Staff training - why the right time is now

Why should you spend money on training your teams, right now?

 I’ll start by being very candid with you. Times are tough and in some cases, discretionary spend on things like staff training is either being reduced or even removed.

 It’s understandable of course, that businesses want to manage their spending closely during any times of economic uncertainty.

 But when it comes to training your people, does it make long-term sense to take a short-term decision to reduce or eliminate training?

 When Elon Musk recently bought Twitter, he ripped the organisation apart, firing thousands of his staff, leaving gaping holes in his organisation and sent morale plummeting to the floor. Who knows what the longer-term impacts of that might be on the remaining staff – perhaps the brand is so powerful that people are just happy to be associated with it? Hmmmm.

 Expenditure on training is often viewed as a cost, and as the return on investment of training is not always readily measurable, it’s one of the first things to be cut when times are tight.

 But what is the impact on your teams of them not being able to continuously grow their capability and their learning being hijacked by the vagaries of the economic situation?

 I’m going to sound as if I’m “talking my own book” here (the act of promoting one’s own interest) which I am, but with a sound rationale. See this article from McKinsey on how companies can improve their resilience that supports this.

 Irrespective of whether you can precisely measure the ROI of training, it is a long-term investment. You may not see immediate results (although in some training like negotiation, sales or cost reduction, the results can be seen in short order) but the impact on your people will help your business become more successful.

 Let’s consider soft skills training. An investment here brings the following benefits:

 1.       Your teams will grow the critical skills that they need to improve collaboration, achieve their goals more readily and will prepare them to lead others (succession planning).

2.       It provides a clear signal that your organisation is serious about the development of its people, which can provide you with a competitive advantage in attracting the right talent in a tight labour market.

3.       Your business will increase its profitability due to lower attrition / staff turnover – you’ll avoid recruitment fees and won’t lose any output associated with onboarding and training new starters.

 So, now is not the time for short-term cost-cutting on training, but instead, just like the best performing businesses have realised, it’s the perfect time to make investments in training to secure the long-term performance of your business.

Get in touch now to see how I can help YOU.