Planning: the key to success in staff training

Abstract

Every business plan has to be planned, in a more or less detailed and constant way, to ensure that, at least in a theoretical context and in anticipation, the resources are available in form, cost and the most appropriate time possible with the desire to act efficiently. If this is important in the majority of the actions of a company, it is especially important in the training policy for employees. Without sufficient planning, the company risks that its investment in training becomes more expenses. In this paper, we discuss not only the crucial nature of this work prior to the development of training actions, but also the most frequently instruments used in each phases of the planning process, including the most difficult: its evaluation.

This is the specific stage which will provide data to argue the continuation of the learning processes selected, or the need to correct the localized deviations of the results that had been planned to obtain. Therefore, it's important to choose the suitable evaluation method for the specific purpose that the company wants to achieve. Some of the targets will have a quantitative nature, and will present the possibility of drawing conclusions from commonly accepted indicators in the financial area (which, usually, decides whether the continuation of the training policy), that is the case of «return on investment», or ROI. Others will be qualitative in nature, and therefore much more complex to measure and treat, but equally important for a company that has to act and adapt to a dynamic and changing environment.

Finally, we make a brief reference to the ways in which ongoing education is reflected in labor arrangements, and the possibility that, through their representatives in the company, the workers get involved in the planning of such training.