HOW many times have you heard that old adage “Our employees are our most valuable asset”?
Well, there is a strong element of truth in that statement but more organisations need to take it seriously.
The recent recession saw many businesses cut their training budgets because they decided it was an unnecessary expenditure. Now the UK economy is in a healthier state that it was 12 months ago, however businesses are still not investing in training.
The government frequently reports the skills gap in the employment market, that people do not have the necessary skills for the jobs available. However, research tells us that there is a training deficit but it has not been reported to the extent of the skills gap.
The training deficit occurs when companies are not investing in their workforce to ensure employees are developing their knowledge and keeping up to date with changes in technology and society.
It has been found that training and personal development directly contributes to productivity and innovation in the workplace. By developing the expertise and talent in the workforce, companies can benefit from improved competitiveness and increased profitability, market share and customer satisfaction, which in turn can lead to business growth.
Building on existing skills can also allow staff to undertake a great variety of work and give them an improved ability to implement and realise specific goals outlined in your company’s business plan.
In addition, training your employees helps to stimulate and improve the UK economy, creating more business opportunities for your company.
With this in mind, businesses should also be aware of the additional benefits gained from training – increased job satisfaction, a sense of achievement and improved staff morale because employees feel valued and therefore become more loyal to their company.
All this can be achieved through training your current workforce rather than recruiting from outside the business and creating an additional expense to your company or taking financial risks with consultants.
If you are serious about creating a workforce that is engaged and productive, you need to devote the time and resources to help your team flourish because that is what companies do with their most valuable asset.
