When we started the year, at a time still pre-COVID, a training plan was defined as a competitive tool in attracting and retaining talent. Due to the changes that 2020 has brought us, we considered that it would be necessary to review the strategy outlined.
With a changing world, the way we relate and how we work has changed, we have learned to work together at a distance, to value (even more) the monitoring and development of our teams. By revising our methodologies and strategies, we understood that the way in which we perceive human resources management and training has inevitably changed.
For some companies, for example in the technological area, embarking on this digital transformation overnight was relatively simple. We set up our desk, brought the computer, said goodbye at a distance and a “see you soon” to the place that welcomes us every day. For other companies, this change implied a complete overhaul of their way of working.
In terms of training, both the training / development departments of the companies and the training companies themselves had to react quickly – review and adapt the plans made, define new modalities and priorities. We entered a more digital world, where the live-training format gained prominence, since, being in real time, it continues to ensure a direct monitoring of the trainees, the clarification of doubts and the dynamics in the relationship between the trainer and the trainees. We have also seen the proliferation of webinars and events 100% online.
The business has adapted, and we have adapted with it. Or was it the other way around?
This is where training proves to be an important tool. A company’s ability to adapt and reinvent itself is related to its employees’ ability to adapt and grow. Investing not only in continuous training, but in a learning culture, contributes for the employees to have the opportunity to develop their skills in a transversal and sustained way, be they technical, methodological, or behavioral.
The increase in digital mode initiatives has also brought us to recognize the importance of technological training within companies. It is increasingly necessary to look at technological training, not only in a perspective of professional requalification / retraining, as has been the bet of many companies and educational institutions, but as a way of adapting the most diverse functions to a constantly changing world. It is essential to ensure that employees, regardless of the area and sector in which they work, have the necessary technological proficiency either to work remotely or to adapt to new systems, machines, etc.
The investment that a company makes in training, whether formal or informal, has been assumed as a differentiating factor and of added value for employees, for example when deciding between two companies. They want to feel that they are part of a company that invests in its evolution, which prepares them, not only for the current functions, but for what they may be in the future.
The investment in training is an investment, not only in individual growth, but also in the future of the company, in the motivation and commitment of employees and, consequently, in the quality of the services provided.
By Sandra Caeiro
Talent and Quality Consultant da askblue