Why is the development of employees’ skills important?
Unfortunately, in many companies it is wrongly assumed that personnel development does not pay off. Employers fear that once their employees have improved their skills and expanded their knowledge, they will leave to work for another company. As a consequence, their company will lose the time and money invested in the skills of the employee. Based on the experience of the major players on the market – the above-mentioned assumption is false.
Ensuring constant development and training of employees translates into a number of benefits for both the company and its personnel. After all, each business is based on human resources. Investing in the development of human capital adds to the success of the organisation and makes the company more competitive on the market. An employee who makes sure there is room for development will be more effective and motivated to work. If this person is adequately remunerated for his/her work, the company should not be concerned with losing such an employee. On the contrary, the company benefits from the improved effectiveness of its personnel and, by the same token, higher quality of the rendered services, which translates into customer satisfaction or increased production volume and therefore higher income generated by the company.
By investing in people, you build your company up
Constant improvement of competences of employees should be a key element of the strategy of every company aiming at maintaining its competitive edge. Competences, defined as a combination of practical skills, knowledge and social qualities, affect how an employee handles his/her responsibilities and how effective this employee is in doing so. Therefore, the employer should make every effort to provide is employees with professional development opportunities.
How can the IQS help with the development of the skills of an employee?
It is expected that a candidate for a new employee will have the knowledge and the skills relating to the position he/she is applying for. The Integrated Qualifications Register (IQR) is a useful tool, which aids in selecting the right candidate. The information included in the IQR supports career planning. With the IQR, the person interested in the attainment of the qualification can check, what he/she has to know and be able to do in order to be awarded the qualification. For companies, this information is a valuable guideline in terms of the direction of changes and development of its personnel.
Effects of the development of employees’ competences:
- Improved qualifications of employees translate into increased effectiveness and professionalism. This way, both the quality and the productivity of the organisation increases, which directly affects its profits. According to 2015 Saratoga Human Capital Benchmarking study by PWC, each PLN 1 invested in the development of an employee yields a 160% profit for the company.
- When a company invests in the development of its employees, they identify with the company more and display increased engagement and loyalty. This reduces staff fluctuation as well as the costs related to the process or recruitment of new employees.
- The possibility to attend training courses boosts employees’ motivation. By providing training opportunities for its personnel, the company demonstrates that it cares for the development of its human resources and takes the need for development and and self-fulfilment of the staff seriously.
- By participating in training courses, employees develop their soft competences and improve their interpersonal skills. This has a positive effect on the communication within the company and consequently reduces the number of conflicts and improves the atmosphere in the workplace.
- With better-qualified personnel, the company can gain competitive edge and strengthen its corporate image.
How to choose the right training for employees?
The Integrated Qualifications System (IQS) helps in selecting appropriate training courses for employees. With clearly defined qualifications and the system for their confirmation, it is easier to choose the right training which corresponds not only to the company’s area of activity but also to the demand of the labour market and the capabilities of the employees. While browsing through the available qualifications, we also have access to descriptions of qualifications providing the following information:
- The profile of the qualification, including information on the activities and tasks to be handled by the person possessing the given qualification.
- Persons who might be interested in the attainment of the qualification as well as its typical uses – based on which, we may decide if the qualification is useful and progressive for our company.
- Conditions to be met by the person undergoing validation – with this knowledge, we can appoint employees eligible for training and subsequently for the attainment of the certificate confirming the awarding of the given qualification.
- The demand for the qualification – identifies the need for a particular qualification on the labour market. With this information, we can determine the value of an employee with the given skill and what our company can gain by employing personnel with this qualification.
- Comparison to similar qualifications – this section will tell us, if there is an employee in our company, who possesses similar skills and if so, we can choose to help this employee develop the skills needed in his/her line of work.
- A summary of the opinions elicited in the course of the consultations devoted to the qualification draft – points to the opinion issued by the ERI. This information will tell us, if it is worth sending employees to a training course relating to the attainment of the given qualification.
When choosing the right training, we recommend taking the potential and inclinations of the employee into consideration. A combination of aptitude of a given person with the possibilities which the company gains from the attainment of the given qualification will enable the development of our personnel and thus increase the attractiveness of our company on the market.
