From a professional or employment perspective, maintaining continuous training is of great importance in order to adapt to the changing labour market, thus improving the range of professional opportunities.
Continuous training not only has an impact on professional performance, but also helps the well-being of each individual by promoting growth from both perspectives, personal and professional.
But before continuing to analyse why training is important, what exactly do we mean by this term?
What is training?
Defined by the RAE (in Spanish) as ‘the action and effect of training or being trained’, training can also be understood as the process by which individuals acquire different aspects such as attitudes, abilities, skills or knowledge for their professional and personal development.
Using different methods and in professional environments that can be formal or informal, when we talk about educational training we are referring to training that seeks to develop capacities of a diverse nature, such as cognitive, affective or practical.
What is continuous training and what types are there?
By continuous education we understand the acquisition of new knowledge, skills and/or competences, as we have mentioned before, throughout a person’s life.
This has become essential given that we are facing a world in constant evolution as we are fully immersed in an unstoppable digital revolution.
Types of continuous training
There are numerous activities that can be considered as different types of continuous training.
They range from online courses, workshops and seminars, certification programmes, conferences or training in technical skills to training in social skills, language courses and there are even those who include volunteering as part of continuous training, an activity that even has a specific day: 5 December, when the International Volunteer Day is commemorated.
Benefits of continuous training
Continuous training offers advantages on two fronts: on the one hand, those that benefit the employee and, on the other, those that benefit the company.
Let’s look at some examples of each.
Continuous training for employees: benefits
Improving professional knowledge and skills is one of the advantages that continuous training offers workers, as it can be a way of opening up new challenges or professional horizons.
Related to this, we can also talk about greater employability for those who are continuously training.
In the same way, training results in improved productivity by generating greater efficiency; likewise, adaptability to change (whether of roles or even of sector) is another of the advantages associated with continuous training.
From a less pragmatic, but equally important, point of view, the level of satisfaction and self-confidence can also be increased thanks to the perception of learning and progress linked to training. In short: a boost to self-esteem.
Advantages of continuous training for companies
Thanks to continuous training, companies have workforces with a greater number of skills as a result of increased abilities and knowledge, which has a positive effect on productivity.
Training can also help workers to identify and/or correct certain inefficiencies that may be occurring, as well as helping to create an environment in which creativity and innovation are encouraged, which can indirectly influence problem solving.
In addition, training can increase staff satisfaction and thus make it easier to retain talent. In this sense, the corporate culture of companies is also reinforced thanks to training which, as we have been discussing throughout the article, leads to the professional and personal growth of employees.
Universitas, an example of a corporate university
Telefónica’s corporate university, Universitas, is an example of continuous learning that calls for ‘responding to the changing context in which we live and which requires continuous reskilling from companies’.
These courses, as defined on the website itself, promote ‘leadership and growth, both personal and professional’.
