Effects of training on business results¹

TLDR

Training is widely recognized as a tool for sustainable competitive advantage, yet companies invest little in it because they lack evidence of its economic impact and there is a dearth of empirical research. The study empirically investigates how training influences effectiveness and profitability in 457 European SMEs. The authors analyze data from 457 European SMEs, including Spanish firms. The results indicate significant positive relationships between training and performance.

Abstract

Currently, there is general agreement about the importance of training as a tool to help companies in the development of sustainable competitive advantages based on their human resources. However, the investment of companies in training activities is still very low. Among other reasons, that is due to the fact that they do not evaluate the effects of training on performance and therefore they do not know its economic impact for the company. There is also a lack of academic research analysing that issue, mainly at the empirical level. This paper studies empirically the effects of training on performance (effectiveness and profitability) using a sample of 457 European SMEs (including Spanish companies).1 Our results show some evidence of significant relationships between training and performance.