The importance of training or qualification of personnel lies in its objective: to improve the knowledge and skills of those who make up a company; because it is through people, their ideas, their projects, their capacities and their work, that organizations develop.
Here is a bibliographic exploration that will allow to expand the concept of personnel training and its importance for the company:
Staff training concept
The training of human resources consists of business investment aimed at reducing or eliminating the difference between the current performance of the staff and the proposed objectives. (Hoyler, cited by Porret, p.208)
Vocational training is the set of actions that allow a person to achieve and develop the essential knowledge to occupy a job, and increase the skills necessary for their work progress, satisfying their technical and human needs and those of the company to the which to serve and will serve. (Baquero, p.99)
Training in the company could be defined as a broad reflection process, which implies a progressive, systematic, planned and permanent activity; whose purpose is to prepare, develop and integrate human resources in the organization, through the transfer of knowledge, development of skills and necessary attitudes, for the best performance of workers, in their current and future positions, adapting them to the demands of a changing environment. (Jiménez, p.279)
Training is not an objective in itself but a means to achieve the objectives of the company, a resource to improve performance by enhancing three facets: knowledge, management and attitude. For this purpose, training should not be a collection of isolated activities that are Inserted into the daily routine while respecting the status quo, but should aspire to change it, be a tool for change; and therefore must depend on a strategy and a clear vision of the destination point, both in the long and short term. (Vertex, p.40)
Importance of staff training
According to Baquero (p.99), the higher the degree of training and preparation of the company's staff, the higher their level of productivity, qualitatively and quantitatively. Vocational training programs are one of the most profitable investments, technological progress has a direct and frequent influence on business processes, if the organization does not go hand in hand with this evolution, it will suffer one of the most serious consequences: stagnation, and with it, the setback and the inability to compete in the market or to provide, effectively and efficiently, the services of its competition.
Vocational training, however, should not be geared exclusively towards meeting the purely technological and pragmatic needs of industry or commerce. It is obligatory, on the contrary, to consider the human condition of the worker, without pretending to use training as a means to transform him into a simple production machine. Ultimately, the company will reap higher dividends if it serves the working man as a whole.
Berbel (p.249) explains that at the internal level of the company or organization, training links directly with two main types of priorities:
- Those derived from company policies (customer loyalty, need to improve products and services, expansion, cost control, technological development, to name some of the most common). Those perceived by the organization's staff, in its different work areas and hierarchical levels, regarding the aspects that need to be improved for better performance, both individually and collectively.
In any of the cases, the vision of training not as a cost - although its management does obviously involve direct and indirect costs - but rather as a mandatory and indispensable investment for the survival and progress of the organization is the only appropriate option. when designing, implementing and evaluating your management process.
Objectives of staff training
For Porret (p.208) the purpose of human resource training consists of:
- Improve skills. Prepare HR for the immediate execution of the various specific tasks of the organization. Facilitate opportunities. Provide opportunities for the continuous development of HR, both in their current jobs and for other higher level. Change attitudes. Modify the attitude and behaviors of people, which will affect the work environment, encourage motivation and form more receptive mentalities towards new methods, technologies and organizational changes ”. Increase versatility. Increase the versatility of people and the facilitation of both horizontal and vertical mobility.
The following phrase by Martha Alles summarizes the importance of human resource training in the company:
Organizations train in order to optimize their results, their competitive position. People seek to train themselves to do their job well, to grow personally and professionally, to improve their relative position in the structure, to, in short, have a better standard of living.
How training needs are determined in the company
Porret (p.209) summarizes the needs and levels of business training in the following figure:
Jiménez (p.284) explains that the detection of training needs is the systematic, dynamic and flexible investigation aimed at knowing the deficiencies that a worker manifests within an organization and that prevent him from satisfactorily performing the functions of his position.
A tool used to determine them is the inventory of training or training needs, the main means used to carry it out are:
- Performance evaluation: Through this, it is not only possible to discover the employees who have been executing their tasks below a satisfactory level, but also to find out which sectors of the company demand immediate attention from those responsible for training. Observation: Check where there is evidence of inefficient work, such as equipment damage, delay in schedule, excessive loss of raw material, high number of disciplinary problems, high absenteeism rate, high turnover, etc. Questionnaires: Investigations through questionnaires and checklists that show the training needs. Supervisor and manager requests: When the need for training points to a higher level, managers and supervisors themselves are likely to request training for their staff. Interviews with supervisors and managers: Direct contacts with supervisors and managers regarding problems solvable through training, which are discovered in interviews with those responsible for the various sectors. Inter-departmental meetings: Discussions about matters concerning organizational objectives, operational problems, plans for certain objectives and other administrative matters. Employee examination: Results of the selection examinations of employees who perform certain functions or tasks. Job modification: When partial or total modifications are introduced in work routines, it is necessary to previously train employees in the new work methods and processes. Exit interviews: When the employee is about to leave the company, it is the most appropriate time to know his honest opinion about the company and the reasons that led to his departure. It is possible that deficiencies in the organization will come to light, which can be corrected.
As a complement, an instructive video in which the fundamental challenges, objectives and benefits of the training of human resources in the company are presented, as well as the basic principles of a training plan.
Bibliography
- Alles, Martha Alicia. Strategic management of human resources. Ediciones Granica, 2006, Barquero Corrales, Alfredo. Human resources administration (II part). EUNED, 2005.Berbel Giménez, Gaspar. Human Resources Manual. Editorial UOC, 2011. Jiménez, Daniel Patricio. Human resources manual. ESIC Editorial, 2007 Porret Gelabert, Miquel. Human Resources, ESIC Editorial, 2008.Vértice Editorial. Human resources management. Vertice Publications, 2011.
