Employee Training and Firm Performance: Evidence from Esf Grant Applications

The relationship between training effectiveness and financial performance in cooperative organizations

“…These studies, however, did not use the amount actually invested in training by companies as a variable of interest, due to limited data. Finally, in a study closer to ours, Martins (2021) found that companies with additional resources for training (in this case, companies covered by the European Social Fund’s training stimulus program) had a higher proportion of sales, greater added value and a higher volume of exports. Nevertheless, the author did not identify the influence of this variable on the profitability of the companies in the sample, noting that this result may have been influenced by the inaccuracy of the profitability measures, as they are not directly observable for the sample in question.…”

“…Initially, studies focused on a microanalytical perspective, but over the years this has been expanded to a more strategic approach (Delery and Doty, 1996; Bronzini and Piselli, 2009; Thang et al , 2010; Khan, 2021). In this respect, more recent studies have adopted the organizational dimension as a level of analysis, seeking to highlight a link between HRM practices and organizational performance indicators (Sitzmann and Weinhardt, 2017; Lyons, 2020) and, in particular, on the relationship between the indicators of “hours” and “amounts” invested and indicators of return on investment (Martins, 2021).…”

“…In this respect, Martins (2021) studied a large program of training grants supported by the European Social Fund, comparing companies in Portugal that received the grants and unsuccessful applicants. After a period of comparison (before and after the granting decision), significant positive effects of acceptance (training hours and expenses) were identified, with the additional training leading to increased sales, added value, jobs, productivity and exports.…”

Advanced Digital Technologies and Investment in Employee Training: Complements or Substitutes?

“…Unlike much of the existing literature, they find evidence that training improves worker wages more than organizational performance. Other papers in this literature includeZwick, 2006, andMartins, 2021. See alsoFialho, Quintini and Vandeweyer, 2021, for a review.…”