The electrical sector is no stranger to the internal and external migratory trend that the country is experiencing and that affects the stability of its labor force, which requires a great deal of specialization due to the complexities of the work it performs.

In this adverse scenario, training, considered essential for business success, acquires a high significance as a rearguard in charge of bringing to the forefront workers prepared for better performance.

This is how the collection of the basic business unit (UEB) of Training, attached to the Electric Company of Las Tunas, interprets its delicate mission, as confirmed by Damaris Rodríguez Zamora, its director, and she praises the will with which they faced a difficult year such as 2022.

THE CHALLENGES, THE ANSWERS...

"The school year was full of obstacles that seemed impossible to overcome and we overcame them", exalts the director and recalls as imponderables, the impact of the pandemic, the repeated blackouts, the transportation situation for the transfer of students from the municipalities; and the lack of material resources and other supplies that threatened the sustainability of the courses, just to mention these examples among many others that could be cited.

But "we never gave up", she remarks and emphasizes that "together we looked for alternatives that allowed us to give continuity to the study programs and to fulfill them while respecting the technical and professional requirements of those who undertake very sensitive and risky tasks."

The main specialist of the UEB, Lourdes Reyes Pino, explains that "at that juncture, we reactivated the instructors of the municipalities as an alternative, also, to the problems already mentioned and other structural ones and we were able to open more courses in those territories adjusted to the needs; we used annexed premises for the development of some processes of theoretical and practical preparation of the trainees."

PREPARATION

The design of this strategy, the specialist assures, required an increase in the methodological preparation and personalized training of instructors, whether categorized or not, before the beginning of each course; and on-the-job training for the new specialists appointed to attend the training process in the areas.

"It is true," acknowledges the UEB director, "that these decisions increase responsibility and impose new practices for the rigorous control of the teaching processes, including the request for documentary evidence on the corresponding activities.

In this context, 18 supervisions were carried out to evaluate the implementation and progress of the training, and participation in comprehensive supervisions was systematic to reach all the areas where the preparation actions took place. They also developed a training workshop for specialists working in this area.

WHAT DO THE INSTRUCTORS THINK?

For instructor Ricardo Utra, a specialist in the Investment UEB, the preparation of teachers to teach quality classes is as important as the selection of students to ensure the proper training of personnel in charge of operating the systems, and he draws attention to the responsibility of the administrative departments in this matter.

His colleague Yordi Vega, director of the UEB Despacho, agrees with this criterion and maintains that in this sense, it is vital that the directors of the territorial UEBs pay more attention to their members in training and follow up on the evolution of the learning process.
Raúl Páez, director of the UEB Majibacoa, in the municipality of the same name, agrees and reminds us that training is one of the main investments of any company.

EPILOGUE

In this way, and taking into account the urgencies, they were able to fulfill 122 percent of the course plan foreseen for this calendar and they did not neglect the vocational training activities and the attention to the university graduates who are doing their social service in the company.

For all these reasons, Damaris Rodriguez Zamora recognizes it as a strength to have a school in the entity and considers it a key area of the Business System, so she calls to continue joining efforts to overcome expectations and strengthen the knowledge as a tool, also, that impacts on the safety and health of workers, "a subject of compulsory study in training activities," she emphasizes.

For her part, Lourdes Reyes del Pino invites you to make the best use of these opportunities to qualify the specialized force and to do it from the objective study of the needs.

Reyes Pino also highlights the consolidation of the collaboration agreements established by the Ministries of Energy and Mines and Higher Education, which "in our territory is bearing fruit in the relations with the local University and the Stainless Steel Company, Acinox Las Tunas, with a view to training engineers.