WASHINGTON, D.C. - American small businesses have a long-standing reputation as being great places to gain on-the-job skills, but in recent years, these firms have also begun to seek outside help to train employees. According to an National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) National Small Business Poll released recently, 48 percent of the small firms surveyed used industry-specific or trade association resources for employee training within the past three years.
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While most employee training is done within individual firms, the nation’s entrepreneurs place significant importance on outside help. The survey of 750 enterprise owners confirmed their familiarity with potential sources of employee training outside their businesses and that they use them more often than typically thought. Nearly 70 percent of those employing five to 250 people said they held membership in an industry-specific trade association or business organization. Of those, 83 percent noted that one or more of those groups offer materials or programs specifically designed to train or upgrade some employees’ skills.
“Small employers feel more comfortable having their employees trained by people with whom the employers frequently interact, rather than those whose primary purpose is to train or educate,” said NFIB Research Foundation Senior Fellow William Dennis. “They overwhelmingly rely on themselves, trade or industry associations and suppliers for training. They are much less likely to employ formal education institutions or public programs.”
FORMS OF EMPLOYEE TRAINING. The most common form of employee training immediately after hiring, said six of 10 employers polled, is to work with someone already in the firm: Either the owner, manager or another employee. The next most frequent training scenario is for an employee to learn by doing the job, a form adopted by 14 percent. Eleven percent send employees to outside activities, such as a seminar or course.
Few use self-help materials such as manuals, videos, online courses or distance learning, but 71 percent confirmed that they had used outside organizations in the past three years to train employees, particularly those with longer tenures. The prospect of more and better distance or online training holds significant possibilities for small employers. However, pollsters noted with concern that small firms frequently report encountering substantial numbers of prospective employees who lack learning ability.
EXPERIENCE. Small employers typically require new workers to possess previous experience for the most-skilled job, but lower that requirement for the most-common job. Experience, Dennis said, appears to be a substitute for formal education, noting that employers require minimum levels of formal education for their skilled or common jobs. More than half of the small firms surveyed – 55 percent – responded that they expect new employees to have no more than a high school diploma for the firm’s most-skilled job and nearly three-fourths – 73 percent – held a similar expectation for the most-common job.
RECRUITING EMPLOYEES. More than half of the respondents said they have had difficulty recruiting and hiring people for their most-skilled positions over the past two years. One likely reason, Dennis said, was that most-skilled positions require experience. Nearly eight of 10 small employers make experience a condition of hiring for these positions.
The most sought-after skills new hires are expected to have are work habits and attitudes, the ability to follow directions, the capacity to read and write directions and explanations, and proficiency in the English language. Employees are expected to learn occupational skills, information about the products and services sold and operational procedures while on the job.
After work habits and attitudes, the skill that employers want new hires to bring to the most demanding jobs is the ability to follow directions. Sixty-three percent have this expectation, compared to 11 percent who are willing to allow employees to learn to follow directions while on the job. Comparatively few expect newly hired workers to bring leadership or management and organizational skills when they join the firm.
GOING BEYOND INTRODUCTORY TRAINING. While a majority – four of five companies – provide employee training beyond introductory activity, between 40 percent and 50 percent routinely train workers who hold either the most-skilled or most-common positions after the first year. Training after the initial year of employment at small firms continues to involve assistance by the owner or another employee, but the likelihood of sending the new employee outside the business for training increases.
CHALLENGES. Small employers face no overriding problem or set of problems in their training efforts. Not surprisingly, the greatest concern is the lack of time owners or other employees have available to assist new workers. Other challenges to training include dealing with employees who lack adequate learning skills or interest necessary to acquire new or upgraded skills, and cost, which includes the inability to take the new employee away from the job. While not a direct out-of-pocket cost for small firms, taking employees off the job is nonetheless perceived as a serious financial penalty.
Access the complete poll at http://www.nfib.com/object/training.html