Human Resource Development of Social Entrepreneurs and Policy Challenges
Eui-Kyoo Lee, Won-Ho Jung, Jong-Geol Kim, Jae-Gu Kim
The history of social enterprises is very short in South Korea. However, the government’s policies for the development of social enterprises have by and large been successful. The key to the future success or failure of social enterprises is competitiveness. Competitive social enterprises are predicated on the presence of social entrepreneurs and the positive leadership role they play.
This study discusses the current status of social entrepreneurs training and related policy implications. Some of the methods employed include a review of the available literature on social enterprise development, focus group interviews (FGI), and research and consultation with experts.
The results of this study show that support for social entrepreneurship training programs and the post-administration thereof has been limited. Therefore, social enterprises should operate positive performance analysis and with the result, measures for improvement must be presented.
The study identified the success or failure of social entrepreneurs and social enterprises as the most significant variable. Therefore, the following social enterprise policies are needed to enable further improvement:
First, the direction of government policy with regards to the training of social enterprises should be modified. In this social entrepreneurs and personnel training projects, the financial support should be more focused on the ecosystem and business rather than labor costs. Also, surveillance and evaluation should be emphasized to reduce moral hazard.
Second, a standard model for social entrepreneur training projects should be provided. The standard model should have standardized education program and contents depending on the industry, type of education and local government. The introduction of a standard model for the
training of social enterprises will help to increase professionalism and efficiency.
Third, social enterprises' satisfaction with workforce training should be analyzed. The causes of dissatisfaction, demand for courses, request regarding programs should be reflected in the training; hence the training programs should be specialized by the region.
As mentioned earlier, such policies can help to improve the training of social enterprises. In addition, such policies will help to give social enterprises a competitive advantage in terms of their activities.
