healthy learning in sme presentation of the situations in the partner countries 2
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The Healthy Learning in SMEs project has been funded with support from the European Commission. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Project Website: www.healthylearning.eu
Deutsche Angestellten-Akademie (German Academy of Employees) Sonnenallee 223 DE – D-12059 Berlin http://www.daa-berlin.de/ Contact person: Anette Deharde-Rau Email: [email protected] Pixel Associazione Via Luigi Lanzi 12 IT – 50134 Florence http://www.pixel-online.net Contact person: Federico Fragasso, Email: [email protected]
Centrul de Inovare si Dezvoltare de Afaceri - CIDAF Str. Baciului, Nr2, Bl 14, Ap.82 RO - Bucharest http://www.cidaf.ro Contact person: Domnica Cotet Email: [email protected] University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów, Institute of Economics / UITM ul. Sucharskiego 2 PL – 35-225 Rzeszów http://www.ig.wsiz.pl Contact person: Dr. Maciej Piotrowski Email: [email protected] Makro Yonetim Gelistirme Danismanlik Limited Sirketi Paris Caddesi 6/7 TK - Ankara http://www.makroconsult.com.tr/ Contact person: Ipek Incesculu Email: [email protected]
Florida Centre de Formació – Florida UniversitariaEuropa-Universität Viadrina Postfach 1786 C/ Rei en Jaume I, 2 ES - 46470 - Catarroja – Valencia http://www.florida.es Contact person: Maria Amparo Camacho Email: [email protected] Edinburgh Napier University Employment Research Institute Colinton Road 210 UK – EH14 1DJ Edinburgh http://www.napier.ac.uk/eri Contact person: Dr. Matthew Dutton Email: [email protected]
SMEs are an important part of the economy of the EU. According to the European Commission of Enterprise and Industry, 99% of all European businesses have 250 employees or less. However SMEs in the EU have less productivity and grow more slowly than their counterparts in the United States. Therefore it is important to strengthen the performance of European SMEs. One way of doing so is by encouraging all employees to engage in lifelong learning activities in the workplace. There is however evidence to suggest that SMEs engagement with lifelong learning activities has been limited and that there is scope to improve their engagement in learning related activities.
To improve SME engagement with learning activities, the project will adapt materials developed in a former EU project entitled Health Tutor in adult education to the needs of SMEs in the 6 EU partner countries. In particular the project has the following objectives:
• To raise awareness within SMEs of learning at the workplace • To raise awareness and train SMEs in setting up prerequisites for
learning at the workplace • To establish the prerequisites and to find ways for sustainable
learning environment in their workplace • To improve the general health of employees in SMEs • To ensure the competitiveness of the SMEs
SMEs are well aware of the fact that they need well-trained staff in order to stay competitive. To achieve that goal, offering trainings is a common means. What is not in the focus so far, is the relevance and the importance of informal learning at the workplace.
Increasing job dissatisfaction on employees’ side missing approval from employers increasing job pressure and stress time pressure and tight deadlines fear of job loss
raising awareness towards the importance of informal learning
make contents and results of informal learning visible , both for employers and employees
Employers are aware of the necessity to invest on human capital and - to a certain extent - they are willing to allocate financial resources on it. On the other hand, though, managers’ paternalistic approach and hierarchical companies structure reduce effectiveness of training activities Preponderance of formal over informal learning. Poor understanding, on employees’ side, of nature of informal learning
Ineffectiveness of learning activities Poor knowledge of employees’ actual working needs Lack of communication between management and
employees Lack of clear recognition/approval
• Relying more on employees’ evaluation for organization of learning activities
• Improving team building activities and participation of
employees in company’s policy and strategic decisions
• linking productivity to an incentive system (not necessarily economic)
Low level of involvement of employers in organizing training activities for employees Companies frequently neglect the necessity to further improve competencies of employees
Lack of a work-related training culture
Training remains under the influence of schools and universities which are usually too remote from the practical side and rarely cooperate with economic entities or the third sector Companies located in rural areas have lower access to external vocational education opportunities Lack of regulations under which learning at work could be considered as important as formal learning in higher education
• Providing information on training opportunities, especially concerning their funding possibility
• Providing National Databases with educational institutions
and their training offers • Reducing the gap between skills achieved in formal
education and those required in the workplace
• Reduction of the obstacles and costs of educational activities
In-house training activities are not a top priority in terms of public policy and organizational culture. SMEs are not encouraged to, or assisted in, developing workplace learning environment The national and regional authorities tend to overlook the importance of informal learning in favor of perfecting standards and norms related to formal learning Proportion of enterprises providing vocational training to their employees is low, especially among small and micro businesses
Lack of specific strategic knowledge and instruments. The ways the employers define their strategic plans are rather superficial Accordingly, employees are not aware of proper strategic objectives, if not in very general terms Employees’ satisfaction is mainly related to employer’s interest in their view and opinion
• Improving communication with the employees and developing in-house learning activities, methods and tools
• collecting data from the environment and raising interest for innovative information technologies
Preponderance of Highly Traditional Family Business Limited importance given to learning activities Lack of proper legal environment in order to stimulate SME’s to facilitate in-house training
High paternalistic and power-distance tendencies of SME owners Lack of satisfactory social security/strong workers’ organizations and chronic unemployment push employees to reach for their employer’s patronage job satisfaction is highly influenced by the owners’ socio-cultural orientations
Within small firms main focus is on informal transfer of skills, training and knowledge among employees
training activities may not be as identifiable or clear cut as those taking place in larger firms
Businesses that are viewed by their owner-managers as lifestyle businesses are unlikely to be growth driven
they might be more resistant to the use of informal training programmes
limited access to knowledge and understanding of workplace health related issues lack of understanding of the positive impacts of HLE activities demands on the time and resources of the business cause HLE matters to become a lesser priority
Since public credibility are seen to be important aspects of developing sustainable and profitable businesses, employers may choose to implement training to fulfil certain moral responsibilities Employers that establish a clear link between engagement in training, the acquisition of skills and improvements in job prospects are likely to create strong incentives for engagement in learning activities Approaches that adopt modern technology are seen to provide a greater level of control and convenience for SME owners and managers, given the limited time and resources to devote to understanding the issue of HLE in the workplace