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Employee Characteristics (employee + characteristic)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Business, Economics, Finance and Accounting	100%

Selected Abstracts

Human resource manager insights on creating and sustaining successful reduced-load work arrangements

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2008
Alyssa Friede
Although human resource managers have critical insights into the successful implementation of reduced-load work arrangements, relatively few studies focus on their perspective. These arrangements are a growing work form for employees who choose to work less than full-time with a commensurate decrease in salary. Qualitative data analysis was used to identify key success factors noted in interviews with 52 HR managers in 39 companies. Individual employee characteristics (e.g., self-regulatory work habits) were viewed as most critical. Also important were the design of the arrangement (e.g., clarifying the arrangement in advance) and workgroup relationships (e.g., positive supervisor-employee relationships). We conclude with eight new takeaways for HR managers on how to create and sustain successful reduced-load work arrangements and directions for future research and practice. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]

Effects of Trainee Characteristics on Training Effectiveness

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SELECTION AND ASSESSMENT, Issue 2 2007
Aharon Tziner
Six employee characteristics (conscientiousness, self-efficacy, motivation to learn, learning goal orientation, performance goal orientation, instrumentality) and one work environment characteristic (transfer of training climate) were captured for 130 trainees in a large industrial company in an attempt to predict training effectiveness (training grade, supervisor evaluation of the application of training). The results strongly support the predicted links, although not all the predictor variables contributed a statistically significant share of the explained variance of the training outcomes. Motivation to learn and learning goal orientation were found to contribute most to predicting training outcomes. The implications of the results are discussed and the limitations of the study are noted, along with suggested avenues for future research. [source]

Employability enhancement through formal and informal learning: an empirical study among Dutch non-academic university staff members

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2009
Beatrice Van Der Heijden
Although learning is generally perceived as a way to improve employees' current job performance, so far, no research has been conducted to explore the possible relationships between formal and informal learning, on the one hand, and employability, on the other. Though contemporary views stress the importance of the job as a powerful learning site, considerable research evidence underpinning these views is lacking. This paper goes into the impact of formal and informal learning upon employability. The influence of employee characteristics and organizational factors is also taken into account. An e-questionnaire was used to collect data among 215 Dutch non-academic university staff members. Our findings emphasize the necessity of Human Resource Development strategies that encompass a mix of formal and informal learning opportunities. In particular, participation in networks appears to be an important predictor for employability. With the outcomes of this study, we aim to contribute to the further development of theoretical insights regarding employability enhancement through learning possibilities embedded in the workplace. It seems that strategies that focus exclusively on enhancing informal on-the-job learning should not be encouraged. Our study is limited to one context and further research is required to investigate the generalizability of the findings to other occupations and/or countries. [source]

Guaranteeing Defined Contribution Pensions: The Option to Buy Back a Defined Benefit Promise

JOURNAL OF RISK AND INSURANCE, Issue 1 2003
Marie-Eve Lachance
After a long commitment to defined benefit (DB) pension plans for U.S. public sector employees, many state legislatures have introduced defined contribution (DC) plans for their public employees. In this process, investment risk that was previously borne by state DB plans has now devolved to employees covered by the new DC plans. In light of this trend, some states have introduced a guarantee mechanism to help protect DC plan participants. One such guarantee takes the form of an option permitting DC plan participants to buy back their DB benefit for a price. This article develops a theoretical framework to analyze the option design and illustrate how employee characteristics influence the option's cost. We illustrate the potential impact of a buy-back option in a pension reform enacted recently by the State of Florida for its public employees. If employees were to exercise the buy-back option optimally, the market value of this option could represent up to 100 percent of the DC contributions over their work life. [source]

Identifying Demand and Supply of Part-time Jobs Using Personnel Data.

LABOUR, Issue 4 2000
An Application to Italy
The percentage of part-time workers in Italy is very low compared with most European countries. In this paper we try to contribute to an explanation. We use data on the employees of a large Italian company operating in the service sector, and apply a particular econometric framework that allows identification of potential demand and supply. We find that demand and supply are potentially very large on average, but they are difficult to match at the individual worker/job level. The firm might observe a relevant employee's characteristics that are positively correlated with the employee's propensity to a part-time job but are negatively correlated with the profitability of that employee on that job. The firm might also use the revealed willingness to switch to a part-time job as a sign that the employee is likely to be unprofitable for the company. [source]