small business needs in training report
NCVER research report on training in small business in Australia.
http://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/1737.html
key findings:
Through a systematic review of existing research, this study set out to find evidence to answer the following question: ‘What intervention strategies achieve participation of small business managers and employees in education and training that meets the needs of small business?’.
This topic was of interest because small businesses employ around 3.6 million people in Australia, but two-thirds of small businesses do not provide structured training for their employees.
- Strategies that work for small business are clearly focused on business need rather than driven by government agendas and funding.
- Lowering the costs of formal training is useful in engaging some small businesses, but financial incentives alone are not sufficient to meet small business needs. Small business will pay for education and training if they see the value in it and it is in line with their interests.
- Strategies which fit with the way small business learns are clearly more successful than direct or formal training. Small business learns ‘through doing’, with the focus on current or real issues in the workplace, and through social networks—learning from other business people.
- Successful strategies are business mentoring, networking, and collaborative or group learning with other businesses through clusters, alliances or action learning. Other effective strategies include diagnostic services such as training needs analysis, and benchmarking processes against other organisations. Programs which employ a number of these work better than those relying on a single approach.
- Strategies that meet the needs of the diverse range of small businesses demonstrate three essential elements. These are: a clear focus on business-specific needs,
a personal approach through a recognised local facilitator or business service organisation that is able to reach small business operators who may not be positive about training
flexible provision which carefully individualises training information, content and delivery to the needs of each small business. - Ten factors which contribute to strategies that work for small business are:
1 providing opportunities to share skills, knowledge and experience with other business people
2 linking training to business performance—increased profit, growth or survival
3 linking training to specific stages in the business cycle (that is start-up, crisis and/or survival, growth and/or expansion and export and/or internationalisation)
4 contacting small business managers personally to analyse their business needs
5 providing ongoing business-specific support through a business service organisation
6 minimising time spent away from the workplace
7 integrating formal training and learning with informal learning processes in the workplace
8 lowering costs of training by collaborating with other businesses or through financial incentives, such as a government subsidy or ‘interest free’ loans
9 ensuring that facilitators and trainers have the appropriate networks and experience to enable them to be trusted and respected by all business participants, especially in the case of Indigenous Australian small business operators
10 planning the strategy with small businesses and business service organisations.
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