Business leaders are not the only people in an organisation who should pay attention to increasing their knowledge and expertise.
Everybody who works for the business is important to its continued success and growth, so a programme of ongoing training and continuous development for employees would be a worthwhile investment for the ambitious business.
It is no secret that the UK is suffering from a skills shortage that is already impacting on the ability of companies to recruit the people they need, especially at a time when employment is at its highest level.
While employers might be worried about the cost of investing in their staff who subsequently leave, they should be more worried about not investing in staff who stay.
What are the benefits of employee training and development?
Recruiting to fill a vacancy can be a costly and lengthy process, assuming that there is even someone out there with the desired skills.
There may be someone in the company already who has the potential do the job with some additional training. It may be that this would not take much longer than the recruitment process, and it would have the added advantage of money spent within the business rather than to an outside service. And it can save on expensive and time-consuming recruitment.
It may less risky training up a known person than gambling on whether a new recruit turns out to have the right qualities and soft skills, in addition to their qualifications, to fit into the organisation’s culture.
Training also brings flexibility through staff being able to do other jobs when colleagues are on holiday or off sick. Having several members of staff who can operate plant and machinery or work in different departments can be highly valuable. It can also bring in house work that might be subcontracted such as equipment maintenance, accounts or marketing.
A training programme brings other benefits, in that it ensures staff can see a way of developing their potential and their careers. At the same time, it will ensure that the capabilities of both organisation and people keep pace with new developments in their sector.
Training can help build employees’ confidence, so that they feel able to tackle unexpected developments, such as a customer complaint, professionally and constructively in a way that enhances the company’s reputation.
Confidence in knowledge and skills means employees can make a greater contribution to the benefit of all as does inviting suggestions for new ideas, products or ways of doing things.
The business that invests in its employees gives them self-respect and shows they are valued. It is more likely to keep them and to be able to benefit from their motivation and contribution.