Europes Cultures of Workplace Learning

Throughout Europe enterprises invest in Human Resource Development (HRD) and training to cope with the challenges of global competition and to gain momentum in the race for innovation. For their employees, regular work place training provides continuity in Lifelong Learning processes, bridges private learning initiatives, increases job satisfaction and improves employability.

Enterprises training cultures differ greatly both within and between countries. While best performing enterprises develop comprehensive training cultures, most enterprises have only recently began to take HRD seriously. Differences between countries in average training activities are also important. Until now, little explanation is offered for these differences.

Training in enterprises is embedded in country-specific cultures of initial and further education. In particular, organisations that provide training play an important role for the enterprises' training policies. This issue has not been addressed so far. Learning more about the reasons for different training cultures has been the goal of the Leonardo da Vinci Project (www.trainingineurope.com). By exploring the European Continuing Vocational Training Survey (CVTS2) and complementary additional surveys and studies, the project seeks new insights useful for practitioners (HRD managers, training providers), policy experts and researchers.