Encouraging skills acquisition in SMEs

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Encouraging skills acquisition in SMEs

• Presentation at the ACREW/KCL 2006 Conference
• David Devins
• Policy Research Institute
• Faculty of Business and Law
• Leeds Metropolitan University
• d.devins_at_leedsmet.ac.uk

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Presentation Outline

• Context
• Skills drivers and approaches
• 2 examples of intervention
• PAT
• DMS
• Policy challenges

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Context

• Importance of skills for
• Competitiveness
• One of five key drivers of productivity
• Employability
• The SME dimension
• Importance of SMEs to the economy
• reluctance to train
• Towards a demand-led approach to skills
• Encouraging change in the training and education
  infrastructure to meet business needs

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Skills Drivers and approaches
Business Drivers
Approaches to skills acquisition Systematic/ad
hoc Recruitment/internal development On site
/Off site Formal/Informal Inter/Intra firm
learning Face to face/e-learning
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People and Technology Project

• Approach
• Industrial Estate
• Employee-led development
• SME based Learning Centre
• Animateur
• Key learning points
• Importance of champion(s)
• Sustainability numbers, progression
• Business-led (not ELD), accreditation (ECDL)

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Developing Manager Skills

• Approach
• SMEs in deprived area (City wide)
• Business coach working with owner manager/team
• Working with a more flexible supply-side
• Key learning points
• Uncertain process and outcomes
• Importance of the relationship
• Resource intensive
• Lack of flexibility of the supply-side

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Policy challenges

• Targeting in the face of heterogeneity
• size, sector and environment
• uniqueness
• Additionality and deadweight
• Connecting with SMEs
• Developing a relationship
• Engages with managers interests (mutual
  understanding)
• Experts or helpers
• Supply-side flexibility
• Outcomes/Benefit/Value
• Support for managers work planning, self
  confidence
• Systems and processes

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• .Thank you
• http//www.lmu.ac.uk/lbs/pri/
• pri_at_leedsmet.ac.uk