Concepts for the practice

There has always been learning at the workplace. Practical work in enterprises again and again challenge the employees to widen their knowledge and skills. In recent years, a great number of big enterprises have considered work place oriented learning an alternative to learning at school or in seminars and are initiating it with determination. Learning islands and other concepts are quite common in big industrial enterprises in order to exploit the challenges of practical work for learning processes. However, these concepts for learning at the work place are hardly applicable for small and medium enterprises (SME). Even a simple transfer from one company to another is barely possible because every enterprise has its own corporate culture.

The German NU-ADAPT working group "Learning at the workplace" therefore quickly came to the conclusion: There are no universally valid approaches! Each project features its own individual and company-specific profile. All projects have one thing in common: Usually they are linked to the corporate practice and are therefore readily accepted by both employees and employers.

This practical and specific link to work situations makes learning at the workplace so valuable. Learning takes place when it is actually needed and when the newly acquired knowledge can immediately be transferred and tested. In this case, work and learning always form a symbiosis which promotes mutual development for both employees and the enterprise.

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Problems are solved along with learning

The "aha experience" in problem solving most certainly guarantees a gain in know-how. Learning at the workplace therefore implies that work is organised in a way that problems may be solved by the workers themselves or by giving them the necessary support. Companies must trust their employees and have to provide a work environment which not only permits but also promotes learning. Then there is an increasing chance for employees to acquire a considerable amount of new knowledge during the work process resulting in a double effect: Technologies may be applied in order to integrate learning and work. There will be a continuous, never-ending development process of employees and the company which enables both parties to attain a future-oriented level. External seminars offering contents far off practice will become less important.

As for the SME, learning at the workplace is of high priority because although employees are more or less indispensable they must nevertheless be qualified. The concepts to be applied must therefore be developed in cooperation with the enterprise. There is neither a uniform solution nor the one and only successful way.

With regard to the heterogeneous field of SME, one of the greatest challenges for European programmes like ADAPT is to find ways for learning at the workplace which can then be tailored to the needs of the individual companies.

A fresh start with significant value

The approach behind learning at the workplace in SME is far from being finalised. This is only the beginning. The documented experiences have already given some noticeable impulses, such as:

• Enterprises are in favour of continuous vocational training because their employees stay in the company.
• There are no costs for external courses far off practice.
• Learning "on demand" and "just in time" is always possible.
• Problematic work situations may yield successful learning situations.
• Modern technologies may be applied at the work place along with learning how to master them.

The project examples of the ADAPT initiative in this website show some first evidence for the wide range of learning at the workplace.