Posted in seccion blog - Blog
PSICOTEC has prepared a survey by means of the webpage www.psicotec.es, with the aim to know if the companies give their personnel the opportunity to retrain so that they could improve their professional performance; the obtained results reflect a worrying situation because of the scarcity of investments made in formation on the part of the companies.
Taking into consideration the age category, those who surpass the age of 40 occupying managing positions, in a majority, gave an affirmative answer with respect to the participation in formative activities.
What can be done to transform this tendency?
First of all, assuming that the Formation in the company helps to resist to the constant changes that can affect it: social changes, changes regarding the management of the organizations, technology used for the fulfilment of tasks, and those ones that are connected to the motivations and desires of the people who work, etc.
In the formative process there has to exist a relation between the reality of the job of a person (what he has to do) and what he needs to know for the right know-how (knowledge, attitude and behaviour).
This is the area where the Formation is performing; the supply of knowledge, attitudes and conducts necessary for a better realization of a function or position of work.
If companies do not dedicate enough effort to form their personnel, it will diminish their possibilities of development and growth, it will not let their personnel to increase their range of capacities, and they will be in worse position to compete with others, etc.
Some errors usually made by the Management of the Formation:
1) Those companies that carry out sporadic processes of formation, considering it as a punctual response to a concrete need, without regarding it as a constant evolutionary method. In this case the formation is more likely to be a reaction than anticipation.
2) The formation is not centred on the job and there is not enough time dedicated to diagnose the real and concrete needs. Often groups with totally different needs take part in the formative actions. As a result of this type of actions, in many cases, the message is distorted and the level of attention/participation disperses.
3) Regarding the formation of managers there is a tendency to think that that they are already formed in managerial skills, without bearing in mind that the rapid changes which the organizations are submitted to demand a constant update. The aptitude to orientate conducts and behaviours – is essential in performance of a leader – it is an arduous task, with constant challenges, which requires continuous learning.
4) In general, there is very little formation for the intermediate managers or sometimes it does not exist at all, since they are considered to be keys of the production and, therefore, they cannot miss their job. They are considered as protagonists of the daily operations so nothing can "distract" them from their job.
5) The evaluation is insufficient since, there do exist post-study questionnaires but, later, the grade of application and putting in practice of the knowledge and/or acquired skills is not taken in count. In general, we can say that the putting into practice is scarce.
A more exact formative model
Considering all these premises, and taking in consideration the value of the Formation as a resource that helps to resist the multiple challenges of an organization, it should be based on the following:
Needs that are shared by a number of persons, for example; to improve an activity, to perfect a skill, to learn a technology or a new form of work, to change an attitude or behaviour to improve the relation with others (collaborators, partners, clients, providers), etc.
Definition of objectives orientated to the practice and to the consecution of a certain level of learning.
The responsible of the formation, as an expert who guides the group, has to administer and manage different methodologies he is authorized with to achieve the fulfilment of the expectations of the persons taking part in the project. The work methods must appear before the proper realization of the formative activity, and cover each of its stages.
The success of the formative process can be reached by means of a constant interrelation with the group. It must be based on continuous connection between the person responsible for the formation and the group, so that progress and advancement could be perceived during the development of the formative action.
The best evaluation of any formative process must be capable of measuring and quantifying the progress of each participant in putting into practice the obtained knowledge, attitudes and conducts that they had worked on during the formative action.
Therefore, if we conceive the Formation as a real strategic value, we will achieve a better adaptation to all kinds of periods and business cycles and, in the meantime, it is formula of progress for individuals and organizations, as well as a rapid and effective procedure to resist the changes of the environment.
Pedro César Martínez
The director of the Formation and Consultancy Department
PSICOTEC
