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Employer characteristics and employee training outcomes in UK SMEs: a multivariate analysis

David Devins (Principal Research Fellows, the Policy Research Institute, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK)
Steve Johnson (Principal Research Fellows, the Policy Research Institute, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK)
John Sutherland (Reader at the School of Economics and Human Resource Management, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK)

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development

ISSN: 1462-6004

Article publication date: 1 December 2004

4225

Abstract

Workforce development is becoming a higher priority for government, both as a means of addressing social exclusion and raising competitiveness. However there is limited evidence of the contribution of training to the success of individual firms and even less evidence of the impact of such training activity on small to medium‐sized enterprise (SME) employees. This paper draws on a survey of 1,000 employees to investigate the impact of a training intervention on employees in SME workplaces. It explores issues associated with the equity of provision of training in the workplace and the impact of training on the employability of SME employees in the labour market. The results suggest that training interventions lead to positive outcomes for the majority of SME employees, particularly those working in organisations with relatively formalised training practices. It concludes by suggesting that there should be a greater focus on the employee dimension in research and policy regarding training in SMEs.

Keywords

Citation

Devins, D., Johnson, S. and Sutherland, J. (2004), "Employer characteristics and employee training outcomes in UK SMEs: a multivariate analysis", Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 449-457. https://doi.org/10.1108/14626000410567099

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2004, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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