The Value of Learning and Development
Everybody, no matter the nature of their business, likes to think they have recruited the best employees. By the same token you would be hard pressed to find a management team who wouldn’t like employee performance to be improved. Knowing how to perform your job efficiently is only half the battle; it’s vital for both your bottom line and your employees’ best interests that they keep moving forwards and, in so doing, help your business to do the same. This is why learning and development is such an important aspect of any business and why it is such a tragedy that the two are so often overlooked in the rush for short-term profit and efficiency.
Of course, getting long-term decisions past your Board can be a job in itself, though in the case of proving the importance of training and the Value of Learning and Development it really needn’t be, as long as you remember a few important facts and statistics.
Develop your strategy to provide consistent and targeted training
A strong learning and development strategy is a powerful way of bringing your employees on board and making them feel more invested in the company as people. A recent survey found that 40% of workers who receive little or no training leave their positions in less than a year (Office For National Statistics). Of course correlation doesn’t always equal causation, but the majority of them cite the lack of training and development as a key motive in their decision to move on. Nobody wants a constantly rotating workforce; consistency is the key to efficiency and experienced, settled and happy employees are more productive. So it makes far more sense to enhance that experience with targeted training.
Remember the employee’s perspective
The Value of Learning and Development is clearer from an employee’s perspective. Nobody wants a job that they only do for the pay cheque. People want to feel fulfilled at work, and employee engagement is vital if you want a motivated and effective workforce. According to a survey by the Office For National Statistics, 98% of “highly engaged” employees said they had opportunities to learn and grow, and 97% had someone to help encourage their development.
On a more immediate and practical level, training is of huge importance when it comes to the transfer of knowledge. Nobody wants to be entirely dependent on that one employee who knows how to do everything as in their absence things can easily grind to a halt. Spreading knowledge among your workforce minimises your exposure to that risk, as well as allowing the business as a whole to operate more effectively.
Improving productivity and performance
Of course your Board will be concerned about the costs entailed, but the British Chamber Of Commerce found that 78% of businesses agree that training is worthy of investment as a driver for growth and improving productivity performance. So, the true value of Learning and Development is in investing money wisely to improve performance, or to put it another way, a small investment which can reap huge rewards.
Statistics we gathered may give greater impetus to explain the value of Learning and Development to your company.
