If companies want to remain competitive, they need to constantly respond to changing market trends. We live in a time of constant innovation and change and, if we want to keep up, education is a necessity for further development and growth. Every company is all about people, which is why the rule is that if its employees—including its management—develop, the whole company grows. In order to look at education through the eyes of experts, we have invited recruiters, HR experts and representatives of educational institutions to this year’s Invest MORE conference. And now we bring you a short summary of the key findings.

Diversity in the Work Environment as a Way to Creativity

The conference was opened with a lecture by Radek Špicar, Vice President of the Association of Industry and Transport, who mentioned the importance of investing in research and development and the benefits of diversifying work teams. According to him, a diversified work team is a key element in the development of creativity, which is crucial for the growth of companies. One could say that it is a business necessity. Companies should not be afraid to create teams and collectives that are made up of employees across generations, genders and ethnic or other social groups. Their diverse qualities, views and approaches can complement each other, creating a solid corporate fabric that is better able to respond more creatively to rapidly changing market demands.

Active Communication Between Companies and Schools

If companies want graduates to be adequately prepared for employment, they need to go a little further. It is therefore important not just to work with the school or university and focus only on pupils and students in their final years: companies should actively communicate with educational institutions so that they are able to define their requirements correctly and so that schools understand the current demands of the labour market and can adapt to them appropriately.

An In-House Trainer in the Company as a Helping Hand for Your Colleagues

An in-house trainer can be a specialist in the company with sufficient knowledge and experience to pass on to his/her colleagues. However, it is often the case that the person in question is a highly qualified expert but unfortunately has no experience in teaching others—this need not be a barrier. It is therefore essential to work with these people appropriately and help them master their role by ensuring that your internal trainer can effectively share their know-how with their colleagues through appropriate training tools and programmes. Don’t forget that the in-house trainer himself needs to be trained as well from time to time.

Up-skilling and Re-skilling Employees

The concepts of up-skilling and re-skilling were also mentioned in panel discussions at the conference. These are becoming increasingly relevant in the world of business and HR.

In a nutshell, these are processes that prepare your employees for the future by improving their skills and helping them adapt better to new changes. 

However, there is a slight difference between the two. Up-skilling focuses on closing the skills and knowledge gap caused by age and digitalisation. Re-skilling is very similar, but it is a process by which existing employees learn a new role or position in your company, for example.

The bottom line is that training is an investment that will be returned many times over and is worth giving enough attention to both in companies and in your personal life.