Browsing by Author "Gray, Lance Ian"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A descriptive study of training products and practice, using a field test of the Evaluation of External Training (EET) Tool : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Studies in Human Resource Management at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1996) Gray, Lance Ian
    The growth of the National Qualifications Framework since its inception in 1993 has seen a corresponding increase in training products entering the market as competition for the training and education dollar increases. What tools do public and private enterprise managers have, to differentiate between good and poor training products? The purpose of the present study is to design, implement and formatively evaluate a tool for assessing the quality of external training products. The tool would be piloted as a field test in the context of a prospective training purchaser evaluating a training product for possible purchase. Using "snowball" sampling, seven informants: five females and two males, provided training products of their choice for evaluation using the Evaluation of External Training (EET) Tool. Informants represented central and local government; small and medium sized private enterprises. The present study was divided into two distinct stages: a background interview and the evaluation interview. The background interview used the qualitative technique of a semi-structured, in-depth interview that allowed the informant to discuss a variety of topical issues without the constraint of predetermined answers. From the background interviews a typology of informants was developed; building on existing research by McMorland (1990). Informants in the present study were differentiated by training context: internal or external to the organisation; and employment type: primary or secondary. Using McMorland's typology three internal trainers were further differentiated to training manager, training coordinator and training consultant. Informants came to training indirectly from other careers where their talent for training was recognised; a lack of a first qualification in training has seen many seek qualifications to support their new career. A typology of informant issues was developed showing the competing demands placed on managers and trainers by the issues of resources and accountability. The fundamental resource issue for informants was time to develop employees to a standard; this was balanced against the managers desire for continuous production. The issue of accountability for informants was stark: accountability ended at the delivery of objectives; transfer of training to the workplace was seen as management's responsibility. The second stage of the present study was a field test of EET (Evaluation of External Training) to the informant's training product. Using a structured interview format all informants were asked to provide evidence of 18 training outputs provided under the four components of needs analysis, design, implementation and evaluation. Four of seven training products passed the threshold of 75% over the 18 outputs as quality training products. Three products that failed to reach the threshold shared similar deficiencies: poor needs analysis and evaluation outputs. These were outputs informants in the present study were not generally required to provide, or rewarded for providing. For the growth of training as a profession it is suggested trainers build relationships with managers that allow for the maximum leverage from the training dollar. EET as a tool was used more in a developmental context than in the purchasing context as proposed because ultimately informants realised their product was not up for actual purchase. The strength of EET is in identifying key outputs of training products; a weakness is that users need training knowledge to be able to converse effectively with trainers. A formative evaluation of EET identified confusing output and quality descriptions which were amended as part of the present study. Throughout the present study there existed a gulf between the language of academic training and the informant's or practitioner's experience with the researcher continually re-phrasing and clarifying "terms".
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Mature job-seeking in New Zealand : a political economy perspective : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of PHD in Communication and Journalism at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University. Department of Communication and Journalism, 2003) Gray, Lance Ian
    Job-seeking research has been implicitly an examination of the job-seeking activities of youth. Even at the broader level of the labour market there continues an underlying association of youth with employment while the experiences of mature workers have been largely minimised, especially in New Zealand. This study examines the job-seeking activities and experiences of mature job-seekers in the New Zealand labour market from a political economy perspective.Issues surrounding mature workers have lacked a theoretical and disciplinary "base" with the issues of retirement and health consistently overwhelming any discussion about mature people and employment. The political economy theory of aging does provide a useful explanatory framework given the struggle for recognition and resources of mature workers. The persistent exclusion of mature workers from any discussion about the labour market in New Zealand is a common theme throughout the present study.As mature workers become increasingly "problematised" by economists as a threat to future economic productivity; issues surrounding mature employment need to be better understood because there will be greater proportions of mature workers and mature job-seekers. Through a sample of 947 mature jobs-seekers collected by MESA offices throughout New Zealand, issues surrounding mature job-seekers in particular were examined.The results highlight both the different and similar experiences of men and women in the New Zealand labour market. Women respondents were more likely to present themselves as younger than men, and to be returning to the labour market after family responsibilities with lesser confidence in their job-seeking skills and occupational abilities. Men by contrast presented themselves at MESA as older and more likely to have been made redundant; they also appeared to have more confidence in their job-seeking and occupational skills. Gender, however, did little to explain the primarily formal job-seeking methods used and the effort expended job-seeking. There is little to suggest that job-seeking efforts diminish significantly with age. Only with the final cohort of age 61 years and over, was mean job-search effort significantly less than for other age-cohorts. By contrast the variable time out of work explained much of the variance with job-search peaking at six months out of work. Subsequent analysis strongly supports the suggestion that any policy intervention will have the greatest impact within the first four to six months of unemployment.There is also some evidence to suggest that the reason for becoming a mature job-seeker and the attributions these mature job-seekers make for their unemployment is associated with their job-search efforts. In the present study those mature job-seekers made compulsorily redundant, regardless of age or gender, clearly tried harder than other job-seekers. By contrast those job-seekers who indicated they had been dismissed gave less effort to their job-search.The primary barrier identified by mature job-seekers is silence, silence from employers or employment agencies about why they have not been considered or rejected for work. As a consequence many mature job-seekers interpreted this silence as age discrimination. Understandably mature job-seekers are reluctant to see their lack of skills or experience as contributing to their circumstance and feel disappointed that their skills are not appreciated: a point well highlighted by the qualitative analysis "Trajectory of emotion" that captures the voice of participants in the present study. Finally, paid employment does matter to mature people and future research and policy would do well to examine the full picture of the labour market and give attention to where real needs exist. Mature job-seekers in the present study did not necessarily seek "special" treatment but rather the same opportunities as their chronologically younger colleagues to make a contribution to New Zealand society through paid work.