Proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Management, Economics and Humanities
Year: 2024
DOI:
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Skills Act: Effectiveness and Impact of Reforms Study
Abdelhadi Naji, Jean-Jaures André Assi
ABSTRACT:
The Act to promote workforce skills development and recognition (1% Act) was adopted in 1995 to promote training and competencies development among the Quebec workforce. The purpose of this Act is to improve the qualifications and skills of the workforce through investment in training. This Act has undergone several changes since 1995 (most recently in 2016), but to our knowledge, no evaluation of its impact has been conducted since its implementation. There are several reasons for this lack of evaluation and that is why we chose to address this issue. The main objective of this study is to identify the effects of this Act on the effectiveness of corporate training and to know the current issues of training in companies. It also aims to highlight the impact of the various reforms made to this Act and finally to examine the level of satisfaction with these reforms in compagnies. A qualitative study, based on interviews, was used to conduct this research. Ten managers (including 8 women) participated in this research. They represent companies in the manufacturing, technology and health sectors. All the companies participating in this study are included in the scope of this Act (Total payroll of $2 million or more). The results of this study show that all of the interviewees believe that investments in training are beneficial for their company. However, 90% of the participating companies evaluate training with surveys or tests (with participants) and only 30% audit the impact of training. On the other hand, despite the unanimity regarding the beneficial effects of the Act on skills, 40% consider that the Act’s reforms have not been beneficial since they exclude small businesses from the scope of this Act. Some participants (60%) pointed out that the administrative burden associated with the application of the Act is a disadvantage for small businesses that cannot continue to benefit from the training programs generated by this Act.
keywords: Skills Act; Training; Competencies; Reform; Effectiveness