The impact of additional employee competences on the improvement of key business factors

The research presented in the paper had the task of determining the existence of mutual relations between the competencies of employees and key business factors, with the aim of improving the business and competitiveness of the company. The survey included 243 respondents from 80 companies from Serbia. The results of the correlation analysis confirmed a high degree of agreement between the analyzed variables. The variable of professional competence had the greatest influence on the variable of decision-making, while the variable of key competence had a strong connection with the variable of development and innovation of products and services. The results of the regression analysis showed that the competencies of employees have the greatest influence on the development and innovation of products and services, while the variable of professional competence made the greatest individual contribution. The t-test established the existence of a statistically significant difference in the variables of professional and key competencies when it comes to the ownership structure of the company. The results of the research indicate the importance of improving the competencies of employees in order to improve the key factors of business operations, and thus a better positioning of the company on the market and among competitors.