructed relationships which are produced and reproduced through people’s actions of the women’s movement and to offer considerations for management positions that might be conceptualized with gender providing possible organizing frameworks. Thus, by using gender as a potential analytic framework does not imply only the study of women but offers a way to understand the behavior of females as well as males along with an examination of the behavior of individuals within particular contexts. These perspectives begin with the premise that ideas emerge from particular social setting and that social structural context shapes, interpretations of reality (Andersen, 1993). Feminism provides the world view with equality to understand than it is now and overlapping theoretical, philosophical, political and pragmatic assumptions (Henderson & Bialeschki, 1992).     The breadth and depth of feminism and its goals, along with the multiplicity of perspectives that can be taken about the construction of gender in society offer an opportunity despite the contradictions and the lack of agreement for examining the meaning and construction of gender pertaining to behavior (Deaux & Major, 1990). The sense of gender identity is acquired early in life and is one of the most central identities. Identity can differ greatly over the lifetime and among individuals. Being a man or a woman socially is not a natural or inevitable outgrowth of biological features but an “achievement of situational conduct” (Ferree, 1990, p. 869). In some situations, it may be normal for females to act in a certain way, but in other cases this behavior may not be normative. Just as a poem may have many meanings depending on who reads it, gender may also have many meanings depending upon its context. Further, the context of gender is not just a women’s problem but also an issue for males to consider. The world of women is part of a world of men and vice versa. In considering the context of gender, our interpretations need to show how some women’s experiences and men’s experiences lead individuals to make choices contingent on contexts and relationships, not just because they are biologically female or male.         The growing field of study concerning men and masculinity is also addressing gender issues (Lynch, 1991). The use of gender as an analytic framework will have to take into account the situation and context in which it is uncovered and described. For example, it may be useful to examine the power and privilege associated with leisure for some men and some women as well as the oppression and resistance experienced by some women and some men. Theories will be helpful but the nature of gender should not become universalized without considering particular contexts and changing situations for both females and males. The construction of differences is central to racism, sexism, and other forms of oppression (Rothenberg, 1990). The key is in determining how much differences matter. Differences can divide people, but the diversity created by differences can also enrich life. Differences are not going to go away, but the way may change as gender is used as a possible analytic framework and within sex differences, poses problems of understanding gender issues and the importance that may have been attached to them (Rhode, 1990). Arguing that no differences exist draws attention away from actual differences in power and resources between men and women. Ignoring gender differences does not challenge the existing structure and assumes that women have no special needs affirming the similarity between women and men may validate norms of the dominant social groups, norms which often have not addressed women’s experiences and perspectives (Rhode, 1990).   CONCLUSION Therefore, the most important initiative relating to gender issues in the British workplace centered on the childcare strategy, which contains targeted assistance for poor working women, the regulation of equal opportunities and the minimum wage which has been important in the participation of women in employment. British government in 2002 is oriented toward full employment for all. Work/life balance is assumed to include better employment. The regulation of working time, support for childcare and the minimum wage are policies that are intended to ensure the issue. Thus, conceptualizations of the gender regime need to be broader than a focus on “male breadwinners’” and need to include gender relations in employment  including the civil society. The global context does not reduce the likelihood of socially just policies for working women of restructuring the balance between capital and labor in women workers with one that involves full employment for women and regulation of labor markets so as to provide equal opportunities. It is in this context that certain policies for women in employment are facilitated. Furthermore, the modernization of the gender regime is creating a new political constituency of working women who are vocalizing perceived interests in policies to assist combining home and work.         REFERENCES Blackwell, Louisa. 2001. “Occupational sex segregation and part-time work in modern Britain,” Gender Work Organization 8(2): 146-163. Blundell, Richard, Lorraine Dearden and Costas Meghir. 1996. The Determinants and Effects of Work Related Training in Britain. London: Institute for Fiscal Studies. Bornschier, Volker and Patrick Ziltener. 1999. “The revitalization of Western Europe and the politics of the `social dimension.’” In Thomas Boje, Bart van Steenbergen, and Sylvia Walby (Eds.), European Societies: Fusion or Fission? London: Routledge, pp. 33-52. Callender, Claire and Martin Kemp. 2000. Changing Student Finances: Income, Expenditure and the Take-Up of Student Loans among Full- and Part-Time Higher Education Students in 1998/9. Department for Education and Employment Research Brief no. 213. London: DfEE. Castells, Manuel. 1997. The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture. Volume II: The Power of Identity. Oxford, UK: Blackwell. Cerny, Philip G. 1996. “International finance and the erosion of state policy capacity.” In Philip Gummett (Ed.), Globalization and Public Policy. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. Crouch, Colin and Wolfgang Streeck. 1997. Political Economy of Modern Capitalism: Mapping Convergence and Diversity. London: Sage. Department for Education and Employment. 1999. Learning to Succeed. London: The Stationery Office. Department for Education and Employment. 2000. “The Department’s aim and objectives and targets for 2002.” http://www.dfee.gov.uk/workplans/ aims.htm.           Dex, Shirley, Heather Joshi, Susan McCran, and Andrew McCulloch. 1998. “Women’s employment transitions around child bearing,” Oxford Bull Econ Statistics 60(1): 79-98. Dex, Shirley and Andrew McCulloch. 1997. Flexible Employment: The Future of Britain’s Jobs. Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan. Dolton, P., D. O’Neill and O. Sweetman. 1996. “Gender differences in the changing labor market: the role of legislation and inequality in changing the wage gap for qualified workers in the UK,” J Human Resources 31(3): 549-565. Ellis, Valerie and Sue Ferns. 2000. “Equality bargaining.” In Suzanne Gagnon and Sue Ledwith (Eds.), Women, Diversity and Democracy in Trade Unions. Oxford, UK: Oxford Brookes University. Esping-Andersen, Gosta. 1990. The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge, UK: Polity. European Commission. 1999. “Gender Mainstreaming in the European Employment Strategy.” Doc EQOP 61-99 DG EMPL/D/5 1 October 1999. Brussels: European Commission. European Parliament: Directorate General for Research. 1994. Measures to Combat Sexual Harassment at the Workplace: Action Taken in the Member States of the European Community. Working Paper in the Women’s Rights Series, European Parliament, Strasbourg. Gregg, Paul. 1998. “The impact of unemployment and job loss on future earnings.” In HM Treasury. Persistent Poverty and Lifetime Inequality: The Evidence. Occasional Paper No. 10. (Also, CASE Report 5, LSE March 1999), 89-96. Hakim, Catherine. 1992. “Explaining trends in occupational segregation: the measurement, causes, and consequences of the sexual division of labour,” Eur Sociological Rev 8(2): 127-152. Hantrais, Linda. 1995. Social Policy in the European Union. Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan. Harkness, Susan. 1996. “The gender earnings gap: evidence from the UK,” Fiscal Studies 17: 1-36.     Hay, Colin. 1997. “Anticipating accommodations, accommodating anticipations: the appeasement of capital in the `modernization’ of the British Labour Party, 1987-1992,” Politics Society 25(2): 234-256. Hicks, Stephen. 2000. “Trade union membership 1998-9: an analysis of data from the Certification Officer and Labour Force Survey,” Labour Market Trends July: 329-340. Hirst, Paul and Grahame Thompson. 1996. Globalization in Question: The International Economy and the Possibilities of Governance. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Hobson, Barbara. 2000. Gender and Citizenship in Transition. London: Macmillan. Hoskyns, Catherine. 1996. Integrating Gender: Women, Law and Politics in the European Union. London: Verso. Jenson, Jane. 1997. “Who cares? Gender and welfare regimes,” Social Politics 4(2): 182-187. Jones, David R. and Gerald H Makepeace. 1996. “Equal worth, equal opportunities: pay and promotion in an internal labour market,” Econ J 106: 401-409. Joshi, Heather, Shirley Dex, and Susan Macran. 1996. “Employment after childbearing and women’s subsequent labour force participation: evidence for the 1958 birth cohort,” J Population Econ 9: 325-348. Joshi, Heather and Pierella Paci 1998. Unequal Pay for Women and Men: Evidence from the British Birth Cohort Studies. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Joshi, Heather, Pierella Paci and Jane Waldfogel. 1999. “The wages of motherhood: better or worse?” Cambridge J Econ 23: 543-564. Klein, Naomi. 1999. No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. New York: Picador. Labour Market Trends. (2001). Ledworth, Sue and Fiona Colgan. 1996. Women in Organisations: Challenging Gender Politics. Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan.     Ledwith, Sue and Fiona Colgan. 2000. “Women, democracy and diversity and the new trade unionism.” In Suzanne Gagnon and Sue Ledwith (Eds.), Women, Diversity and Democracy in Trade Unions. Oxford: Oxford Brookes University. Lewis, Jane. 1992. “Gender and the development of welfare regimes,” J Eur Social Policy 3: 159-173. Liebert, Ulrike. 1999. “Gender politics in the European Union: the return of the public”. Eur Societies 1(2): 191-232. Lovenduski, Joni. 1995 “An emerging advocate: the Equal Opportunities Commission in Great Britain.” In Dorothy McBride Stetson and Amy G. Mazur (Eds.), Comparative State Feminism. London: Sage. Macpherson, David and Barry Hirsch. 1995. “Wages and gender composition: Why do women’s jobs pay less?” J Labor Econ 13: 426-471. Mazey, Sonia. 2000. “Introduction: integrating gender–intellectual and `real world’ mainstreaming,” J Eur Public Policy 7(3): 333-345. O’Connor, Julia, Ann Shola Orloff and Sheila Shaver. 1999. States, Markets, Families: Gender, Liberalism and Social Policy in Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the United States. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Ohmae, Kenichi. 1995. The End of the Nation State: The Rise of Regional Economics. London: Harper Collins. Office for National Statistics. 1998. Living In Britain: Results from the 1996 General Household Survey. London: The Stationery Office. Office for National Statistics. 2001. New Earnings Survey 2000. London: The Stationery Office. Ostner, Ilona and Jane Lewis. 1995. “Gender and the evolution of European social policies.” In Stephan Leibfried and Paul Pierson (Eds.), European Social Policy: Between Fragmentation and Integration. Washington, DC: Brookings, pp. 159193.       Owens, Jane. 2001. Evaluation of Individual Learning Accounts: Early Views of Customers and Providers: England. Department for Education and Employment Research Brief no. 294. London: Department for Education and Employment. Pascual, Amparo Serrano and Ute Behning. 2000. Gender Mainstreaming in the European Employment Strategy. Brussels: European Trade Union Institute. Pillinger, Jane. 1992. Feminising the Market: Women’s Pay and Employment in the European Community. Basingstoke, UK: Macmillan. Rees, Teresa. 1998. Mainstreaming Equality in the European Union: Education, Training and Labour Market Policies. London: Routledge. Reskin, Barbara and Patricia Roos. 1990. Job Queues, Gender Queues. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. Riley, Rebecca and Garry Young. 2000. The New Deal for Young People: Implications for Employment and the Public Finances. Employment Service Research and Development Report 62. London: Employment Service. Rix, Andrew, Kyle Davies, Richard Gaunt, Amanda Hare, and Sarah Cobbold. 2000. “The training and development of flexible workers,” Labour Market Trends October: 55-56. Rubery, Jill, Mark Smith and Colette Fagan. 1999. Women’s Employment in Europe: Trends and Prospects. London: Routledge. Sainsbury, Diane. 1996. Gender, Equality and Welfare States. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Shaw, Jenny and Diane Perrons. 1995. Making Gender Work: Managing Equal Opportunities. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press. Walby, Sylvia. 1986. Patriarchy at Work. Cambridge, UK: Polity. –. 1990. Theorizing Patriarchy. Oxford: Blackwell. –. 1997. Gender Transformations. London: Routledge. –. 1999a. “The new regulatory state: the social powers of the European Union,” Brt J Sociol 50(1): 118-140. –. 1999b. “The European Union and equal opportunities policies”. Eur Societies 1(1): 59-80. –. 2003. Globalisation, Modernity and Difference. London: Sage. Waldfogel, Jane. 1995. “The price of motherhood: family status and women’s pay in a young British cohort,” Oxford Economic Papers 47: 584-610. Women’s National Commission. 1991. Women Returners Employment Potential: An Agenda for Action. London: Cabinet Office. Women’s Unit. 2000. Women’s Incomes over the Lifetime. London: The Stationery Office. Wright, R.E. and J. Ermisch. 1991. “Gender discrimination in the British labour market: a reassessment,” Econ J 101: 508-552. Zabalza, A. and Z. Tzannatos. 1985. Women and Equal Pay: The Effects of Legislation on Female Employment and Wages in Britain. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.   Advertising Online Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Gender issues in Employment

INTRODUCTION It is true that gender issues in employment are evident in different contexts and have frequent components. A related measu...

Facilitation of Learning in your Current Place of Employment

Mentoring can be traced back to the 1500s when, in the Greek myth of Odysseus, Ulysses appointed a wise man and valued friend named Mentor to care for his son Telemachus while he was fighting in the Trojan War Telemachus learned his most significant lessons about life and about becoming an effective ruler from Mentor. From this myth, qualities of a mentor have been described. These include coach, guide, protector, advisor, teacher, and friend (Roman, 2001).  Mentoring has been described as a process that helps an individual adapt to new and expanded professional roles. Mentoring involves a nurturing relationship between a mentor and a mentee. Mentoring occurs when a senior person (the mentor) provides information, advice, and emotional support for a junior person (the mentee) in a relationship lasting over an extended period of time and marked by substantial emotional commitment by both parties. The mentor takes an active role in the professional development of the mentee. “Inherent in the concept of mentoring is a personal, one-to-one, nurturing relationship between the mentor and the mentee” (Roman, 2001). Mentoring has been an effective strategy in many disciplines, including all the health professions, to develop expertise and leadership within the profession. The traditional concept of mentoring involves a voluntary alliance between an experienced senior professional and a less advanced one, for the dual purposes Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Facilitation of Learning in your Current Place of Employment

Mentoring can be traced back to the 1500s when, in the Greek myth of Odysseus, Ulysses appointed a wise man and valued friend named Mento...

THE RELATIONSHIP OF TRAINING DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION IN TESCO

1.1 Introduction             The effective management of employees and the organisation as whole is increasingly being recognized as a major determinant of success or failure in different business (Tung, 1984).  In a business, the employees are considered as one of the important aspects which enable the company to achieve their organisational goal. The employees are the one who are considered as the valuable asset of an organisation. In return, the management of the organisation should be able to develop a management system that would help the company retain good staff and to encourage them to give of their best while at work requires attention to the financial and psychological and even physiological rewards offered by the organization.             Managing people in an organization or a working place is commonly the responsibilities of the human resources management of an organisation.  It includes a variety of activities, decides on staffing needs such as how to fill needed positions within the budget, employing, orienting and training the working force and ensuring that these employees will perform well in order to contribute for the growth of the organisation.  These managing people also are responsible for managing employees’ benefits and compensation, keeping employee records, legal issues, and relations with unions.  For this study, the researcher will attempt to determine the relationships of training development programs and employee satisfaction in Tesco. Furthermore, this dissertation also aims to identify whether training really enables the employee to be satisfied.   Background of the study Training is an important part of any development program a company wishes to undertake. This complex task is within the responsibility of the human resource management department. Company training can either be formal or outsourced (Hughey and Mussnug, 1997). Training can be a formal process in a sense that the entire departments are devoted to conducting both initial and ongoing employee training programmes (Hughey and Mussnug, 1997). On the other hand, some also seek the help of outside consultants to conduct employee training sessions (Hughey and Mussnug, 1997). Of course, the motivation behind employee training differs from each company. Unfortunately, according to Hughey and Mussnug (1997) “Sadly, many companies conduct training simply for appearance’s sake” (p.52). The most frequent motivation is to comply with standard regulations rather than to actually enhance employee skills dedicatedly.             With that said, the true intent of training is perhaps missed by employers who implement and conduct training simply for appearance’s sake. Training should be conducted to create self-esteem for employees – to make them feel they are effective enough to handle the job. But because of the lack of data and lack of perspective on training of companies implementing it, is training really significant with the satisfaction of employees? This problem will be explored in this study, specifically on one of the most popular supermarket chain in the United Kingdom – Tesco.   Research Problem             There is still lack of evidence on the relationship between training development and employee satisfaction in organizations, specifically in the retail store industry. Tesco, being one of the few popular retail supermarket chains in the UK, have employed hundreds of employees over the years and most of those employees underwent training. However, there is lack of evidence or proof on whether their employees are actually satisfied prior the training, or even with the thought that they are being trained.   Research Questions The main goal of this study is to identify the relationship of training development programs and employee satisfaction in Tesco. Specifically,  the paper attempts to answer the following queries: Ø      Is training development positively significant with employee satisfaction? Ø      How do employees view training development? Ø      In the employees’ own views, what are the advantages and disadvantages of training development? Ø      Do employees prefer being trained or do they prefer finding out things with themselves?   Objectives of the Study             The study will try to achieve the following aims: Ø      To know which types of training strategies do Tesco use and determine if training development is positively significant with employee satisfaction. Ø      To recommend a sound conclusion based on the findings and literature review gathered.   2.1 Literature Review 2.1.1 Employee Training People are the most important part of any organisation may it being profit or profit organisation.  In line with this, human resources must be developed and improved from time to time to make them become an efficient asset of an organisation. Human resource development is the process of developing human potential through organisation development and personnel training. Typically, these activities encompass team building, executive coaching, diversity training, and most education and training programs, along with action research designed to uncover organisational issues (Brinkerhoff, 1991).             HRD has served the needs of organisations to provide human resources with up-to-date expertise. Advances in HRD models and processes have kept pace with the increasingly sophisticated information and production technologies that are prevalent in most, if not all, industries. Critical business issues, from new marketing strategies to innovations in production technology, are based on, among other factors, the performance capabilities of those expected to use these new work systems. As a factor integral to business success, employee expertise itself has been expanded through effective programs of employee development (Swanson & Torraco, 1999). One of the means of developing an employee is through training. The primary impetus for training in organizations is change. Managers of privately owned companies must enhance their organizations’ profits and their stockholders’ returns by increasing sales or reducing operating costs or both. Government administrators and private-sector executives at all levels have come under increasing pressure to change and provide more effective and efficient services. Today’s organizations must respond to demands for change while at the same time realizing that advances in technology and knowledge are rendering many traditional employee skills obsolete, while simultaneously developing needs for new ones. There have even been comic remarks that a college degree should be written in disappearing ink, since technical material has an ever-decreasing half-life (the time it takes for one-half of the material to become obsolete) (Leap & Crino, 1989). An analysis of corporate training programs sponsored by The Conference Board (Lusterman, 1985) cited one training director who remarked that since the half-life of an engineer is about five years, “a twenty-five-year-old graduate will have to be reeducated eight times in the course of a forty-year career” (Lusterman, 1985, p. 2). Engineering is not the only profession experiencing a continuing need for re-education and retraining. New or present employees who draw their expertise from a knowledge base (accountants, computer technicians, nurses) will have to keep pace with advances in this knowledge base during their careers. Change and the impact of technology have affected training needs for other levels of workers as well. Clerk-typists of old must now become word processor operators, using micro, mini, and mainframe computers in their daily work. In addition, they must master a constantly changing software base that may include electronic mail, word processing, Training is an attempt to improve employee performance on a currently held job or one related to it. This usually will lead to changes in specific knowledge, skills, attitudes, or behaviours.  These changes can result to long-term productivity. However, it often the case that companies only consider training for new hires. Many feel that training is just a way of introducing to the new hire the culture of the organization. It is also an opportunity to impart with them the lessons that senior employees had that helped them in furthering the growth of the company. According to Allis (2003), the quality of the employees is determined by their development through training and education. In turn, quality employees are factors in defining the long-term stability and profitability of the company. It is a fact that the rigorous hiring process of many companies a ways of ensuring that they will only be hiring the best of the best. However, this is not enough to say that the people they hire will be delivering effective performances.  It might be true that they can see potential in those people and that is why they hired them. Nevertheless, these potentials cannot be put into use unless they are accordant with the company’s visions. This is the reason why training must take place. Training of employees’ pertains to giving the employees the basic knowledge necessary for them to be able to perform their tasks. In addition, employee training will also enhance the inherent capacity of the employees. Development needs to be dealt with continuously enhancing employees’ abilities through training to match the changes in the business industry. With employee training, the performance of every employee in the company will naturally be improved to its maximum level. In addition, various skills may be absorbed by the employee being trained, which in turn makes them more independent, resourceful and flexible. There are various reasons why employee training must take place. These reasons are closely linked to the company’s sustainability and profitability. According to Graham and Salas (2002), training is being used to facilitate education.  In addition, training is also seen as a tool to retain employees, improve corporate culture and design incentive programs for employees (Graham & Salas, 2002).  Trainings are also being conducted so that the company will be able to create a pool of employees that can readily and adequately replace those who have left the company. Due to fats technological developments, employees must be continuously and/or regularly trained to be able to adapt to the developments that will affect the company. Training also motivates a team by allowing them to become more efficient.  If a company is able to train and develop highly-competent employees then they will be able to fill positions needed for expansion (Allis, 2003 ) Since training can develop efficient employees and create rooms for expansion, this means that training can also result to lower employee turnover rates. According to a survey conducted by Sibson and Company (as cited in Cooper, 2000), high turnover rates resulted to 38 percent decrease in earnings and stock prices in 4 industries. This means that many companies are losing precious capital in attempting to replace the employees that left the company. So if training can reduce turnover rates, it means that companies will also be able to reduce costs of operation. The results of training and development start a chain reaction.  When the company is able to produce effective employees then their profitability will increase.  When this happens, they will also be able to compensate their employees based on their contribution to the company’s growth.  In turn, it will create a feeling of satisfaction that will motivate them to improve further their efficiency and then the cycle will once again begin (Parker, 2005). With employee training, the performance of every employee in the company will naturally be improved to its maximum level. In addition, various skills may be absorbed by the employee being trained, which in turn makes them more independent, resourceful and flexible. Employee training has centred on two issues: the need for a performance-based training and that of providing a learner-employer centred approach by trainers. Employees and employers are increasingly demanding change, choice, flexibility, and variety in the workplace; suggesting that with the de-layering of organizations and empowerment of individual employees, the future for both the organization and the individual lies not in promotion to successively higher levels of management, but rather in developing the value of the individual as human capital (Seidler, 1996). The value of human capital is enhanced by acquisition of higher performance potential such as new tasks, functions, and KSAPs (knowledge, skills, abilities, personal attributes) (McGregor, 1988).   Reasons for Training               As in any other training, there are many types, and reasons why companies train their employees. These varied trainings are designed to meet the specific requirements of a certain company and organizations. Thayer  & Teachout (1995) noted that in the past 30 years, the science and practice of training has progressed dramatically. The practice of training, due to the combination of socio-cultural, technological, economic, and political pressures have all combined to force modern organizations to take a closer look at their human capital in general. The old view of organizations that training should be separate and stand-alone event has become passé and led to a fully integrated and strategic component of the organization. The introduction of new training-related approaches, including action learning, just-in-time training, and mentoring, coaching, organizational learning, and managing skill portfolios are all currently being explored. According to Cannon-Bowers, Salas (2001), the modern organizations has to catch up with the changing workforce and the associated training needs that accompanies it. According to McNamara (1999), the typical reasons for training employees would include the need for performance improvement as indicated by performance appraisals. Basically, a dip in performance of employees produces results which may be detrimental to the operation of the company. This could translate to loss in both profits and in production. Employee training is also used to develop employees and to test a new performance management system.  An application of a new system definitely would require new furthermore, companies and organizations who will undergo changes train employees to be able to adapt to the changes adopted by the companies. Training is also undertaken by employees on order to familiarize them to a particular topic or aspect. This is usually in the field of communication, computer skills, customer service, and diversity. Training also focuses on the aspects of ethic, human relations, safety and even sexual harassment. In training it is both the personal and the interpersonal skills that are being developed   3.1 Methodology 3.1 Methodology Referring to the aim and objectives set for the dissertation, the author will now demonstrate the methodology of the means of obtaining data for analysis and coming to the conclusion to meet the aim and objectives.  Though it does show ethnic concerns to those out there, interviews will be tied with the primary data research collection of this dissertation and the secondary research will be supported through the use of the research of other scholars as mentioned in the literature review.   3.1.1 Research Design This study uses the correlational research method. The correlational kind of research method is used due to ethical problems with experiments. Moreover, it is also used due to practical problems with experiments. Moreover, inferring causality from correlation not actually impossible, but very difficult. This mode of study is widely applicable, cheap, and usually ethical. Nonetheless, there exist some “third variable” issues and measurement problems. The correlational research refers to studies in which the purpose is to discover relationships between variables through the use of correlational statistics (r). The square of a correlation coefficient yields the explained variance (r-squared). A correlational relationship between two variables is occasionally the result of an outside source, so we have to be careful and remember that correlation does not necessarily tell us about cause and effect. If a strong relationship is found between two variables, using an experimental approach can test causality. The research described in this document is based on qualitative and quantitative method. The qualitative method permits a flexible and iterative approach, while the quantitative research method permits specification of dependent and independent variables and allows for longitudinal measures of subsequent performance of the research subject. During data gathering the choice and design of methods are constantly modified, based on ongoing analysis. This allows investigation of important new issues and questions as they arise, and allows the investigators to drop unproductive areas of research from the original research plan.    The value of qualitative research can best be understood by examining its characteristics. One of the primary advantages of qualitative research is that it is more open to the adjusting and refining of research ideas as an inquiry proceeds. Also, the researcher does not attempt to manipulate the research setting, as in an experimental study, but rather seeks to understand naturally occurring phenomena in their naturally occurring states. Inductive reasoning, as opposed to deductive reasoning, is common in qualitative research, along with content or holistic analysis in place of statistical analysis (Meyer et al, 1995). On the other hand, quantitative method is compatible with the study because it allows the research problem to be conducted in a very specific and set terms (Cooper & Schindler, 1998). Besides, quantitative research plainly and distinctively specifies both the independent and the dependent variables under investigation. It also follows resolutely the original set of research goals, arriving at more objective conclusions, testing hypothesis, determining the issues of causality and eliminates or minimises subjectivity of judgment (Kealey & Protheroe, 1996). Furthermore, this method allows for longitudinal measures of subsequent performance of research subjects (Matveev, 2002). Finally, it provides achieving high levels of reliability of gathered data due to i.e. controlled observations, laboratory experiments, mass surveys, or other form of research manipulations. This study should be based on surveys and statistical treatments, so basically the quantitative approach fits well with it.   3.1.2 Respondents of the Study             The main purpose of this case study is to identify relationships between employee training development program and employee satisfaction. Hence, the respondents of this study include 50 employees of the company. The employees are chosen because the respondents find them more reliable for this study. The true identity of the respondents is not revealed for confidential purposes. After selecting the appropriate population, the researcher use inferential statistics in order to draw a concrete conclusion.  Inferential statistics is used to be able to know a population’s attribution through a direct observation of the chosen population or simply the sample. This is because it is easier to observe a portion or a part than observe the whole population.  However using a sample has also its own disadvantages; hence, there is a need to choose the most suitable sample from any population. It will also use Pearson correlation and standard deviation through SPSS.             3.1.3 Interview/Questionnaire Structure The researcher design a questionnaire for the for the survey process. The primary aim of the questionnaire is to determine what the relationship of employee development program with employee satisfaction. This research will use a mixture of closed questions and more open comments in the questionnaire.  A closed question is one that has pre-coded answers.  The simplest is the dichotomous question to which the respondent must answer yes or no (Saunders et al, 2003).  Through closed questions, the researcher will be able to limit responses that are within the scope of this study. For example, the researcher intends to ask the respondents what they think of employee satisfaction in general. Using a multiple choice method, the answer of the respondents would be within the one of the limited expected answers of the researcher. Thus the researcher will design a closed question type to remain focused on the statement of the problem and on the main purpose of the study.  However, the researcher will nevertheless extend the closed questions with the comments option to be able to gather qualitative data for this study. In addition, closed questions will be used in the survey because the answers are easy to analyse and are straightforward as target respondents are mostly busy that they do not have enough time to give attention to open questions.  Closed response questions save the respondent having to think of possible replies.   3.1.4 Data Collection and Analysis             The study use questionnaires and interviews to gather pertinent data. Moreover, the researcher also uses previous studies related to employee satisfaction and employee training. A structured questionnaire is employed by the researcher so as to save time and effort in the organization of the answers that will be gained. In the interview, the researcher hopes that those questions that are not tackled by the questionnaires will be gathered from the respondents using the survey questionnaire. The straightforward approach of the questionnaire guarantees that there would be a response generated by the researcher with regards to the questions asked.                In this research the utilization of secondary and primary data were used by the researcher. The secondary sources of data are collected from published articles from business journals, theses and related studies in human resource development, employee training and employee satisfaction. The primary source of data comes from a questionnaire and surveys conducted by the researcher. The primary data frequently gives the detailed definitions of terms and statistical units used in the survey. These are usually broken down into finer classifications. Herein, the researcher constructed a questionnaire and administered them to the respondents. The respondents were requested to answer the inquiries in the survey-questionnaire, each grading the statements using the Likert scale.                 In the Likert technique, a set of attitude statements are presented, where subjects of a study are asked to express agreement or disagreement using a five-point scale. The degree of agreement is given a numerical value ranging from one to five, thus a total numerical value can be calculated from all the responses.   3.1.5 Validation of the Instrument             For validation purposes, the researcher pre-tested a sample of the set survey questionnaires. This was done by conducting an initial survey to at least five respondents from the chosen respondents of the companies. After the respondents answered, the researchers then asked them to cite the parts of the questionnaire that needs improvement. The researcher even asked for suggestions and corrections from the respondents to ensure that the survey-questionnaire is effective. Automatically, these five respondents were not included as respondents for the study.   3.1.6 Administration of the Instrument The researcher excluded the five respondents who initially used for the validation of the instrument.  The researcher also tallies, score and tabulate all the responses in the provided interview questions. Moreover, the interview used is a structured interview. It is consisted of a list of specific questions and the interviewer does not deviate from the list or inject any extra remarks into the interview process. The interviewer may encourage the interviewee to clarify vague statements or to further elaborate on brief comments. Otherwise, the interviewer attempts to be objective and tries not to influence the interviewer’s statements. The interviewer does not share his/her own beliefs and opinions. The structured interview is mostly a “question and answer” session.     Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

THE RELATIONSHIP OF TRAINING DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND EMPLOYEE JOB SATISFACTION IN TESCO

1.1 Introduction The effective management of employees and the organisation as whole is increasingly being recognized as ...