Workforce survey reveals training imbalance

A survey released by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) shows a substantial gap between the ‘training haves’ and the ‘training have-nots’.

The survey 'Who learns at work?' which examined the training of 743 people in employment, found that those working in smaller businesses are less likely to receive training than people in large companies or the public sector. The survey also found the same pattern with part-time employees and people with fewer educational qualifications, whatever the sector or size of employer.

However, there is a real thirst for learning within the employee groups that are less likely to get the training. More people in these groups said that their employers did not provide them with enough training opportunities and they were three times less likely to turn it down compared with their graduate counterparts.

The survey's author, CIPD Adviser on Training and Development, Mike Cannell, said: ”Where does most of the effort and expenditure go on training? Anyone who has spent any time in the training business will tell you that the answer is management training. Mostly, this is justified: the well-being of organisations depends on properly informed managers making the right decisions. But this emphasis may mean that the needs of other parts of the workforce are overlooked.”

The survey also asked learners about their best and least appealing methods of learning. It showed that “being shown how to do things and practising them” is by far the most popular, with just over half of all respondents finding it the best method. A further 16 per cent rated “learning from colleagues and people you work with”.

Over 90 per cent of the respondents thought their training had been very or quite successful. Cannell said that this was a powerful advertisement for the value of training: “Organisations that do not train should take note. Training works – and for all categories of employee.”

On-the-job training is by far the most popular form of learning with trainees, particularly those in lower-skilled jobs and the less well-educated.

Although on-the-job training will not always be a viable option, the findings do raise the question of whether more resources might be put into on-the-job training (a more cost-effective form of learning) at the expense of classroom training, particularly given people’s learning preferences.

The survey also showed that on-the-job training is more popular with small companies, partly perhaps because it is less expensive and more immediately relevant.

(SP)