The 4 keys to managing training credits in companies

Knowing how to correctly manage the training credits available to companies is fundamental.

If anything characterizes the ability of companies to be viable in the long term, it is the way in which they develop models for managing their tangible and non-tangible resources. At the end of the day, no matter how much financing and material support an organization has in its first months of life, it will be of little use if it cannot find a formula that allows the project to be stable for years to come, when that money has already been spent and the rest of the initial assets are out of date or it no longer makes sense to continue using them.

However, more than a few companies make the mistake of focusing only on the resources that can be easily located in a tally of available assets: those that can either be seen and touched or can be reduced to a number. There is one thing that escapes such a reductionist view of an organization's assetsTheoretical and practical knowledge of the workforce, and their potential to easily acquire more skills and areas of expertise.

This is why, in the Spanish context, it is crucial to to know how to correctly manage the training credit available to each company through FUNDAE (Fundación Estatal para la Formación en el Empleo (State Foundation for Employment Training).

Key ideas to properly manage the training credit in companies.

The training credit available to companies should be seen as a tool for organizational development and, therefore, as a set of opportunities to improve their ability to adapt to the market and to attract and apply talent. It should not be forgotten that for companies to be viable, they cannot depend solely on hiring experts at times when a deficit of knowledge and technical skills is detected in the workforce, among other things because it is precisely this lack of updated professionals that prevents them from recognizing the need to recruit new talent. This lack of up-to-date professionals prevents companies from recognizing this type of situation..

However, in order to squeeze the potential of the training credit, it is necessary to have the necessary knowledge and protocols to make the best possible use of it, without simply allocating it to activities that may be eye-catching and constitute a "gimmick" with repercussions only at the marketing level. Let's take a look at the key ideas to be considered in order to manage these credits in the best possible way and integrate them into the strategic aspects of the organization..

1. Maintain a good incentive system from the outset

In order to take advantage of training credits, it is essential that, beyond the management of these credits, the company has been able to generate a good working environment and work dynamics and incentives that motivate people to stay on the job, even if they are the first in their department. even if they are the first in their department to learn key skills. In this way, their influence on the company will go beyond applying the knowledge learned only to their job for a few months, until they decide to leave the company for another that offers them the possibility of making full use of the skills they know how to put into practice.

For this, among other things, it is good to take measures to link these training processes to the opening of promotion and advancement channels: the acquisition of new knowledge deserves to be reflected in the contractual relationship that the worker maintains with the company, and that is not negative: it is a valve that allows to keep on staff those who bring more added value, making both parties win in the medium and long term.

2. Rely on experts and department heads when deciding on training areas.

As we have already mentioned, the ability to detect deficits cannot be totally detached from the ability to detect "know-how" deficits and the knowledge and experience in that area. and the knowledge and experience in that area of work.

Therefore, it is important that the decision on how to manage training credits is not taken unilaterally and always from the top down: advice and guidance must be sought from both Human Resources staff and leading experts in the departments, so that they can contribute their vision on the challenges that the company must face and the type of skills that are needed.

3. Distinguishing between exploratory training and instrumental training

It is not always necessary to train in something having made the decision that this knowledge will become part of the methodologies and tools used on a daily basis by the workers concerned.

It can also be positive to train key profiles in an area of knowledge, so that they can simply to get in touch with new resources and ways of working, knowing their positive and negative aspects.. These "exploratory" training strategies help to make strategic decisions by really knowing what you are deciding on, before making a large expenditure that might not have brought benefits or productivity improvements. In addition, they can be used to learn more about the competition that does use these methodologies and tools.

4. Delineate common and differentiated training lines

There are skills that are useful in practically any area of work, while others might only be used by others may only be used by members of certain departments or levels of task distribution..

Being clear about this will help to make a correct distribution of training offers, without exposing part of the staff to the frustrating experience of having to learn about something they do not understand nor have the opportunity to use in their work or private life, and also, it will be necessary to avoid as far as possible the comparative grievance that some groups of the company have access to a large training offer and others barely have access to generic courses (this kind of situations generate conflicts and worsen the work environment, especially considering that training is linked to the possibilities of promotion).

Do you want to become a professional in the management of corporate training processes?

As we have seen, employee training is one of the basic pillars of Human Resources. Beyond the well-known and colorful personnel selection process, HR departments need to develop programs to strengthen and retain the expressed or latent talent that already exists within the organization, both to create a more satisfactory work environment capable of offering exciting job prospects, and to allow the company to adapt to new times and new goals in the most efficient way possible.

If you are interested in becoming a professional in this field, we invite you to know the University Master's Degree in Selection and Talent Management organized by the University of Malaga (UMA).. It is a one and a half year training program that addresses the two fundamental theoretical and practical blocks in Human Resources: Personnel Selection and Talent Promotion in organizations, with collaborators and teaching staff from the most important companies operating in Spain, among them, as well as the possibility of doing internships in many of them. To learn more, visit the Master's website or contact our team.