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Learning while working
94 Success stories on workplace learning in Europe

sectoral inequalities related to training. Special attention should be paid to
the specific needs and circumstances of SMEs. Not only do their employees
have fewer opportunities to develop their competences, but SMEs are also
decisive in achieving the goal of creating more and better jobs, knowing that
before the crisis they were the main source of new jobs in Europe. Given
that training challenges exceed SME capacities and resources, partnership
approaches bring the opportunity to develop flexible training solutions
adapted to their organisation constraints. Training providers, such as higher
education institutions, need to tailor further their training programmes, in
terms of content, methods and organisation, to meet the needs of employers
and employees in small enterprises.
The ambition is also to achieve synergies between economic renewal
strategies, innovation policies, and employment and skill development
agendas. The contributions of adult learning to key policy areas, such as
flexicurity, innovation in enterprises and age management policies are
widely acknowledged. There is still a need to improve cooperation and
complementarity between national policies, regional, sectoral and local
strategies, actions and services that have a linkage with adult learning.

Lifelong guidance for lifelong learning

Guidance is a key ingredient in lifelong learning policies and strategies that
attempt to expand learning opportunities in the workplace. Career and life
pathways develop as a continuum of transitions from education to working
life, from employment to training or unemployment, from a long-lasting
job to another company and even a different sector or occupation, from
working life to retirement. As qualifications become volatile and workers
face intensified work transitions, career guidance and counselling becomes
increasingly important, although guidance provision has not been sufficiently
extended to employed adults. Local, regional and national governments, the
social partners and guidance providers must make sure that adults get the
right information and advice to make informed decisions on learning and
working, to navigate in a complex labour market and acquire the skills and
qualifications that will allow them to remain in employment and progress in
their working life.
Tailored information and guidance on working and learning could contribute
to increased participation in education and training for low-skilled workers,
whenever it is part of comprehensive lifelong learning strategies which