Only 60% of workers receive general training, which is “an astonishingly low percentage,” the Acerta human-resources agency and the Belgian jobs website Jobat.be disclosed on Friday following a study conducted among 3,700 workers. Last year, 41% of respondents received no general training and 49% were given no technical training.
Employers are normally required by law to provide two days of training per year for their workers under an existing legislation on feasible and manageable work, the Peeters Law.
"Training ensures that workers remain marketable, that you as a company have a response to the growing robotisation and automation, that you can take on people according to their skills and competencies, rather than concrete aptitudes, and you can become an attractive employer,” said Acerta Consult director Benoît Caufriez. This, he said, was a win-win situation.
One in three workers (32%) said they would like to receive a personal training budget, even if it meant a smaller gross pay. “This is training in the broadest sense of the word, so it includes training that bears no relation to one’s work,” the Acerta director explained. And 37% of respondents said they themselves were ready to invest in training that would help them perform their present tasks even better.
More than 50% were ready to invest their own money and resources in training that aroused their interest but had no bearing on the current or possible future professional context at the workplace.
For Benoît Caufriez, when the training is liable to benefit both worker and employer, the ideal thing is for its implementation to be the subject of a joint agreement focusing on the worker’s motivation and results for the employer.
The study further showed that only 34% of companies checked to see whether elements learned in training were effectively put into practice at the workplace. “This weak percentage implies that employers too often view [training] as a waste of time and not an opportunity,” the Acerta director suggested.
Finally, 64% of respondents preferred internal training conducted within the company and with colleagues. Only 34% preferred training outside their places of work.
The Brussels Times
