If there is one thing that will always be true, a business is only as good as its employees. And if you treat your employees poorly, they are not going to be motivated enough to give you good work that you are going to be able to make the most of.
When you take care of your employees and provide them space to learn and thrive, you will quickly see that your productivity and general output are of a higher quality.
Why should you train your employees?
You have probably heard the saying about training employees that says, “what if you train them and they leave” “ah but what if you don’t and they stay?”
While as a business, you should be looking at the long-term cost, you also need to reframe your employees in terms of value.
What value do they bring to the company – and could you afford for that to leave?
Here are the benefits that you need to know about when it comes to making sure that your employees are trained:
Tech
Training in new software and technology is a must for many businesses; new employees might come in with the training already – and this puts your current employees at a disadvantage.
Make sure that you expose your staff to new technology often and keep their training up to date.
When your staff is all proficient in the same software and technology, your business can make moves more quickly when it has to.
Environment
When you don’t feel appreciated, you are unlikely to reach your full potential – and in fact, you might begin to coast because what is the point?
When this type of feeling starts to become common in the workplace, it can fester and eat away at whatever good feeling and supportive atmosphere you have.
When your employees don’t feel like they matter, they will begin to act that way. The best thing you can do is try to work out how you can support your staff and what they need from you to succeed.
Policies and Procedures
How can your staff advise and give information if they don’t understand the policies and procedures that they should be following?
Or in another situation, say, for example, you run a care home, and rather than have updated training, your staff is left to work on the training they had in the early stages of their career.
They aren’t 100% sure of the new policies and procedures and do something that is now frowned upon.
The problems that their mistake has caused will be laid down at your feet as the manager or owner of the business.
Company Morale
Teamwork makes the dream work – and in order for your team to feel like they want to work together, it is vital that they feel valued as an individual and a group. When each of the team members in achieving and working towards new goals, they will become each other’s cheering squad too. This is a great way to keep morale within the team-high.
A supportive team is one of the fundamental ways that you can see your team approach their work with more confidence and want to perform their best at all times.
Structure
The structure of your business is going to become stagnant if you don’t have any of your long-term staff moving into managerial roles because they are highly skilled and well-trained. When all of the team members need to learn by trial and error – or worse, not at all, it will quickly become apparent that your organization structure needs more than just a little helping hand.
Reduced Turnover
There are no two ways about it, employee turnover is expensive, and when you have a revolving door because people join the company and just aren’t happy – you’re going to be spending a decent chunk of money on replacing the staff.
It is estimated that recruiting the right person can cost up to twice their annual salary once all of the advertising, interviews, admin, and more have been completed. Not to mention that the hiring process can take months to finish – and you don’t always get the right person at the end of it.
Employee training helps your employees engage and learn, and LinkedIn reported that 94% of employees would stay at a company for a longer time if it invested in their development.
You can also reduce employee turnover by looking into employer benefits for retaining employees and seeing what is standard in the industry, and going above and beyond.
Increase Productivity
If you want your employees to give their best performance day after day, then you need to provide them with the right tools to support that action. In general, employees that don’t get updated training aren’t going to be able to keep up with the pace set by your competitors.
Many businesses know just how important it is to make sure their staff has access to online training tools, group training, coaching, mentoring, and other forms of skill enhancement.
One of the most important things to keep in mind is that when it comes to productivity, your team will quickly get into the flow of achieving, being proud of the achievement, feeling satisfied, and then wanting to achieve more. It is a very positive cycle to be in, and one that is only achievable when your staff feels like they are supported to make it happen.
Skill Gap Prevention
One of the most significant issues in the last few years for companies of all sizes is that either they have a skill gap now or they will have one in the future. Skill gaps happen when companies make the decision not to offer training and support to their employees while the industry keeps moving forward.
The long-term effects of this decision can be felt by companies for years after making the initial cutbacks.
When employers proactively anticipate that the industry will make XYZ changes (using trends and emerging technology to help make those assumptions), they can train their employees ahead of the curve.
Talent Pipelines
When new juniors join your company, they are most likely going to expect to see some upward motion possible- however, if you aren’t offering training, then improving their skills isn’t going to be possible. This also means that if you do choose to promote them further down the line, you are putting under-qualified people in leadership roles that aren’t prepared for all that the position might require from them.
When you have a set timeline for training, and you have employees that are ready to take the following steps, training them up into the role, as well as letting their skills naturally develop, will give you people that are more than ready to take on the task.
Security
This will come as no surprise, but when your employees feel secure, they are more likely to keep trying to outperform themselves. When companies are investing in the training of their staff, this gives the team the impression that their role is safe. When your employees feel secure, they will make it a priority to be loyal.
One of the biggest worries of the workforce is that if they don’t receive regular training, they will lose their job within five years. This type of insecurity can make your staff unsettled, unwilling to commit – and ultimately have one eye open for new opportunities and one foot out the door.
Taking care of your employees isn’t just something that is nice to do; it is a must, and training is just one part of the story. Here is another consideration: How to Keep Your Employees Comfortable in Their Work Space – Times International.
