Qualification

Under qualification refers to the labor market and human resources all measures of qualification of labor used. The review of technical suitability is also referred to as qualification.

Professional qualification

General

Qualification is therefore the acquisition or improvement of a professional qualification. It starts with school education . The state promotes private economic activity by contributing to the qualification of the workforce through public schools and universities, among other things . Since there are more or less large gaps between school education and the work content and areas of work of a profession , the actual professional qualification takes place through vocational training . In addition to vocational training preparation , advanced training and vocational retraining, it is a sub-area of vocational training .

This qualification is not complete, because other qualifications acquires a worker through experience or operational and / or non-company activities of human resource development such as training on the job , training near the job , vocational training or adult and continuing education . These instruments serve to further develop the qualifications of employees . This further development of professional qualifications can help reduce the workload in the workplace and opens up career opportunities , because higher qualifications can usually be associated with professional (financial) advancement. This can ideally in a rise of a performing activities with implementing powers to a management role as manager with leadership skills exist.

species

A distinction is made between the qualification of school leavers ( basic qualification ) and the further qualification of workers. The basic qualification takes place in Germany through dual training in the form of parallel training of the trainees in the training company and vocational school or in the tertiary area at the vocational academy . The basic qualification should eliminate deficits that were not or insufficiently trained in the general school system . Among other things, it conveys basic knowledge about labor law , employers and employees , the employment relationship or the organization of companies and markets . The aim of the basic vocational qualifications is to actively deal with the job descriptions .

Further qualification begins with familiarization and is the improvement and expansion of professional knowledge and skills or retraining within a company. Changing tasks and increased demands require constant further qualification (“ lifelong learning ”). Further qualification on the labor market should ensure that employees move up to a higher qualification category. The labor market differentiates between low, medium and high qualifications. The low-skilled group includes people with or without a secondary school leaving certificate . Persons medium qualifications have GCSE , High School or a vocational qualification , persons with high qualifications have a college or university degree . One of the aims of labor market policy is to further qualify low- or medium-skilled workers through qualification measures. These are the groups most likely to be at risk of unemployment . There are vocational qualification measures in particular for the long-term unemployed , recipients of unemployment benefit II and disadvantaged unemployed people over 50 years of age.

In addition, a distinction is made between adaptation and promotion qualifications. The adaptive qualification comprises changes in the immediate work environment, whereby the existing knowledge and skills of employees are adapted to the changes in their tasks, and measures that take into account changes in the labor market. The advancement qualification is intended to develop the potential of employees in such a way "that they are able to take on more demanding functions or higher-value positions". In addition, with regard to the place of qualification, a distinction can be made between internal and external qualification measures. In the event of corporate crises or insolvencies in particular, the external employment and qualification company and the transfer company have established themselves, which also aim to further qualify workers.

Qualification measures are not regulated by law. By contrast, various labor administration programs are financed by the state or from unemployment insurance in accordance with legal requirements . With this funding, private operators of course programs offer qualification content. The courses are not subject to any independent quality control - except by the funding institution. Other measures of qualification are offered by the chambers of crafts or the chambers of industry and commerce . The chambers are entrusted with the examination right for vocational training and have the suitability for sufficient quality of such offers. However, certificates issued by the operator are not protected by law.

Preparatory qualification

Those who drop out of school and those who receive social benefits are offered measures for vocational qualification. So should

the entry into vocational training is made possible or
preparation for a new or first employment relationship or
be prepared for taking up self-financed training.

Economic aspects

Qualifications are investments in education that, like any education , are initially associated with costs and can only later lead to income. After completing the qualification, the employee earns for the first time or higher income and thus contributes to the gross national product or its increase. Qualification improves labor productivity , can reduce production errors and thus contribute to improving product quality , and enables product or financial innovations . Investing in education can be risky if skilled workers quit before the production process has amortized the cost of education .

Device qualification

The device qualification is also called system qualification. During the qualification of devices and systems, a check is carried out to determine whether the device and the technology used are suitable for the intended task. B. a mixer can bring about a homogeneous mixing ratio by stirring different substances .

The so-called installation qualification (IQ for short) takes place once upon delivery and commissioning of the device. In contrast, the implementation of the Operational Qualification (OQ) (corresponding operational qualification called) and Performance Qualification (PQ) (also commonly Performance Qualification called) at regular intervals required. The aim is to provide documented evidence of the suitability of a technical facility to meet the requirements previously specified in the development documentation.

Sometimes a requalification is recommended. However, this is not generally necessary, especially if a documented and functioning change management system is installed in the company. However, if doubts arise about the suitability of the technical system, a requalification can also be ordered extraordinarily (e.g. by quality assurance ). However, it is normally only usual to carry out a requalification when changes have been made to a system. Then it has to be decided in each individual case which phases have to be repeated and to what extent (IQ, OQ, PQ).

In the pharmaceutical industry, qualifications are a prerequisite for working in compliance with the GMP guidelines. The implementation must be laid down in written procedural instructions or work instructions ( English Standard Operation Procedure , or SOP for short ).

literature

Thomas Peither, Dr. Petra Rempe, Winfried Büßing: GMP system qualification in the pharmaceutical industry . Maas & Peither AG - GMP-Verlag, Schopfheim, 2010, ISBN 978-3-934971-46-2