Creating In-Company System Of Personnel Training Based On The Continuing Education Concept

Abstract

The article is devoted to the formation of a system in-company of staff training based on the concept of continuing education. The creation of such a system is one of the important manifestations of the organization's social responsibility to society and its employees. The article discloses the reasons why companies need to constantly train their employees. These include the constant changes taking place in the external and internal environment of the organization, obsolescence of acquired knowledge, increased competition between countries, between companies, etc. In these conditions, continuous staff training becomes an objective necessity. The article formulates the principles on which should be built in-company system of personnel training; their essence and content are disclosed. The principles are grouped into four groups: principles characterizing the requirements for the formation of in-company training; principles of process in-company training; principles that provide and reinforce the interconnection of the training system with the practice of the company (principles of embedding the training system in the company); principles that determine the direction of development of the system of in-company training, which in modern conditions should become a truly learning organization. Particular attention is paid to the interconnection of the career of employees and the forms and methods of their training throughout the career path. The article also discloses the results of the creation and functioning of in-company system of personnel training, which are important both for the company as a whole and for its employees.

Keywords: Continuing educationsystem in-company of staff trainingthe principles of creating in company training of personnel

Introduction

The concept of continuing education is far from new to Russia. However, everybody began to forget about it or, at best, mention it, declare its necessity, without doing anything for it. What is the current situation in Russian organizations?

Surveys of students (learners) in various forms of advanced training and continuing education systems, studying the materials of the practice of various organizations, show that «saving the drowning is the work of the drowning themselves», first of all, the employees themselves are interested in training and professional development, and companies are the last to think about this important area of their activity, explaining this situation by a lack of financial resources. At best, they occasionally provide training. Only the most progressive companies, thinking about tomorrow, create and maintain their own system in-company of personnel training (ICPT). At the same time, the need for lifelong learning of a person is proved by the entire history of the development of organizations in various fields of activity. Caring for the development of our staff is one of the most important manifestations of a company's social responsibility to society and employees.

Problem Statement

Why is continuing training of staff so important for the company? A number of reasons should be highlighted.

1.The modern economic world is distinguished by a constantly changing turbulent external environment, increased competition between companies, and the acceleration of all processes. It should be noted that globalization processes taking place in the world, competition between countries not only in the economy, but also in politics, which ultimately affects the economy, for example, the imposition of sanctions, which is used quite widely today (for and without reason , in our opinion) by the governments of different countries. Under these conditions, companies are looking for various ways and forms to help them survive, stay and lead the market. And all these methods, one way or another, are connected with the organization’s personnel, using its creative potential, and improving the forms and methods of teamwork in the organization. Managers are required, on the one hand, to respond quickly to these changes, and on the other hand, to form strategic thinking, develop communication skills, and trust in working with company personnel.

2.Constant changes in all areas of society, as the main element of the modern world, require continuous updating of knowledge, continuous training of personnel. Once and for all it is impossible to educate a person. The development of scientific and technological progress leads to the emergence of new equipment and technologies, the growth of communication capabilities. Today, the existence of an organization of any type cannot be imagined without the introduction of innovation. And this process inevitably entails a change in some types of work or in general their elimination. Therefore, the qualifications required today for work cannot be guaranteed by basic education.

3.The growing competition between companies shows that today their main key of advantage is personnel, using of whose creative potential allows the company to succeed. In this regard, only companies that has modern systems of continuous ICPT have the ability to respond to any «challenge» of the external environment as soon as possible.

4.It should also be noted that the presence of a permanent system of ICPT in the company is an additional factor in motivating employees to work in it, and strengthens the commitment of the company staff.

5.In a globalized economy, competition is growing not only between companies, but also between countries. At the same time, the leading positions are occupied by countries that have a modern system of engineering and managerial education, both basic higher and postgraduate. And here it is very important, not avoiding global trends, to maintain our own individuality.

6.In today's dynamic economic world, there is an active process of mergers and acquisitions of companies, which leads to a change in the composition of large companies. At the same time, the need to operate them as a whole determines the constant attention to the formation and maintenance of a unified corporate culture, which also requires the establishment of a system of continuous ICPT.

7.Finally, for any organization, it is more efficient and economical to increase the return on existing employees based on their continuous training than to attract new employees. By the way, the principle of workplace stability for staff in managing the organization was put forward in due times by both Henri Fayol, Max Weber, and other management gurus.

Thus, the creation of ICPT system based on the concept of continuing education allows the company to constantly stay afloat.

Research Questions

The implementation of the concept of continuing education when creating a system of ICPT should be based on the principle of systematic, which assumes that the company's management should have a clear development strategy of it for the coming years, based on which the training needs of various categories of personnel are determined, sources of financing are established, concrete learning goals and objectives (a tree of goals and objectives is being built), the learning sequence is determined, training programs are developed, selected forms and methods of training, etc. At the same time, it is very important to understand that training programs must be flexible, and during their implementation, adjustments can be made if necessary. Forms and teaching methods can and should be changed, updated.

The concept of lifelong education is inextricably linked with the principle of regularity of training , which means that every employee of the company and, above all, its managerial staff, headed by top-management, must update their knowledge at regular intervals. And here it is appropriate to note that if you want to learn something yourself, teach others. Therefore, one of the ways to consolidate new knowledge and skills is to teach others what you yourself learned. Trained staff can act as mentors. The main thing is that the training should not be interrupted.

The system of ICPT must meet the principle of compliance with the goals and conditions of the business. Today, training is becoming the main channel for implementing the company's strategy, for the rapid implementation of changes. It should be connected with the business processes of the company and should itself become a business process that is built into the framework of this business. The entire organization ICPT, its content (structure, scope, training programs, forms and methods of training) must conform to the strategic goals and conditions of the company. Having assessed the current situation, knowing the development strategy of the company, it is possible to calculate its need in personnel for today and the future period, to determine the qualities and competencies that should be inherent to the personnel at each position. The foregoing will form the basis of the planning and organization of personnel training in the company. Personnel’s training for a particular company implies that the employee will receive the knowledge and skills necessary for him to work in this company, for which you need to know the specifics of its work, business goals, market position, «portrait» of the company's client, since all this sets the parameters of the company corporate standards. It is exactly on the development of company processes, and not processes in general, on their development that the system of ICPT, the work on creating the intellectual capital of this company should be aimed.

The training system must be adaptive to changes in the external and internal environment. In order to carry out the corresponding changes in the internal environment, highly qualified, competent personnel, ready for them, is needed. According to many specialists in human resources management, for this purpose is being created a system of ICPT. Training must be carried out with a certain margin of time before the inevitable changes in the business process force the company to switch to new production standards. This applies to all categories of personnel, but especially management. Thus, the system of ICPT must meet the requirement (principle) of outrunning training.

The human resources management technological chain will look as follows:

Development of standards – determination of possible changes (where, when, who) – TRAINING – implementation of changes (information processing, task setting, search for solutions) – diagnosis of results. The key link of this chain will be staff training.

Learning is a process of «producing» and adjusting human resources. This requires a concept, and technology, and quality control, as well as in managing the manufacturing process. The process of creating a system of ICPT begins with the will and decision of the management and with the HUMAN; TOP-manager of the company, this activity becomes its most important function. Moreover, a number of options for managing the system of ICPT are possible. For example, personnel training is included in the tasks of human resources management (HR) and can be carried out within the framework of this function and submit to the HR director (traditional approach). Or another option. For example, staff training becomes one of the tasks that is supervised by the director of knowledge management or director of personnel development, etc.

But in any case, when creating the ICPT system, management should form a link that manages this system and determine its place in the company’s management system. This is required by the principle of effective management of the system in-company of staff training

The principle of support and involvement of top-management in the learning process . Support by top-management of the ICPT system is a necessary condition for its effectiveness. First, top management should be aware that staff development is a prerequisite for the stable existence and development of the company. Secondly, it is allocates time and money to the educational process (including the cost of materials and other resources, as well as the payment of remuneration). Thirdly, it increases the importance of learning in the eyes of trainees. Top-management should be directly involved in organizing of system ICPT. It solves the problems of planning and assessment of learning outcomes. The composition of the study group is determined by order of the first leader. The participation of top management in the learning process can be carried out using such forms as speaking to groups of students at the opening or closing of training programs, presence on the defense of the final work performed by students upon completion of training. In addition, not only top-management, but the entire management of the company should be interested both in the development of personnel and in its own development, and take a direct part in the training process both as teaching and as trainees. This will help to improve mutual understanding, establish a common language of communication at different levels and in various units of the company, which, ultimately, will positively affect on the effectiveness of its activities.

Each employee, studying, pursues his goals. However, the company, directing a specific employee to training, also pursues its goals. Therefore, it is necessary to combine the goals of training the employee and the company (the principle of having clear goals for each student) , it is very important to show to the employee the linkage of training with the future results of their activities and their contribution to the overall results of the company. And thus interest him in learning.

Organizing their ICPT system, each company must solve such an important issue as who will teach and train employees. Practice shows that the best result will be obtained if external and own teachers are involved in staff training. This will contribute to better learning. The principle of involving external and internal teachers in the training of company personnel is one of the most important principles for organizing ICPT system. The development of innovative training programs, the application of new effective methods and forms of training, obtaining new practical knowledge with their help is a complex process. It is impossible to organize and achieve brilliant learning outcomes without the joint participation of specialists from various fields of activity: university teachers, consultants from consulting firms and practical managers. The combination of their efforts, knowledge and experience for organizing an innovative educational process is the key to creating an effective ICPT system.

For the selection of external teachers should be approached very carefully, to delve deeper into the content of their programs. At the same time, it would be nice to get acquainted with the methodology of their teaching, the ability to work with an adult audience, since there is certain specificity. Today, thanks to modern information technologies, there is the possibility of distance learning, webinars, videoconferences, with the involvement of interesting specialists in a particular area of knowledge (Stroeva, Zviagintceva, Tokmakova, Petrukhina, & Polyakova, 2019). When choosing internal teachers, it should be understood that not everyone has the talent for teaching, and be very careful about the choice of employees who will provide individual training.

The system ICPT must meet changing external and internal conditions. Changes may relate to training programs, teaching methods and forms, changes in the composition of teachers, etc. The problem of using the latest information technologies in the training processes of various categories of workers is also extremely important. Here the principle of innovation should work. And this is especially important in the context of the digitalization of the economy (Katkalo & Volkov, 2018; Porter & Heppelmann, 2017).

Organizing ICPT system, it is necessary to solve such an important issue as the motivation of teachers (trainers). An additional factor in their motivation is that they gain access to practical materials of the company where the training process is carried out. It is also necessary to motivate internal teachers (mentors, coaches), which will contribute to the development of their interest in this new activity for them. In addition, in the process of study, mentors and trainees receive mutual training, interpersonal communications are established, and developed such an important quality for managers of all levels as the ability to work with people (Parks, 2017); It is also a kind of motivation factor for internal teachers.

It is advisable to build the learning process on the basis of a synthesis of three main approaches: a) an andragogical approach that requires taking into account characteristics of students as adults and people engaged in professional activities; b) a personality-oriented (developing) approach that requires taking into account patterns of development of students as individuals; c) a contextual approach involving the using of the context of the educational process as a condition of the conversion of training into professional ones. This is also an important principle in the personnel training system in the company.

The process of training students needs to be built on the basis of the principle of combining various forms and methods of training , which allows, firstly, to diversify the flow and development of educational material, secondly, to obtain new knowledge and skills, thirdly, to transfer the learning results to the employee’s work.

This principle is associated with the principle of stirring up the process of learning , which involves the widespread use of group working methods and game procedures, the mood of students to contribute to group discussions, to actively participate in game procedures, to minimize of using of lecture presentation during training and maximize the widespread using of active learning methods (analysis of practical situations, business games, training exercises), requiring high personal involvement of students in the educational process(Cadsby, Du, & Song, 2016);

The principle of motivation of students (learners). The motivation for training company employees must be considered from two perspectives: motivation of employees for training by top-managers; motivation of students during the learning process. One of the most important components of employee motivation for training is preferment. The connection of training in system of in-company training with the career growth of employees is presented in table 01 .

Table 1 -
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The principle of the practical orientation of training (utility) comes primarily from the interests of the company. It requires closer linking of the training material offered by the learner with their practical activities and their personal experience. The content of the curriculum and the applied teaching methods should be aimed on the practical using by the trainees of the obtained knowledge and skills (Donker, de Boer, Kostons, van Ewijk, & van der Werf, 2014).

The above-mentioned principle is inextricably linked to the demand for learning outcomes, which is an additional factor in motivating staff to learn. The implementation of the principle of the demand for knowledge and skills acquired during training implies that, firstly, by directing the employee to training, the top- management understands that without it he would not be able to cope with the upcoming work. Secondly, the company needs to create such conditions when the student needs, wants and can put into practice the knowledge and skills gained during training.Organization of a personnel training system in a company requires the implementation of the principle of mandatory monitoring of training and evaluating its effectiveness. Control is needed over how training is conducted and over the application of new knowledge in practice. That is, this kind of feedback, which indicates the effectiveness of training. Evaluation of the effectiveness of training can be carried out by various methods. In particular, Donald Kirkpatrick's model is used (Kirkpatrick, & Kirkpatrick, 2016). This is the most comprehensive and common approach. This model describes four consecutive levels of learning effectiveness evaluation: 1. The reaction. 2. Assimilation. 3. Behavior. 4. The result. For analysis at each level, specially developed techniques are used to obtain reliable information. As the fifth level of the Kirkpatrick model, you can use the formula proposed by J. Philips:

Return on invested capital = Financial learning outcomes (value added) / Training costs.

There are other techniques for evaluation the effectiveness of training, for example, Stafflebeam, Bern. Each of these techniques has its own advantages and disadvantages. However, today, there is no ideal technique for evaluation the effectiveness of training, which would include all the necessary evaluation parameters (Udovidchenko & Kireev, 2014). The formation and development of ICPT system should take into account past experience, developing and supplementing it ( the principle of continuity ). An analysis of each stage in the development ICPT gives to the company the opportunity to evaluate its positive and negative sides, identify problems and try to solve them in the future. The functioning of ICPT system should be inseverable linked with such principles as the principle of the interconnection of training with the creation of a knowledge management system in the company and with the principles of functioning of learning organizations (Senge; 2006).

Purpose of the Study

The objectives of this research are to determine the benefits that the company and its employees receive as a result of the creation and functioning of the system ICPT based on the concept of continuing education; formulation and disclosure of the essence of the principles of creating in-company system of personnel training based on the concept of continuing education; determining the interconnection of forms and methods of training with the career stages of an employee of the company.

Research Methods

As research methods, survey methods were used: questionnaires, interviews, interviews with students of various forms of preparation at the University: students of MBA, MBI, additional professional training, etc. Also, the authors of the article studied and analyzed practical materials of companies activities related with continuing education of the staff.

Findings

Research of the practice of domestic and foreign companies to create a system of ICPT and its functioning on the basis of the concept of continuing education has shown that this is important for the realization of the interests of companies and their employees (table 02 ).

Table 2 -
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The system ICPT should be based on certain principles, which can be grouped as follows (figure 01 ).

Conclusion

The considered basic principles of creating a system of in-company staff training based on the concept of continuing education should be implemented in interconnection and interaction. Their combination depends on the specific operating conditions of the company. However, you should be aware that the systemic using of these principles is the main condition for the effectiveness of training in the corporation. The implementation of the principles of building a personnel training system in a company will lead to results in which both the company as a whole and its individual employees are interested.

Figure 1: The principles of building in-company system of personnel training based on the concept of continuing education
The principles of building in-company system of personnel training based on the concept of continuing education
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References

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About this article

Publication Date

09 March 2020

eBook ISBN

978-1-80296-078-5

Publisher

European Publisher

Volume

79

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Edition Number

1st Edition

Pages

1-1576

Subjects

Business, business ethics, social responsibility, innovation, ethical issues, scientific developments, technological developments

Cite this article as:

Serebryakova, G. V., Sycheva*, S. M., & Shramchenko, T. B. (2020). Creating In-Company System Of Personnel Training Based On The Continuing Education Concept. In S. I. Ashmarina, & V. V. Mantulenko (Eds.), Global Challenges and Prospects of the Modern Economic Development, vol 79. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 804-814). European Publisher. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2020.03.116