Your employees are smart and capable. They are educated and experienced, and there is a reason that you chose them for your team. That said, the brightest among us have one thing in common: they are always learning. Even Bill Gates says, “My goal is to improve myself continuously.” Ongoing training for employees offers various benefits for both organizations and individuals.
Ongoing Training Can Increase Capital
Let’s talk capital. You and your employees are constantly thinking about capital and ROI. You have a budget and want to make sure that the risks you take and investments you make are paying off. More than just breaking even, you want to make a profit from your capital. Your business, however, has capital that’s just as important as finances: human capital.
Let’s go back to why you hired your employees. They already contained the human capital that you need on your team: work experience, education and training, and hard and soft skills. You invested in these people from the start. While you can certainly make an investment and forget about it for years, it is unlikely that these investments are going to grow to their full potential. Your human capital is the same. You need to give them the attention and ongoing learning needed to reach their full potential. The thing about potential, however, is that it’s a range, not a summit. Once your employees reach one pinnacle, they can certainly stay. But there are higher peaks and it’s up to you to help your employees climb them. If you don’t, there’s a chance your employees might find another company that will. Which brings us to the next point.
Ongoing Training Can Build Motivation and Morale
Motivation and morale are directly aligned with retention. People can tell when they are valued. By continuing to educate your employees, you are intrinsically saying, “I think you’re worth the effort and want you to stay with our company.” Why would you train an employee whom you do not believe will add value? You wouldn’t, and your employees know this. Training helps employees see a path forward within your company, which boosts overall morale.
Truth be told, you can’t afford not to invest in employee training when you consider the cost of turnover. When workers leave, productivity declines and sales begin to slip. Morale also takes a downward turn when other members of your team have to work harder to cover. Then there’s the cost of time and money to find and hire a replacement. By continuing training, you boost motivation in your employees. A highly motivated employee is a loyal employee. If you want to retain your best employees, continue to train them.
Ongoing Training Can Keep You Competitive
Again, your employees want to grow. If they’re not going to do it with you, they’re going to do it with someone else. Remember that your competitors are growing, too. Technology and best practices don’t change all at once, they change slowly over time, and you need to keep up to date with industry trends.
Professionals with better skills will deliver better output in your workplace. Employees must be depended upon to solve problems and think quickly on their feet. Management training in customer service, including effective selling techniques and courses on customer satisfaction, can cultivate customer loyalty. There’s not a single job that doesn’t benefit from continuously learning how to do it better and how to better help the customer. When employees are growing and being challenged to develop new strategies or ideas, your customers and your bottom line will benefit.
Ongoing Training With Purpose
As important as it is to foster growth within your company through training, it is not enough to point your employees toward a webinar and hope for the best. Your employees want their time to be valued, and you want your investment to have a strong ROI. You need for your continued training to be purposeful and effective for these benefits to come to fruition. Scenario-based training is a robust way to make sure that employees not only gain knowledge but gain actionable skills. You want your employees to be able to apply their training immediately, to real-world experiences. By providing ongoing, scenario-based training, you offer your employees a safe space to learn, make mistakes, and practice new skills to proficiency. Invest in scenario-based training and you invest in progress.
To remain competitive and at the forefront of your industry, growth must continue. Growth begins from the root of your organization- your employees. Nurture growth from within, and you will find that the rest will bloom naturally. From your knowledge, to your customers, to your profits, never stop growing.
