Education and training policies

Few of the enterprises studied had a formal policy for education and training. Neither did they have a budget for training or was there any individual with formal responsibility for training. This is not to say that managers were unaware of the importance of the skills and knowledge of their workforce. They saw those skills as being acquired through recruitment of skilled staff or from informal work based learning. Most SME managers saw their staff as having a personal responsibility to acquire new skills and knowledge as part of a collective responsibility for the company’s profitability and growth.

Attitude to formal qualifications

Few of the enterprises were greatly concerned with formal qualifications, other than in those limited areas – such as in the restaurant and food industry – where formal qualifications were a regulatory requirement. Previous experience was seen as much more important. One enterprise said they did not even look at qualifications on an application form but relied totally on job interviews. All of the SMEs had strong involvement in informal sector and / or geographical networks and these networks were often the source of new recruits, rather than job advertisements and formal recruitment procedures.

Limited formal training and learning

As might be expected given the lack of formal training policies, there was very little formal training, either face to face or using ICT. Where formal training was seen as necessary, or where formal training was required for regulatory reason, enterprises tended towards buying in participation in face-to-face courses from public sector education and training providers. Where this was unavailable, private trainers were used and selection was on reputation obtained through word of mouth.

Little knowledge of e-Learning

Few managers or staff in the SMEs we studies were aware of the potential or possibilities of ICT for formal learning. None had received any information from public bodies in this area. Although some had received advertising material by post, this had been seen as junk mail circulars.

Much informal learning – including everyday use of computers for learning and dealt with accordingly.

Much use of ICT

Whilst obviously the use of ICT in the workplace varied according to sector and occupation, SMEs were using computers extensively in their day-to-day business operations.

Uses of ICT included:

• For administration and accounting
• For business to business transactions (including trading through e-Bay)
• For customer communication
• For advertising and promotion
• For stock control and logistics

From our interviews it would appear that the use of ICT in SMEs is increasing, particularly for e-commerce and for business to business transactions. A number of the enterprises felt they were not exploiting the web as fully as they should and were planning further activities in this area. The particular areas of concern were that whilst the web was being used for business to business transactions with suppliers, few of the enterprises were themselves offering sales or services through e-commerce. A number of the enterprises also felt their web sites to be amateurish and offered little functionality.

Much informal learning

In contrast to the paucity of formal learning provision in the SMEs we studied, there was a great deal of informal learning taking place. From our study most informal learning appeared be learner driven, rather than planned in conjunction with others in the enterprise, and was problem motivated, although some learners were motivated by their own interest rather than in response to any specific problem. In many cases ICT was being used as part of this informal learning. The main means of ICT based learning was Google key word searches. Managers were often unaware of this learning, although they were frequently aware of the problem which inspired it.

There were considerable differences in the use of ICT for informal learning between different enterprises. It would be tempting to ascribe these differences to age, sector, size or occupation but it is hard to discern such causal factors form the case studies.

Work organisation a key factor

The one causal relationship which appeared was the link between work organisation and the use of ICT for learning. ICT was most frequently used for learning in those enterprises with flatter hierarchies and more devolved decision talking responsibilities and in which employees had greater autonomy in the organisation of their own work. Interestingly, these enterprises also tended to have a more experienced workforce and low turnover of employees.

Conversely, hierarchical work organisations tended to have the least use of ICT for learning. In some cases only managers and administrative staff in these enterprises had access to computers and the internet. There was no evidence of any organised support or informal learning – either face to face in the workplace or on-line. However, in some enterprises the learning acquired was discussed with peers as part of everyday collaboration and team work.

No accreditation of learning

None of the employees in the enterprises we studied had attempted to claim recognition or accreditation for the skills and knowledge gained through informal learning. It is not clear if this is because they are not interested in pursuing further formal qualifications or if it is because they are unaware of any opportunities of claiming accreditation for informal learning.

No general shortage of ICT skills

In general, SME managers did not perceive of any shortage in ICT skills in the workplace. They appeared of the viewpoint that younger workers especially had sufficient ICT skills to meet enterprise needs. However, two enterprises referred to problems in updating their web sites due to lack of skills.