More than meets the eye? Rethinking the role of workplace trainer

Training reform in Australia over the past decade has gradually been shifting the balance from a supply-to a demand-driven system of vocational education and training (VET). In the move from off-the-job to on-the-job training, the workplace trainer is assuming an increasingly critical role in the provision of training opportunities. The critical issue is to what extent workplace trainers (especially in micro and small enterprises) are ready, willing and able to meet this enhanced commitment.

Despite the increasingly important role for workplace trainers, there has been relatively little attention paid to them, apart from governmental recognition that competency standards have been required. Such lack of attention has been particularly the case in relation to the small business environment and to the more informal end of the training spectrum. Given that quality of VET provision and building workplace training culture are two key issues in Australia's national strategy for VET 1998–2003, the researchers believed that further research was required into the role of the workplace trainer in these processes. This study was therefore based on the two assumptions that quality of training in the workplace depends to a considerable degree on workplace trainers, and that these trainers play a crucial role in the building of training/learning cultures in workplaces.

The research process

The research used an interpretative methodology that combined both qualitative and quantitative approaches to collecting data. Following an extensive literature review, the data-gathering occurred in two stages.

The first stage involved observations and interviews in 18 enterprises where workplace trainers were facilitating learning with one or two employees/learners. The enterprises were in three industries: information technology (IT), real estate, and building and construction, and spread across three Australian States: New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. A total of 29 observations and interviews was held. The transcripts were coded and analysed with the help of NUD.ist software. From this process, a number of key functions and 'trainer actions' were identified, and these formed the nucleus of the interview schedule for the next stage.

The second stage was a telephone interview survey of a larger sample of workplace trainers, one in each of 350 enterprises across the same three industries and States. The 'working' definition for workplace trainer was 'the person in the enterprise who helps/guides others to learn the things they need to know and do in order to get their work done'. This survey gathered data to complement information from the first stage, particularly focussing on the trainer actions.

The sample of 350 workplace trainers comprised 116 (33%) in building and construction, 126 (36%) in information technology and 108 (31%) in real estate. They were located in 162 (46%) micro, 108 (31%) small and 80 (23%) medium/large enterprises. The interviewees reported a wide spread of experience in working in their particular industry, from one-third having worked for five years or less, to seven per cent for more than 30 years. In fact, 45 per cent (n=156) stated that they were the owner of the business.

Summary of findings

The key findings from the study were the following:

• The penetration and impact of the workplace trainer competency standards are low. In fact, 13 per cent (n=44) of the sample had completed a Workplace Trainer Category 1 course, seven per cent (n=26) a Workplace Trainer Category 2 course and ten per cent (n=34) a Workplace Assessor training course. Only one-third had heard of these competency standards; and only small minorities claimed that they knew a lot about them or that their training practices had been considerably affected by them.

• Work and learning are inextricably interlinked, and shape each other in a dynamic inter-relationship; for example, when trainers structure and manipulate work processes to accommodate employee learning.

• Five 'functions' were identified as central to the role of the workplace trainer: fostering an environment conducive to learning; working and learning with co-workers; structuring and shaping work processes to accommodate learning; promoting independence and self-direction in learners; linking external learning experiences with work and learning in the workplace.

• In addition, 32 'trainer actions' were isolated from the observations and interviews, and then confirmed through telephone interviews with workplace trainers in 350 enterprises.

• 'Informal' workplace training (and learning) is very common, judging from the overall frequency of 'trainer actions' reported by respondents.

• There was a high incidence of 'trainer actions' related to encouraging self-direction in learning in employees, and structuring and shaping work processes to accommodate learning.

• The least frequent 'trainer actions' were those relating to the linking of internal and external learning experiences, particularly that of liaising with external providers.

• The frequency of many of the 'trainer actions' in the workplace was significantly mediated by context-specific factors such as type of industry, enterprise size, ownership of the business and length of experience.

• The majority of the 'trainer actions' did not directly match the competencies in the unit, 'Train small groups', the unit in the Training Package for Assessment and Workplace Training replacing the former Workplace Trainer Category 1 competency standards.

• Only very few respondents reported that juggling the twin tasks of working and assisting others to learn was not an issue for them. Various strategies are employed in juggling the twin demands of worker and trainer, including working longer hours, planning and prioritising work very carefully, supervising 'at a distance', continual judging of abilities and competence of workers and how these could be matched with requirements of the task at hand, and using other workers to supervise or delegating training tasks.

• There is a range of strategies (as reported by respondents) which can be used to develop the skills of workplace trainers, such as revision of provider curriculum, less formal training opportunities, materials available in the workplace, experiential opportunities in the actual setting with space for discussion with others, and a number of specific ways in which employers could play a role in creating conducive work environments and policies.

Learning network theory provides a very useful framework for rethinking the role of the workplace trainer. This theory conceptualises the workplace as a series of networks, of which two are of particular significance in understanding workplace learning. Work networks are shaped by the nature of the work and the relationships and workplace climate created by the interactions of workers within an enterprise. Learning networks are shaped by the focus of the learning along with the climate and relationships within an enterprise.

In the enterprises that participated in this study, the work network predominated. Work shapes the learning, and the learning network shapes the role of the workplace trainer. In some cases, the workplace trainer has a key role to play in the learning network, as in the case of a trainer who is part of a human resource department in an enterprise. In other instances, the workplace trainer is a worker and the work structures, processes and content shape and limit the time and energy he/she can devote to facilitating learning. The findings of this study challenge the notion of 'one size fits all', as trainers in different enterprises develop different ways of working.

In small and micro businesses, the workplace trainer, in conjunction with other workers, shapes the learning network that evolves. An effective workplace trainer is aware of the impact of the work network on learning in their enterprise and how the work network can be shaped and reshaped by their actions in supporting learning. The workplace trainer has a key role to play in assisting to alter the 'shape' of work structures, processes, relationships, content and climate to accommodate learning in the workplace.

From these findings, a number of implications relevant to the National strategy for VET were derived and were concerned with quality of training provision, building a training/learning culture and further research.

Quality of training provision

The findings raise a number of questions relating to quality of training provision. A substantial amount of training occurring in the workplace is of the 'unstructured', informal kind, particularly in micro and small businesses. For the workplace 'trainers' in these settings, the national competency standards are of only minimal assistance. Firstly, their penetration into such enterprises is low. Secondly, even where trainers are aware of their existence or have completed such courses, the impact of the standards upon their training practices is reported to be minimal. Thirdly, the relevance of these standards to informal trainers, especially in small businesses, is claimed to be slight. The formal competencies are not necessarily the ones used in micro and small business, and are not the complete picture for those training in such settings. In this respect, the findings of this study will be of considerable interest to those undertaking the review and further development of these national competency standards.

Quality of training provision may also be affected by the extent of collaboration between industry and training providers. The data in this study reveal a relatively low level of liaison between workplace trainers and external providers.

The issue therefore raised here is how best to equip workplace trainers (particularly informal ones) with the skills highlighted in this study. The report provides suggestions relating to the nature of provider training, the provision of relevant and high-quality training materials, and the making of spaces for experiential learning, interaction and strategy-sharing in the workplace itself.

Building a training/learning culture

This study also holds important implications for the national policy direction of building a training/learning culture within industry. While national initiatives are helpful in setting overall climate, a training/learning culture is likely to evolve distinctively in each workplace according to the interpretations of its inhabitants and the nature of its networks, rather than through government fiat. Change management indicates that policy initiatives are often filtered and interpreted at shopfloor levels. Thus the role of workplace trainers (as the key figures in the learning network within each enterprise) is critical, as is the catalysing effect of informal training at all levels in an enterprise. This raises the interesting question of whether the culture of training is a VET-driven training culture or an enterprise-evolving training culture.

Given the official definition of training/learning culture (ANTA 1998, p.20), it is the informal trainer who is in the prime position to impact considerably on these elements. It is in these ways that the informal trainer has a crucial role to play in the development of a learning culture in the small business workplace, which represents 90 per cent of enterprises in Australia.

This study has provided supporting evidence that a considerable amount of informal training, and by implication learning, is occurring in small business although it is largely unrecognised and is not of the structured kind that 'counts' in VET statistics.

There are two important issues here relevant to the building of a training/learning culture. The first is how best to make the hidden world of 'unstructured' informal training more visible so that in some way it can be credited (counted) as training, and therefore recognised and valued as a legitimate form of educational experience. The second is how training/learning can be further encouraged within enterprises.

The study is a reminder to think realistically about what is happening in enterprises in relation to power relations, roles and work networks, and the need to take into account the full context of the enterprise when considering training, since training is often considered on its own and without a context, as if it existed in the same form everywhere. This 'one-size-fitsall' perspective does not match reality, particularly in micro and small business. The nature and extent of the training carried out in enterprises, as reported in this study, underscore the importance of considering a number of contextual factors, including size of enterprise, type of industry, ownership of the business, as well as many other factors (implicit in learning network theory) such as processes, climate and relationships.

Two sets of results, however, are promising for the policy direction of building a training/learning culture in industry. First, many of the highest frequencies of 'trainer actions' were those which reflected the trainers' keen interest in employees' concerns, usually through making time for interaction in daily working life. Second, there was a high degree of encouraging self-direction in learning in the employees. A deeper understanding of how learning of various types occurs within the workplace and a rethinking of the role of workplace trainer both have much to offer those interested in promoting government policy to build training/learning culture(s) within enterprises.

Further research

Further research is needed into how provider-based trainers might best work with the learning and work networks in enterprises to further the goals of the current National strategy for VET. An extension of this line of inquiry would be examination of how external bodies influence and shape learning and work networks over time.

Longitudinal studies that 'map' the implementation of VET training initiatives (such as training packages) would provide a valuable opportunity for examining the evolution of learning and work networks over time. Further research could also illuminate the influence of other actors within the workplace in shaping learning and work networks. Another area that deserves attention is the quality of learning networks established in enterprises. Such an exploration of quality could use the dimensions explicated in learning network theory (namely, content, processes, structures, relationships and climate) as the basis for examination.

The use of learning network theory in this study has raised the issue of the tension that always exists between the self-initiated, self-directed learning needs of individual workers and the learning needs of the enterprises in which they operate. More research which examines the degree to which certain types of learning and work networks foster self-direction and autonomy in learners within the workplace would be a valuable undertaking.

There is also a need for an exploration of ways in which informal training/learning in the workplace might be more fully recognised and valued. This would include ways of framing policies to reflect what happens in reality, so people are able to receive recognition for their learning. Finally, an analysis could be undertaken of the extent to which national training packages have incorporated units of competency relating to workplace training, and the extent to which such units have actually been taken up by enterprises and providers as a reflection of the increasing reality that every worker is also potentially an informal trainer.

This research has explored new ways of conceptualising the role of the workplace trainer in an attempt to bring together a more contextually based and holistic view. The findings question generally accepted notions of 'workplace trainer', which tend to be founded on assumptions of formality, structured contexts and large business environments, and based on the premise that 'one size fits all'. The results particularly challenge the national competency standards for workplace trainers, and demonstrate that these standards do not sufficiently accommodate the role of the more informal trainer who, in the normal course of work, helps others learn in the workplace. In short, the study signals an urgent need for rethinking the role of workplace trainers and re-examining policy in this area.