Hamburg-based enterprises place high significance on the continuing education of their employees. This is the result of an online opinion poll amongst 500 human resource managers and employees conducted by the Hamburg Abendblatt newspaper in cooperation with the Stiftung Grone-Schule foundation.
More than 90 per cent of polled human resource managers stated that without investments in personnel development it was impossible for the enterprise to achieve a good business result. The most important goals in providing further qualification for one's employees are increased motivation (71 per cent), an increase of professional qualification (63 per cent) as well as the enterprise's increased attractiveness to well-qualified, skilled labour (53 per cent).
When taking advantage of the possibilities for further training, employees follow first and foremost the demands of their prospective place of employment (52 per cent). As regards content, communication and customer orientation lead the way with almost 50 per cent, followed by competences such as foreign languages (29 per cent) as well as health and safety and health promotion (24 per cent).
Wolfgang Prill, former Chairman of the Board of the Grone-Schule Foundation, Deputy Chairman of the Bundesverband der Träger beruflicher Bildung (Bildungsverband) e.V. (Federal Association of Vocational Training Institutions) and initiator of the poll, "The results prove: Continuing education is the key for professional advancement and for coping with the increasing demands of one's place of employment. Or in other words: Those coming to us intend to advance themselves. We are particularly delighted by the fact that at 47 per cent almost half of the polled employees are prepared to further qualify themselves also in their free time and even on weekends."
Achim Albrecht, his successor as new chairman of the board at the Stiftung Grone-Schule foundation, said that the poll confirms the high demand for and the high standards placed on vocational continuing education. "Evidently, most employers have recognised their need for both highly qualified and highly motivated employees. It would seem that they perceive continuing education measures also as a means of long-term personnel development. However, most employers agree in saying that the resources for qualification are too limited."
Internal operational reasons prevent many enterprises from adapting their continuing education provision to meet demands. More than 60 per cent of human resource managers state the lack of financial resources, whereas 40 per cent complain about the limited capacities as regards personnel.
Yet the poll results reveal also criticism, both directed at employers and at providers of continuing education. In particular, the employees criticised the stressful environment in the workplace: 56 per cent of those polled said that their workload did not allow for or hardly left time for continuing education.
As regards the question of who absorbed the costs for qualification, two thirds stated that their employer bore the costs for continuing education, 15 per cent shared the cost between employer and employee and 16 per cent of employees absorbed all the cost themselves.