32% of French people take vocational training every year according to helloworkpace.
Today, agility and competence are the key words in working life. Employers require their employees to be ever more versatile and competent. Thus, continuing education aimed at people who have already entered working life is developing more and more and represents nearly 4.6 billion euros each year. It therefore takes new forms such as online courses, serious games making it more interactive, peer learning or even mutual aid networks. This race for training is all the more important in view of the current context in which getting a job is becoming difficult.
- Why do we train and how does the digitalization process influence continuing education?
Training, what interest?
Continuing education makes it possible to increase one’s know-how and skills, which makes us more competitive , versatile and therefore facilitates maintaining or returning to employment. To better understand this phenomenon and the importance of continuing education, we must first understand how the labor market works . According to the neoclassicals, the concept of pure and perfect competition is not respected in this market. Indeed, the offer is heterogeneous in the sense that workers have the possibility of distinguishing themselves by investing in their human capital (talent, qualifications, experience, etc.). Thus, the workers are put in competition because the employer will naturally hire those whose human capital is the most important . This phenomenon of heterogeneity is particularly developed by Sherwin Rosen who highlights the existence of “ Superstars ” whose skills are such that they become “ price makers ” because employers are ready to do anything to hire them. We can think of football players or even great leaders. This example, although taken to the extreme, testifies to the fact that training amounts to increasing one’s human capital, which makes it possible to distinguish oneself from other workers. Thus, the latter have a better professional agility and many opportunities are open to them.
Finally, if training is beneficial for professionals , it is also beneficial for society . Indeed, we are in a paradigm based on the economy of knowledge where creative destruction and technical progress are fundamental, thus, having competent workers, capable of adapting and carrying out innovations is essential. Thus, human capital is an engine of growth for a country.
Continuing education: a major challenge
First of all, it is the sector of on-line training which has known for a few years a strong extension due to the development of new technologies . For example, according to a study by the Digital Learning Observatory carried out in France at the end of 2019, nearly three quarters of companies and training organizations plan to accelerate the digitalization of their training. More recently, the months of confinement induced by the health crisis have greatly contributed to the expansion of online training. Indeed, the leading platform in online education Udemy, publishes an updated report on online education in the world and the figures speak for themselves. Globally, its platform has measured a 425% increase in the number of users during containment. In France, the increase is 190%.
Although often criticized because it does not offer the human contact that many appreciate during face-to-face training, distance learning nevertheless has many advantages that have won over professionals:
- Online training allows you to be more flexible . Indeed, if the training is in the form of a recorded video, it is much easier to match the training with your schedule because you choose the time of viewing yourself. Thus, it is possible to continue its various activities such as exercise a job, take care of his family, prepare a diploma. The Open Classrooms platform has understood the interest of this flexibility and therefore offers online training of around twenty hours (to be distributed as we see fit) on various topics such as programming or mastering computer tools such as Excel. .
- It also reduces constraints and costs . Indeed, all you have to do is connect to the online platform, which avoids any travel. From a financial point of view, the fact that everything is dematerialized (educational equipment, conference room, etc.) greatly reduces costs compared to face-to-face training. Thus, platforms such as the CNFDI offer the possibility of following individual interviews online. It is therefore possible to exchange, to be advised by an expert without moving.
- Distance learning offers the opportunity to have courses that are more suitable for everyone. If the training is in the form of a video, it is now possible to pause, to go back if information has escaped you. In short, the training adapts to your pace .
- In addition, thanks to online training, distance, language and culture are no longer obstacles. Indeed, it is possible to translate and personalize the training. This advance allows trainers to reach a wider audience and professionals wishing to train to take courses that were previously inaccessible. It is with this in mind that Francis Lefebvre Formation offers tailor-made online training for professionals. The latter benefit from interlocutors who are dedicated to them and who follow them throughout their training.
- Finally, online training is proving to be of great help in the fight against inequalities. Indeed, we notice first of all that it is the executives who have the most access to training, whereas theoretically they are the people with the broadest skills. This is due to the fact that training external to companies is expensive , so a fairly large income is necessary to be able to benefit from it. In addition, with regard to internal company training, it is above all companies of considerable size that can afford to train their employees. These large entities are home to many executives whom they deem essential to train so that they are always more competitive . Secondly, we can note the presence of gender inequality in access to training: only 40% of employees , out of those who have the possibility, benefit from the company training plan . Yet, paradoxically, they are more demanding compared to their male counterparts.
Thus, online training offers multiple advantages, whether for the trainer or for the person seeking training. However, it also has drawbacks such as the fact that it can lead to a certain isolation , that it requires a significant degree of self-discipline or that it considerably increases the time spent in front of screens.
In addition, face-to-face continuing education is also being talked about. Indeed, new methods have been developed to increase the effectiveness of training by making it more interactive. • A method based on reverse psychology, for example, has been very successful. The purpose of this method is to provide the theoretical aspect before the training in order to put it into practice during the latter. This is largely done around exchanges, discussions and simulations.
• So-called “peer” learning has also won over many professionals. During such training, the knowing/learner relationship disappears . Thus, everyone becomes in turn the trainer and the trainee. Here, it is the group spirit that makes it possible to acquire new skills.
• Finally, the “serious game” is a method that is increasingly used within companies. The training takes the form of role-playing games or even video games for educational and informative purposes. This method makes it possible to create real interactivity, the results of which are often more effective than during “classic” training.
ESCadrille Toulouse Junior Conseil has clearly understood the importance of continuing education
ESCadrille has fully understood the interest of training: giving professionals all the keys so that they can subsequently develop their own activity. Thus we are used to supporting companies in the field of training and in the expansion of their project through market studies and communication plans. In addition, ESCadrille had the opportunity to invite Michel Condomitti, a professional with whom we were able to discuss training and professional retraining, to his podcast: HERE
With 42 years of experience with companies and being made up of students, ESCadrille has had the opportunity to carry out numerous technological and innovation watches, which allows it to offer quality training around new technologies or even communication tools. Having at heart to follow a responsible approach to its environment with the objective of obtaining ISO 26000, ESCadrille provides training around the principles and regulations of CSR, a major current issue at the center of the reflection of many companies.
Finally, with a view to supporting professionals as well as possible, particularly in the current context, we have worked so that all of its training courses can be followed remotely with ease.
Have all the cards for success in hand by calling on a team of close-knit and motivated young students who will use all their skills to support you as best as possible.