Formal and integrated strategies for competence development in SMEs

• Published in: Journal of European industrial training 2011, Vol.35 (1), p.71-88
• Main Authors: Kock, Henrik, Ellström, Per-Erik
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Competence; Competency Based Education; Content Analysis; Education; Educational Environment; Educational objectives; Educational Strategies; Effectiveness; Employee Attitudes; Employee development; Employees; Foreign Countries; Industrial Training; Informal Education; Instructional Effectiveness; Interviews; Job rotation; Labor Force Development; Learning; Learning activities; Learning Processes; Lifelong Learning; Occupational Surveys; Pedagogik; Performance Factors; Questionnaires; SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP; School environment; Skills; Small & medium sized enterprises-SME; Small business; Small Businesses; SOCIAL SCIENCES; Socialvetenskap; Statistical analysis; Sweden; Training; Training Methods
• ISSN: 0309-0590; 2046-9012; 1758-7425; 1758-7425; 2046-9020
• DOI: 10.1108/03090591111095745

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of the relationships among the workplace as a learning environment, strategies for competence development used by SMEs and learning outcomes. Specifically, there is a focus on a distinction between formal and integrated strategies for competence development, the conditions under which these strategies are likely to be used, and their effects in terms of individual learning outcomes.Design methodology approach - The study was based mainly on questionnaire data collected through a survey of 14 SMEs that had received support from the European Social Fund's Objective 3 programme. In addition, data collected through interviews and analyses of documents were used.Findings - The results indicate interactions between the strategy of competence development used by the firms (formal vs integrated) and the type of learning environment in the workplace (constraining vs enabling). The use of an integrated strategy in an enabling learning environment was the most successful combination in terms of learning outcomes, while the use of an integrated strategy in a constraining learning environment was the least successful combination.Research limitations implications - There is a need to elaborate the theoretical and empirical basis of the distinction between formal and integrated strategies for competence development, and to study the effects of the two types of strategy, not only for individual learning outcomes, but also for effects at an organisational level.Practical implications - HRD practitioners need to question a traditional reliance on formal training, as the presented results indicate the importance of using competence development strategies that are based on an integration of formal and informal learning.Originality value - The study indicates that the effects of competence development efforts are likely to be a function not only, nor primarily, of the training methods and strategies that are used, but also of the characteristics of the learning environment of the workplace.