Building skills has never been more important
News January 14, 2022
The business world is changing faster than ever, which means skills are going out of date faster too. The average shelf life of a skill is now less than 5 years, so if people want to keep up with the competition, they have to be ready to learn new skills, fast.
What this means for businesses is upskilling. Companies can’t continuously recruit new staff to fill their skills gap. In today’s competitive market, there’s not enough talent to go round, and the cost of recruiting new staff is far from cost-effective. The only way for businesses to stay on top of this pace of change is to retain and train their existing employees.
The good thing is employees want to learn. Training at work is no longer a chore – technology has made learning relevant, rewarding and instant. And staff today (especially millennials) are more motivated by the opportunity to learn new skills than by perks, swanky office space or even money. They know how crucial skills are for their career development and are desperate to learn, grow and keep up with their peers.
So if businesses need skills and staff want to learn, the solution is simple – businesses just need to find an effective, efficient way to upskill their workforce.
General Benefits from Employee Training and Development
There are numerous sources of online information about training and development. Several of these sites suggest reasons for supervisors to conduct training among employees. These reasons include:
- Increased job satisfaction and morale among employees
- Increased employee motivation
- Increased efficiencies in processes, resulting in financial gain
- Increased capacity to adopt new technologies and methods
- Increased innovation in strategies and products
- Reduced employee turnover
- Enhanced company image, e.g., conducting ethics training (not a good reason for ethics training!)
- Risk management, e.g., training about sexual harassment, diversity training
- Benefits of Training to Employees and Employers
Contrary to popular belief, the benefits of training to employees are not limited exclusively to the employees themselves. Research having shown time and time again how businesses that invest heavily in employee training tend to be the more successful and prosperous businesses.
One of the most common mistakes made by employers is assuming initial employee training alone is sufficient. That just as soon as mandatory introductory job training is complete, there’s no real need for any further investment in training.
In reality, the benefits of training and development in an organisation are ongoing. As an employee, training and development provides you with the opportunity to progress through the ranks. From an employer’s perspective, training and development is all about building the strongest and most capable workforce for the benefit of the entire organisation.
The problem being that employers and employees alike often leave it to someone else to take the initiative and make it happen.
8 Key Benefits of Training to Employees and Employers
To view an investment in employee training as an unnecessary expense is to completely miss the mark. Irrespective of the costs, you’re actually making an investment in the long-term prosperity of your entire business. Whether you have a staff-force of 500 or just 5 employees, the importance of ongoing training and development cannot be overstated.
Now more than ever, gaining access to quality online training programs at affordable prices has never been easier. By making employee training and development a priority for your organisation, you stand to reap the rewards sooner than you might think.
The following representing just eight examples of the limitless benefits of training and development in any organisation:
- Motivation
You cannot expect even the most committed employees to remain motivated, without demonstrating your commitment to their success. Every time you provide an employee with the opportunity to build new skills and knowledge, you make a direct contribution to their future. It’s no secret that a motivated workforce is also a productive, efficient and loyal workforce. The more you put in by way of training and development, the more you can expect to get out as a result.
- Respond to industry changes
It’s also worth remembering that whatever sector you happen to be in, things are probably changing and evolving at their fastest-ever pace. If you want your employees and your business to remain up to date with the latest industry changes, you need to provide ongoing training and development opportunities. To allow your employees’ skills and knowledge to stagnate is to run the risk of quickly becoming unviable.
- Improved retention rates
Provide your employees with everything they need to achieve their full potential and they’ll reward you with their loyalty. By contrast, give them the impression they’re hitting a dead-end and they won’t hesitate to seek alternative employment. The training and development opportunities you provide could dramatically impact your employee retention rates.
- Promote from within
It’s always exponentially cheaper and easier to promote from within. Rather than searching high and low for external candidates with the skills and knowledge required, why not help your existing employees build the same skills and knowledge?
- Outperform the competition
This applies to both employees and employers alike. As an employee, taking part in training and developmental opportunities can help ensure you stand out from the crowd when pursuing higher-level positions. For the employer, investing in a talented and capable workforce provides the business with every opportunity to outperform its competitors.
- Job satisfaction
The level of job satisfaction felt by any employee will directly affect their motivation, productivity, loyalty and future outlook. Once again, you cannot expect employees to work to their full potential, if they don’t feel happy and satisfied in their work. As an employer, it’s your job to provide your employees with every reasonable opportunity to enjoy their work and take pride in what they do.
- Quality and consistency
Ongoing training can also be a great way of ensuring every member of the workforce is up to the same standard, in terms of their skills, knowledge and so on. Consistency is important, as it’s never particularly motivating for employees to see others excelling and progressing, far more rapidly than themselves. All employees should be provided with adequate training and development opportunities – not only those with the highest aptitude.
- Attract new talent
If looking to attract the best possible talent to your business, you need to ensure you’re offering the right incentives. Businesses that invest heavily in the success of their employees never fail to attract new talent at the highest level. When quality candidates search for available positions, provision of training programs tends to be a high priority.
In a Nutshell…
Once again, it’s simply a case of acknowledging the mutual benefits that accompany training and development in an organisation. For the ambitious employee, quality training programs hold the key to limitless career advancement. For proactive employers, it’s all about building and retaining the strongest possible teams.
Irrespective of the size and nature of the business, ongoing employee training and development should be considered mandatory.
For more information on any of our courses or to discuss your requirements in more detail, reach out to a member of the staff in the admissions support team today.
