Hire ready or invest in training?

Article by Mônica Biajo in O Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul newspaper:

Employees: hire ready or invest in training?

“Through a performance monitoring system, the dismissal rate tends to be very low. When problems are easily identified, the employee has time to correct or adapt.”

The vast majority of companies seek professionals with high academic qualifications, great achievements in the past, important universities, and an enviable resume. Hiring experienced people is always interesting, but investing in “in-house” training can be even more strategic.

Although it is a long-term tactic, which demands planning and investments from the company, this has shown to be a very promising bet. Working for 11 years at Mazzaferro, an industry of excellence in the nylon industry, I have experienced this training process in practice. With almost 500 employees, the company has a structured career plan. With periodic feedbacks, the employees can identify their strengths and the ones to be improved in order to grow and reach new positions. Salary and benefits program follows this same structure.

Through a performance monitoring system, the dismissal rate tends to be very low. When problems are easily identified, the employee has time to correct or adapt. Dismissal only happens as a last resort. The turnover is very low and it is very common to see professionals with more than 10, 15 years in the company. Internal recruitment is also part of the human resources policy. Before opening any vacancy, the company evaluates the possibility of promoting an employee, thus honoring those who stand out the most. In this way, it is very common to have professionals who enter the company still very young and unprepared, and take on leadership positions.

Besides good performance, Mazzaferro considers the availability that the employee has to study. An undergraduate and graduate program encourages the training of professionals with scholarships of up to 50% in the most renowned educational institutions. There is also availability for language courses, considering the demands of each area. In-company training also stimulates the qualification of the professionals.

The valorization of collaborators is a hallmark, but the company is also open to seeking young professionals in the market. This oxygenation is also necessary. Another benefit that is well recognized by the collaborators is the in-house restaurant. Unlike most industries, which outsource the service, Mazzaferro manages its own space. A nutritionist develops the menu and monitors the preparation of food that happens internally. The feeling is that of a meal made at home, free of pesticides and other chemical components.

This homemade way of taking care of people says a lot about the management profile of a 65-year-old family-owned company. The access to the board and presidency is also quite simple. Periodically, employees from all areas can have coffee with the president, in an open space for opinions, criticism, and suggestions. All this is the result of a long journey, but it shows that the path could not be more correct. Evidence of this is that Mazzaferro appeared in the survey The 100 Fastest Growing Small and Medium Companies in Brazil, conducted by Deloitte in partnership with Exame magazine. The company is in the 85th overall position in the ranking, being the 13th manufacturing industry in the country among those that achieved the best results in 2017. A proof that a company’s biggest secret is its people.

Monica Biajo is HR Manager at Mazzaferro Group (São Paulo).

Published in O Estado do Mato Grosso do Sul newspaper in November, 2018.