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The purpose of this study is to investigate whether self-awareness, which is associated with general well-being and positive life outcomes, is also of specific benefit in the workplace. The authors tested the relationship between self-awareness and job-related well-being, and evaluated two different interventions designed to improve dispositional self-awareness at work.

Full-time employees took part in these training interventions and completed questionnaires using a switching-replications design. Questionnaires measured dispositional self-attentiveness (reflection and rumination) and job well-being (satisfaction, enthusiasm and contentment) at three time points over a period of six weeks. Statistical analyses were complemented with qualitative analysis of reported impacts.

Self-awareness was positively associated with job-related well-being and was improved by training. Employees reported gaining a greater appreciation of diversity, improved communication with colleagues and increased confidence.

Sample size limited the extent to which the relatively weak relationships between the concepts could be identified.

Self-awareness is demonstrated to be of value at work, associated with higher well-being and improvements in several positive occupational outcomes. The self-awareness training is more likely to result in active work-based improvements than in reflective changes.

Dispositional self-awareness is shown to be subject to change through training. The study demonstrates the value of self-awareness at work and identifies a range of related work outcomes.

The fact that a management training course is run on an in‐company basis rather than outside the organization does not guarantee that any of the learning acquired by course members will automatically be transferred back into the trainee's work situation. While many companies are prepared to devote considerable resources to helping their staff acquire new skills and knowledge, they frequently neglect to assist them in aplying this new learning back into their work. Frequently, disappointed with the low levels of learning transfer from traditional courses, many firms have reverted to work‐oriented, project‐based types of training programmes in the hope of ensuring that at least some of the training effort is translated back into improved trainee performance. However, in many cases the subject matter of the training may make it unsuited to this approach. Alternatively, an organization may wish to retain its existing in‐company training scheme, but would like to improve it in some way so as to enhance the likelihood of staff changing their work behaviour in the direction intended by the course.

The Training Boards for Engineering and Construction have both embraced the principle that grant for apprentices is to be conditional upon the apprentice following a day release course in a technical college. In Engineering this condition will come into force on 1st September 1966; in Construction, it already applies: grant will be paid only in respect of trainees attending a technical college course on day or block release. In their system, which the Construction ITB describe as transitional, and which they have adopted to get things moving quickly, no recognition in terms of grant is made for any in‐plant training — any training the company may do for manual workers on their own premises.

The 150th Training Workshop run by the Manpower Services Commission under the Youth Opportunities Programme was held in Wigan, a depressed area in employment terms for young people and school leavers. The idea of setting up training workshops within YOP emerged as MSC planners recognised the importance of providing basic work experience in a productive environment as part of the wide range of opportunities offered under the Programme. The aim is to provide as near as possible the kind of atmostphere that young people will experience in acommercial environment; they are subject to the same disciplines found in factories and offices, and they learn about safety requirements and the qualitative and quantitative standards required in the commercial world. As for other YOP schemes, trainees are aged 16 to 18. In a workshop they can aquire basic skills in different activities including woodwork, metalwork, assembly work, industrial sewing, catering, and general office duties. The goods and services provided are selected by the sponsor and range from wooden and metal furniture, tool boxes and vehicle body repair to soft toys, children's clothing, aids for the disabled and playground equipment. Many workshops also provide renovation and refunishing services. The scope is unlimited, since it covers anything which can be sold locally without competing with other firms. One workshop makes printed circuit boards for microprocessors; another produces museum replicas in metal; another is trying aluminum melting and casting on a small scale. Whatever the activity it is geared to providing work experience relevant to the needs of local industries.

Workshops are commonly used to up-skill staff and their usefulness can be determined by measuring whether or not learning needs have been met and, in particular, whether attitudes have changed. In the field of mental health, sensory modulation workshops have been introduced to educate staff about preventative measures that reduce the use of seclusion and restraint for service users with challenging behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of such a workshop.

A one-day workshop was developed based on a review of the literature and feedback from previous workshops, and with input from an industry-based reference group. An evaluation tool was designed to measure the learning outcomes, i.e., the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of the 23 participants. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS v20) was used to analyse the data. Multi-variate analysis of variance was used to determine the relationship between variables.

A significant increase in the knowledge, skills, and attitudes of mental health staff was identified after the one-day workshop (F=106.346, df=1, p<0.000). When considering which participants showed most benefits, it was shown that the demographics had no effect, i.e., education level, practice discipline, years of work experience in mental health, and previous sensory modulation training.

Measuring learning outcomes provides essential information about whether or not the learning objectives have been met. This allows future workshops to be tailored to ensure that the learning opportunity is at the correct level for the learners. More traditional evaluations that elicit the views of the content covered and teaching methods should additionally be used to supplement this information.

Workshops are often evaluated on the basis of the participants’ subjective response to a quick questionnaire. Developing a tool to measure outcomes is a more effective way to determine what has been learned and to ensure that positive outcomes for individuals and their organisations can be reached.

Violence and abuse often occur within the immediate family. However, violence against older women in families is still a taboo topic and professionals who work in community health and social services are often the only persons who have access to the target group. The purpose of this article is to describe research results and a training course developed within two linked European projects.

Both projects were divided into a research and a practical phase. In the first project, data were gathered via a literature review and interviews with health and social services staff. Additionally, a short survey of health and social services organisations, about what provisions they had for dealing with abuse against older women within families, was conducted. In Breaking the Taboo Two, research on existing training material for health care staff concerning violence against older women within families was carried out. Analysis of this material formed the basis for designing a two‐day training workshop for staff members in nine modules on aspects like defining and recognizing violence as well as intervention, cooperating with other organisations and caring for oneself.

A total of 14 trial workshops were carried out in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Portugal and Slovenia in September and October 2011. The target groups ranged from nurses, home helps, care assistants and social workers to Red Cross volunteers from visiting services and crisis intervention. It was established that the topic is very relevant to the participants' work; however, it became clear that this is a very sensitive topic and participants need time to be able to talk openly about such sensitive issues. It also became clear that offering such workshops is an important pillar in developing service providers' policies and procedures concerning violence against older women and can contribute well to networking in this field.

No specific training courses on violence against older women for staff of health and social services could be found until now. This article highlights two projects that deal with raising awareness and training in this field. It also includes findings from a number of European countries that participated in the projects and combines findings gained from research and practical experience.

WHEN ALL the sweet talk has passed, the pious sentiments have been released and the high hopes expressed, the new training system will be brought out of the clouds by striking its head resoundingly on a very hard, unpublicised problem: where are the actual physical facilities to come from for such an expansion of training as we envisage? Four sources are usually mentioned: training workshops inside firms, the workshops of the GTCs, workshops within technical colleges, and new workshops to be established independently by the Industrial Boards.

The chapter describes the Outcome-Based Evaluation (OBE) Initiative of the New York State Library (NYSL) from its start in 2003. Through extensive training, online support, and integration into statewide processes and grant projects, the initiative has brought OBE to New York State's library community with the overall goals of measuring impact and leveraging funding. NYSL's OBE activities and lessons learned are especially helpful to those interested in developing a similar initiative or aspects of it. The activities and findings of the initiative are reviewed including implementation of the ten-stage OBE Training Plan that was the project's foundation. Logic models and outcomes were used to plan and evaluate most of the initiative.

The OBE Initiative has been a success on many levels. Training and support have been effective in teaching library staff how to implement OBE at regional and local levels. The approach has been widely accepted by libraries. NYSL has also integrated OBE techniques into several statewide processes and grant projects. Through OBE, libraries are able to determine the impact of their programs and services. Outcome data leads to improved planning and better decision making. Users ultimately receive higher quality library services, resulting in a more literate community and workforce. OBE can also support advocacy efforts, leading to increased funding for services. While many in the library community are now using OBE, very few have developed a statewide initiative. The chapter is original and has high value. Each of the three authors has carried out multiple aspects of the project.

Seven past field-experimental attempts to produce Pygmalion effects by training managers yielded meager results (Eden et al, 2000). The present effort bolstered the Pygmalion approach with special emphasis on means efficacy, defined as belief in the utility of the tools available for performing a job. Six randomly assigned anti-aircraft gunnery instructors received a one-day Pygmalion workshop with special emphasis on self-efficacy and means efficacy before beginning instruction in a new round of a course; eight control instructors received an interpersonal communication workshop. The trainees of the experimental instructors reported higher self-efficacy, means efficacy, and motivation, and obtained higher scores on written examinations and on performance tests than did the trainees of the control instructors. This is the first true-experimental confirmation of the effectiveness of Pygmalion training among instructors of adults and the first replication of the means-efficacy findings.

What strides have been made to increase the participation of women in the work force? Should we be concerned particularly about women's place in our industries and organisations, and if so, what can be done to improve it? This article outlines the aims, approaches, achievements and future plans of a group which has been involved for the past seven years in promoting the development of women through training as a means of improving the position of women in employment.