Factors associated with the provision of job‐related formal training by employers

Abstract

Introduction In many countries there has been a gradual reduction in the number of massproduction jobs with increasing job complexity and skill requirements now being characteristic of all employees. Policy-makers are aware that recruitment difficulties and skill shortages may reduce the competitiveness of small and large firms (Campbell and Baldwin, 1993). In order to move from a low skill equilibrium (Finegold and Soskice, 1988), policy-makers are aware that: Major investments in human capital, both in the form of education and workforce training and in the form of research and development activities, appear to be an increasingly indispensable condition for enabling firms to move towards new markets and up-scale market segments that yield higher economic returns than standardised mass-commodity markets… (Buechtemann and Soloff, 1994, p. 243). To meet changing requirements and market challenges, governments throughout Europe have introduced a number of policy instruments to encourage the survival and development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Education and training support is now one of the leading measures to increase the skill level of the workforce (Blundell et al., 1996), to ensure stronger long-term national economic performance (Worswick, 1985; for a dissenting view see Shackleton, 1992), to reduce labour mobility (Elias, 1994), to improve employee motivation (Heyes and Stuart, 1995), to improve the internal efficiency of SMEs (Addison and Siebert, 1994; Department of Trade and Industry, 1996), to improve business factor productivity (Bishop, 1994; Steedman and Wagner, 1989), to improve business performance (Lynch, 1994) and to achieve accreditation for BS 5750 British quality standard (Vickerstaff, 1992). In the UK, the provision of training to SMEs has become a central issue of economic policy (Miller and Davenport, 1987) and is a major indirect small firms policy initiative. Training provision by an employer is, however, one of a range of

Human Resource Development in SMEs: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…The term 'training' is frequently used but is rarely defined. It is generally conceptualised (n = 10) as a planned and systematic effort and as a formal activity such as a course (Bishop, 2008;Castany, 2010;MacMahon and Murphy, 1999;Martin et al, 2006;Westhead, 1998). Kock and Ellström (2011) use the term competence development; however, this definition is quite congruent with definitions of formal training in that it refers to internal and external training courses as well as informal activities.…”

Problematizing HRD in SMEs: A “Critical” Exploration of Context, Informality, and Empirical Realities

“…Other studies utilize individual‐level measures of impact such as enhanced job‐related competence, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and worker motivation (Huang, ; Pajo et al, ; Roffe, ; Rowden, ). Moreover, the majority of studies make implicit reference to the need for all HRD activities to positively impact on some aspect of organizational functioning such as through enhanced learning agility, reduced skills gaps, or other operational enhancements (e.g., Collins & Smith, ; Panagiotakopoulos, ; Walker, Redmond, Webster, & Le Clus, ; Westhead, ).…”

Regulating employment relations through workplace learning: a study of small employers

“…Many studies argue that small employers provide less workforce training than larger organisations ( e.g. Westhead and Storey, 1997; Westhead, 1998; Cosh et al ., 2003; Kitson and Wilkinson, 2003; Learning and Skills Council, 2005), seldom participate in government training initiatives (Curran et al ., 1996; Kitching and Blackburn, 2002; Matlay, 2004) and are much less likely to become recognised for the Investors in People standard (Smith et al ., 2002). By June 2005 just over 23,000 UK employers with fewer than 50 employees had become recognised for Investors in People, just 1.4 per cent of businesses of this size; this contrasts with the 73 per cent of organisations with 50 or more employees that have done so 1…”