Learning and development is an essential part of any successful business. Not least because it equips your employees with the most up-to-date skills and knowledge required to do their jobs well. But there are more reasons than just that to invest in staff training and development.
With that in mind, we’ve pulled together 10 reasons why training is a solid investment for your business.
1) Upskill Your Staff
According to Talent Trends 2019: Upskilling for a digital world, 79% of global CEOs reported they are concerned about skills availability. This is partly due to technological breakthroughs, which sees more work tasks being performed by machines and algorithms, according to The Future of Jobs Report 2018.
This digital transformation is no doubt a great enabler for businesses and their processes. But it also gives rise to a more pressing need to close the ever-widening skills gap that results from it.
For this reason, re- and upskilling staff is imperative to strengthening your organisations strategic capacity by giving employees the appropriate skills to thrive in the workplace of the future.
2) Avoid Costly Mistakes
Falling foul of compliance policies, regulations and legal requirements can be both costly and damaging to your reputation.
Take GDPR as an example. In May 2018, new General Data Protection Regulations were introduced across the whole of the EU. Failure to comply with the regulations can lead to a fine of up to €20 million or 4% of a business’s annual global turnover. A number of well-known organisations have already been hit with hefty fines including Google (twice!), British Airways, and H&M.
Investing in compliance training for staff is imperative to avoid breaking the law and encountering the kind of fines seen above.
3) Boost Employee Engagement & Alignment
Engaged employees bring their best selves to work every day. They are loyal, hardworking and will more readily take ownership and accountability. Unfortunately, according to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report, 85% of employees are not engaged or actively disengaged at work.
Considering the myriad of benefits that come with high employee engagement, it makes sense to invest in solutions that boost this. Including comprehensive learning and development initiatives.
When you offer staff opportunities to upskill or reskill in areas that interest them, they feel valued and more motivated to achieve company objectives.
4) Empower Your People
Employee empowerment goes hand in hand with engagement. If you want your team members to feel in control, confident and able to make informed decisions, it’s up to you to give them the tools to do so.
Investing in learning and development initiatives like mentoring schemes and training goes a long way to empowering employees with the confidence and knowledge they need to work to the best of their abilities. It goes without saying that this approach also does wonders for your bottom line and growth, too!
5) Troubleshoot Within Your Organisation
Learning and development analytics give you powerful insights into where your staff are skills-wise and what they might be struggling with. Data can also be used to identify key trends and troubleshoot any major sticking points within your organisation
Having this data enables leaders to make smart decisions in the long term that boost return on investment. For example, a skills gap analysis not only highlights areas for development, but can also inform hiring decisions.
Knowledge is power!
6) Higher Staff Retention
According to a 2018 LinkedIn Workforce Report, a gigantic 94% of staff said they’d stay at a company for longer if it invested in them.
As we all know too well, recruiting and onboarding new staff is expensive and time-consuming. So, if better continuous professional development provision is one of the things a business can do to retain staff, then so be it!
7) Increase User Adoption
Digital transformation is central to all organisations at the moment. But getting your people to embrace new technology can be challenging, depending on your business.
Training is one of the best ways to drive uptake of new technologies. Crucially, courses around new technology should aim to demonstrate how it is relevant to their job role and career progression.
The adoption of new technology can also give rise to further re-skilling opportunities, which will also drive uptake and engagement as staff see the benefits of their new capability.
8) Save More Time
When your staff are more knowledgeable, skilled and confident, they work more efficiently and need less support from managers. This means that work gets done quicker to a higher quality – which is a big win all round.
Effective eLearning that is focused on a clear goal or outcome, when executed correctly, means staff only have to complete a course once to apply their new skills or understand a process.
9) Reach More People
Many organisations are moving to a hybrid model of work which sees some staff working remotely some of the time.
While hybrid work models bring many benefits, they can also make upskilling and training staff more challenging. That being said, a solid investment in eLearning and digital learning experiences can rapidly break down those barriers and make learning accessible from pretty much anywhere.
10) Boost Your Businesses’ Reputation
A collaborative workforce is a successful one. And your staff are the biggest champions for your organisation when they feel seen, heard and invested in.
Making training a priority communicates your commitment to developing from within. This will, in turn, attract the very best talent in your industry.
As we’ve established in this list, investing in good quality training is a must for any business. Whether it’s off the shelf or bespoke eLearning content, organisations can’t afford to let their staff down by neglecting upskilling or development requirements.
Here at DBLX, we make engaging and fun digital learning experiences to suit all learning styles and personalities. We do this using the most cutting-edge designs, animation, media, learning methods and more to create courses and content that goes above and beyond expectations while delivering on learning objectives. To find out more about us, and what we can do for you, please contact us.