Jasper van Loo

Skills obsolescence: causes and cures

Until now there has been surprisingly little research on the causes of and the remedies for skills obsolescence. This study tries to fill that gap to some extent by analysing the relation between risk factors and skills obsolescence. Moreover, the role remedies play to counter skills obsolescence is analysed. Four empirical analyses that relate skills obsolescence to risk factors and remedies are presented. We find that most risk factors identified in the literature can be validated empirically. The remedies for skills obsolescence are not effective in all situations: the results show that there is considerable variation in the effectiveness of the remedies across different types of skills obsolescence. Although current available data do not allow a comprehensive analysis, which also takes account of relations between the various types of skills obsolescence, the results obtained are plausible and offer a starting point for further research.

Defining and Measuring Competences: An Application to Graduate Surveys

In this article, we review the competence concept and apply it to the measurement of competences in graduate surveys. The relevant literature reveals that three important perspectives on the meaning and operationalisation of competences may be distinguished: The educational perspective, the labour market perspective and the human resources perspective. The second part of the article is concerned with the measurement of competences in the context of labour market research using graduate surveys. Using the insights obtained from the literature, competences are defined and a measurement method is chosen. Empirical evidence suggests that this measurement method performs better than previously used measurement methodologies.

Going global: professional mobility and concerns for LGBT workers

The world of work has regularized the practice of people moving from one country to another to accept job assignments. Travel and relocation are stress-laden endeavours. For LGBT people, the risks can be more complicated than they are for heterosexuals. This article explores particular challenges that LGBT people face when they travel and relocate for business, both domestically and internationally. The article is contextualized with a literature review on sexual minorities and workplace issues, and uses auto-ethnographic stories of three of the authors’ lived experiences as sexual minorities relocating for professional reasons in order to examine issues related to LGBT relocation. These issues include legal, social, cultural and familial considerations. Implications and suggestions for human resource developers are presented, which include acquiring awareness around the psychological and physiological reactions to new and diverse ecologies, or ‘eco-shocks’.

Differentiating CPE from Training: Reconsidering Terms, Boundaries, and Economic Factors

The differences between continuing professional education (CPE) and training are examined by presenting a systems view of the factors that make CPE different from training. The authors analyze these differences by discussing scope, stakeholders, control, and occupational mobility. These factors provide a framework for examining differences between CPE and training from an economic perspective. The authors review economic rationales for CPE and discuss how existing training evaluation concepts, such as cost-benefit analysis and return on investment may be adapted to the specific characteristics of CPE. They end by reflecting on the possibilities that the proposed approach offers and list a number of recommendations for further research.

Sexual Minorities, Earnings, and Career Development: Insights From Economics

The problem and the solution. The purpose of this article is to (a) present insights from economics on earnings of sexual minorities and (b) discuss the implications for human resource development in terms of career development. In economic research, the focus has been on finding earnings differentials between sexual minorities and heterosexuals. One issue with this approach is whether the standard analytical techniques available in economics, can be applied to the earnings of sexual minorities. A second issue is the relevance of earnings of sexual minorities to career development.

The empirical determination of key skills from an economic perspective

Notwithstanding an impressive research tradition on key skills, no clear statistical criterion exists that is suitable to determine which skills may be considered key skills. This contribution proposes one possible methodology that can be used to identify key skills. Proposing an economic definition of the key skill concept and disentangling the direct and indirect effects of skills on productivity, we develop an empirical criterion for the identification of key skills. We apply this methodology to a dataset of employed vocational education graduates. We find that problem‐solving skills, independence, oral presentation/speaking skills, accuracy/carefulness and initiative/creativity may be considered key skills.

Opleiden in bedrijf: effectief opleiden of opleiden voor effectiviteit?

Nederlandse bedrijven gaven in 2005 meer dan 1,7 miljard euro uit aan cursussen en opleidingen, wat neerkomt op ruim 1300 euro per cursist. Wanneer ook de gederfde werktijd wordt meegenomen, bedragen de totale opleidingskosten zelfs meer dan drie miljard euro (Claessen & Nieuweboer, 2007). Het aandeel van de opleidingskosten (inclusief de gederfde werktijd) in de totale arbeidskosten is van 1996 tot 1999 gestaag gestegen, van 1,5% tot 2,7%. Tussen 1999 en 2005 daalde dit aandeel echter weer tot 2,2%. Maar de laatste jaren lijkt er weer sprake te zijn geweest van een toename van de opleidingsinvesteringen. Zo verwachttenhr - en opleidingsmanagers begin 2008 een forse toename van het opleidingenbudget van hun organisatie (Manageronline.nl, 2008).