Le développement des ressources humaines, fonction négligée par l’entreprise

L'auteur, après avoir présenté les principaux partenaires de la formation dans le milieu organisationnel, situe le développement des ressources humaines dans le contexte de la gestion des ressources humaines. Dans un second temps, certaines caractéristiques des activités de formation dans le milieu organisationnel sont explicitées. Finalement, à l'aide de statistiques, l'auteur analyse la situation qui prévaut dans les entreprises québécoises.The purpose of this article is to discuss the importance of training in industry in general and more specifically in the Québec entreprises. It also tries to identify solutions that can be brought to the actual problems surrounding training in industry.In this connection, the author analyses the specific role, the three partners (employers, state and workers) have to play in manpower training.THE PARTNERS IN TRAININGThe general concept of training in industry can be developped from three different training activities parts of a same continuum: job training, improvement and the personal development.Training ActivitiesThejob training is mainly oriented toward organizational goals. It affects acquisition of skills, knowledges and essential attitudes for actual or close execution of tasks related to a particular position. Although the three partners participate to this activity, the employer prescribes his requirements.Theimprovement helps the workers to develop skills, knowledges, attitudes, previously acquired and seen as essential either to adjust themselves to position requirements, or to move to another position (after a promotion or a transfer). Generally speaking, the partners in training participate to this activity.Thepersonal development concerns the activities and learning programs that have not necessarily a relationship with the functions of the occupied position. It mainly encourages the personal growth of the individual. Here again the three partners are present.The actual dominating tendency in most companies, according to the employer's logic, is oriented toward the job training that is to say toward activities that first fit with the organizational goals.TRAINING AND THE ORGANIZATIONNeglected resource, manpower now takes more and more importance.Training activities vary from an organization to another. They are mainly perceived like a mean to adapt individuals to technic activities and to the organizational context.Need for trainingIn Canada, fiew organizations offer training activities. For instance, in 1970, only twenty-four (23.9) per cent of the companies in the industrial sectors were carring out such activities. In the same connection, in 1973, eight (7.9) per cent of the Canadian workers were trained by their employer.Training is generally chosen as the last alternative: one normally prefers to recruit manpower already trained. However organizations that make training are particularly the larger ones. They regroup sixty (60) per cent of the personnel involved in training activities.Nature of trainingMost of the training programs in industry are related to job training or improvement training. Training programs directed upon personal development are practically non-existent.TraineesThe trainees mostly involved in the training programs are the managers. The operating personnel, who is in the greatest need in that matter, possesses the lowest rate in training participation. Being the ones with less preparation and often showing less chances to success, they are neglected by employers.Training contentThe training programs in industry are of three types general, technical and administrative. Canadian statistics of 1970 show that training in industry is focused on three poles: security and professional orientation (33.5%), crafts (22.6%) and management (16.6%). Only 34,656 persons (7.1%) were involved in general type of training courses that is to say training courses centered around the gain or the improvement of knowledges. Seventy-five (75) per cent of the trainees received less than a hundred (100) hours of training sponsored by the employer. The content and the lenght of training activities demonstrate that training in industry is seldom centered around the concept of personal development. It does not allow people to develop by work but rather for work, and moreover for work specific to the business.QUEBEC'S INDUSTRIES AND TRAININGThe Province of Québec have only six (6.3) per cent of his manpower involved in training activities offered by fifteen (14.5) per cent of the companies in the total industrial sector. This rate is the lowest in Canada.Needs for TrainingThe low rate of training activities in industries in Québec does not mean that the need for qualified manpower and training does not exist.Industries in Québec are rather small. In those organizations, managers prefer to recruit qualified manpower instead of training it.In 1965, the organizations of thousand (1000) employees and more were covering more than 60% of the manpower in training situation. If one takes into account that the organizations of less than a hundred (100) employees represent 93.5% of the firms in Québec, it is not surprising to find that the role of industries in Québec in the training matter is rather modest.The nature of the trainingEntreprises in Québec are not different, in term of training orientation, to the trend observed in Canadian industry. It seems that training activities are restricted almost exclusively to job training.Personal development activities are practically non-existent, although Québec, in that matter, is in the first place among the Canadian Provinces.The TraineesStatistics show that training is mostly oriented toward management personnel. The operating personnel is in a certain manner set aside.The Training ContentThe content of the training programs given in Québec is strictly technical and administrative.Only few large organizations encourage a more general type of training.CONCLUSIONTraining in industry reveals to be more effective than training in institution. Training of employees appears to be an employer's responsability. In that connection, employer should assume that role. Most of the companies do not take care of training their personnel. The benefits of that training orientation would reach the two parties