The New Year often brings time for strategy and reflection, making it a great time to consider professional development for yourself and your team.
As you consider what is right for your organization, here are some of the benefits of investing in training for your team:
Increased Retention
Turnover is a challenge which employers are constantly faced with. While you cannot ever get rid of it completely - employers can take steps to ensure low turnover and higher retention rates. One of the first steps towards higher retention rate is implementing strong and relatable training practices. Organizations with higher retention rates are often organizations which prioritize training and development. Retention increases by 30-50% in organizations which have committed to a strong training and development culture. 34% of employees stated that lack of training pushed them to leave their previous positions and seek developmental opportunities elsewhere. By bringing training programs in-house and specialized to the needs of your organization and employees, it adds a competitive advantage and reinforces the positive message that employees are valued, and the organization is willing to help them achieve their career goals. The organization wants to see their successes, because in the end - their successes are the organization's successes.
Increased Engagement
Training and development create a more engaged workforce by actively demonstrating an organization’s commitment to their employees. If employees feel valued by the organization, their dedication to their role and the organization will increase significantly. Training allows employees to develop their skills, which translate to them performing better. Employees who feel confident in their abilities are more engaged at work (a win-win for both employee and employer). Employees who are unconfident in their abilities are often less engaged because they do not believe they are of value to the team. The level of confidence is a key facilitator of concentration and effort. Self-doubt lowers performance and increases the likelihood that employees do not have a strong emotional connection to the work they do, or the organization as a whole. Leaders and organizations who are committed to developing their employees gain the respect and positive rapport of the community they serve. It is common for people to perform only within the limits they see for themselves, by providing training it expands the limits. Through providing training, employers are strengthening the emotional connection that employees have with the organization which ultimately increases their buy-in to the work being completed.
Increased Productivity
Training is meant to equip the employees to tackle their everyday tasks with a new perspective, provide them with knowledge they did not have before, and give them the opportunities to grow - whether that be in the same position, or grow into different positions in the organization. By providing training, new perspectives are discovered, better work processes are implemented, and engagement is elevated. This could be specialized technician training, or more transferable everyday skills such as communication and conflict resolution. Give your employees the skills needed to be successful in their roles (and possible future roles) in your organization.
Instead of allowing lack of training opportunities to be a factor which makes your employees seek out better options, let the dedication to training opportunities be the factor that attracts and retains top talent - elevating your organization through continual learning.
Lakeland HR Solutions is proud to provide multiple training opportunities, both available to the public in our areas and custom training for organizations to meet their specific needs. Contact us or learn more at https://www.lakelandhr.ca/training.
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