Training: The Investment Italian Companies Are No Longer Postponing

Skills as a buffer against technological disruption. That’s the core message from the 25th national congress of Aidp, the Italian Association for People Management, held in Padua this past June. Association president Matilde Marandola put it plainly: skills, more than any other lever, will determine whether organizations can withstand the impact of artificial intelligence or be overtaken by it. And the numbers gathered by Aidp’s Research Centre, based on a sample of nearly 500 Italian companies, seem to back that up: 98% already provide mandatory training to their employees, and over 90% also invest in non-mandatory technical and professional training.

How Training Governance Is Changing Inside Companies

It’s not just about training more – it’s about training in a more structured way. Nearly half of the companies surveyed (48%) manage their training processes through a dedicated internal function, and another 23% run a full-fledged corporate Academy. This signals that training is moving out of the “nice to have” category and becoming part of organizational strategy: half the sample now describes it as an integral part of overall company strategy.

Soft Skills, Safety, Languages: What’s Actually Being Taught

Among the most common training content, soft skills – communication, negotiation, problem solving – rank first, appearing in 62% of programs. Health and safety training follows at 58%, then sector-specific technical skills at 39%.

One figure that stands out for anyone working on organizational development: only 25% of companies explicitly train on leadership, and just 13% on company culture – two areas that are arguably harder to measure, but no less critical to navigating ongoing change.

Artificial Intelligence Is (Slowly) Entering Training Itself

Technology, inevitably, also shapes how training is delivered. 17% of companies already use Learning Management System platforms with integrated chatbots and AI, and two-thirds of respondents consider these technologies useful. More broadly, about 39% of organizations are planning reskilling programs tied to the introduction of AI and robotics, while another 23% have already launched them – a sign that upskilling is no longer just a talking point, but is starting to translate into concrete plans.

What “The Courage of Skills” Actually Means

The title chosen for the Aidp congress – “The Courage of Skills” – wasn’t picked at random. Marandola points out that developing skills today requires a willingness to put yourself back in play, at any age: more a mindset than a simple training activity.

For those leading people within organizations, that means working on empathy, listening, and critical thinking, alongside technical expertise – a combination that makes the role of HR directors increasingly central to organizational resilience.

A Strategy, Not a Compliance Task

The message emerging from Aidp’s data is fairly clear: training works when it stops being seen as a regulatory obligation and becomes part of how a company prepares for change. Organizations that have already taken this path – building dedicated functions, measuring training’s impact, investing in leadership and internal culture alongside technical skills – are starting the current wave of technological transformation with a real head start.