Timothy J. Keaveny

The Relative Effectiveness of Alternative Job Sources.

Abstract Vocational research has focused on the occupational choice process and the individuals adjustment to work. Very little research has examined the job search process in which the individual must engage in order to implement occupational choices. This study examines one dimension of the job search process: the relationship between job source and subsequent work experiences. The data reveal that when the respondents initially entered the labor market, those relying on formal job sources tended to work in higher-level occupations and in jobs more closely related to their training than their counterparts who used other job sources. In the longer run, the labor market advantages associated with the use of formal job sources dissipated for the engineering majors but tended to persist for the business alumni.

THE IMPLICATIONS OF AN ACROSS-THE-BOARD SALARY INCREASE

The implications of an across-the-board salary increase for selected outcomes are assessed. While such an approach to employee compensation is easily administered, the results of this analysis suggest that such an approach has some long-run costs. Those perceiving themselves as high performers and as putting forth greater effort felt undercompensated. Those with feelings of being undercompensated, relative to those feeling equitably compensated, anticipated a reduction in their job performance during the coming year, and perceived a deterioration in the association between performance and compensation. Differences in intentions to search for alternative employment are statistically significant.

A Reexamination of the Preferred Job Attributes of Full-Time and Part-Time Workers

This study attempts to reconcile inconsistencies in the literature concerning the job attribute preferences of full-time and part-time workers. The data reveal that the workers sex and occupation influence preferences. For male and female blue-collar workers and professional/managerial employees only minor differences exist between full- and part-time employees. However, significant differences in the preference rankings of job attributes were found between full- and part-time female clerical employees. Further, the data suggest that for female clerical employees, marital and family status could influence their job attribute preferences.

Costing Out a Wage and Benefit Package

Labor costs represent the largest single cost of operations for most organizations. Thats why everyone involved in setting compensation rates should be able to identify the cost of changes in wages and employee benefits.

Performance appraisal format: Role clarity and evaluation criteria

The effectiveness of alternative performance appraisal formats is evaluated in terms of their contribution to selected dimensions of role clarity, and their focusing the evaluation on primary criteria as opposed to secondary criteria. The formats studied are: simple graphic rating scales, more complete graphic rating scales, and behaviorally anchored rating scales. From the viewpoint of the person being rated, the dimensions of role clarity investigated are: understanding of the performance dimension being rated, understanding of where the faculty member stands on each performance dimension, and understanding of the behavioral changes that would improve ratings on each performance dimension. Behaviorally anchored rating scales are observed to be superior to the other rating scale formats on each dimension of evaluation.

Sex differences in sources of job satisfaction

The increase in the number of working women in the United States over the last 30 years documents a major shift of females out of the home and into the labor force. During that time the female population has grown 52 percent but the female labor force has grown 123 percent (19). This change has resulted from several factors. For example, there has been a growth in the number of jobs that women can do as well as men as a result of a shift in the industrial structure of the economy over the last several decades (9). Other factors influencing the change in the composition of the labor force include such things as rising levels of education, training and experience for females. However, even with the experience that the increased number of females in the work force has provided for employers, a number of ouestionable assumptions are still cotnnonly made regarding male/female