Training is always useful!

Training for all!

Contrary to certain preconceptions, training is not the exclusive reserve of certain categories of employees. Young newcomers on the labour market and seasoned forty year-olds can acquire new skills or consolidate their know-how, whether they are operatives or managers, graduates or self-taught. There is always a training course to meet your needs. At a time when our careers are becoming less linear, we can all benefit from training at some time or another. Like 35 year-old James Brown, who became a heating technician at ENGIE in Dordogne, France after working in the retail sector for years. “I have always been attracted by technical trades and manual work”, he explains. “So, in 2018, I made a complete change by following a training course in plumbing, thanks to the French adult vocational training agency. Soon afterwards, a friend who worked for ENGIE told me about the company’s job mobility programme. In just three technically and operationally very intensive weeks, I learned all the basics of boiler maintenance.” James Brown has since become a team leader and has no regrets about seizing this opportunity to retrain and add a new momentum to his career.

Training is beneficial in more ways than one

As the years go by, training can do more than just opening up new career opportunities. As Nicolas Rolland, the Director of ENGIE University, explains, “being well trained helps people to feel more confident in their job, reduces stress at work and favours personal and professional fulfilment. People who continue their training throughout their careers also learn new skills and soft skills too. It increases their employability and can boost their career development, in terms of promotion, changing companies or opting for an internal transfer.” In a fast-changing world, training also rhymes with agility and permanent adaptation. 
Fulfilment, development and higher qualifications. These are the goals that Gaëlle Collos, a Communication Manager at ENGIE, is pursuing. Already the holder of a higher national diploma, at the age of 42, she decided to go back to school, where she is currently studying for an MBA in digital marketing, which is equivalent to 5 years at university. “I am delighted!”, she exclaims with a smile. “It feels like I have left my comfort zone to take up a new challenge. It’s very stimulating to learn and to meet new people. I work in a digital environment that is constantly changing. Training enables me to stay up to standard and to use my skills to boost my career prospects.”

Training has never been so easy!

Most of Gaëlle Collos’ course of training was due to take place in the classroom. But then the pandemic arrived and most of her lessons have been held remotely. “It’s not a problem”, she explains. “This type of training has changed significantly. It’s very dynamic, great fun and easy to follow.” Remote schooling, e-learning, simulators, mobile learning, virtual classes... Digital technology has brought about some deep-seated changes in the world of training. Nicolas Rolland confirms. “Thanks to digital technology, we can train more people more quickly. Also, it allows us to offer a made-to-measure approach, so that everyone can follow the training whenever and wherever they like, depending on their needs and availability.” For example, ENGIE University offers numerous modules to employees that they can follow whenever it suits them. “It’s really good, because the training arouses your curiosity and makes you want to learn more”, adds Gaëlle Collos.
So it is quite clear that training has now become essential and indispensable for every one of us. “In simple terms, training changed my life”, concludes James Brown. “After learning the technical aspects of my trade, my I am now learning management, and I do not intend to stop there!”.