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Delivering Work Based Learning
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
THE INCIDENCE OF WORK BASED LEARNING
- Over 70% of employers have increased the volume of work based learning over recent years, but this response is less marked among the smallest employers.
- 78% of employees surveyed had participated in work based learning over the previous 12 months. Employees of smaller organisations were more than twice as likely to receive no training compared to employees of larger organisations.
- IiP recognised or accredited employers tended to provide more work based learning opportunities, particularly in the case of staff below managerial, professional and technical levels.
VALUE OF WORK BASED LEARNING
- 79% of employees involved in work based learning reported that this had been instigated by their employers.
- Employers tended to cite competitiveness reasons for supporting work based learning, including:
- improving quality of service or product
- making the company more competitive
- improving competence in the job
- keeping up with technological developments
- increasing the flexibility of employees
- increasing productivity.
- Only 11% thought work based learning would improve their image with customers, and only 1% saw this as its main benefit.
- There is a strong preference among employers for training in the workplace. The smaller the employer, the more likely they were to favour this.
- Of employees who had received training, 97% felt it helped them in their current job. The most important benefits they perceived were:
- helping them do better quality work
- increasing their self confidence.
- 37% of employees thought training would help them gain promotion, but 47% thought the training would help them get a better job with another employer.
ACCREDITATION OF WORK BASED LEARNING
- The proportion of employers reporting they offered their employees accredited training ranged from 27% for unskilled employees to 70% for personal and protective service occupations.
- The main employer motivations for providing accredited training were:
- achieving nationally accepted benchmarks
- improving staff morale.
- Accreditation influenced 40% of employees to take up training. Focus group feedback suggested training leading to a qualification provides employees with a higher quality and/or more in depth training.
CONSTRAINTS ON WORK BASED LEARNING
- Almost 1 in 5 employers felt that they already provided as much training as they felt was necessary for their organisation.
- Pressures on staff time and resources are the most frequently raised barriers in relation to the provision of work based learning.
- Employer unwillingness to grant time off the job is the barrier to work based learning most frequently cited by employees.
- Only 44% of employees have been asked by their employers about what training they required to make them more effective in their jobs.
INCREASING WORK BASED LEARNING
- The various elements of the research process suggested the following broad approaches to promoting and supporting work based learning:
- reducing costs to employers
- increasing awareness of the benefits of work based learning
- encouraging employees to demand learning opportunities
- creating more appropriate support and provision around work based learning
- developing more effective processes around accreditation.
- A range of issues still need to be tackled.
- simplifying the institutional map
- engaging more effectively with businesses
- delivering appropriate work based learning
- developing a learning brokerage service
- facilitating demand and supply links
- developing the training supply chain
- prioritising sectors for support
- prioritising occupational areas for support
- supporting smaller businesses more effectively
- creating more demanding stakeholders
- making the best use of public resource
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