What is the Expected Engagement and Impact of Human Resource Development (HRDP) Participants During their Tenure with the Company?

[Excerpt] Human Resource Development Programs (HRDP) consist of rotations designed to develop human resources talent. These programs highly emphasize development, yet participants’ engagement and impact should not be overlooked. Getting the right balance of engagement and development is essential for both the participant and the business. Although there is extensive research and publication surrounding training and development, HRDP-specific work is less common. Given this, broader research on rotational programs and career development may be adopted for HRDP considerations

Can Inclusion be Measured in a Quantitative Way, Just Qualitative, or a Combination?

[Excerpt] Deloitte’s 2017 Global Human Capital Trends study revealing that the number of executives who cited inclusion as a top priority rose 32% since 2014. For this study inclusion is defined as the degree to which an employee perceives that he or she is a valued member of the work group. It’s important to discern that inclusion is not autonomous from belonging, but that both are key elements in company initiatives. Belonging from the employee point of view is, “I can be authentic, I matter, and am essential to my team.” Workgroup diversity is a well-researched topic, but diversity is taken a step further with inclusion. Companies have are starting to reconsider their practices to measure it. Forbes names 2016 as the year of Diversity and Inclusion. Deloitte Australia research shows that inclusive teams outperform peers by 80% in team-based assessments. Deloitte also confirms that companies that embrace diversity and inclusion in all aspects of their business outperform their peers. However, companies acknowledge that, inclusion and belonging are complex constructs to define and measure. With increasing investments, measuring inclusion is vital to understanding if employees feel a sense of inclusion and belonging within their company

What is the Payoff of HiPo Programs, and Are Companies De-Investing in Them?

[Excerpt] The average firm spends 27% of its learning and development budget on its high-potential (HiPo) programs, and two-thirds of companies divert budget away from other talent investments to fund HiPo initiatives. Companies believe in the value of HiPos and are thus heavily investing in them, however many are struggling to generate a return on investment. In fact, research from the Corporate Executive Board shows that 73% of HiPo programs show no return on investment. Bleak ROIs are resulting in some companies reevaluating their strategies for these formal programs or considering de-investing in these programs altogether. Prior to de-investing it’s essential to weigh the options of modifying the program in place versus reallocating the budget for investments in alternative talent development practices

Testing the psychometric properties of Kidscreen-27 with Irish children of low socio-economic status

BACKGROUND: Kidscreen-27 was developed as part of a cross-cultural European Union-funded project to standardise the measurement of children’s health-related quality of life. Yet, research has reported mixed evidence for the hypothesised 5-factor model, and no confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) has been conducted on the instrument with children of low socio-economic status (SES) across Ireland (Northern and Republic). METHOD: The data for this study were collected as part of a clustered randomised controlled trial. A total of 663 (347 male, 315 female) 8–9-year-old children (M = 8.74, SD = .50) of low SES took part. A 5- and modified 7-factor CFA models were specified using the maximum likelihood estimation. A nested Chi-square difference test was conducted to compare the fit of the models. Internal consistency and floor and ceiling effects were also examined. RESULTS: CFA found that the hypothesised 5-factor model was an unacceptable fit. However, the modified 7-factor model was supported. A nested Chi-square difference test confirmed that the fit of the 7-factor model was significantly better than that of the 5-factor model. Internal consistency was unacceptable for just one scale. Ceiling effects were present in all but one of the factors. CONCLUSIONS: Future research should apply the 7-factor model with children of low socio-economic status. Such efforts would help monitor the health status of the population

Barriers and facilitators of physical activity in adolescents with intellectual disabilities: An analysis informed by the COM-B model

BACKGROUND: Adolescents with intellectual disabilities are insufficiently physically active. Where interventions have been developed and delivered, these have had limited effectiveness, and often lack a theoretical underpinning. AIM: Through application of the COM‐B model, our aim is to explore the factors influencing adolescent physical activity within schools. METHODS: A qualitative methodology, using focus groups with students who have mild/moderate intellectual disabilities, their parents'/carers' and teachers'. The COM‐B model provided the lens through which the data were collected and analysed. RESULTS: We identified of a range of individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors influencing physical activity, across all six COM‐B constructs, within the context of the ‘school‐system’. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to use the COM‐B model to explore school‐based physical activity behaviour, for adolescents with intellectual disabilities. Identification of such physical activity behavioural determinants can support the development of effective and sustainable interventions

The anhydrobiotic potential and molecular phylogenetics of species and strains of Panagrolaimus (Nematoda, Panagrolaimidae)

Members of the genus Panagrolaimus are bacterialfeeding nematodes that occupy a diversity of niches ranging from Antarctic and temperate soils to terrestrial mosses. Some members of this genus are able to survive extreme desiccation by entering into a state of suspended animation known as anhydrobiosis. We have assembled a collection of Panagrolaimus species and strains and have investigated their anhydrobiotic phenotypes. Our data show that within the genus Panagrolaimus there is a continuum of strains ranging from those unable to survive exposure to low relative humidity (RH) without prior preconditioning at high RH (slow desiccation strategists), through strains that have limited ability to survive rapid desiccation but whose anhydrobiotic ability improves upon preconditioning, to strains such as P. superbus that can readily survive immediate exposure to severe desiccation (fast desiccation strategists). Using this panel of nematodes we investigated the effect of preincubation at high RH on the accumulation of trehalose and on the nematodesâ anhydrobiotic potential. We found that there is a strong correlation between trehalose induction and anhydrobiotic survival in Panagrolaimus. Furthermore, the high trehalose levels observed in fully hydrated P.superbus (10% dry mass) suggest that constitutive expression of trehalose pre-adapts this fast dehydration strategist to combat desiccation. All the strains observed, regardless of survival rates, undertook both coiling and clumping, which has the effect of reducing surface area and slowing the rate of water loss during desiccation. Phylogenetic analyses were carried out to investigate whether the observed anhydrobiotic phenotypes were the result of convergent evolution or represented a single phylogenetic lineage. These analyses, derived from alignments of the rDNA ITS and D3 sequences, indicate that the strongly anhydrobiotic strains of Panagrolaimus form a single phylogenetic lineage, which is separate from the weakly anhydrobiotic strains. The weakly anhydrobiotic strains are also phylogenetically divergent from each other. Our data indicate that Panagrolaimus has the potential to be an excellent model system for the investigation of molecular aspects of nematode anhydrobiosis