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Learning while working
96 Success stories on workplace learning in Europe

Key competences provide the foundations for
further learning

Whatever knowledge and skills we acquire, we will have to upgrade them
and ‘relearn’ them throughout life. Specific attention should be paid to key
competences, which lay the foundations for further learning. Company
training is often strongly focused on the daily tasks of employees and not
on strengthening their employability. It is important to invest also in skills
that are generic to a wide range of jobs and provide the foundations for
further learning. Since employers are more interested in developing talented
employees and governments target workers with low skill levels, current
actions might be doing a disservice to ‘middle-skilled’ workers, who also
need to plan their career progression and learning with reference to future
skill demands.
Low participation in education and training among low-skilled adults and
older workers is due to a combination of factors, including a shortage of
training and learning programmes adapted to their needs and life situations.
To increase participation rates in learning, joint efforts should be made
towards improving less formal types of learning opportunities, on the job, as
well as more formalised forms of training in the workplace, for those who are
more vulnerable in the labour market. It is imperative to ensure that adults
possess a platform of skills of both general and technical nature, which will
help them to remain in employment. Cooperation between employers, public
institutions and a broad range of learning providers is again necessary to
offer improved choice and opportunities for learners.
A number of challenges arise in relation to the acquisition of basic skills,
not least the fact that adults with basic skill gaps do not necessarily recognise
them and are frequently reluctant to look for assistance. As a precondition
for attending a continuing training programme, low-skilled adults may need
to have their prior learning validated or to acquire the key competences that
provide the foundations for further learning, such as literacy or language
learning. Combining the acquisition of basic competences with vocational
training or on-the-job learning may offer an efficient solution. Training providers
will need to tailor further their training provision for these target groups,
whereas enterprises need to foster the right climate to encourage employees
with basic skills gaps to participate in learning. Outreach strategies in the
workplace are effective in attracting and motivating low-skilled workers to
take on learning; and trade union learning ambassadors may have a key