Businesses are established to make profits while individuals in entities strive to improve their knowledge and skills. At a point in time (unfortunately not a very long time ago), we used to consider the two courses of action as having conflicting intentions. The dogmatic belief was, and for some still is, that employers and employees have different interests. However, experience has taught us that the main actors within the employment framework, that is, labour, capital and the state, are interdependent.

Now that there is broad appreciation of training, learning and development as the essential requirements for the employees’ effectiveness and efficiency, and ultimately for the overall well being of the organisation and the country, the next hurdle is to address the ‘conflict’ between employers and employees regarding the form and funding of training and development. In an endlessly frenzied labour market, which is becoming more and more competitive, the bone of contention remains with how much return employers expect to derive from the investment made in human resources development. Other practical problems are those concerning micro and small firms (the majority of companies in Malta), which more often than not find it more difficult to replace employees that are training during working hours off-site, or to stretch the training expenditure across a relatively small wage bill. Besides, at present, it is unlikely that employees spend all their working life with a single employer, so in a way, continuous career development and lifelong learning are considered to be the responsibility of the employer as well as that of the employees. Locally, the mushrooming of private educational institutions and the increasing number of individuals who are enrolling in distance learning courses, are just two examples which indicate that the Maltese are comprehending the reality that employees ought to invest in their own personal knowledge too and not just wait for the employer to do so. As a matter of fact, employees, particularly those working in the service industry or in manufacturing companies where investment in new technology is made, are realising that they have to continue equipping themselves just to keep themselves on track in their job, let alone get a promotion or a better job offer.

In reality, changes at the place of work are continuously sought at both ends of the age continuum of the workforce. For the ‘elderly’ employees, the concern is how they will update themselves or replace their traditional skills that are now obsolete. In contrast, the issue for the ‘young’, in particular those without higher qualifications, is to smooth the progress of their development to enable them to move into stable and fulfilling jobs.

As will be discussed at the next seminar the FHRD is organising in May, improvements in the quality and quantity of the employees’ skills and knowledge will play a vital role in determining the companies’ and eventually the county’s overall economic performance. Even though the wage-cost variable, studies have shown that a highly skilled workforce offer more opportunities to increase productivity and competitiveness. Undeniably, in an always-changing environment, for companies to continue functioning efficiently they must invest in the training and development of their employees in sync with their investment in technology, research and innovation.

Meanwhile, in the world of work, phrases such as ‘employability’, ‘flexibility’, ‘adaptability’, ‘life-long learning’ and the ‘learning organisation’, are increasingly used to set out the main goals of the latest education and training programmes. A quick look at the local scenario confirms that both the employers’ associations and the trade union movement are explicitly in favour of the investment employers dedicate to training. To the extent that in the collective bargaining framework, obligations and rights associated with learning and development are agreed. Additionally, these ‘innovative’ concepts/processes are periodically brought forward in the country’s national agenda and discussed among the social partners, such as the MCESD. From the trade unions’ perspective, experience illustrates that although the connotations with training are usually positive, yet for some employees this is not always the case. For example, with respect to training sponsored by the employer, the employees might be preoccupied as regards redundancies or demotions if they do not pass or get good grades. Therefore, although trade unions are generally in favour of training initiatives, they are expected to address the anxieties and apprehensions that some of their members, especially those who are illiterate and those who have more or less reached retirement age, might have.

Ultimately, the ongoing challenge for the human resources development managers remains to develop competences that will sponsor the growth and competitiveness their organisations require to progress with the various business trajectories. Definitely, mitigating training costs, as an investment in human capital is not straightforward. Situations such as the latest economic crises shed doubts on the importance of training. In such cases managers might consider practices such as subcontracting as more cost effective. Nevertheless, managers from all professions must always remember that experience and research reveal that the right investment, on a long term basis in human assets manage to adapt effectively to the global labour market changing environments.

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Rebecca Gatt is a director on the board of the Foundation for Human Resources Development. The topic for her article will be amply discussed at the seminar the Foundation is organizing on 28 May at 2pm at the Intercontinental Hotel, St Julians, entitled “‘The Alignment of Knowledge and Skills to Business Success”. For seminar details visit www.fhrd.org.

The seminar is being sponsored by Air Malta plc, Employment and Training Corporation, FIMBank plc, International Safety Training Centre Ltd, Keep Me Posted, Koperattivi Malta, Outlook Coop, Reed Consulting Malta and IBM-SPSS, Standard Publications Ltd, St Martins Institute of Information Technology, Studio 7 Co. Ltd, and The Insiter Magazine.