A SURVEY OF MANAGEMENT TRAINING AND EDUCATION PRACTICES IN U.S. COMPANIES

A survey was systematically developed to assess issues related to management training and education, and it was sent to 1,000 randomly selected U.S. companies with at least 1,000 employees. Based on a 61% response rate, findings were obtained regarding issues such as needs assessment, management training and development approaches, reasons for selecting particular programs, characteristics of participants, how decisions are made regarding who will participate, preparation and follow-up of participants, evaluation of management training programs, future management training trends, and needed training content. Significant findings by company size and industry type also are reported.     

THE EFFECTS OF PSYCHOLOGICALLY BASED INTERVENTION PROGRAMS ON WORKER PRODUCTIVITY: A META-ANALYSIS

A meta-analysis of the effects on worker productivity of 11 types of psychologically based organizational interventions showed that such programs, on average, raised worker productivity by nearly one-half standard deviation. The strength of effects was found to vary by type of intervention, criterion of productivity, contextual factors in organizations, and features of research design. Also discussed in the paper are comparisons of conclusions reached through meta-analysis versus traditional methods of literature review.     

SELF-ASSESSED TRAINING NEEDS: THE EFFECTS OF ATTITUDES TOWARD TRAINING, MANAGERIAL LEVEL, AND FUNCTION

Self-assessment research has concentrated on validity and psychometric issues in selection and appraisal contexts. Little is known about factors that affect self-assessment of training needs. The present study examines the influence of managerial position (level, function) and managerial attitudes toward training utility on self-reported training needs. A training-needs survey consisting of items related to basic managerial, interpersonal, administrative, and quality control skills was completed by 506 lower and middle level managers across four functional areas. Correlational and regression analyses indicated that managerial level and function had some effect on reported administrative training needs, while function and attitudes towards training utility had some impact on self-reported training needs for quality control. Level, function, and attitude were not related to reported basic managerial and interpersonal training needs. The implications and limitations of the results are discussed, and future research directions are presented.     

INFLUENCE OF ASSESSMENT CENTER METHODS ON ASSESSORS'RATINGS

Recently a number of authors have argued persuasively that performance ratings are influenced to a large extent by the way the rater selects, organizes, stores, and recalls information. Although the influence of the rater's cognitive processes on the obtained ratings has been considered in the job-performance evaluation literature, this issue has not been considered in the assessment center literature. The purpose of the present study was to examine how assessment center methods affect the way assessors organize and process assessment center information and affect the ratings they make. Independent groups of assessors underwent one of two methods for evaluating candidates in an assessment center. Data indicated differences in the convergent and discriminant validities and differences in the factor structures of the ratings for the two methods. The pattern of results suggested that the two methods for evaluating assessment center candidates affected the way the assessors organized the assessment center information and affected the obtained ratings. Future research should consider assessment center methods and assessors as sources of variation in assessment center ratings.     

METAANALYSES OF VALIDITY STUDIES PUBLISHED BETWEEN 1964 AND 1982 AND THE INVESTIGATION OF STUDY CHARACTERISTICS

Review and metaanalyses of published validation studies for the years 1964-1982 of Journal of Applied Psychology and Personnel Psychology were undertaken to examine the effect of (1) research design; (2) criterion used; (3) type of selection instrument used; (4) occupational group studies; and (5) predictor-criterion combination on the level of observed validity coefficients. Results indicate that concurrent validation designs produce validity coefficients roughly equivalent to those obtained in predictive validation designs and that both of these designs produce higher validity coefficients than does a predictive design which includes use of the selection instrument. Of the criteria examined, performance rating criteria generally produced lower validity coefficients than did the use of other more "objective" criteria. In comparing the validities of various types of predictors, it was found cognitive ability tests were not superior to other predictors such as assessment centers, work samples, and supervisory/peer evaluations as has been found in previous metaanalytic work. Personality measures were clearly less valid. Compared to previous validity generalization work, much unexplained variance in validity coefficients remained after corrections for differences in sample size. Finally, the studies reviewed were deficient for our purposes with respect to the data reported. Selection ratios, standard deviations, reliabilities, predictor and criterion intercorrelations were rarely and inconsistently reported. There are also many predictor-criterion relationships for which very few validation efforts have been undertaken.     

Limiting confidential information in counseling

Historically, confidentiality has been viewed on all educational levels as implicit both in counseling relationships and in the maintenance and use of student records; yet recently, a decision of a Superior Court judge in the state of Maine (the Bates College case) made it obvious that at least college admissions records which show school counselor recommendations are not necessarily legally confidential. With expressed needs for privileged communication in education continuing to manifest themselves through the consideration and passage of legislation, this article reconsiders prevailing legal and ethical limits to confidentiality, with particular reference to the APGA Ethical Standards of 1961.     

New Careers Model Revisited: The Importance of Mentoring

The authors report a study that suggests the career paths of workers on short-term federal projects may be enhanced as a result of developing a relationship with a mentor through such projects.     

ITEM GENERATION PROCEDURES AND BACKGROUND DATA SCALES: IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSTRUCT AND CRITERION-RELATED VALIDITY

Background data measures are one of the best predictors of job performance. Nonetheless, questions have been raised about their content and construct validity. The present effort describes a set of procedures for developing construct and content valid background data items. Data gathered in seven field studies and six laboratory studies are presented bearing on the reliability and validity of the measures constructed using these item generation procedures. Findings in these studies indicate that construct-based item generation procedures yield reliable scales evidencing both content and construct validity. Furthermore, these scales are capable of predicting performance in a variety of settings. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for the development and validation of background data measures are discussed.