The Training Practices of Large Organizations in New Zealand

This study explored the formal training practices of 50 large New Zealand organizations. With the increased globalization of businesses organizations are constantly challenged to stay relevant in a rapidly evolving worldwide economy. Employees constitute the human capital of an organization and therefore it is strategically important to ensure that employees are able to perform to the best of their abilities. Organizations require strategies and processes to ensure that their employees are performing to standard, and to identify and remedy shortfalls. The ADDIE Model is a well-established systematic model used to address training requirements (Molenda, 2005; Noe & Winkler, 2009) and as such was used to develop the theoretical model underpinning this research. Formal training practices were defined as training programmes which underwent evaluation after it was implemented. The ADDIE model was used to design a 32 question survey directed at the individual who was responsible for the development of the training programme within their own organizations. Large organizations were defined as organizations with 50 or more employees (Statistics New Zealand, 2014). Participants were recruited through the New Zealand Association of Training and Development (NZATD), the Human Resource Institute of New Zealand (HRINZ) as well as existing networks and cold calling. The findings are compared to a recommended practice model that was developed across both Australia and New Zealand by Noe and Winkler (2009). The differences between common practice and recommended practices, as described by Noe and Winkler, are highlighted and discussed. The findings of this survey showed that the majority of organizations invested a lot in analysing training needs at multiple levels and less in evaluating the learning outcomes of training programmes. Design, development and implementation methods closely aligned with the recommended practices outlined by Noe and Winkler. Notably the majority of organizations focused their evaluation on Level 1 of Kirkpatrick’s Four Tiered Model of Evaluation, which were the reactions of trainees to the training programme. These are the affective outcomes as described by Noe and Winkler. However, very few organizations took evaluation further than this and actually assessed levels 2-4 of Kirkpatrick’s Model. This research adds to an understanding of formal training practices in large organizations in a New Zealand specific context. Future implications for research include exploring the formal training practices of a much bigger sample of large organizations in New Zealand, which better represents the diversity of the New Zealand economy and industries. The findings highlight an opportunity for best practice guidelines to be developed specifically to the culture of New Zealand, by qualified experts in the field

Students’ Perceptions and Misperceptions of the Communication Major: Opportunities and Challenges of Reputation

This study investigates undergraduate students\u27 perceptions of the content, difficulty, and value of the Communication major. Students in majors other than Communication from two universities indicated that the content of the Communication major was valuable and, in some cases, involved difficult tasks. However, the major was perceived as easier than any other compared discipline. The students surveyed demonstrated low to moderate belief in most popular “myths” regarding Communication as an academic field. A number of potential strategies to increase awareness of the value of a degree in communication are provided, which can be adapted for use with existing departmental marketing strategies

Informing the National Public Health Accreditation Movement: Lessons From North Carolina's Accredited Local Health Departments

To advance understanding of public health accreditation, we analyzed data on the North Carolina Local Health Department Accreditation program. We surveyed accredited health departments on barriers to and supports of accreditation preparation, performance on accreditation standards, and benefits and improvements after accreditation. All 48 accredited agencies responded to the survey. All agencies improved policies to prepare for accreditation and met most accreditation standards. Forty-six percent received local funds for accreditation preparation. The most common barrier to accreditation preparation was time and schedule limitations (79%). Fifty percent of agencies acted on suggestions for improvement, and 67% conducted quality improvement activities. Benefits of accreditation included improvements in local partnerships. Agencies of all sizes conducted accreditation activities, were successfully accredited, and experienced benefits resulting from accreditation

Building the Bristol city region food system

Bristol is located in the southwest of England. It has a population of about 435,000, with an economy historically founded on global colonial trade. Today its commercial importance lies in aerospace technology, finance and creative industries and it is well known for its vibrant, bohemian culture, thriving arts scene and diverse population. The West of England – which comprises the following local authorities: Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire – is generally seen as Bristol’s city region. It has a population of about 910,000. Since May 2017, the Bristol city region is among the first of seven city regions in England with an elected ‘metro-mayor’, responsible for economic development, housing and transport. The city of Bristol sits at the gateway to the rural southwest, the English region most economically reliant on agriculture. Food and agriculture are, however, largely outside of the control of local politics. The regulation of food is principally influenced by the multiple retailers that supply about 80 % of UK groceries. Spatially the food system has a profound impact on the urban landscape, defining not only the built edges of the city but also the streetscape. Local authorities have limited powers to control the development or location of individual stores

Masking Release for Igbo and English

In this research, we explored the effect of noise interruption rate on speech intelligibility. Specifically, we used the Hearing In Noise Test (HINT) procedure with the original HINT stimuli (English) and Igbo stimuli to assess speech reception ability in interrupted noise. For a given noise level, the HINT test provides an estimate of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) required for 50%-correct speech intelligibility. The SNR for 50%-correct intelligibility changes depending upon the interruption rate of the noise. This phenomenon (called Masking Release) has been studied extensively in English but not for Igbo – which is an African tonal language spoken predominantly in South Eastern Nigeria. This experiment explored and compared the phenomenon of Masking Release for (i) native English speakers listening to English, (ii) native Igbo speakers listening to English, and (iii) native Igbo speakers listening to Igbo. Since Igbo is a tonal language and English is a non-tonal language, this allowed us to compare Masking Release patterns on native speakers of tonal and non-tonal languages. Our results for native English speakers listening to English HINT show that the SNR and the masking release are orderly and consistent with other English HINT data for English speakers. Our result for Igbo speakers listening to English HINT sentences show that there is greater variability in results across the different Igbo listeners than across the English listeners. This result likely reflects different levels of ability in the English language across the Igbo listeners. The masking release values in dB are less than for English listeners. Our results for Igbo speakers listening to Igbo show that in general, the SNRs for Igbo sentences are lower than for English/English and Igbo/English. This means that the Igbo listeners could understand 50% of the Igbo sentences at SNRs less than those required for English sentences by either native or non-native listeners. This result can be explained by the fact that the perception of Igbo utterances by Igbo subjects may have been aided by the prediction of tonal and vowel harmony features existent in the Igbo language. In agreement with other studies, our results also show that in a noisy environment listeners are able to perceive their native language better than a second language. The ability of native language speakers to perceive their language better than a second language in a noisy environment may be attributed to the fact that: a) Native speakers are more familiar with the sounds of their language than second language speakers. b) One of the features of language is that it is predictable hence even in noise a native speaker may be able to predict a succeeding word that is scarcely audible. These contextual effects are facilitated by familiarity.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01 DC00117

Fragmentation in Australian Commonwealth and South Australian State policy on mental health and older people: A governmentality analysis

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page(https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).Mental health care for older people is a significant and growing issue in Australia and internationally. This article describes how older people’s mental health is governed through policy discourse by examining Australian Commonwealth and South Australian State government policy documents, and commentaries from professional groups, advocacy groups and non-governmental organisations. Documents published between 2009 and 2014 were analysed using a governmentality approach, informed by Foucault. Discourses of ‘risk’, ‘ageing as decline/dependence’ and ‘healthy ageing’ were identified. Through these discourses, different neo-liberal governmental strategies are applied to ‘target’ groups according to varying risk judgements. Three policy approaches were identified where older people are (1) absent from policy, (2) governed as responsible, active citizens or (3) governed as passive recipients of health care. This fragmented policy response to older people’s mental health reflects fragmentation in the Australian policy environment. It constructs an ambiguous place for older people within neo-liberal governmental rationality, with significant effects on the health system, older people and their carers

What skills do primary health care professionals need to provide effective self-management support?: seeking consumer perspectives

Author version made available in accordance with the publisher's policyObjective This research aimed to identify the skills required by primary health care (PHC) professionals to provide effective chronic condition prevention and self -management (CCPSM) support, according to the perceptions of a sample of Australian consumers and carers. Methods Qualitative data was collected and integrated from a focus group, key informant interviews and National Stakeholder meetings and a National Workshop, supported by an extensive literature review. Results With the exception of health professionals specifically trained or currently working in this area, consumers and carers perceive there is a lack of understanding, competence and practice of CCPSM support among PHC professionals. Discussion The PHC workforce appears not to have the full set of skills needed to meet the growing burden of chronic conditions on the health system. Recommendations include education and training that focuses on improved communication skills, knowledge of community support resources, identification of consumers' strengths and current capacities, collaborative care with other health professionals, consumers and carers, and psychosocial skills to understand the impact of chronic conditions from the person’s perspective

Grain drill fertilizer calibration

The Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311