Page 14 - Learning-while-working-Success-stories-on-workplace-learning-in-Europe

Learning while working
8 Success stories on workplace learning in Europe

increase participation, address imbalances in the social, educational and age
profiles of adult learners, and expand the range and quality of adult learning
provision. The report highlights examples of commendable practice, innovative
responses and effective policies in adult learning that can serve as leading
examples for regional and national policy-makers, the social partners, and
guidance and training providers.
Adult learning in the workplace is at the crossroads of major policy
developments in lifelong learning, labour market participation of older workers,
and the acquisition of ‘new skills’ that the ‘new jobs’ to be created will require,
once Europe emerges from the present economic downturn. The report is
based on concrete examples of practice and policy, and proposes actions to
improve participation in learning opportunities in the workplace. The following
section summarises some of the conclusions and key messages.
Company training tends to be strongly focused on the daily functioning
of employees in the workplace and not on strengthening their employability
through the acquisition of competences that can be transferred across different
working environments, enterprises and even sectors and occupations. Further,
training efforts in companies usually give priority to those in higher status jobs,
who are often those with the highest education and training achievement. Low-
skilled adults participate less in training and undertake less learning-intensive
working tasks. A key challenge lies in increasing the share of poorly qualified
groups taking part in in-company training. Increasingly, challenging labour
market environments require that the workforce, independent of the level of
education, acquires a broad range of social and work-related competences.
On-the-job learning and continuing training must play a central role in lifelong
learning and employment strategies.
Social dialogue has an important role in workplace learning and entitlement
to guidance and continuing training in key transitions points of working life
can be guaranteed in collective agreements. The scope, extent and forms of
collective bargaining for lifelong learning within enterprises are greatly affected
by national settings of industrial relations: the centrality of lifelong learning in
both social dialogue and trade union’s agenda; and social partner involvement
in the design of occupational standards, qualifications and training systems
and programmes. While employers contribute to the process by investing in
the competence development of their workers, they can also encourage a
supportive working environment, where all employees are encouraged to take
part in learning, and where learning opportunities take place on-the-job and are
embedded in working tasks. The type of human resources policies and work
organisation that companies put into action can contribute to public agendas