<![CDATA[The demand for competent labor in Indonesia's engineering and construction sector keeps rising, yet small and medium-sized engineering firms still struggle to run structured training and development programs. This study explores and interprets how training, development, and work motivation shape employee competence at CV. ARH Engineering Kendal, a medium-scale engineering company where training participation grew from 42 percent in 2023 to 72 percent in 2025 while employee turnover grew alongside it, from 14.2 percent to 22.2 percent over the same period. The study uses a qualitative approach with an exploratory and interpretive design under a constructivist paradigm. Four informants, the company director, the human resource officer, and two employees from the office and field divisions, were selected through purposive sampling. Data came from in-depth interviews, direct observation, and documentation, and were analyzed using the interactive model of Miles and Huberman, supported by source triangulation, technique triangulation, and member checking. The results show that training improves technical competence but remains general in content because the company lacks a systematic training needs analysis. Development happens mainly through informal, on-the-job mentoring rather than formal programs, and work motivation stems largely from intrinsic and social factors rather than formal incentive systems. Employee competence forms most strongly when technical training, direct supervisory mentoring, and intrinsic motivation occur together, a pattern consistent with Human Capital Theory and Self-Determination Theory. However, this combination has not been sufficient to retain employees, since rising competence has coincided with rising turnover. The findings suggest that human resource management in medium-scale engineering firms should treat competence building and employee retention as related but distinct outcomes, and companies need to formalize informal mentoring, document development pathways, and pair training investment with structured career and recognition systems to keep skilled employees. This study is limited to a single company, so the interpretations are context-bound and cannot be generalized to other medium-scale engineering firms without further comparative research. Keywords: training, human resource development, work motivation, employee competence]]>
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