The Importance of Staff Education and Training

Why a strong training and education ethos in an organisation works for the workforce?

 

The top benefit for driving employee development is to shape a more efficient, competitive, and engaged workforce. (From Get Smarter, 2020)

Companies that have actively interested and dedicated employees see  lower absenteeism rates, and higher productivity.

Here are reasons why employee training and development is important:

1) Positive employee retention

Hiring and retention is  a major challenge to employers, however, this can be avoided through career development.  Offering programmes to foster staff education, training and development can only be seen as a positive reason to stay in any organisation. Read more here

2) Maintaining of values

All human services must be built on very clear values. These values underpin the mission and vision of the agency and should inform all employees of how to act in any situation. Therefore values need to be clearly understood by the workforce. Without a clear understanding how do you know people are taking the correct actions based on the organisation's values? Read more here

3) Training future leaders

Targeting skills and employees for future leadership will help establish growth and change. Acquiring leadership talent can start from the start of an employee's time with an agency. Having established leadership/management development programmes ensures that an organisation is always considering the future organisational goals by preparing promotable talent. Read more here

4) Employee empowerment

Leaders who feel empowered within the workplace will be more effective at influencing employees and gaining their trust. Consequently, those employees will feel a greater sense of autonomy, value, and confidence within their work.

5) Increase workplace engagement

Boredom in the workplace can create feelings of dissatisfaction and negative working habits. Regular development initiatives can prevent workplace idleness. Having frequent training programmes will also establish regular re-evaluation – of employees, skills, and processes. Training and development will also influence company culture by instilling an emphasis on planning.

6) The rise of technology

Organisations also need to consider the rise of digital and online learning in training and eductaion opportunities for staff.  From the Linkedin Learning survey, 58% of employees prefer opportunities that allow learning at their own pace. The same report revealed that 49% prefer to learn when the point of need occurs – making accessible, independent online learning the most suitable for an increasingly diverse, multi-generational workforce. Read more here