Why Implement Vocational Training for Employees Within Your Company?

We live in an uncertain world: companies are no longer planning for five years as was the case before but for one or two years. Only 40.9% of them plan to recruit new employees in the coming years and 70.4% of business leaders consider that competitive pressure is “strong” or “very strong” according to a study published by the Economic Observatory. This competition is not only strong for companies as an entity but for employees an individuals. It is therefore important to promote vocational training for employees.

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Is Vocational Training for Employees Necessary?

A 2012 survey showed that 32% of employees fear being unemployed in the coming months. Whatever the domain of activity, everyone knows that while they may be important, they are not irreplaceable. The crisis has allowed most to realize that professional life is constantly changing. We are no longer destined to enter a company at 20 and leave at 60 so we must prepare to evolve as we go along. There is not much worse for morale than being stuck in the same dead-end job for years on end with little to no hope of promotion or evolution within the company.

Although state aid and public bodies make training attractive for companies, there are inequalities between large and small companies. The Ariane skills and management association showed that only 54% of executives and managers of SMEs had access to vocational training compared to 75% for their counterparts in large companies due to a lack of time for 79% of them.

Vocational training for employees allows you to increase your employability and develop new skills to adapt to the demands of the market.

Advantages for employees

What does the company gain by implementing vocational training for its employees? First of all, it is a lever for the human resources policy as proper training increases employee loyalty, attracts new employees and capitalizes on experience.

In-company training promotes the internal mobility of employees and anticipates retirement. Workforce training can help individuals to improve on a personal level. It has been proven that vocational training can help employees to develop social competencies and improve health-related behaviour, as well as having a positive impact on a person’s attitude, motivation, self-confidence and self-esteem. Vocational training also brings a new team spirit and skills to the company, resulting in employees who evolve and feel more fulfilled in their jobs. Acquiring new skills makes it possible to launch new challenges: employees are mobile and the company gains in expertise. 

Companies, like employees, can adapt more easily to the fluctuations of the market: they increase their competitiveness whereas their competitors will be less flexible.

The moral of the story:

Investing in vocational training for employees means combining the present and the future with concern for the employees and results

Philippe Bloch, lecturer and team leader

Consequences of Vocational Training

What are the consequences of vocational training? We are advocating a transformation of HR processes: going from occasional and directed training to continuous and more diverse training. Employees would be involved in the progression of their career and guided by a plan to acquire new skills. They would be more hands-on and involved with the organization of their own vocational training and thus more likely to want to carry it out and succeed and even do more training afterwards. Careful, though: an employee with fresh new skills and knowledge might start looking to take them elsewhere. Make sure your compensation and integration policies are on point, too!