Employee development programs: Employee motivation to attend voluntary technical trainings in High-tech companies in Sweden.

Abstract: Nowadays, there is a major issue that increasing demand for employees learning and development: technological development. Technological development pushes employees to learn more and companies to offer development programs to their employees. There is always a need for employees to learn new skills, norms and values and develop the personal mastery. Organizations, on the other hand, should empower and encourage employee to develop and to perform a task. The purpose of this study is to identify and investigate the factors, which motivate employees for attending voluntary technical trainings, and to understand to what extent the managers affect employees’ willingness to participate in non-mandatory technical trainings in High-tech MNCs in Sweden. What motivates employees to attend non-mandatory technical development programs and trainings on products in High-tech companies in Sweden? To what extent does manager affect employees’ willingness to attend voluntary technical trainings? A mixed method is used in this research, which is a combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods. Seven semi-structured face-to-face Interviews were conducted with both senior managers and employees in studied companies. Survey was conducted online and sent to employees in four high-tech companies in Västmanland, Sweden. Conclusion: There are different motivations for employees to attend voluntary technical trainings in Sweden such as desire to stay updated with the technologies, self-fulfillment and interaction with others. Managers play a more supporting rather than supervisory role in the whole process of employees learning.