Realizing the Latent Potential in the Part-time Student Workforce

The purpose of this article is to challenge employers to make the best use of the latent potential of their part-time student workforce and to retain this talent postgraduation. The authors report research which shows that increasing numbers of university students are working part-time alongside their degree studies, while at the same time businesses are becoming more explicit about their requirements for graduate entrants, specifying a range of traits, behaviours and soft skills. The authors argue that this developing scenario affords an opportunity for university students working part-time to develop skills and business-related knowledge that are desirable to their respective employers in the longer term. However, the desire to nurture and retain those individuals on graduation appears to be lacking. This article concludes by challenging both employers and students to embrace a longer term perspective for their mutual benefit

Understanding employee resourcing in construction organizations

In recent years the literature on employee resourcing has consistently advocated the importance of adopting a holistic, strategic approach to employee deployment decision making rather than adopting a reactive needs-based approach. This is particularly problematic in construction where the multi-project environment leads to constantly changing resource requirements and to changing demands over a project's life cycle. This can lead to inappropriate decisions, which fail to meet the longer-term needs of both construction organizations and their employees. A structured and comprehensive understanding of the current project team deployment practices within large construction organizations was developed. Project deployment practices were examined within seven case study contracting firms. The emergent themes that shaped the decision-making processes were grouped into five broad clusters comprising human resource planning, performance/career management, team deployment, employee involvement and training and development. The research confirms that a reactive and ad hoc approach to the function prevails within the firms investigated. This suggests a weak relationship between the deployment process and human resource planning, team deployment, performance management, employee involvement and training and development activities. It is suggested that strategic HR-business partnering could engender more transparent and productive relationships in this crucial area

Personnel management: defence, retrenchment, advance?

It has recently been argued that the use of external consultants is indicative of a crisis in personnel management. However, the use of consultants, of whatever type, has not been adequately explained for a number of reasons. The reasons underlying the increasing usage of external consultants by personnel is a form of defence, allowing it to shed some activities thereby strengthening its position within the organisation. To illustrate this argument the reasons for the growth in the use of a particular type of consultant by personnel – executive recruitment consultancies – are considered. The results reported draw on two major surveys. The first was directed at executive consultancies whereas the second was directed at corporate personnel directors in the Times 100 companies. Response rates of 42 per cent and 55 per cent were achieved

Trust into mistrust: the uncertain marriage between public and private sector practice for middle managers in education

The role of the middle manager has proved to be a difficult one to define due to the fluid nature of the tasks performed and the heterogeneity of understanding that exists for the term. This is further complicated by the differences associated with the context in which individual manager’s work. This research, which explores the drive towards neo-liberalism and the subsequent adoption of leadership and management practice from the private sector, makes a comparison between the roles of managers in English education with those in other settings. Using a questionnaire with 252 responses and interviews with 6 managers in the private and public sector, the role of middle managers was compared to identify the similarities and differences between organisations driven by social policy as opposed to profit. Participants surveyed were based in primary, secondary and further education and the interview respondents were employed in non-education contexts. The findings suggest that the initial reforms, which required higher levels of accountability through the introduction of key performance indicators, appear to be fully embedded within the education manager’s role and there is a high degree of convergence in relation to the expectation of managers at this level in all the settings. The findings also highlighted a fundamental difference in relation to how middle managers were expected to carry out their duties, the autonomy they had to do so and the authority that was bestowed upon them. © 2018 Association for Research in Post-Compulsory Education (ARPCE)

Evaluation of variables influencing success and complication rates in canine total hip replacement:Results from the British Veterinary Orthopaedic Association Canine Hip Registry (collation of data: 2010-2012)

The objective of this study was to assess the variables associated with complications of total hip replacement (THR) and report owner-assessed outcomes. Entries into the British Veterinary Orthopaedic Association-Canine Hip Registry (BVOA-CHR) between September 2011 and December 2012 were reviewed separately and in conjunction with previous data (January 2010-August 2011). An outcomes assessment questionnaire was used to collect data from owners. Incidences of surgeon-reported and owner-reported complications were 8.2 per cent and 4.3 per cent, respectively. THR using the BioMedtrix BFX cup/stem prosthesis had a greater incidence of complications compared with THR using the BioMedtrix CFX cup/stem prosthesis (P=0.002); complications were 4.48 times more likely when using the BioMedtrix BFX cup/stem prosthesis versus the BioMedtrix CFX cup/stem prosthesis. THR using the BioMedtrix BFX cup/stem prosthesis had a higher incidence of complications compared with THR using a hybrid prosthesis (BioMedtrix BFX cup/CFX stem, BioMedtrix CFX cup/BFX stem) (P=0.046); complications were 2.85 times more likely when using the BioMedtrix BFX cup/ stem prosthesis versus a hybrid prosthesis. In 95 per cent of cases, owner satisfaction with the outcome of THR was 'very good' or 'good'. Complication rates from the BVOA-CHR are similar to previous studies. The data suggest that prosthesis type is associated with complication rate, with BioMedtrix BFX (circa 2012) having a high short-term complication rate