Overview

Abstract (English)

According to the Human Capital (HC) theory, the investment in education/training should benefit a) the employee, by increasing his/her ability to command higher wages, and b) the employer, by increasing the organization’s productivity. Research in HC theory generally supports the presence of a positive and direct effect of training on productivity. In this study, we considered the possibility that training might affect productivity in a less direct way. According to this indirect effect hypothesis, training might affect variables such as the turnover within a company, the level of absenteeism, and job satisfaction, which in turn might have positive or negative effects on productivity. The objective of this research was to ascertain both the direct and indirect effect of training on productivity. To analyze this indirect effect, we adopted a two-step approach. The first step examined the effect of training on absenteeism, turnover, and job satisfaction; the second step examined the effect of training and the other three factors of interest on productivity. It was expected to observe in step one an effect of training on one, or more, of the three variables and then, in step two, an effect of these variables on productivity. In addition, we also expected to observe in step two a direct effect of training on productivity. To analyze these effects, we used a linear regression approach using cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses based on data from the Workplace and Employee Survey (WES) from 1999 to 2005. The results of the first set of analyses were partially consistent with the notion of an indirect effect of training on productivity. We found robust relationships between training and turnover and between training and job satisfaction in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. However, we found a very limited effect of training on absenteeism. The results of the cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses performed in the second step did not confirm the hypothesis of an indirect effect of training on productivity, since none of the variables of interest: absenteeism, turnover, and job satisfaction, had any consistent effect on productivity. Additionally, no consistent direct effect of training on productivity was observed.

Abstract (French)

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