Tweet

2.2.2 The concept of training: Contributory factors

Written by: International Labour Organization

Article Overview: The general failure to clarify precisely what activities should be included in "training to overcome EVSE" has resulted in considerable confusion and vagueness.

2.2.2 The concept of training: Contributory factors

The general failure to clarify precisely what activities should be included in "training to overcome EVSE" has resulted in considerable confusion and vagueness. The conventional dictionary definition of training is "to prepare for a performance or a task(s) by instruction". Generally, this involves a trainer instructing trainees in a formal classroom or workshop setting. The traditional concept of 'vocational education and training' is very much in accordance with this view of training. The main objective of VET is to furnish the technical and management skills and help develop appropriate attitudes for specific occupations and jobs: It is the "ordered and systematic transmission of skills and dexterities and of technical know how for workers in skilled and semi-skilled occupations" (CINTERFOR, 1997).

Governments in developing countries have established networks of VET institutions in order to supply the high and middle level 'manpower' needed to meet ambitious objectives laid out in development plans and elsewhere. In particular, national manpower development has been inextricably linked with state-led import industrialisation strategies. Consequently, public sector VET has come to be closely associated with the widespread failure of this particular development model. Moreover, as formal qualifications have been increasingly used by employers to screen potential job applicants, chronic credentialism has become pervasive as the supply of job seekers has far exceeded the jobs that are available. There is a strong feeling, therefore, that public sector VET provision is increasingly socially wasteful and, ultimately, dysfunctional.

It is clear, however, that training can embrace any instruction, advice or other type of purposeful activity that seeks to enhance the capabilities of targeted individuals and/or groups through the provision of relevant knowledge and/or development of specific skills. Income generating projects, for example, that enable groups of EVSE to learn new social and technical skills may not include any formal training courses, but assistance provided by an NGO or other provider can facilitate the development of these skills. The problem with broadening the definition of training in this way is that it may become too all-inclusive as a concept and the notion of a 'national training system' could lose any operational meaning since all learning modalities are included.

The conventional concept of training is, in many ways, being superseded by a much wider definition which focuses on activities that promote learning and skill acquisition through empowerment and capacity building but which are not considered to be training per se. In other words, the training function is itself becoming invisible, not so much because it is being ignored or excluded (hence the 'training crisis'), but because it is being more closely integrated or 'embedded' in a range of financial and non-financial interventions that seek to achieve sustainable improvements in the livelihoods of the poor. Many organisations are reluctant to describe what they do as 'training' because, with the growing emphasis on individual and community empowerment, the notion that poverty reduction entails a simple transfer of a discrete body of knowledge and skills from the 'haves' to the 'have nots' is politically and intellectually objectionable. Traditional training approaches are, therefore, being fundamentally questioned, to the extent that there is a denial that training is taking place at all!

In particular, with the advent of the New Poverty Agenda in the early 1990s, supporting microenterprises has become a major focus of governments, donor agencies and NGOs. While skills development is key objective of the microenterprise programmes/projects, most enterprise development organisations do not regard themselves as training organisations. In a very real sense, therefore, because the training function is losing its institutional identity, many specialised training institutions are faced with an identity crisis.

Whatever concept of training is actually adhered to, it is clear that 'training to overcome economic vulnerability' embraces a much wider set of skills than just conventional technical and managerial competencies. These include basic literacy and numeracy, social and political 'awareness '(gender training being a prime example) and life skills. Interventions that facilitate 'personal development' by raising self-esteem, confidence and motivation are the main objective of many NGO interventions. Similarly, it is generally accepted that enterprise development and income generating projects require more complex combinations of skills with much heavier emphasis on social and management skills rather than narrowly defined technical competencies.

EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING
PAPERS
43
Learning to change: Skills
development among the
economically vulnerable and
socially excluded in
developing countries
Paul Bennell
Employment and Training Department
International Labour Office Geneva
First published 1999

Related Articles
  SME's - a solution for Africa
  Critical Success Factors
  10.0 Training – business management and technical skills: Support for Growth-oriented Women Entrepreneurs in Tanzania, 2005
  Sales Training Materials that Work!
  Count more than the money

Article Tags: ambitious objectives, credentialism, developing countries, development model, dictionary definition, formal classroom, formal qualifications, job seekers, main objective, management skills, manpower development, public sector, purposeful activity, relevant knowledge, skilled occupations, strong feeling, trainees, vagueness, vet, vocational education and training



Related Forum Posts
How to Evaluate a Start-Up Franchise - Every mature franchise chain you see today was once a start-up franchise with just a few locations. Success didn't happen overnight and it didn't happen with good luck, either: many factors were involved to take a one or two location franchise national, even international. Without a doubt, one of these factors is the willingness of a few risk-tolerant franchisees to jump on board a budding concept and help it to grow. At least twenty new franchise concepts are being born every month, one of them which may have caught your eye. But before you buy, here are some warning signs to look for when evaluating a start-up franchise venture that looks good from far, but may actually be far from good.
Re: Top 50 MLM blogs for 2010 - Hi GT. That very subject came up in my Facebook group last week. MLM has taken it's lumps in decades past, but the trend seems to be moving the other way now. When you think about it, most of the affiliate programs out there are borrowing on the concept of MLM. MLM is still the best way for someone to generate a substantial residual income from home. The investment is low and it can easily be started in your spare time. The trick is to have the right training and the right company. And no, the training does not have to be the one provided by the company. The training I use is completely generic. They have up to 10 live training calls a week and there is never any product or company mentioned nor is there any affiliate program attached to it. It's a completely free mentoring and coaching system. The fact that it is not an affiliate program meant a lot to me. I am skeptical of any "recommendation" where the person is making money from it. It makes people question the motives involved.
Training - Louis: Some regulated industries mandate that you attend training. However, even then, finding time to meet those requirements becomes an issue. This may explain the growth of tele-seminars. To answer your questions though, ROI is very important and everyone needs to sell or market no matter what they do. The best tip I ever got on training is not to pitch training as training b/c even big companies have limited budgets for training but training rebranded as "sales support." It makes the ROI argument that much more appealing. Hope that helps. Good luck.
Poll: How many search results do you analyze of competitors - If you are trying to emulate your competition or let's say a competitor who is in the top search results you may examine certain factors in the SERPs such as keyword usage in the Title Tag, on page factors like keyword density, keyword prominence or keyword proximity in the body text, plus other on page factors. I know quite a few students of SEO like to do this as a way to improve their own search visibility. Here is this Poll question. If you were to examine competitors within the top results, how far down the list of SERPS would you care to explore for various factors?
A regular employee or a contracted employee? - Thank you Louis, Also in Japan, an employee is an employee. In my opinion, contracted employees don’t receive enough training. And they are often engaged in routine chores. Which factors should we choose about hiring regular or contracted employees? I choose contracted employees if I hire someone engaged in routine chores. On the other hand, I choose regular employees if I hire someone engaged in important duties. One of the most important factors especially for an entrepreneur is wages, too. What do you think?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Starting a Business a Brave Move or a NoBrainer

What is Give Back Marketing?

Entrepreneurs and the “Oh! No!” Trap

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.