The value in ongoing training and development for every employee

Some employers hesitate when it comes to ongoing training and development for their staff. Training can be considered costly, when viewed as only an upfront expense. However, it can also be incredibly valuable if you want employees to remain in your business long term.

Sure, there is always the risk of any employee leaving the company shortly after you’ve invested in their knowledge. But most employers agree that the danger of not keeping your employees up to date presents a far greater risk.

How training & development affects your workplace

When employees are up to date with industry changes, both in your business’ industry and in their field of work, they will perform better. Why? Because they have the latest information to make the best, most informed, decisions. Makes sense, right?

The benefits of ongoing training and development flow on to the longer term, too. By ensuring your staff feel valued because you are willing to invest in their knowledge, their motivation and performance levels grow. Plus, you are much more likely to hold onto your best employees by showing that your business is invested in their professional development and growth. According to Udemy’s 2018 Skills Gap Report, 80% of those who said the skills for their jobs will change also said they’d quit if their employers didn’t offer the requisite training.

Development is a win-win for you and your staff.

Motivation

An employee who feels comfortable about their knowledge, capability and performance in their role is a motivated one. With many industries changing faster and faster, it can be easy to be left behind, knowledge-wise. If you allow this to drag out for too long, then you’ll find yourself with a team and business potentially struggling to keep up with the competition, hit necessary targets or adapt to changes – both within your industry or their field of work.

Performance

It’s a no-brainer that the highest performing employees are the ones who are equipped with the latest knowledge and tools to complete their jobs to the highest standards. They’re motivated, because they can consistently do a good job, see results, and they have the chance to increase their knowledge to further improve their performance. The more staff that feel that way, the better it is for your business’ performance. Simple.

It’s also been proven that companies also enjoy a 24% higher profit margin when they focus on training, in comparison with companies who do not.

Employee retention

Employees who are motivated and feel valued through increased professional development are significantly more likely to stick around, long term. According to LinkedIn’s 2018 Workplace Learning Report an incredible 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their careers. Now that’s something to think about.

When your business has a high staff turnover, your business suffers. It can cost as much as 33% of that employee’s salary each time you need to rehire for a role. In Australia, with an average salary of around $62,000 a year, that equates to around $20,460 each time you rehire.

Why does this happen? Because too much time is then spent on training new employees to get up to speed on your business, and building relationships with colleagues and clients, instead of pushing ahead with new projects.

Still hesitating about investing in training and development? We didn’t think so.

Create opportunities

When you invest in development for your staff, you create the opportunity to significantly improve performance and employee retention. And with that, comes happier customers through stronger client relationships and improved service.

If you’re not sure know where to start, check out our Development features, which let you stay in control and monitor your team’s development along the way.