3 research outputs found
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Promoting apprentices' professional development: integrating formal and informal learning, HRM and learning goal orientation in promoting apprentices' competencies
Whilst apprenticeships are gaining momentum in the UK with extensive resources directed to the programme, knowledge on the factors contributing to apprentices' professional development in the workplace is still limited. This research addresses this gap by introducing an organizational perspective that integrates the formal learning, informal learning and HRM literatures. In doing so, this study advances a holistic approach to apprenticeships.
Turning the focus to the work environment as enabler of apprentices' competence development, this study seeks to achieve two main objectives. Firstly, to develop and empirically test an apprenticeship development model that relates formal and informal learning factors to apprentices' competencies. Secondly, to investigate whether important boundary conditions such as the HRM system at contextual level and learning goal orientation at individual level influence apprentices' professional development.
To this end, the research presents a cross-sectional and a longitudinal study complemented by qualitative data on a sample of 233 apprentices operating in the engineering sector in England. The results evidence the factors that organisations can leverage to promote apprentices' development by means of formal and informal learning. Concerning the former, transfer design and supervisor support are critical for enabling apprentices to transfer the knowledge acquired at college and university to the workplace improving performance. Regarding the latter, challenging experiences in supportive environments, providing regular feedback, adequate task autonomy and task interdependence contribute to the development of critical competencies.
Additionally, identifying the high-commitment HR system as the strategy for managing the employment relationship with apprentices, the study provides novel insight into the influence of HRM in apprenticeship. In finding performance appraisal to moderate the relationship between critical informal learning factors and performance, the study underscores the importance of appraisal satisfaction in fostering engagement with informal learning and elucidates how appropriate HR practices can promote successful apprenticeships. Furthermore, the study evidences how apprentices with stronger learning orientations achieve higher levels of competence, explaining why individuals engage differently with the learning opportunities provided in the immediate work environment. Practical implications are discussed drawing attention to the role of line managers for securing effective apprenticeships
Psychological wellbeing and safety in a global context: a rapid evidence assessment
Psychological wellbeing is a key dimension which impacts on the productivity and work experiences of employees within safety-critical sectors. This rapid evidence assessment has reviewed the academic and grey literature globally to establish key factors that impact on mental health across five sectors responsible for critical social and economic infrastructure – maritime/energy; construction; engineering; food and digital. Structural factors in the organization of workplaces and safety practices impact upon the psychological wellbeing of employees and are in turn affected by the emotional and behavioural consequences and diminished psychological wellbeing. The Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) provides a way of modelling this relationship that avoids some of the difficulties inherent in global approaches to mental health.
The evidence clearly shows that psychosocial factors play a central role in mediating the relationship between structural aspects of the working environment and psychological wellbeing. Whilst there is wide variability in the efficacy of interventions attempted across the sectors explored, in general, strategies which employ a holistic approach to psychological wellbeing generally demonstrate better outcomes. On the basis of the available evidence, we recommend that interventions proceed by identifying and modelling the specific configuration of psychosocial factors within a given sector or organization. We further recommend that participation in interventions is facilitated collaboratively, and designed across all levels within the organization.
The 4th Industrial Revolution offers many challenges to all the sectors explored and is generally considered in terms of the direct and indirect threats it poses to psychological wellbeing through exacerbating existing workplace inequalities. However, technological changes also offer innovative means through which mental health may be monitored. The evidence base also provides some key lessons for the transitions every sector will have to make during and in recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic