Engaging SME managers and employees in training: lessons from an evaluation of the ESF Objective 4 Programme in Great Britain
Abstract
This paper draws on a telephone survey of 116 independent SMEs to explore the impact of a variety of training interventions on human resource (HR) practices and business performance in Great Britain. The paper investigates the extent to which targeting such interventions on the managers of SMEs affects the impact and the likelihood of changes in HR practices but finds no statistically significant relationship. The research findings suggest that whilst training interventions have positively contributed to the establishment of HR practices and are perceived by SME managers to have met the needs of the organisation, their impact on a range of business performance indicators is fairly modest. Furthermore the research identifies the propensity of SMEs who are currently engaged in training to become involved in these interventions whilst the majority of SMEs who are not engaged in external training activities remain untouched by the policy intervention.
Keywords
Citation
Devins, D. and Johnson, S. (2002), "Engaging SME managers and employees in training: lessons from an evaluation of the ESF Objective 4 Programme in Great Britain", Education + Training, Vol. 44 No. 8/9, pp. 370-377. https://doi.org/10.1108/00400910210449204
Publisher
:MCB UP Ltd
Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited