Continuing professional training of human resources in a large company: a case study

Abstract

The changes and demands of the business community, today, arise simultaneously with the proliferation of vocational training initiatives, considering that the way in which these issues are associated, the objectives that underlie them and the formative practices that implement them must be persistently studied. Although there is a relevant set of studies on the continuing training of some professional groups, such as teachers, there are still insufficient ones that discuss the issues of integrated vocational training in the operation of companies, whose role in the processes of formation of the adult population is increasingly preponderant in contemporary society (Barbier, 2009, Canário, 2003).
In addition, most of the studies carried out are focused on company training policies, with the rarest of investigations analyzing training practices, in order to discuss the concrete configurations of the relationship between work practice and training policies and practices. The present study intends to be a contribution to the understanding of the ways and objectives of the articulation between the exercise of work and the professional formation rooted in business environments, which are specific, complex and not always available for an external look (Caetano, 2007). In this sequence, it is proposed to present the main results of an empirical research carried out in the context of a doctorate affiliated in the area of Adult Education, centered on the practices of a vocational training structure registered in the operation of large companies in the automotive sector, the Center of Production Training.
The methodological choice of the research was based on the intrinsic case study (Stake, 2012), with multimetric collection and analysis (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994), crossing data of a qualitative and quantitative nature (Strauss and Corbin, 1998). The analysis of the data collected shows that the training structure participates in a more comprehensive development strategy of the company's human resources, with a strong focus on the close articulation between work and professional knowledge, tacit and explicit (Nonaka, 1991 ). The training methodologies and contents recommended by the Training Center are of a conceptual nature, as well as methodical and operational, in order to articulate the methodical concepts of the Production System assumed and consolidated in the company with the technical skills considered fundamental for the organization of the registered in that System.
Notwithstanding the transversal nature of the population covered by the training, since the training groups are heterogeneous - from line operators to HR, Finance or Logistics -, this Center reveals a fusional relationship between training and production (Rodrigues and Alves, 2017), patent in its organic dependence on the Production Area, as well as in the subordination of the organization and management of the training to the needs and the production rhythms. Overall, the activity of the Production Training Center reveals a strategic relationship between the formation, production and overall development of the company, and the Center assumes the role of mediating agent of that relationship, with a view to the desired changes (Barbier, 1992; Berton, 1996).