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Supporting skill development in SMEs 67

the workplace. Generally, informal training based on coaching for specific
working tasks suits the purposes of many small companies, without interfering
with daily business. Mentoring, supervision and coaching of employees by
an experienced manager or staff member are commonplace. The European
Commission’s handbook on training in SMEs stresses that the most informal
forms of workplace learning, such as skill development on the job, with which
enterprises are familiar, can be adapted and used to address new competences
linked to changes in technology, work processes and methods. However,
proficiently organised, following well-identified needs and clearly defined
objectives, imaginative solutions need to be tested to dismantle specific
barriers faced by SMEs. Flexible organisation of learning allows work not to
be disrupted, for example, by dispersing several training days into a period
of several months, making use of mentors or through e-learning (European
Commission, 2009c, p. 24-28). If an employee’s absence is anticipated, job
rotation can offer a solution when organised jointly with other companies,
and coordinated by a local governing body (Ibidem, 24). However, small
companies need to be helped to identify the most effective forms of workplace
learning to integrate them better in the work organisation and to promote
them more widely to other SMEs, within programmes that foster innovation
in enterprises and continuing training (UK Commission for employment and
skills, 2009, p. 71-73). Given the prevalence of informal forms of learning in
SMEs, validation of learning acquired on the job plays a significant role in
opening further education and training opportunities for SME workers.
Anticipating change is a success factor, since SMEs may sense the negative
effects of structural change more than other companies; they can become
the casualties of bigger enterprises’ restructuring, being part of the supply
chain. Training programmes and support services for companies, funding
mechanisms and local networks that raise awareness of training benefits,
should make certain that SMEs are not excluded from existing opportunities
for lifelong learning and for adopting innovation (Cedefop, 2010e). Small
companies will most likely need external support and specific expertise to
analyse their situation with regards to skill needs, and establish suitable
training arrangements, cooperating with other companies as appropriate.
Therefore, through specifically targeted actions, company owners and
managers need to be prepared for their training functions and assisted, since
the burden of training needs analysis and training provision itself usually
falls on their shoulders.
For many different reasons, which sometimes arise from the specificity of
the sector, a lack of information on training provision and incentives, in many