Mon, 24 Jan 2011
The majority of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are very happy with the skills of their workforce, according to new research.
A survey by the Forum of Private Business found that 84 per cent of firms questioned believe their employees' capabilities to be either 'excellent' or 'good', while almost half (40 per cent) increased the amount they spent on internal training during 2009.
Chief executive of the body Phil Orford observed that many workers "will have no doubt benefited" from companies offering on-the-job training, which he described as "valuable" to the development of personnel.
"The clear message which has emerged from this is that small business owners are by no means inherently negative about employees' abilities," he remarked.
However, the study also revealed that there is room for improvement when it comes to boosting the skills of the general population, with just one per cent of the small businesses that responded saying that their local workforce has the ability to perform a wide range of tasks to an 'excellent' standard and a quarter giving them a 'good' rating.
Mr Orford called on the government to "think long and hard about how learning can be better tailored to meet the needs of industry" so that companies can regain confidence in the abilities of people as the economy recovers.
Over a quarter (26 per cent) of those that took part in the research rated the industry-specific skills of the general workforce as 'poor'.
Along with training, enterprises may also be looking to spend more on developing talent management over the next year, as new data from the Hackett Group revealed that firms with more experience in this area are likely to have earnings 18 per cent higher than those of their competitors.
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