Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)

SME's as partners in the pilot projects of the BIBB main funding focus "New routes into dual training - heterogeneity as an opportunity to secure the supply of skilled workers"

Gabriele Marchl, Helmut Ernst

Translated by: Martin Kelsey (Global-Sprachteam)

The aim of the main funding focus "New routes into dual training - heterogeneity as an opportunity to secure the supply of skilled workers" is to develop and foster innovative pathways into training. This seizes the increasing degree of heterogeneity which young people display both as a challenge and as an opportunity. The thrust is on developing and implementing transferable concepts, instruments and methods in order to expand the potential number of trainees and to secure the skilled worker requirements of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME's) in particular.

Employee skills needs are growing as cycles of innovation become ever shorter. This is not only true of major companies but also applies to SME's, which are the dominating force in initial and continuing vocational education and training, especially within the dual VET system. The ability of companies to acquire their own young skilled workers is developing into a crucial competitive factor for them and their employees, particularly in the light of the growing shortage of skilled workers and demographic changes. Because the size and restricted resources of SME's generally means that no systematic human resources development or continuing training planning is in place and that there are no internal initial and continuing training structures, they and their employees are reliant on relations with initial and continuing training providers which are based on a spirit of partnership. The developments these providers have undergone over the past few years have seen them complete the transition to becoming training services providers and competence centres in many cases.

Approaches adopted by the pilot projects to support companies providing training

The pilot projects pursue various approaches in order to be able to provide requirements oriented support to small and medium-sized companies in particular in dealing with the increasing heterogeneity of young people prior to and during training.

Programme management and evaluation research analyses and analyses of the pilot projects themselves have already shown that SME's providing training display highly different characteristics including of a heterogeneous nature and accordingly also have very varying needs. The proposed solutions developed are, therefore, also different. Demographic developments including both decreasing numbers of school leavers and regional and local population development (emigration and migration effects) are requiring SME's in particular to rethink traditional strategies for the acquisition and selection of trainees and to amend such strategies with regard to present and future skilled worker requirements. As part of this process, some companies require comprehensive external and internal consultancy regarding human resources development needs including the choice of appropriate training occupations and trainees whereas others require specific competence development on the part of company-based skilled workers with training duties. 

Possible measures to integrate young people who can be trained successfully within the company with the assistance of targeted support despite at first glance not appearing to be suitable training place applicants include the following.

1. Specific training marketing to assist in the precisely tailored filling of training places
2. Securing success in training via constructive teaching and learning in heterogeneous groups enabling SME's to gain skilled workers and young people to be provided with a qualified entry to working life

The individualisation and flexibilisation of the new support and advisory provision for SME's plays a large part in this regard by dint of the fact that it needs to meet the situation and needs of the SME's in each phase. The new pathways pursued in the pilot projects are multifarious. They can be summarised as follows.

1. Prior to training - for SME's the training preparation phase, for young people the so-called "first threshold" - the pilot projects develop and test strategies for new training marketing with the companies. This encompasses a whole range of instruments, methods and services to provide support in line with requirements. E.g.
2. • the exact identification of training needs on the spot in order to draw up company-specific requirements profiles for initial and continuing raining of skilled workers;
   • the inclusion of attractive contents, media and forms of presentation of training provision for pupils, participants in vocational preparation schemes and unplaced applicants from previous years who have been searching for an apprenticeship for a longer period of time; 
   • a new form of external training management aligned towards the challenges created by the heterogeneity of the potential applicant pool and which takes place in conjunction with cooperative training coordinators, service trainers and other advisory and support provision; 
   • moving towards the finding the best possible match for filling company-based apprenticeships within the applicant selection process: competence assessment procedures for both sides to assist in the decision making process, which also focus on the educational biographies of the applicants and match these against company requirements profiles.
3. Within the training process itself, the focus of the pilot projects is to work in close collaboration with company-based training staff in order to put such employees in a position where they are able to deal with the heterogeneous prior learning and strengths and weaknesses displayed by trainees in a constructive manner and in a way which fosters learning. This takes place within work-integrated learning processes and in other learning and training contexts which support competence development. E.g. via
4. • learning modules which take differing prior learning and individual characteristics into account and which have been conceived in such a way methodologically and didactically so as to be able to assist trainees in successfully dealing with examination requirements (vocationalism) and in coping with the company requirements made of a skilled worker displaying employability skills (training for the specific job within the company);
   • back-up support provision for ongoing training processes, such as coaching concepts for training staff and/or trainees, which makes it easier for participants to overcome problems and conflicts; 
   • new learning venue cooperation models with the vocational schools and in particular between company-based skilled workers providing training and specialist external vocational and socio-pedagogical (educational) service providers.