Purpose -Little attention has been paid to the employability of academic staff and the extent to which continuous learning contributes to academic career success. The purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution of formal and informal learning to employability. Design/methodology/approach -Survey data were obtained from 139 academic staff members employed at the Open University in the Netherlands. The questionnaire included employee characteristics, job characteristics, organizational context factors, formal learning and informal learning and employability variables. Findings -Informal learning, such as networking and learning value of the job, appeared to be solid contributors to employability, while the impact of formal learning activities was far less significant. Further, the study revealed the impact of employee and organizational context factors upon informal learning and employability. Age, salary and learning climate appeared to be strong predictors for informal learning, while promotions were shown to be highly positive contributors to employability. Practical implications -The findings stress the value of informal learning, although human resource policies that encourage both formal and informal learning are recommended. Originality/value -Academic careers comprise an under-researched area and the same applies to the relationship between learning and employability in the context of these types of careers.

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In the digital age, instructional designers must possess both a sound instructional design knowledge base and solid project management skills that will enable them to complete courseware projects on time, on budget and in conformance with client expectations. Project management skills include the ability to apply repeatable processes, along with interpersonal skills such as communication and leadership skills. However, courses in project management are often absent from the higher education instructional design curriculum, creating a gap between what is learned in instructional design programmes and real-world practice. In this paper, the author draws on the education and project management fields to examine this gap. The author argues that the gap between instructional design project management models and how instructional design practitioners view project management is a consequence of the divergent perspectives of higher education subcultures and the extent to which those subcultures are likely to embrace cross-disciplinary subjects such as project management. The author proposes some research and advocacy opportunities for closing the gap between instructional design education and practice.

Higher Education institutions in the United States are considering Open Source software applications such as the Moodle and Sakai course management systems and the Kuali financial system to build integrated learning environments that serve both academic and administrative needs. Open Source is presumed to be more flexible and less costly than commercial software. This article reviews the literature from the fields of Software Engineering and Education to determine the state of the current body of knowledge around the key drivers of Open Source adoption. The author discusses gaps in the literature and identifies opportunities for more rigorous research to measure the effectiveness of Open Source software in creating a balance between sound pedagogy and business efficiencies.

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Although the HRD literature is fairly consistent in affirming the recognition that employee learning is critical to organizational performance, there has been little agreement about how best to demonstrate the contribution of employee learning to the organization's bottom line, with approaches varying from industry to industry and from organization to organization. Focusing on the professional services sector, an industry sector that has garnered little attention in terms of HRD measurement research, this paper draws on the analytical techniques from Grounded Theory to explore how 15 professional service firm (PSF) decision‐makers who are responsible for their firm's learning and development strategy measure the business impact of professional employee learning. The outcome of this study is a preliminary theory, grounded in the interview data, that explains what learning opportunities are offered to professional employees and why, how the business impact of professional employee learning is measured, and how PSF decision‐makers use those business outcome measures to make decisions. The unifying theme emerging from the study is Win Rate, a composite of multiple quantitative measures that include direct as well as indirect contributors to the firm's bottom line. Implications of our findings for HRD research and practice are also addressed.

Changing workforce demographics have highlighted the need to provide training and development opportunities for older workers. This article critically examines the current state of research on the use of systematic instructional design procedures to develop work‐related training that is inclusive of older workers. The review reveals a disconnect between what the literature recommends to achieve age‐inclusive design and what is offered as evidence of age‐inclusive design. Age‐related generalizations about cognition and learning capacity often serve as the basis for design decisions, with little attention paid to the role of training context and content. The article recommends that this disconnect be resolved and offers some specific suggestions about how human resource managers can integrate sound instructional design principles into the training and development component of their talent management strategies. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.