The benefits of employee training are far ranging and it is important for companies to understand the competitive advantage that training can bring for them if they get it right.
How much does training cost?
This is often the first question many employers ask about training as they want to know what they are actually going to get for the money they spend. The cost of training will vary depending on the length of the course, the complexity involved in the training plus additional costs such as whether or not the training is accredited in any way and if it is delivered in person or online. Businesses in the UK invest on average £1,500 per employee, per year in training according to data from the Employer Skills Survey. It is vital that they spend this money wisely and get a return on their investment, particularly when business costs are spiralling. Having a robust organisational or team training plan is a great starting point to ensure that spend on training makes a difference. That said there is some great training available which is either free of charge, or which is fully or partly funded and this will reduce costs and make a company’s training budget go further. Employers can also protect their investment in training by putting training costs agreements in place which mean that if an employee leaves within a certain timescale that they must repay some, or all, of the costs of their training.
The benefits of training for an employee
From an employee perspective training can be beneficial in a number of ways. The majority of people don’t want to do the same thing at work, day after day, week after week, it’s boring, it’s demotivating and it doesn’t provide great job satisfaction. There will undoubtedly be times when work has to be repetitive but training an employee to carry out a range of duties and responsibilities so that they are multi-skilled means that they will have some variation in their work and they will then be more engaged in work and more motivated to perform their job to the best of their abilities. Providing training for an employee which increases their level of skills and capabilities is also a great way to boost their self-esteem. By doing so employees will have a greater sense of worth as individuals and as part of the organisation and they will feel that they are making a difference and can see more readily the contribution they are making. Employees who are well trained and can demonstrate additional skills and qualifications are also more likely to be paid higher salaries and have a wider range of job opportunities so the time and effort they dedicate to training pays off.
The benefits of training for an employer
As an employer it is vitally important to offer training to your staff. Training for employees is critical to the success of a business and can help a company to stand out from the competition. Staff who receive training and have relevant skills are often happier at work as they are confident in what they are doing and feel motivated and engaged in their job. When staff are happy at work that has a clear correlation to how productive they are. A research study entitled “Happiness and Productivity” by academics at the University of Warwick showed that typically staff are around 12% more productive when they are happy at work. If staff are happy, motivated, engaged and have high levels of job satisfaction because they are well trained then they are less likely to look elsewhere for employment. This notion is backed up in a survey carried out by Skillsoft in which 70% of respondents said that job related training and development opportunities influenced their decision to stay in a job. As an employer that is another plus, as employee retention can be a real headache and can cost businesses large amounts of money if there is regular staff turnover. As an employer if your staff are well trained that will lead to fewer mistakes, which in turn will save the company money. For example, it could be that there is less wastage on a production line because staff have been trained in more effective processing, this will also positively impact on business costs. Training has some less obvious benefits for employers as well. Training can help employers to meet statutory requirements and therefore ensure compliance with subjects such as health and safety or data protection and GDPR. This can prevent accidents and data breaches both or which can have hugely negative implications for a business. Furthermore, training which involves employees working together can be extremely powerful for a company. Cross team or cross department training will bring people together and engender a greater sense of communication and collaboration. The impact of this will then be that staff work better together to solve problems and there will be a positive culture with a sense that everyone is working collectively and pulling in the same direction. Finally, if a business has staff who are well trained and advanced in their field of work this can provide for improved products and services as the staff and the business make use of the enhanced knowledge and expertise. The knock-on effect of this is that the reputation of the business improves, customer satisfaction improves and profits rise, win, win, win.
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Why not also check out our blog on a similar topic Does My Business Need A Training Matrix?
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