Dynamics and organization of a partnership project

The year 2009 represented the consolidation of a new organizational model for managing the training of FMUL’s non-teaching members of staff. This strategy was built through projects and internal dynamics and collaboration between the Department of Administrative Management and the Planning and Assessment Office (later AIGQ).

Procedures associated with the attendance of professional training courses favour the implementation and monitoring of a training plan developed by the training unit of the Department of Administrative Management. Trainees also evaluate their training course. Each course is subsequently assessed in terms of satisfaction by means of a questionnaire. These measures helped rationalise the training courses offered, maintaining the balance between professional groups and the adequacy of the training to the skills profile of FMUL employees.

Professional training as strategic development of human potential

Professional training represents a competitive advantage for individuals and companies, as it enables improving performance at the workplace, the acquisition of new skills along professional careers. It is a tool of excellence to allow (re)adjusting to organizational changes and the milieu in which they occur. Knowledge acquisition based on work-based learning (self-learning) is no longer compatible with current performance needs. Professional training emerges as an enhancer of the productivity of work teams, promoting the increased knowledge of top executives, middle managers and remaining members of staff. It allows the structuring of critical thinking that leads to information sharing and to best management practices, which, in turn, will lead to the success of institutions and of those working in them (CARDIM, 2005:64-66).

Investment in training is a vital process, since it is a critical factor for the development of competencies. In addition, it is a key basis for human resources to perform different roles and interact properly with the new contexts in which they need to work throughout their professional lives (CAETANO, 2007:11).

Skills result from the process of acquiring successive qualifications in a given career. The training provided to employees will lead to an increase in their ability to solve concrete problems at work and to greater efficiency and innovation capacity in real professional situations. Accordingly, professional training is a major variable for the emergence of learning organizations, making them richer in terms of content, more independent, and, above all, more competitive (ALMEIDA, REBELO, 2004:123-131).

Learning organizations produce three levels of learning, represented in the following figure:

Figure 1 – The three levels of learning in qualifying organizations

The strengthening of human resources development is a strategic orientation and a condition for the modernisation and development of services, enabling FMUL to come forward as a learning organization.

Some of the performance indicators listed below show the institution’s commitment and engagement with the professional development of its employees.

Some performance indicators at FMUL in 2009- 2011 

To illustrate the professional training activities at FMUL in the three years under consideration, we present here some performance indicators, namely: a) number of training activities conducted; b) proportion of training courses offered with and without funding; c) most representative training areas; and d) total number of training hours provided and average number of training hours per employee.

Figure 2 – No. of Training Courses conducted between 2009 and 2011 

Figure 3 – Total number of training hours and average number of training hours per non-teaching member of staff of FMUL between 2009 and 2011

Figure 4 – Proportion of training activities with and without funding 

Figure 5 – Most representative training areas between 2009 and 2011

Conclusion

Although the number of training courses has decreased in the three years under consideration, the number of training hours and the average number of training hours per employee have increased significantly.

The percentage of training activities at no cost to FMUL has also increased.

The professional learning of FMUL employees is reflected in the diversity and frequency of courses attended in various areas. However, training has focused predominantly on the fields “Administrative Management and Secretarial Skills” and on “Computing and Information Technologies”. Investment on human beings, on professional development and on the advancement of employees’ skills is part of the strategy for the qualification of FMUL’s human resources.

Internal Assessment and Quality Assurance Multidisciplinary Team (AIGQ)
Human Resources Unit – Training
avaliacao@fm.ul.pt
recursoshumanos@fm.ul.pt
_______________

Bibliography 

ALMEIDA, Paulo Pereira de e REBELO, Glória (2004), A Era da competência: Um novo paradigma para a gestão de recursos humanos e o direito do trabalho, Lisboa, RH Editora

CAETANO, António (cord.) (2007), Avaliação da formação – Estudos em organizações Portuguesas, Lisboa, Livros Horizonte

CARDIM, José Eduardo de Vasconcelos Casqueiro (2005), Formação profissional: Problemas e políticas, Lisboa, UTL-ISCSP