NVQs and Key Workers Available to Purchase

Examines the role of “key workers” in industry, who combine both technical and training mastery in the workplace. Such workers are significant because, as well as providing training to meet existing needs, they also prepare workers to cope with the demands of longer‐term change. The role of British key workers is compared with those of their counterparts in Germany and Japan. Factors which affect the development of key workers in the UK are discussed, focusing particularly on the introduction of National Vocational Qualifications and their functions as “enablers” or“containers”. Suggests that the key worker should not be viewed as one person. The term can be applied to many people at different levels within a company according to the nature of the training and development required.