Providing Work Time

You can greatly improve the chances of employee participation by providing work time to employees for WEPs.  The lost time due to absent employees will be more than made up through the improved basic skills of employees who take part in the training opportunity.

Providing dedicated time during working hours sends a strong signal to employees that WEPs are an important part of their jobs and their company.  It shows that management is willing to invest in them and their skills.  While it is not always practical, providing work time for learning tells employees that WEPs are a part of their work routine, and not an additional burden placed on them by management.  In addition, providing work time shows that the employer is sensitive to employees' needs and personal time commitments outside the workplace.

Employers can expand existing WEPs to provide more places for employees who wish to participate.  In performance reviews or other measurement processes, you should not penalize those employees who are willing to participate in your WEP, but for whom there are no spaces available. 

The bottom line on training budgets is to ensure you're funding the right efforts to keep your company competitive and get it to its future goals. A business-strategy approach also helps safeguard your training budget from being cut.
     URL: http://www.workforce.com/archive/feature/22/17/10/223644.php

A Canadian report looks at the interplay between formal and informal learning for low skilled workers. Learning paths, trigger events and decisions that engage basic level workers are described.
     URL: http://www.nald.ca/library/learning/interplay/methods.pdf

This report from Australia looks at how combinations of formal, informal and non-formal learning can be used to prepare workers to gain, maintain or progress through jobs.
     URL: http://www.ncver.edu.au/research/commercial/op03830.pdf

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Last updated: Feb. 27, 2009.