Publications

This report details the results of a project undertaken jointly by IES and the Science Policy Research Unit. The project developed a range of skills indicators and calculated total factor productivity growth, which is a productivity measure that takes account of hours worked and capital input.

The IES research summarised in this report used nine case studies to investigate how organisations plan their training and development activities, how training budgets are managed and where they sit, which processes are used to link training with business needs and how effectively these appear to operate.

The research aimed to identify factors that might contribute to under-reporting of accidents and incidents of learners, primarily apprentices and those on entry to employment programmes. It consisted of a literature review, interviews with the Learning and Skills Council regional health and safety managers, a review of the data on accident reports, focus groups with learners, a survey of learning providers and a survey of employers.

This paper provides a practical overview of appreciative enquiry, the processes involved and the outcomes of managers and HR practitioners using it in their own organisations. On the strength of the authors' knowledge and experience, they have put together suggestions of situations where appreciative enquiry is particularly applicable.

This report explores the literature linking skills with business performance, and also the wider HR and High Performance literature and studies on engagement. It highlights a wide range of studies that provide evidence of benefits for individuals and organisations, from skills, training and development.

This was the third wave of longitudinal research with young people with special educational needs (SEN) to record and track their progress as they moved from compulsory schooling to early adulthood.

This publication is no longer available. This project explored the barriers to training experienced by workers of different ages. The wider context for this research was the age discrimination legislation due to be implemented in October 2006. A key objective of this project was to address some of the myths and stereotypes that might deter employers from training their workers.

This paper provides an introduction to action learning and reflects on recent advances made in its application. It focuses on practical variations of action learning and discusses in what ways they adhere to or challenge the original principles and established norms of action learning.

This report looks at whether the provision of Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG) makes a difference to the work and learning outcomes of individuals.

The term 'Assess-Train-Assess' (ATA) refers to the approach to development in which there is an initial assessment of any skills gap, followed by training provision to meet the needs identified in that initial assessment. Lastly, there is a follow-up assessment to determine the extent to which the training need has been met. The Department for Skills and Education (DfES) gained funding through the 'Success for All' budget for research to explore good practice in ATA approaches to workforce development, in order to assist other providers who wished to adopt this model of provision.