What is corporate education
Corporate education is the adoption of teaching and learning practices aimed at the continuous development of employees so that the company can count on increasingly well-prepared professionals.
The market continually evolves and demands new skills from professionals. This is where corporate education comes into play. What do you know about it?
Anyone who thinks that companies do not gain by investing in the education of their employees is wrong. Workers, small and large, benefit, and there are a number of reasons for this.
In this post, you will discover what corporate education is, understand its importance and know how to apply it in your organization.
Corporate education is a set of practices that a company adopts for the continuous development of its employees .
We are talking about a concept that is directly linked to the idea of continuing education; that learning that proposes the constant qualification of an individual.
With this in mind, corporate education emerges as a people management practice that aims to stimulate the development of skills on the part of workers.
The main objective of corporate education is to allow the company to have a staff capable of meeting the demands that the market presents .
The consequence of more qualified professionals are better results for the organization. Therefore, corporate education is something that benefits everyone.
Just as managers and HRs are invited to learn about and embrace new management models, professionals are also encouraged to learn new skills.
These professionals can seek learning outside the companies where they work or rely on corporate education actions. As you read on, you will understand better why you should also consider the second option.
Difference between corporate education and training
So that you have no doubts about what corporate education is, also called business education, let’s go to an important clarification.
It should be noted that we are talking about something different from the training that so many companies and professionals already know so well.
Training is short-term oriented . If a person takes on a new role, for example, they can be trained to perform tasks specific to that role.
Then, if a promotion or other change occurs, the knowledge and skills gained through this training may no longer be of much use.
In turn, corporate education aims at the development of people and focuses on the future , in the medium and long term.
The idea is to develop skills that will be useful regardless of the position occupied by the professional. Thus, its benefits are more solid and lasting.
Despite the differences, there are two points that we want to highlight:
Features of corporate education
There is no formula, but corporate education has characteristics that deserve to be mentioned here.
We talk about what is most common, although there is room for other ideas, especially considering the particularities of your organization. Check it out:
1-on-site learning
Currently, the most common thing is for teaching to take place within the companies themselves . Some even have specific places for courses or lectures to be given, for example.
Despite this, distance learning has been strengthened as it is a more accessible modality.
It is likely that, with EAD, a greater number of professionals will be able to follow corporate education actions at once.
Distance learning even makes it easier for teaching to take place outside working hours, at the best time for each employee.
With this, it is avoided that the journey is, in a way, compromised with the teaching actions.
2-students and teachers
The most common is that corporate education actions are aimed at employees . After all, the biggest interest of companies is the development of their professionals.
Despite this, it may happen that some actions are expansive or specific to family members or to suppliers and other stakeholders. Something that varies according to the strategy and objectives of the organization.
While some learn, others teach and more often than not, managers are the teachers in corporate education .
This is interesting because expenses with hiring external professionals to teach courses are avoided and professionals in management positions are valued.
Furthermore, by counting on people from the organization itself, the education process brings employees closer and improves their relationship.
However, nothing prevents the company from calling someone from outside. This decision may even be necessary in some cases.
Why bet on corporate education?
Corporate education is still developing. It is natural that large corporations pull the line for this type of action, but nothing prevents smaller companies from adopting the strategy as well.
The thing is, while this type of education doesn’t become a highly widespread practice, it can be hard to understand why adopt it.
To help you understand this, we’ll list the main benefits later. Before that, we want to share a brief reflection on the need for corporate education.
We start with a question: how many times have you reflected on the delay of academic education in relation to market demands?
Certainly, we do not believe that every professional training course is inadequate or outdated.
However, we know that employers and workers often feel that the connection between the classroom and work could be stronger, without necessarily setting theory aside.
Companies can do something about this: adopt corporate education .
By creating your own training system, your organization can train the ideal workforce rather than hoping that an effective reform of traditional education will take place.
This does not mean starting from scratch. Your company can create minimum requirements, including academic training and behavioral profile, and go from there.
Main objectives of business education
We have already mentioned the main purpose of corporate education before. However, after this brief reflection, we want the proposal to be even clearer for you.
Check it out:
- guide the development of attitudes that must be followed by the company’s employees;
- enable the improvement or development of necessary skills;
- optimize the productivity of the entire company;
- motivate and provide opportunities for the development of managers’ skills;
- enable the continuous qualification of employees in order to keep them in line with the evolution of the market and their functions;
- promote the integration of employees with the organizational culture ;
- connect the performance of employees with the organization’s business chain.
1-3 Relevant Data You Need to Know
In addition to the national education scenario and our professional market, we use some data that may be relevant to you.
1-Professionals want to learn
A survey by Middlesex University indicates that 74% of workers surveyed feel that they do not reach their full potential due to a lack of development opportunities.
2-Education reduces turnover
Based on the 2018 Workplace Learning Trends report, conducted by LinkedIN, 94% of employees are willing to stay longer at a company that is dedicated to investing in their development.
3-competitive edge
According to a survey by Deloitte, only 2 8% of companies in Brazil have already implemented strategies for professional training in the workplace.
Joining the group means getting ahead and having a competitive edge in attracting and retaining talent.
Benefits of corporate education
Now, as promised, let’s go to the benefits that business education can bring when well applied.
1. Leveling of knowledge
It is true that some specific functions require specific knowledge. Corporate education, however, makes room for broader and more useful learning for a large group of professionals.
Thus, one of its advantages is the leveling of the level of knowledge among employees. And why is this important? It’s simple to understand.
Your company may do everything in its power to retain talent, but it may be that someone decides to leave — or they simply get sick and need to go away, or they go on vacation.
The leveling of knowledge prevents the company from being completely in the lurch if someone leaves or is absent , something that underscores the importance of internal training .
Corporate education is based on knowledge management and this makes professionals not only want to learn but also get used to exchanging knowledge.
Thus, even if the specialist in a function is out, there are more chances that the others will be able to organize themselves to deal with a demand.
2. Integration and organizational climate on the rise
When everyone is learning, a scenario in which some feel more or less important to the company than others is avoided.
Furthermore, taking the hook from what we said, corporate education favors an environment of exchanges and collaboration.
As a result, professionals tend to improve their relationships and work better as a team .
This integration benefits the organizational climate. Something that, as you may know, has positive impacts on motivation and productivity.
The relationship with the employer brand ― employer brand ― also wins. Based on the data we’ve seen, professionals want to learn. This is especially true for millennials .
Therefore, corporate education favors the climate in different ways.
3. More motivated and productive employees
Since we’re talking about motivation and productivity, let’s delve a little deeper into this important advantage of corporate education.
There are different factors that make employees feel more motivated. We emphasize that when the company invests in education, workers understand that they are receiving an important development opportunity .
As a result, it is natural for them to feel encouraged to embrace this opportunity and, in return, to make the most of their day-to-day work.
In other words, companies that value human capital are more likely to have employees who value their work and are motivated to do so.
Combining this with productivity, employees who rely on corporate education feel better prepared to perform their duties.
Knowledge and trust motivate and also facilitate the accomplishment of tasks. As a result, workers can take less time to complete their demands while maintaining expected quality levels.
Not infrequently, corporate education has a much-desired “side effect”: that of making employees more engaged, participatory and proactive.
4. Reduction of errors and rework
Continuing, by better preparing employees to perform their duties, education in companies reduces the incidence of errors.
A lower number of errors also favors productivity because it avoids rework and the consequent waste of time, but there is more to be said.
When professionals are more assertive in carrying out their tasks, they generate financial savings because correcting problems tends to cost something .
What’s more, when well prepared, employees are more knowledgeable and resourceful to make important decisions safely. This autonomy tends to be very positive for companies.
5. Lower turnover
Corporate education creates better environments, increases motivation and gives workers more confidence in performing their jobs.
Other factors could be added to the list, but this is enough to show that openness to teaching tends to create a favorable scenario for employees to feel more satisfied with their jobs .
Added to this is the fact that a company that applies corporate education is more open to providing opportunities for professional career development.
Consequently, workers find less reason to change jobs in search of a brighter future, reducing employee turnover .
6. Creating an environment open to innovation
Having more participatory employees also means having professionals who are more open to giving their opinion for the execution of projects or the resolution of crises.
Corporate education helps to create confidence for this type of attitude, which is very welcome in more modern management.
Giving this opening allows the company to use the knowledge and expertise of its talents to find innovative solutions on a daily basis. Something that tends to promote improvements and favorable changes.
With this in mind, it is clear that the company wins by betting on corporate education because employees apply what they have learned in the company itself.
It is something that leads us to emphasize an idea that you may already know: developing education programs is not about creating expenses, but about making investments.
7. Leadership development
“The leadership role in organizations is undoubtedly of great need, after all, high performance teams increasingly need a model to be followed.”
The excerpt above is from another post published on Tangerino’s blog. For companies, the need for well-developed leaders is increasingly clear.
Sometimes, an HR needs to turn to the market in search of professionals able to perform this function.
However, having this as the only option may be to ignore the potentials within the organization itself.
Corporate education favors the development of competencies and creates a favorable scenario for potential leaders to excel . Something that deserves HR’s attention.
By identifying these professionals, the company can even do more targeted work for them to assume leadership roles.
Another point is that education also favors those who are already a leader within the organization because they have the opportunity to constantly renew their knowledge and skills.
8. Employer brand and talent attraction
Employer branding strategies consist of “a conscious development of the employer brand, with the aim of improving the company’s external view and attracting the best talent in the market”.
To this end, the idea is not only that the company develops actions thinking about the external public.
Before anything else, your attention should turn to the internal public, that is, your employees.
By adopting corporate education, an organization can experience the advantages we have mentioned here.
Its employees, who only tend to win, start to see the employer brand in a more positive light .
With this, these employees and even those who may leave the company become brand propagators.
The market will know the organization as a good place to work because professionals are valued.
Talents that are not yet part of the staff may be interested, giving the company the opportunity to assemble increasingly stronger teams.
9. More competitive advantage
Based on everything we have presented, it remains for us to say that corporate education brings a competitive advantage to the company over the competition.
Just reflect on each point you just saw. An organization that has a good climate, motivated, productive and well-prepared employees, and a strong brand has everything to stand out .
Also because this combination of factors also favors customer service, whether with better-made products or better-performed services.
By this, we mean that corporate education can lead your company to attract and retain talent, and count on its maximum performance. And it can also lead the organization to have greater insertion and success in the market, with the public.
Tips and best practices for application in your company
With the study of the scenario and good planning, your company will discover the best way to conduct corporate education.
The process will become even more assertive based on experiences and the analysis of successes and errors or points for improvement.
In any case, to try to get your business off to a good start, we have some tips that can be quite useful.
1-study the moment
Depending on corporate education actions, employees may be involved in the learning process for long periods.
Therefore, HR needs to analyze the moment of the company and teams to understand when and how to apply actions .
This analysis is important, especially if the teaching will take place during working hours (which is uncommon) so as not to make the work completely unfeasible.
Bear in mind, however, that if the actions take place outside working hours, they deserve a balanced workload and compatibility with the reality of the company.
It would be very difficult to demand that employees attend classes, face-to-face or distance learning, with due attention when they are worried about year-end goals, for example.
2-bet on videos
Especially if your company is going to adopt distance corporate education actions, bet on videos.
Videos can have one or more people speaking, in addition to other visuals such as images and animations. All this tends to favor the learning process.
Spoken language, especially when supported by images, tends to be simpler to understand. Something that makes knowledge more easily absorbed by employees .
3-Develop custom actions
If your company only opts for face-to-face corporate education actions, it may have difficulties in creating different courses or training. Something that would waste more time and money.
However, opting for EAD or mixed actions, it is easier to develop personalized actions for groups of employees.
Targeted content tends to be more assertive . With this, your company increases the chances of effective learning and can also reduce the time required for the teaching process.
4-Discover specialized platforms
Your HR can consider choosing an LMS or Learning Management Platform, or with an LXP or Learning Experience Platform . The idea is to have the right technology for corporate education.
It is a solution that makes the learning process more dynamic and personalized , something that favors and encourages employee engagement.
5-Consider a gamification strategy
Gamification consists of the application of “techniques and strategies with a touch of games” ; something that is already part of the corporate universe.
As a corporate education tool, game elements tend to generate engagement and motivate employees to participate in training . The idea is to make the learning environment more engaging.
6-Use technology to your advantage
Even if all actions are in person, corporate education can use technology to your advantage.
There are good videos or images on the internet that can serve to exemplify or explain something. And, if these do not exist as the company expects, it is possible to create them and have them as learning support material.
