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Learning without lessons - research shows that small businesses want coaching not courses

Much valuable learning takes place at work, but is often not recognised as ‘learning' in the usual sense because it happens informally.

New research carried out by the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA) and funded by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) shows that employers and employees in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) learn best from their everyday experiences and place great value on informal learning, rather than taught courses or structured training programmes.

The research, carried out by LSDA in collaboration with the Small Firms Enterprise Development Initiative, set out to discover the support needs of people providing learning in small and medium-sized enterprises. It investigated ways in which informal and unstructured learning is currently being undertaken in these companies, how effective it is and how it can best be supported or developed. The findings, published in a report entitled Learning without lessons, demonstrates the potential of the workplace as a rich source of learning opportunities.

Researchers found a wide range of different types of learning, both formal and informal, taking place in SMEs. A common pattern is for managers of small businesses to undertake formal learning before the business starts, often in unrelated areas. Subsequent learning tends to be less formal, involving activities such as talking to colleagues and staff from other companies, watching demonstrations, reading books and trade magazines, or attending conferences and seminars. Employees and owners also mentioned the different ways in which people learn - by observation, by doing, through ‘osmosis' (picking up things subconsciously), or through a taught course. ‘Trial and error' and ‘learning by mistakes' were frequently mentioned. There was also a preference for coaching and mentoring, rather than more structured learning leading to national qualifications.

An area that both employees and owner-managers stressed was the need for support for transitional phases involving hiring new staff, developing new products, or changing job roles, such as moving from shop floor to manager. The requirements of health and safety legislation was another impetus for training. Firms operated a mixture of formal and informal approaches to updating their employees.

Context emerges as a key factor. Although people working in SMEs are able to extract particular knowledge from general principles, transferring this to their workplace can be difficult, especially with management training.

A key message is that learning providers - colleges and training organisations - need to fine tune what they offer so that they focus on providing bespoke services for SMEs that support individual business needs. Increased market specialisation means that SMEs have a narrowing band of generic needs and a broadening band of specific needs that are not easily catered for by colleges or training organisations. Therefore, learning providers need to rethink the kind of support they offer SMEs by helping them develop capacity in-house and cascade knowledge and skills throughout their organisation. Developing supervisors and other employees as mentors, coaches and advisers, rather than providing standard courses, is one way of achieving this as it helps staff to become better at supporting learning in their organisations.

"The way that learning takes place in small firms is often organic rather than structured and many small firms may not want or need to adopt more formal approaches to learning and workforce development," said Maria Hughes, Research manager at LSDA. "All workers, regardless of level and qualifications, have knowledge and skills they can potentially share. This suggests that there is a need to target resources to support a wide range of employees who have some responsibility for learning in their companies to become better trainers or learning facilitators. Colleges and training organisations need to take these messages on board and focus on providing support for businesses rather than a set menu of courses."

David Greer, Skills director for employers at the Learning and Skills Council, commented: "A one-size fits all approach to training and development is unlikely to meet the needs of any organisation and the LSC's experience echoes LSDA's finding that SMEs in particular appreciate a more flexible and tailored approach. We have incorporated this in the Employer Training Pilots.

"This scheme enables companies to decide for themselves the most appropriate training for their staff, when and how it should be delivered and also helps them to fund the training through subsidies and wage compensation. As a result they have been very successful in reaching companies that have traditionally not provided formal training. Staff development is important for all companies to ensure they continue to grow. SMEs are no exception to this and it is important to ensure appropriate provision is available which meets the needs of this sector."

Learning without lessons - supporting learning in small businesses by Lisa Doyle and Maria Hughes is obtainable from: Information Services, LSDA, Regent Arcade House, 19-25 Argyll Street, London W1F 7LS. Tel: 0207 297 9123. Email: enquiries@LSDA.org.uk.

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