Cooperativismo y Desarrollo, January-April 2019; 7(1): 64-73
Translated from the original in Spanish

Gestión de la capacitación y capacitación para una mejor gestión en el contexto socioeconómico cubano

Odalys Labrador Machín¹, Ania Bustio Ramos², Javier Reyes Hernández³, Elvira Lolana Carvalhais Cionza Villalba⁴

¹Centro de Estudios de Dirección, Desarrollo Local, Turismo y Cooperativismo. Universidad de Pinar del Río "Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca". Cuba. Email: odalys@upr.edu.cu
²Departamento de Preparación y Superación de Cuadros. Universidad de Pinar del Río "Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca". Cuba. Email: aniabustio@upr.edu.cu
³Departamento de Preparación y Superación de Cuadros. Universidad de Pinar del Río "Hermanos Saíz Montes de Oca". Cuba. Email: javierrh@upr.edu.cu
⁴Facultad de Economía de la Universidad Katyavala-Bwila. Benguela, Angola. Email: elviracionzavillalba@yahoo.es

Received: January 12^th, 2019.
Accepted: January 29^th, 2019.

ABSTRACT

The management of training is nowadays an imperative given the challenges imposed by the new Cuban socioeconomic scenario and the improvement of its model. In this sense, it is necessary to reflect on the question: ¿manage the training or train for a better management of the processes depending on the decision-making? The objective of this paper is to show a methodology of training managers from a systemic and participatory vision that responds to the reality of the non-state sector, which represents the complement to the state enterprise as the central axis of the current Cuban business system. This methodology is focused on several fundamental dimensions: socio-economic, legal-administrative, environmental and political-institutional, and is developed through Research-Action-Participation, where managers become active subjects in determining their own training needs of each business context, whether state or cooperative. The proposed methodology, based on its premises and objectives, consists of four phases that correspond to each of the respective dimensions, constituting its central axis, which taxes the solution of the starting point of our work on what is the imperative for the training of managers: to manage the training or to train for a better management?

Keywords: training to managers; management of training; training methodology.

RESUMEN

La gestión de la capacitación constituye hoy en día un imperativo ante los desafíos que impone el nuevo escenario socioeconómico cubano y el perfeccionamiento de su modelo. En tal sentido, se precisa reflexionar acerca de la interrogante ¿gestionar la capacitación o capacitar para una mejor gestión de los procesos en función de la toma de decisiones? El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo mostrar una metodología de capacitación a directivos desde una visión sistémica y participativa que responde a la realidad del sector no estatal, el cual representa el complemento a la empresa estatal como eje central del sistema empresarial cubano actual. Esta metodología está enfocada en varias dimensiones fundamentales: la socioeconómica, la jurídico-administrativa, la ambiental y la política institucional y se desarrolla a través de la Investigación-Acción-Participación, donde los directivos se convierten en sujetos activos en la determinación de las necesidades de capacitación propias de cada contexto empresarial, sea estatal o cooperativo. La metodología propuesta, a partir de sus premisas y objetivos, consta de cuatro fases que se corresponden con cada una de las respectivas dimensiones, constituyendo estas su eje central, que tributa a la solución del punto de partida de nuestro trabajo sobre cuál es el imperativo para la formación de directivos: ¿gestionar la capacitación o capacitar para una mejor gestión?

Palabras clave: capacitación a directivos; gestión de la capacitación; metodología de capacitación.

INTRODUCTION

The training study is a factor that influences in a determining way in the organizations' work, which demands from human resources able to rapidly adapt to modern technologies, with a deep vision about the enterprise management and professional competencies needed to face complex problems due to the interdisciplinary work teams.

According to Salgado, Gómez, Dargen y Carvajal (2017) opinions, today more than ever before the principals and managers training is a key activity for the enterprise survival and its adaptability to the environment, as well as to the changes that are taking; it is a basic advantage of the organizations because the human capital has the capacity to transform the rest resources of the organization. This process should not be carried out in an aleatory way, without a defined orientation, because it would create confusion and disorganization; hence the need for it to be planned, organized and controlled according to the achievement of the expected results.

The formation and training process must be planned and executed in such a way as to guarantee efficiency, efficacy and effectiveness, in balance with the social responsibility that corresponds to the Cuban state enterprise as the main subject of the national economy, to which are added non-agricultural cooperatives and self-employed workers as a complement to the Cuban business fabric in the achievement of the economic and social objectives of our country.

Gambetta (2015) recognizes that a company's success and leadership in the 21st century depend on its ability to change quickly and grow. Organizations must respond to the multiple demands of an ever-changing marketplace through continuous learning and the acquisition of new skills and competencies. The business learning environment illustrates how an organization can establish a system of continuous growth and improvement, designed to achieve the desired result, in a productive work environment and with an increasingly competitive and global scenario.

In this sense, it is of vital importance in the context of the current Cuban economy, the achievement of a path towards a sui generis training process that promotes substantial changes in the ways of acting and projecting oneself, in function of an efficient and effective management that in turn strengthens and makes flourish the highest ethical-professional values. It is not only a question of forming competencies, but also of the capacity for leadership, cooperation, and a culture of teamwork; in short, of an organizational culture in correspondence with the principles of the prosperous and sustainable socialist society that we propose to create.

Based on the above, it is defined as the central objective of the work: to propose a training methodology for managers from a systemic and participatory vision, which responds to the business reality of the state and non-state sector in Cuba.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In accordance with the essence of the work, the proposed methodology is aimed at the interrelation of four fundamental dimensions: socioeconomic, juridical-administrative, environmental and political-institutional. Its design is fundamentally carried out through Research-Action-Participation, as well as other theoretical and empirical methods.

Among the theoretical methods used are:

• The logical-historical method, applied to determine the theoretical-methodological antecedents of the management of training, evolution of these terms and their relation with the socioeconomic development of the country.
• The analysis and synthesis, which it uses as procedure for the study of the different aspects related to the process of development of the training and its relation with the economic management; in this concrete case of the entities of the different sectors of the Cuban economy.
• The systemic method, which facilitates the characterization of the object and field of action of the research, by specifying the constitutive elements and the relations established between them.

On the other hand, the empirical methods that were specified are:

• Scientific observation. Participant and non-participant observation and the focus group applied to boards of directors, boards of directors, owners of small non-state businesses and professionals, in consultations between government and researchers and in meetings with advisors and specialists, were used to evaluate the characteristics of the training processes and its management, as well as its contribution to the preparation of directors from a systemic and participatory vision.
• Documentary analysis, which consisted of the study of resolutions and documents that legitimize the training processes and legal norms that make possible the design and implementation of the methodology for training directors.
• The interview was conducted with different experts on the subject. The semi-structured interview and the in-depth interview with cadres, professors, students, specialists and advisors to confirm the importance of the subject and its theoretical enrichment.

Another research technique used was the consultation with specialists, which allowed to corroborate the reality of the problem stated and the veracity of the solution proposed from different conceptions.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Different definitions of "training", sometimes referred to as "formation", "education" or "training", can be found in the specialized literature, which may reflect some ambiguity in the definition of the term (Vargas, 2013).

Formation, training and development are terms that are closely linked to labor competencies, to the point that today formation surpasses training and instruction and is identified with the concept of education (Cuesta Santos, 2005).

In Cuba, training is considered to be the set of preparation actions developed by labor entities, aimed at improving skills, qualifications, and requalifications in order to fulfill job functions with quality and achieve maximum productive or service results. This set of actions makes it possible to create, maintain and raise the knowledge, skills and attitudes of workers to ensure their successful performance, according to Resolution No. 29/2006 (MTSS, 2006).

Training actions are defined as the descriptive form in which the final objective to be achieved with the workers participating in the training is expressed, based on the needs identified in the diagnosis or determination of training needs carried out, according to Resolution No. 29/2006 (MTSS, 2006).

At present, essentially the three elements that clearly distinguish strategic human resources management are: the consideration of human resources as the decisive element in the competitiveness of organizations, the systemic or integrative approach in Human Resources Management (HRM) and the need for coherence or adjustment between HRM and organizational strategy (Cuesta Santos, 2005).

Based on the analysis of the above, this paper focuses on the management of training as a tool for improving organizational culture. According to Sánchez et al. (2004) and Pineda (2002), training management involves diagnosing the need for learning, planning and designing the training response, conducting and facilitating the process, and evaluating the results achieved. This corresponds to the phases or stages of a training management process, so it is important that those in charge of Human Resources Management (HRM) in the organization, take into account the need to work carefully in each of them, which acquires different approaches for state enterprises, cooperatives and entities linked to self-employment.

An organization must stimulate, direct and support its employees and managers to develop their skills and abilities. Increasing an employee's knowledge, skills and abilities increases the entity's human capital. According to this conception, by earning human capital, companies generate advantages over their competitors (TIC Portal, 2018).

Sánchez and Jiménez (2015) propose a procedure for the Management of Human Resources Training (GCRH), based on the training of skills, the implementation of strategies and training plans in line with the needs in state enterprises. For their part, Flores and Chavarría (2016) propose to manage human resources strategically, based on the systems approach, where one of the central axes is leadership, social responsibility and communication, achieved through the training process.

The management of training and management training are processes that are interrelated and mutually presupposed, the essential learning in the current Cuban reality cannot be achieved as a function of the improvement of production processes and services, without exceeding the usual limits of training in its conceptualization and without rethinking its perspective within the organization. Therefore, the design of models, procedures, strategies and methodologies of the training activity, both for employees and for cadres and reserves must be reformulated in correspondence with the current Cuban reality.

Management training implies establishing a series of strategies and actions where theoretical knowledge constitutes a guide for action and not a set of empty theories, hence the knowledge is generated by the interaction between the participants, the coordinator-educator and the elements of reality that are attempted to address for the sake of its transformation (Bustio, 2004).

Following the logic of the analysis, one can think that a training for the management, in function of the achievement of the enterprise objectives, carries implicit:

• Prepare to understand the complex interrelations that occur between objective and subjective processes of reality.
• Generate innovative skills for the construction of the unpublished.
• Deconstruction and construction of a thought not yet thought, in view of a future that still is not, in the perspective of transcendence towards otherness and difference, in the transition towards sustainability, social equity, justice (Leff, 2007).

The training management process should enhance training plans to transform practices in enterprises, defining what is intended to change and how. In this sense, it is considered pertinent to use participatory techniques to encourage, present and integrate group members, alleviate tensions, diagnose, develop skills, organize the formation and orientation of group activities, consolidate, exercise and systematize knowledge, where the trainee is subject to the process and not only object of it, as well as evaluate the process and results.

Adequate training management:

• It provides the company with highly qualified people in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes.
• It contributes to developing individual responsibility towards the entity, through greater competitiveness and appropriate knowledge, and it pays tribute to corporate social responsibility.
• Allows the improvement of managers and workers in the performance of their jobs and prepares them to face the future.
• Keeps managers, directors and reserves updated in the face of changes generated in the environment.
• Prepares the conditions for better interpersonal relations in companies.
• Contributes to the increase of productivity, efficiency and effectiveness in state entities, cooperatives and small enterprises.
• The reserve develops its experience and capacity to proactively project its actions.

A methodology for preparation management is proposed, the aim of which is to train managers and reserves participating in the business management process, so as to guarantee the training of professional skills, ethical principles, teamwork practice and active participation, based on effective leadership, according to the objectives and specific reality of each organization.

This methodology is based on the steps reflected in the figure.

Fig. - Methodological proposal for training management
Source: based on bibliographic review

Diagnosis of education and training needs

This diagnosis will be aimed at determining the training needs of managers, considering the way and level with which they are linked to the sector of the economy to which they belong, identifying the fundamental aspects that tax effective participation in business management.

The determination of these needs is based on the analysis of each company's own reality, which will lead to an evaluation of the knowledge, skills and aptitudes of managers and their reserves in relation to the process and as a result; it should provide a qualitative and quantitative analysis of training needs, delimiting priorities, in order to facilitate the programming of the projected actions, including also needs that may appear in the future and that guarantee the development of the management process. In this sense, Research-Action-Participation, brainstorming, group work, interviews and surveys will be used as techniques to carry them out.

Training Program Design

Taking into account the specific needs detected and considering the level of participation of the different beneficiaries of the training, the program will be elaborated with the essential contents, which allow the acquisition of competences for business management.

Likewise, the forms of organization of the training process will be determined (workshops, courses, trainings and events), as well as the human, financial and material resources that guarantee the effectiveness of this process in order to fulfill the objectives and analyze the economic, social, cultural and environmental impacts derived from the training process.

Execution

The execution of the training processes constitutes a phase that integrates the aspects that were detected in the diagnosis and that were planned, from the design and realization of the programs, on the basis of interactive learning and following the methodology of learning by doing, the realization of workshops based on case studies, updating of knowledge and the promotion of teamwork, focusing on participatory learning.

Evaluating Training Outcomes and Impact

This phase consists of the conception of a feedback system that evaluates and directs actions based on continuous training. It must be based on a system of indicators that evaluates the impact of training, which in the case of managers must also weigh their leadership capacity, results achieved in business management, projection and strategy of the entity, competitiveness, levels of efficiency and effectiveness, corporate social responsibility, environmental commitment, contribution to social development, among other elements.

Main weaknesses diagnosed about training management

At present, Reyes (2019) emphasizes the emphasis of labor organizations are focused on the production and marketing of goods and / or services, raise income levels, economic profitability, among other factors that point to the tangible, the palpable, the final product. In the same direction, the organizations and companies that build their production logics with similar structures, technologies, production system, commercialization channels are increasingly homogeneous, which makes it complex to have access to that longed-for competitive advantage to which all aspire and which for some time (especially in the last century) was exclusive to some companies in the world, because there was no competition that was increasingly solid.

The author himself emphasizes that, in this desired aspiration, very few companies concentrate part of their efforts and resources in the development of human potential, in the strengthening of that intangible capital that workers reflect in their activity within the organization.

This does not escape the work of managers, who do not always mobilize resources based on adequate training, or a management of the same that creates the conditions for an appropriate organizational culture. The challenge, concludes Reyes (2019) is to connect this perspective of work with the promotion of a culture that brings together, integrates and enhances creativity through the genuine participation of subjects, an alternative that will be able to border on the sensitivity of individuals and thus build a philosophy and practice of life that is consistent with individual interests and the destinies of the organization.

In relation to the above and as a result of the diagnosis are defined as major weaknesses in the management of training:

• The training process is not conceived from a strategic training approach.
• Adequate instruments are not designed to diagnose training needs, from which strategies and plans are drawn up in accordance with the job profiles.
• The planning process is not adapted to real needs and in correspondence with the peculiarities of each organization.
• Training is carried out through courses designed for any type of company, based on the offer of institutions in charge of the process.
• Sometimes training is a process that responds to fulfill one more task of the Human Resources department.
• Training programs are not tailored to the real needs of the entity.
• The methodologies used must respond to the characteristics of those involved in the training, taking into account individual differences and strategic development plans of human resources.
• The resources allocated to training are sometimes not used to respond to the problems present in managers and workers, in terms of the skills they must possess.
• Senior management does not always give the required priority to the training of people involved in key processes of the organization.
• Technical training courses are prioritized to the detriment of those that tend to the formation of ethics and values.
• The experiences and knowledge acquired by the members of the company are not used to encourage the creation of trainers.
• The development of a learning organizational culture is not encouraged.
• Managers do not always work to attract their collaborators and involve them in management processes in an efficient and effective way.
• Lack of communication between managers and members of the organization in the process of training management, so that it responds to improve the overall management of the organization, which tends to higher levels of efficiency and effectiveness, as well as a climate of continuous learning, among other aspects.

The challenge of the training management process in the complex Cuban business network is not limited, therefore, to achieving knowledge, skills, knowledge, practical experiences, skills in people, but rather imposes, from the training a better management of that organization, through effective leadership and in terms of obtaining superior comprehensive results, which pay tribute to a society satisfied economically and spiritually.

REFERENCES

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