| This bulletin examines current workforce training policies and actions in the inland freight transportation and logistical operations sectors of Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Paraguay, both public and private. It draws upon a number of interviews and surveys conducted between February and May of 2009 in public agencies responsible for transport and employment policies, as well as industry associations and companies selected for their experience implementing training plans (company-cases).Starting from the premise that the creation and management of knowledge is one of the keys to boosting the sector’s productivity and competitiveness, this bulletin explores aspects of the work performance of human resources in this sector and the existence of mechanisms for measuring the impact of training on current and projected performance levels.The efficiency, productivity and competitiveness of a business are functions of the professionalism of its management and its human resources in general. However, the degree of professionalism in management depends not only on internal factors within organizations, but also on external issues affecting them, such as institutional, political-economic and cultural characteristics as well as the specific characteristics of the industry. Although the inland freight transportation sector is relatively important, it appears to be professionalizing less markedly and more slowly and unevenly than related sectors. It also seems to have limited access to training systems. Part of this can be explained by the fact that it comprises a vast, complex, extremely fragmented group of companies characterized by the diversity of services and the heterogeneity of components. Nevertheless, the sector has made important advances in the quality of services offered. It has overcome both external and internal obstacles, spurred primarily by the demands of its customers.Against this backdrop, the professionalization mechanisms implemented by the sector and those that should be put in place are analysed, not only because training influences productivity and competitiveness but also because it has repercussions in the overall system in which the activity takes place: the environment, health, safety, quality of life, wage levels, employability, profitability, etc. |
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