WORKPLACE LEARNING AND SOCIAL DIALOG - EMPLOYERS’ PERSPECTIVE Skills = Productivity = Profitability = Economic Prospect Bangkok, 24 March 2010 Dragan Radic Senior Specialist in Employers’ Activities SRO - Bangkok

WORKPLACE LEARNING AND SOCIAL DIALOG This presentation will cover: Lifelong learning Workplace Learning Who is responsible for learning? Role of social partners and social dialog– enterprise level and policy level

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY SKILLS? People’s capabilities and abilities People’s knowledge and understanding People’s motivation, willingness and ability to use their capabilities and knowledge Core skills – things we need to know, understand and be able to do in order to do other things (literacy, numeracy, IT skills) Generic skills- skills that we can apply in a range of context (e.g problem solving, soft skills etc) Technical skills – skills that are often specialized

LIFELONG LEARNING Universal endorsement by OECD, ASEAN, ILO etc that learning is no longer prerogative of the young Sitting in the classroom, listing to a teacher's instructions and memorizing the facts is NOT sort of learning that new globalised economy calls for It is now understood that leaving formal schooling and going to a job with the expectation that one will be there until retirement is also a thing of the past Life long learning is not about keeping HR professional occupied or about “feeling good” but it is about meeting demands of a globalised economy

LIFELONG LEARNING Lifelong learning is the only feasible way of ensuring the workforce’s skills remain current and relevant, especially as technology changes To have lifelong learning and skills that reflect the needs of the workplace, policy has to move beyond the traditional learning environment such as schools, universities or technical colleges The policy should recognize that much economically, valuable learning occurs in the workplace But, the lifelong learning goes beyond the workplace

Why workplace learning? Who is the most important stakeholder in the business? Shareholders, customers or employees? Employees are the MOST important – their productivity and quality of what they produce will result in customers spending more and shareholders getting greater ROI To remain competitive companies must adopt and change continuously. Technical skills are no longer enough. Non technical skills (literacy, numeracy, problem solving skills) are essential for adaptation Workplace learning critical for competitiveness and productivity whilst boosting employee moral and job satisfaction

Workplace Learning – Critical Success Factors To be overall successful learning and training must be bundled and fully integrated together with other business strategies Short term – immediate need basis: Decision to train must make “business sense” – and be directly related to running the business – e.g. production, safety, use of technology, organization of work, introduction of new products, exploring new market opportunities, addressing quality problems – employers are usually most comfortable with “proprietary” training – firm specific Number or studies in UK, Asia and Europe showed that investing in skills pays off – productivity could be increased between 6- 13%

Workplace Learning – Critical Success Factors Long term view – in addition to an immediate business needs for workplace learning to be successful: Employees should have autonomy and be involved in decision making Appropriate mentoring, coaching and ongoing learning in place Performance evaluation and rewards based on performance should be put in place Unions would add particular value in above areas – “what’s in it for me” principle ( increased job satisfaction, participation in decision making, greater autonomy, higher remuneration)

Why employers’ are not doing more? Cost – time and money (perception that greater ROI could be achieved by investing in physical assets) Lack of information – employers need to know what is available externally - cost and quality? Lack of knowledge how to do it/structure it internally Significant worry about “poaching” –”free rider issue” Specific problems with SME’s – no time, no money, too busy, higher staff turnover, lack of information

Who is responsible for development of Human Capital? Governments – to provide future workforce with core skills (numeracy, literacy, ITC, soft skills) and to foster and encourage life long learning and workplace learning through various policies (student loans, tax deductions for employers, establishment of training funds to match employers’ contribution etc). Employers – to support lifelong learning through workplace learning (in house or outsourced) Individuals – must be motivated to increase their knowledge and to maintain “employability” OECD supports approach of “shared responsibility” and “co-financing model”

LIFELONG LEARNING GOVERNMENT ROLE Governments have critical role to play and provide future workforce with high quality core (essential) skills – social contract between business and governments Policy options include increasing participation and the quality of compulsory and secondary education to address “future needs”. Training tax incentives, cost sharing arrangements and student loans for example to address “current needs” Governments should also expend the number and the quality of universities in the fields where skills shortages are greatest and attract leading foreign universities Partnership between MOL and Ministry of Education is important

LIFELONG LEARNING SOCIAL PARTNERS Business must be involved in policy design because the education system must respond to the needs of employers (e.g. establishment of Industry Training Organizations – ITO’s) Unions must get involved in policy design because workers are at the receiving end in skills equation There are many countries e.g New Zealand, Australia, Singapore where social partners have successfully engaged and “teamed up” with government and other private education providers to design an effective and appropriate skills policy

LIFELONG LEARNING SOCIAL PARTNERS In NZ for example skills are so important that social partners joined together and deliberately place the skills outside the more contentious IR debate Social partners sometimes joined forces with key education providers to discuss the vision and the strategy for life long learning Some countries have established a formal consultation mechanism to regularly engage with the social partners on national skills strategy

IN SUMMARY Employees are the most important asset for a long term business success and investing in their learning will allow businesses to be competitive and productive Life long learning and the workplace learning is the way to go to ensure long term business and overall national prosperity Responsibility for learning must be shared between the government, employers and individuals Social partners have an important role to play – in terms of life long learning policy setting agenda and more concretely at the enterprise level