Scottish Government

Delivering Work Based Learning

2. THE INCIDENCE OF WORK BASED LEARNING

Purpose of Chapter

2.1 This chapter uses the surveys of employers and employees carried out in Scotland during 2000 to address questions about:

• the changing demand for skills
• the link between skills and employability
• changes in work based learning over time
• the incidence of work based learning
• the distribution of work based learning.

Before addressing these issues, some of the key findings from existing research studies are summarised.

Background Literature

Incidence of Work Based Learning

Scotland and the UK

2.2 Coleman and Keep (2001) suggest that the UK training system has had a limited impact on the majority of UK employers. The evidence for Scotland is that, in 2000, 15.4% of employees had received training in the four weeks prior to being surveyed, slightly lower than the UK figure of 16.1 %. Bamford and Schuller (1999) argue that the Labour Force Survey consistently shows a lower percentage of employees and self-employed people receive job related training in Scotland than in the UK as a whole. The differences are relatively modest and might well be explained by variations in occupational and sectoral employment structures between Scotland and the rest of the UK.

Size of Employer

2.3 An IFF (2000) survey in England shows that training provision increases dramatically with employer size. Off-the-job training is provided by just 33% of firms with 1-4 employees compared to 98% with 500+ employees, and 59% of the smallest employers provide on-the-job training, ranging up to 92% of the largest ones. Although the lack of training in SMEs suggests that they do not see it as a cost-effective intervention, Curran et al. (1996) argue that training in small firms can only be assessed by taking into account informal, as well as formal, training methods. This includes informal on-the-job training, or learning by doing, giving a different picture of the value of training in SMEs. Coleman and Keep (2001) summarise the research evidence on small firms and training as follows:

• smaller firms are less likely to provide formal training
• most small firm training is on-the-job, informal and task specific
• the impacts of programmes to increase small firm training have been limited.

Distribution of Work Based Learning

2.4 Green (1997) argued that the problem with work based learning in Britain is not the overall volume but the inequality of its distribution. This is supported by the House of Commons Select Committee on Education and Employment (1999) which argued that: 'Those people in the lowest status jobs and those with little or no education beyond the age of 16 have a relatively low chance of getting exposed to any training, whether formal or even informal, over long periods of time'. Coleman and Keep's (2001) review confirms much of this perspective and suggests that:

• those who do well in school receive most training during their working life, and that the gap is widening between those with and without initial education success
• the groups receiving least training are

• many employers see no advantages in training lower occupational groups.

2.5 Age is an important correlate of work based learning. Keep (1999) found that young people tend to receive more training than older employees and that a significant proportion of adult employees receive no training. Nonetheless, large numbers of young people are in jobs without training. Young people in low skill jobs with little opportunity to improve their job related skills are at risk of having limited labour market prospects and are more likely to become unemployed than older workers. IES research (1998b) found, in relation to younger employees:

• little in the way of formal training structures, recording or accreditation
• most training is provided by other employees - rather than skilled trainers
• employers are concerned about losing training investment through young people leaving.

Changing Demand for Skills

2.6 One of the drivers for the changing incidence and distribution of work based learning is the developing needs of employers in terms of skills, the issue to which we now turn drawing on evidence from the surveys of employers and employees in Scotland carried out as part of the study.

2.7 Changing patterns of technology and intensified global competition have altered the demand for occupations and skills. Many newly created jobs require higher skill levels as the general trend has shifted away from more routine manual work. Also the skill levels required for existing jobs have been rising. Over two-thirds of UK employers with 25+ employees report an increase in skill needs for the average employee (DfEE, 2000).

2.8 The Scottish employers taking part in this study were asked to identify the type of skill needs they anticipated requiring over the next two years and their responses are summarised in Table 2.1.

Job Related Skills:

• almost three quarters of employers anticipate an increase in the need for job-related skills specific to their own organisation, although the figure is lower (61%) for employers with less than 25 employees
• 94% of employers in public administration anticipate an increase in organisation-specific skills, but this falls to 53% for employers in the hotel and restaurant industry
• 69% anticipate an increased need for industry-wide skills, although this ranged from 50% in the energy industry to 79% in health and social care.

Core Skills:

• Core skills are broad generic skills and abilities which are needed for every job in every workplace and in life generally.
• Employers predicted the greatest growth in demand for generic computing skills with more than 4 out of 5 anticipating an increase. This was particularly a concern for the largest employers (250+), and was mentioned by 100% of employers in public administration.
• the need for communication and social skills is likely to continue to grow with 71% of employers anticipating an increase
• nearly two thirds expected an increased demand for problem solving skills
• only a third of employers consider the need for an increase in manual skills, such as dexterity and physical stamina, and nearly 1 in 10 see the demand for these skills declining.

Table 2.1: Anticipated Changes in Skill Needs in the Next Two Years (%)

Source: Survey of Employers

Note: '-' indicates number below 0.5%

2.9 Although not tabulated here, it is important to note that a lower proportion of small firms, particularly those with 1-24 employees, anticipated increased skill needs across the range of skill categories in Table 2.1.

Skills and Employability

2.10 Employers were asked to consider to what extent job-related skills and core skills are important to their organisation in terms of raising the employability of their employees. The key points from Table 2.2 are that:

• the great majority of employers (85%) considered that job-related skills were 'very important' to their organisation with a further 10% considering them 'important'
• core skills, such as problem solving skills, are also seen as necessary by employers, with 64% of them citing them as 'very important' and a further 26% as 'important'.

Table 2.2: Importance of Job Related and Core Skills Training in Raising the Employability of Employees (%)

Source: Survey of Employers

2.11 Although not tabulated there were some interesting variations in the responses of employers in different industries and size bands.

• core skills training was more highly valued by employers with more than 250 employees, with three quarters of them considering it very important and a further 19% important
• the importance of core skills training was highest amongst public administration, education and health employers, but there were no sectors where core skills were seen as more important than job-related skills.

2.12 In recognition of the need to develop core skills a number of job-related skills training initiatives contain core skills elements, as the box below illustrates.

CHANGes in Work based learning Over Time

2.13 The survey work demonstrates that Scottish employers anticipate an increased demand for a range of broad skill categories, and the great majority value job-related and core skills. The next issue to be considered is how they have been responding to their increasing skill needs.

2.14 Employers were asked about any changes in the amount of training they have been providing for their employees over recent years. Table 2.3 shows that:

• 72% of employers are now offering more training than in recent years, although this varies by employer size from 63% of employers with less than 25 employees through to 77% of employers with 250+ employees. The gap between small and large employers on training seems to be growing
• a further 20% of employers are offering the same amount of training and only 4% are offering less training
• 4% of employers said they provided no work based learning, and this rises to 8% for employers with less than 25 employees.

Table 2.3: Change in Volume of Work Based Learning Provision Over Time by Employer Size (%)

Source: Survey of Employers

2.15 Although not tabulated here:

• employers who are committed to Investors in People (IiP), but have not yet received recognition, show the greatest increase in the amount of work based learning on offer, with 77% registering an increase as opposed to 71% for both recognised and non-recognised IiP employers
• higher percentages of employers in more traditional industries, such as manufacturing, construction, transport and communications, claimed to be increasing their investment in work based learning with financial and business services and the various public sector services showing much less evidence of growth.

2.16 Overall the survey suggests that the amount of work based learning opportunities being offered to employees in Scotland is increasing. The three main reasons employers gave for this increase were:

• the need to respond to technological and industrial advances, cited by 22% of employers
• training has now become a central strategic organisational objective, cited by 1 in 5
• the requirement to meet legislative demands on their industry, cited by 13%.

Typically, the larger firms were more likely to mention the adoption of a more strategic approach, with the smaller firms driven more by the changing nature of their industry.

Variations in the Incidence of Work Based Learning

2.17 Earlier, note was taken of the view that the problem with work based learning was not so much the volume carried out but rather its unequal distribution across the economy and groups of the workforce. The survey evidence is now used to shed light on the position in Scotland on this issue. Throughout, training in relation to health and safety issues has been discounted for the tabulations as it is a statutory obligation.

Size of Employer

2.18 Of employees surveyed, in the last 12 months:

• 78% had participated in training associated with or supported by their current or previous employer….
• .........but 1 in 5 employees claimed to have received no training in that period.

2.19 There is considerable variation by employer size, with the following percentage of employees claiming they received no training over the previous 12 months:

• 38% in organisations with less than 25 employees
• 24% in organisations with between 25 and 99 employees
• 21% in organisations with between 100 and 249 employees
• 15% in organisations with 250 or more employees.

This confirms other research evidence that employees within smaller organisations are considerably less likely to receive training. The differences between the experiences of employers in small and large employing units area is striking.

Variations by Occupation

2.20 Employers were asked to estimate the percentage of their workforce in different occupations participating in work based learning. The percentage varies markedly by occupational group with participation in work based learning standing at:

• around three quarters of managers and administrators, professionals and technicians and personal and protective service staff
• two thirds of craft, clerical and secretarial, and sales staff
• around 3 out of 5 craft and related staff and unskilled staff
• just over half of plant and machine operatives, and unskilled workers.

Table 2.4: % Trained by Employer in Previous 12 Months by Occupation

Source: Surveys of Employers and Employees

Employers were asked: "For each broad occupational group, over the last 12 months for what % of employees did you provide or support work based training?"

Employees were asked: "In the last 12 months, have you done any training associated with or supported by your employer?"

2.21 Employee evidence is also shown in Table 2.3 and there is a high degree of agreement between the results of the employer and employee surveys. The exceptional case is unskilled workers where the employer survey presents a much more positive picture than the feedback of unskilled employees.

2.22 The heavy weight placed on training for management and professional staff is supported by initiatives such as the Leaders Developing Leaders Programme, illustrated in the box below.

Variations by Sector

2.23 Although not tabulated here, there are very substantial variations in the incidence of work based learning by sector.

• in the energy and manufacturing industries, the percentages of employees trained at some time in the previous 12 months was below 60%
• in financial and business services, the figure is around 80% - rising to 88% for public administration.

These figures suggest that the evidence cited earlier on the change in the incidence of work based learning over time is consistent with a closing of the gap between industries.

Variations by Gender

2.24 75% of female employees compared with 65% of male employees claimed they had received training from their employer in the last 12 months. There are variations by occupation.

• 77% of female managers and administrators have received training in the last 12 months as opposed to only 65% of male managers
• 70% of female craft and related staff as opposed to 55% of male staff
• 50% of female other unskilled staff as opposed to 35% of male staff.

Variations by Investors in People Status

2.25 Table 2.5 shows the percentage of employees reporting they were supported by their employers in undertaking work based learning, broken down by IiP status and occupational group. The table shows that IiP recognised or committed organisations provide more work based learning opportunities across most occupational groups, particularly for manual and sales occupations.

Table 2.5. Work Based Learning by Occupational Group and IiP Status (%)

Source: Survey of Employees

2.26 IiP is the national standard which sets a level of good practice for human resource development to achieve business goals. It is reassuring to find that employers involved with IiP provide more training to their employees and also to a broader cross-section of their workforce than those not involved with the initiative. It may be that attracting more employers down the IiP route is an effective means of raising the volume of work based learning carried out, although the cautionary note is that the association described in Table 2.5 does not demonstrate that the IiP process raises the likelihood that employers will offer work based learning opportunities. IiP may simply attract organisations with more progressive attitudes towards workforce development.

EMPLOYER SUPPORT FOR LEARNING NOT RELATED TO THE JOB

2.27 Although the emphasis of the study is on job-related learning, questions were also asked about opportunities made available to employees to undertake learning that is not directly related to their job, for example computing for non-IT staff or foreign language training.

Employer Feedback

2.28 47% of employers claim to support employees to do this type of learning. This is in line with a survey by Peters and King (2000), where 43% of employers stated that they support staff to undertake courses to learn new things not directly related to their job. There was, however, significant variation by employer size with non job-related training supported by:

• 37% of employers with 1 - 24 employees
• 35% of employers with 25 - 99 employees
• 39% of employers with 100 - 249 employees
• 62% of employers with 250+ employees.

2.29 More than 3 out of 5 employers reported that they had increased the amount of non job-specific training that they have been offering employees over the past two years. The main reasons given for this are that:

• employers have a duty to raise employability of employees (32%)
• it increases the flexibility of employees to take on a wider range of tasks (24%)
• it increases the flexibility of employees to take on new tasks (20%)
• it improves staff morale (4%)
• it improves staff retention (4%).

2.30 IiP recognition appears to impact on an employer's likelihood of supporting non job-related training with:

• 59% of IiP recognised employers and 55% of IiP committed employers supporting training…
• …compared with only 43% of non-recognised employers.

2.31 The main reasons given by employers for not supporting this type of training were:

• the skills are not relevant to their organisation (42%)
• they have a limited training budget and prefer to use it for job specific training (36%)
• there are limited financial returns to the company (7%)
• the cost of course fees (5%)
• the training would take employees away from working (4%).

2.32 The Scottish Learning Centre Network was set up to provide employees with easy access to learning opportunities of their choice, supported by their employer. The box below describes a pilot involving an Ayr-based engineering company.

Employee Feedback

2.33 A MORI poll (2000) in Scotland suggested that 36% of employees received support from their employer for non-job related skills training. However, in our survey only 4% of employees felt they had undertaken training in the last 12 months that was not directly related to their current jobs, although amongst IiP recognised employers this figure rises to 10%. There appears to be a major discrepancy between what employers and employees perceive in terms of the amount of non job-related training supported by employers.

2.34 Around a quarter of employees think employers should support them to undertake training not immediately relevant to the organisation. The three most frequently cited reasons for this were that:

• 41% believed employers have a responsibility to support staff in lifelong learning
• 31% felt that it makes employees more committed to the organisation
• 17% argued that it raises their self confidence.

The most interesting statistic is probably the fact that only 1 in 4 employees think employers should support non job-specific training.