Demanda de capacidades profesionales en la pequeña empresa: un estudio de la comarca del Campo de Gibraltar

Abstract

There are not many studies about the needs of the small companies, especially those related to professional training in this group. This article contains some of the findings of a research work on training and qualifications of personnel among small businesses in the Cadiz region of Campo de Gibraltar, one of only two metropolitan areas in Andalusia that are not based on a capital city. Through the results of this research we analyze certain skills, whether technical, human and conceptual, and its level of demand from small businesses. I.e., we have tested which employers require to their employees, and thus might deduce that those skills are what give employability to their workers. Technical matters are what have formed the contents of the activities in which small businesses in Campo de Gibraltar have conducted training of its employees. However, this study found that employers consulted, while recognizing the utility of certain technical skills, require especially human and conceptual skills. If, as maintained by the resource-based view of the firm, and is the basis of current Knowledge Management, the personnel can constitute a key element in gaining competitive advantages for the organization, and whether training worker is therefore an instrument for this target, the first thing the employer must consider is what skills need to dispose of its human resources to achieve that advantage, and what is the degree to which staff reach them, to carry on a training process that covers the gaps found. Additionally, we have differentiated three subgroups of firms within the group of small businesses: micro, mini and small businesses, according to size, to check, in a concise manner, how while the firm size increases new skills will be required to workers. In the end, we analyze the capabilities what are provided from the staff in greater degree among the firms questioned, differentiating between the firms which give continuous training to his employees and those that do not. This work is not meant to provide theoretical or methodological innovation, but make us think, as training agents, directly or indirectly, that we have a responsibility to equip future workers of the skills which the economic and social environment demands.