Internal training as a driver for competitiveness

  The ISQ Group, in implementing its development strategy, has provided training to its employees in various areas such as Safety, Non-Destructive Testing, Welding, Maintenance, Management, Quality, among others. This training aims to promote the development of skills that contribute to greater satisfaction and enhancement of human capital, with a view to achieving the commitment to supply services to the standards and of the quality required, in a fast-changing market, where client needs and expectations are ever changing and increasing. In 2013, ISQ trained 857 employees in 172 courses, reaching a total of 20,908 hours of training. 509 (59%) of the 857 trainees attended internal courses, which were developed and conducted by the Human Resources Department. Investment in Internal Training in 2013 reached around 560,000 Euro, with public funding of just 18% and the rest borne wholly by ISQ. For 2014 and the coming years, it is unlikely that there will be public funding projects suited to ISQ’s profile. The analysis of financial implementation by area of training shows that 46% of the costs were concentrated on training for Certification (NDT, Welding, Maintenance …), 29% on training in ISQ’s core areas (Welding, Safety, Maintenance, Construction…), 11% on Transversal Safety, 10% on Management and Behavioural Training, and 4% on other areas (Foreign Languages, Information and Communication Technologies). Investment in training will increasingly focus on real needs and consequently will require greater precision, rationalisation and optimisation of resources. With a view to the enhancement of Human Resources through training actions which contribute to versatility and innovation, Internal Training and the Development of Human Resources at ISQ are considered to be key to the achievement of the strategic objectives and as drivers of competitiveness.