Learning & Development for SMEs - Part 1 of 6

Learning & Development for SMEs - Part 1 of 6 - Make a Difference

Small businesses may not have the resources or budget of their larger counterparts for learning and development activities, but that doesn’t mean they should simply ignore it.

The most recent report (2017) from the Federation of Small Businesses indicates that while 91% of small businesses recognise the value of staff training and development, both in terms of increasing the value of an employee’s contribution to the business and in terms of employee retention, just 43% of British SMEs are currently investing in training and development.

The cost of providing training was cited as the primary reason small businesses don’t offer their staff a training and development programme, with 43% identifying this as an issue. 34% of the businesses surveyed by the FSB indicated that they don’t provide training because they don’t have access to relevant training options in their area.

So, you’re responsible for your small to medium sized company’s employee development, here are a few challenges that are often faced in your situation.

Some other interesting information is shown in this infographic based on the FSB report.

The 3 most common L&D challenges for SMEs are:

Strategy & Leadership

Developing your L&D “Brand”
Developing L&D as a business driver
Learner focused
Learning & Development Capacity
Understanding your company needs
The role of management
Employee engagement

Implementation (Operations and Learning Resources)

Learning administration
Planning
Vendor/Trainer selection
Technologies
Aligning learning with company goals
Job analysis
Needs analysis
Using technology for learning

Business Impact (Analysis)

Evaluate
Report
Review
Improve

Next time: Part 2; Strategy - Why do we need an L&D strategy.

If you would like to read the eBook on which these blogs are based please go to An SMEs Guide to L&D for your free copy.

Les Heath

Senior L&D Strategy Implementation Specialist

07847 540536

Comments

Learning & Development for SMEs - Part 3 - Leadership

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Making sure it is learner-centric The learner should be at the heart of all activities. Every individual should know what path their training is taking, where they are now and where they need to be to achieve their personal and corporate goals. The learning should not have a fixed path, it should be “Branched”; as learners progress at different paces there should be the option of accelerating past sections if the learner can display the required knowledge level. What is content? Content is basically anything that your employees can access to improve their performance. This is not always formal learning, Google searches for a piece of information could be considered content, as could reading a relevant article. The modern L&Der, not only manages formal learning but can curate much in the way of informal learning. Content should engage the learner Remember the aim is engaging the individual learner, as much as fulfilling the organisational needs. Choose learning modalities and ...

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