ORIGINAL
SOURCE
EMPLOYEE
TRAINING IS WORTH THE INVESTMENT
A
recent survey indicates that 40 per cent of employees who receive poor job
training leave their positions within the first year. They cite the lack of
skills training and development as the principal reason for moving on.
Consider
the cost of turnover. With one fewer worker, your company’s productivity slips.
Sales decline. Your current staff members are required to work more hours.
Morale may suffer.
To
find a replacement, you spend time screening and interviewing applicants. Once
you hire someone, you need to train that person. The cost of staff
turnover adds up. Figures vary, but it can cost as much as $2,500, depending on
the position, to replace a frontline employee. That is a hefty price to pay for
not training staff.
Knowledge
and skills development is vital to the health of organisations. We live
in an information age today, and organisations are routinely valued not just on
their physical but on their intellectual capital. Training is one of the
chief methods of maintaining and improving intellectual capital, so the quality
of an organisation’s training affects its value. Untrained or poorly trained
employees cost significantly more to support than well-trained employees
do. Training affects employee retention and is a valuable commodity that,
if viewed as an investment rather than as an expense, can produce high returns.
Training
is organisational effort aimed at helping employees to acquire the basic skills
required for the efficient execution of the functions for which they are
hired. Development, on the other hand, deals with activities undertaken
to expose employees to perform additional duties and assume positions of
importance in the organisational hierarchy.
Training
and development are often initiated for an employee or a group of employees in
order to:
1. Relevantly remain in
business.
2. Create a pool of
readily available and adequate replacements for personnel who may leave or move
up in the organisation.
3. Enhance the company’s
ability to adopt and use advances in technology because of a sufficiently
knowledgeable staff.
4. Build a more
efficient, effective and highly motivated team, which enhances the company’s
competitive position and improves employee morale.
5. Ensure adequate human
resources for expansion into new programs.
6. Pilot or test the
operation of a new performance management system.
7. Benchmark the status
of improvement so far in a performance improvement effort.
Training is also
initiated:
1. As part of an overall
professional development program
2. When a performance
appraisal indicates performance improvement is needed.
3. When
special projects and products are to be embarked upon
The
benefits of training and development to employees and organisations alike are
numerous and include (but are not limited to) the following:
1. Workers are helped to
focus, and priority is placed on empowering employees.
2. Productivity is
increased, positively affecting the bottom line.
3. Employee confidence is
built, keeping and developing key performers, enabling team development and
contributing to better team/organisation morale.
4. Employees are kept
current on new job-related information, thereby contributing significantly to
better customer service.
5. Employees are updated
on new and enhanced skills, with a view to aligning them to business goals and
objectives.
6. After a downsizing,
remaining workers are given the technical and management skills to handle
increased workloads.
7. Companies with
business problems are given a fresh or unbiased professional opinion or
exploration, evaluation, or critique.
8. Job satisfaction,
employee motivation and morale are increased, reducing employee turnover.
9. Processes increase in
efficiency, resulting in financial gain.
10. Innovation
is increased, bringing new strength to strategies, products and the company’s
capacity to adopt new technologies and methods.
There
are various methods organisations adopt in the training and development of
their employees, depending on their needs. They include role playing, job
rotation, on-the-job training, vestibule training (where employees are trained
off their regular work areas but in an environment closely resembling their
work place), public classroom training, onsite training, conferences which
allow employees to quickly develop skills on a number of topics, technical
seminars which provide employees benefits similar to conferences but with less
flexibility because of focused contents, instructor-led online training,
mentoring where the skills gap to be bridged is substantial, e-learning modules
which allow for employee independent learning and exercises are repeatedly done
to reinforce or refresh understanding of content, and embedded learning which
helps employees learn through modules built into products or equipment –
embedded learning solutions are often customized to fit an organisation’s
requirement. We also have reference cards which provide instant access to
essential learning, such as Frequently Asked Questions, paper reference cards,
web-based cards, etc.
We
all have ample opportunities to reposition ourselves skills-wise for the
greater challenges and responsibilities ahead. Consequently, if your
organisation does not see the need to train you, I encourage you to do
something about it, considering the immense benefits you will enjoy. The
more skilful and knowledgeable you are the more valuable you will be and there
will always be something for you to do to earn a living. Let’s always
remember: Never the same time returns in the life of a man!
See you at the top!
Note
: The above article is shared on this
blog purely for educational purpose. The credit and the copyright of this
article remains with the original author and we in no way intend to claim
ownership of this article.
By Efoli
Ekot
ORIGINAL
SOURCE
