• BLS Reports on Employer-Provided Formal Training - Employee Results
• BLS Reports on Employer-Provided Formal Training - Employer Results

Measuring Workplace Training

• The 1993 Survey of Employer-Provided Training (SEPT93) provides a comprehensive base of information on the nature and existence of formal training provided or financed by employers. Nearly 12,000 private establishments of all sizes were surveyed to determine what types of formal training were provided during 1993.
• The 1995 Survey of Employer-Provided Training (SEPT95) provides information on the amount of formal and informal training provided by employers as well as the amount employers spent on selected training expenditures. This survey was conducted during personal visits to more than 1,000 private establishments with 50 or more employees from May through October 1995. A representative of the establishment provided information on the hours and costs of formal training and randomly selected individual employees provided information on their hours of both formal and informal training.

Types of Training

Formal Training: Training that has a structured, formal,and defined curriculum; it may be conducted by supervisors, company training centers, businesses, schools, associations, or others. Formal training includes classroom work, seminars, lectures, workshops, and audio-visual presentations.

Informal Training: Training that is unstructured, unplanned, and easily adapted to situations or individuals. Examples include having a co-worker show you how to use a piece of equipment or having a supervisor teach you a skill related to your job.

SEPT data are used by government, private industry, and the academic community to determine the major types of training that American workers receive from their employers. Types of training include the following:

• Basic reading, writing and arithmetic skills training is training in elementary reading, writing, arithmetic, and English language skills, including English as a second language.
• Occupational safety training provides information on safety hazards, procedures, and regulations.
• Employee health and wellness training provides information and guidance on personal health issues such as stress management, substance abuse, nutrition, and smoking cessation.
• Orientation training introduces new employees to personnel and workplace practices and to overall company policies.
• Awareness training provides information on policies and practices that affect employee relations or the work environment, including Equal Employment Opportunity practices (EEO), affirmative action, workplace diversity, sexual harassment, and AIDS awareness.
• Communications, employee development, and quality training is training in public speaking, conducting meetings, writing, time management, leadership, working in groups or teams, employee involvement, total quality management, and job reengineering.
• Job skills training that includes:
  • Management training is training in supervising employees and in implementing employment practices. Examples include training in conducting employee appraisals, managing employees, resolving conflicts, following selection/hiring practices, and implementing regulations and policies.
  • Professional and technical skills training is training in professional areas such as engineering, nursing, accounting, science, law, medicine, training, education, and business; or in technical areas such as drafting, electronics, and medical technology.
  • Computer training includes training in computer literacy, security, programming, use of standard commercial and other software, and methods for developing software applications.
  • Clerical and administrative support skills training is training in areas such as typing, data entry, filing, business correspondence, and administrative recordkeeping, including budget and payroll.
  • Sales and customer relations training is training in areas ranging from how to maintain or improve customer relations to specific selling techniques. Examples include training in how to deal with angry customers and information about specific product lines.
  • Service-related training includes training in the traditional service occupations-food, cleaning, protective, or personal services. Examples include training in waiting tables, preparing food, using cleaning equipment, conducting security work, providing care for children or the elderly, tailoring, and barbering.
  • Production-and construction-related training is training in areas such as operating or repairing machinery and equipment; manufacturing, assembling, distributing, installing, or inspecting goods; and constructing, altering, or maintaining buildings and other structures.

1. How does the provision of formal training vary by the size of an establishment?
2. What other factors besides size affect the likelihood of providing formal training?
3. Are unionized establishments more or less likely to provide formal training to their employees?
4. Of the various types of formal training covered in the survey, which types are most commonly provided?
5. Which job skills are most commonly taught through formal training?
6. Why do employers provide formal job skills training?
7. Why do employers decide not to provide formal job skills training?

1. How does the provision of formal training vary by the size of an establishment?

Larger establishments are more likely than smaller ones to provide formal training to their employees Only 69 percent of small establishments (fewer than 50 employees) provided formal training in 1993 compared with nearly all medium-sized (50-249 employees) and large (250 or more employees) establishments.

2. What other factors besides size affect the likelihood of providing formal training?

While size seems to be a very important factor, other characteristics of the establishment are also associated with formal training even after controlling for the influence of size.

Establishments that offer benefits such as employee assistance programs, pension plans, employee wellness programs and profit sharing are more likely to provide training than are other establishments.

This finding supports the idea that establishments that foster a long-term commitment between the firm and the employee have a greater incentive to train workers.

Establishments that employ a number of workpractices such as just-in-time inventories, worker teams, total quality management, quality circles, peer review of employee performance, pay for knowledge, employee involvement in technology and purchase decisions, and job rotation are more likely to provide formal training than are similar establishments that do not employ as many of these practices.

The strong association between work practices and the provision of formal training supports the idea that "high performance" workplaces--those that use many of the practices listed--are more likely to provide training to their employees.

3. Are unionized establishments more or less likely to provide formal training to their employees?

During 1993, unionized establishments were more likely to offer certain types of formal training than were nonunionized establishments. The presence of a union had a substantial effect on apprenticeship training: while the probability that the representative small, medium-sized, and large establishment offered apprenticeship training was 14 percent, 40 percent and 41 percent respectively, the otherwise identical unionized establishments had probabilities of 33 percent, 58 percent, and 54 percent. Unionization, however, did not have a statistically significant impact on the provision of formal job skills training, especially in medium-sized and large establishments.

4. Of the various types of formal training covered in the survey, which types are most commonly provided?

Nearly half of all establishments provided formal job skills training in 1993, while orientation, safety and health, and workplace-related training were provided by 1 in 3 establishments. Less than 3 percent of all establishments offered formal training in basic reading, writing, arithmetic and English language skills, although 19 percent of large establishments offered such training.

5. Which job skills are most commonly taught through formal training?

The three types of job skills most commonly taught through formal training were sales and customer relations, management skills, and computer skills. While about 1 in 4 establishments provided training in these areas, 1 in 12 provided formal training in food, cleaning, protective, and personal services.

6. Why do employers provide formal job skills training?

The most common reason establishments gave for providing formal job skills training in 1993 was that training was necessary to provide skills specific to their organization (75 percent). Other important reasons for providing formal job skills training were to keep up with changes in technology or production methods and to retain valuable employees; each of these reasons was cited by more than half of those providing formal job skills training.

7. Why do employers decide not to provide formal job skills training?

Nearly two-thirds of establishments that did not provide formal job skills training in 1993 reported that 'on-the-job' training satisfied their training needs. Less than 10 percent reported that the cost of formal training was too high or that they were unwilling to provide formal training due to a fear of losing trained employees to other employers.

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