ACTIVE EDUCATION OF THE EMPLOYEES OF THE SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES

Small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) represent the dominant form of the business organization in the Slovak Republic. They undertake mainly within the areas of activities and sectors with claims for the workforce. Their competitiveness also depends on the ability of workers to meet the new requirements for skills and qualifications. A key problem for SMEs is a need to improve their innovative capacity. In a view of the limited resources they often have issues not only with attracting young employees and keeping them after completion of the training and education, but also with the integration of the older employees. They must deal with the problems arising from the ageing of the workforce and age-related changes in the structure. In this context, there are important measures, as the increase in the employment rate of women and older employees. For this reason, it is needed to use all available knowledge, skills and qualifications, in order to achieve more flexible qualifications, regadless where and how they have been obtained. The aim of the paper is to describe some of the innovative training modules to keep both young people and older employees. The key results should be improved quality of work and the overall performance of the organization, change of mentality and increased confidence. From the point of view of the individual employees there is also important to verify their previous skills and work experience, because it increases their chance on the labour market.