Small businesses are 'informal' and 'flexible'
Wed 23 Jan 2008
Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) can compete with larger firms by offering graduates informal training and flexible working hours, an industry adviser has said. Victoria Winkler, from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), said smaller companies are able to recruit quality staff with their unique training opportunities. "There can be a huge amount of informal learning and development by spending time with different people within the organisation, and people can get some very hands-on experience," she commented. They are also looking to apply flexible working "and the whole work-life balance agenda which is increasingly important to the graduate". A university education is only one of many routes into employment. School leavers can study more vocational courses, which may help them to learn more practical skills. Ms Winkler said that SMEs would be looking for similar skills than larger firms but added that the "ability to make an immediate contribution is going to be critical when it's quite a small workforce".
related articles
