Leonardo Da Vinci

In the present-day society, innovation processes expand in ever-wider circles and changes are greatly accelerated. Also in the production world of good and services, the factors that require new abilities to adapt and evolve are numerous: goods produced, production means, product linkages to the marketplace, markets of reference, etc. are rapidly changing. Consequently, there is also an evolution in the way a professional figure is conceived.

The 6th Report of the European Observatory for Small and Medium Enterprises shows how the training offered in companies is in direct relation to their size: while all large enterprises offer training to their employees and the percentage in medium ones is generally 80%, the situation in small companies becomes worrying. In fact, the percentage of employees that participate in training initiatives based on the size of the enterprise is:
- About 30% for the sector with between 240 and 50 employees,
- About 20% for the sector with between 49 and 10 employees,
- Slightly more than 10% for the sector with between 9 and 1 employees,
This value is reduced to 5% for companies without any employees.

Consequently, at the E.U. level, it is estimated that in the ten-year period of 1997-2006, not more than 20% of the overall work force will participate in a training course.
This implies numerous negative consequences

The previously cited Report of the European Observatory shows (textually) how "Education and training over the course of one's life receives ever more attention on the part of public decision-makers, employers and employees. The new competitive scenario - the result of a globalised economy, the dawn of the information society and the constant advance of science and technology - mean that the success of the European economy will always depend on the improvement of the quality of its labour force" and - we add based on our experience - is valid for all organisational levels, from the entrepreneur to the manager, from the technician to the operator.