EU-financed learning centre boosts workforce skills

Citation

(2003), "EU-financed learning centre boosts workforce skills", Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 27 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/jeit.2003.00327fab.001

EU-financed learning centre boosts workforce skills

EU-financed learning centre boosts workforce skills

A learning centre financed by the European Union (EU) is helping to boost training and uncover hidden talents among the workforce of a medium-size UK printing firm.

A warehouseman at the 90-employee Forest Press, who had no formal information technology (IT) qualification but had practised extensively on a home computer, was given the opportunity to prove his knowledge at the learning centre and progress to the next course. He rose to the challenge and is now taking a graphic-design course that could lead to a job in the firm's graphics centre.

The Forest Press managing director believes that the learning centre has made the company's employees more willing to undertake training and improve their skills. It has made them more flexible and receptive to new technology.

Forest Press is located on Nottingham's Robin Hood Industrial Estate, in the East Midlands. The company hosts the learning centre, which is open to employees of the 50 or so other small and medium-size firms, representing a broad range of industries, on the estate.

Forest Press was chosen to champion the learning-centre initiative because of its positive attitude towards training and development. Employees needed training in the information technology aspects of design and printing, and in the development of management-information and decision-support systems. Although the company supported modern apprenticeships, it remained reluctant to invest more generally in the external training of its employees. Moreover, the company had few formal human-resource-management practices in place and no dedicated human-resource officer.

The Forest Press managing director struck up a relationship with the European Social Fund Adapt project manager at the University of Nottingham and subsequently became involved in the initiative. The company provided the space for the learning centre and European money funded its refurbishment, the provision of IT equipment, tutoring and security.

The centre contains six personal computers with office software, Internet access, video conferencing and rapid-prototyping equipment. A tutor was provided, initially by the local further-education college and later by a private company. The centre is open during office hours on Thursdays and Fridays.

The managing director appointed a key member of the management team to promote the centre within the firm. The trade union also encouraged the company's employees to undertake training. All the training leads to formally recognized qualifications, such as the European Computer Driving Licence.

Almost half the Forest Press workforce enrolled on a course at the learning centre. Administrative staff, who are said regularly to work a ten-hour day, are given time during the working day to attend the centre. Hourly-paid staff use the centre in their own time, without financial support from the company.

Most of the take-up is by administrative, clerical and unskilled employees. Skilled people are less attracted to the centre. None of the employees indicate that they would have taken any courses if the learning centre had not existed close to their workplace. They welcome the self-paced nature of the study and its flexibility. They also comment on the personal attention they receive from the tutor. Several of the learners have gone on to take other courses, elsewhere.

A mailshot to promote the learning centre among other firms on the industrial estate generated little interest. The Forest Press managing director met the heads of other printing firms on the estate and engaged them, to varying degrees, in the project. This became the key mechanism for engaging wider employer support for the learning centre.

Most of the firms have similar development needs, despite their different backgrounds. But they share few learning experiences. The companies tend to book the centre at convenient times and send their employees en masse to attend a learning session.

The learning centre has been a catalyst for the development of further learning initiatives at Forest Press. The company has worked with the local training and enterprise council to implement an employee-led development scheme, under which Forest Press funds any course up to £500. The company uses individual learning accounts to help to fund this training and development.

Moreover, Forest Press has established a second learning centre, within its own offices, to provide training not available at the EU-funded learning centre. This includes training in pre-press and press-room technology. Developed in association with other firms on the industrial estate, the centre has ten Apple Macintosh machines, and a teacher provided by the local further-education college. Individuals pay £70 to attend a ten-week course. The courses are oversubscribed and a long waiting list has developed.

A fledgling network of printing-sector firms on the industrial estate has become much more tangible because of these learning initiatives. The various firms co-operate in several areas that are not viewed as commercially sensitive. For example, two firms have entered a supply-chain relationship.

However, Forest Press remains a leader in terms of employee development. This is largely because of the energy and commitment to learning of its management. The other firms on the estate that send employees to the learning centres have not materially changed their behaviour or commitment to training more generally.