The antecedents of training activity in British small and medium-sized enterprises

Analysing data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey we establish the extent to which levels of training activity in Britain are lower in SMEs than in larger firms.The antecedents of training activity within the SME sector are examined in terms of the workplace characteristics that are associated with high or low levels of training. Both managers and non-managers receive less training in SMEs compared with larger organizations.Training in the SME sector is associated with larger SMEs, multi-site SMEs, franchises, the presence of a personnel/HR specialist and multiple memberships of business advisory networks. Neither Investors in People nor trade union recognition are associated with greater training activity.The implications of the findings for government policy regarding training in SMEs are discussed.