Member Article

Why businesses should invest in training and development

Consistently investing in the training and personal development of people is no longer a corporate luxury, it is a corporate necessity. Organisations that want to remain competitive in their industry should never underestimate the importance and value of regular training and development. DIB Development, specialists in the development of people, examines the reasons why every business should be constantly investing in the training and personal development of their most valuable asset.

“Tend to the people and they will tend to the business“ - John Maxwell

Attract and retain the brightest individuals

Companies that invest in leadership development training and programmes find themselves within the most sought-after companies to work for on the Fortune 500 Companies list. By being a desirable organisation to work for, businesses that provide regular training and personal development consequently attract the best individuals.

What’s more, when talented individuals with bags of potential are on the payroll, by investing in their development, a company is more likely to hang on to them. After all, who would want to leave an organisation that was actively investing in their personal development and future?

Nobody likes to feel they are stuck in a dead-end job and who could blame anybody for looking to other companies if their present firm offered little in terms of training, personal development and career enhancement.

By contrast, organisations that do offer progression and development through regular training and personal development retain members of staff, improve retention and lower turnover rates.

As Inc.com advises in an article titled ‘10 Ways to Improve Employee Retention’:

“Businesses expect their professionals to arrive fully trained and certified. Yet too many aren’t willing to invest in helping them maintain those credentials. Whether you send employees to a learning centre or you provide membership to one of the many e-learning sites available, when you take your employee’ education seriously, they see it as an investment in their career.”

Reach out to millennials

Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are ambitious and place a huge importance on jobs that provide chances of personal growth and career development. Furthermore, millennials will make up 46% of the workforce by 2020. Yes, it’s safe to say the shrewdest of employers are seeking to reach out to bright, enthusiastic and motivated youngsters to help take the future of their company forward.

Enhancing skill sets

A workforce whose skills remain stagnant is not conducive with driving a business forward and nurturing success. By providing individuals in an organisation with a consistent flow of the right kind of training and development, specific and bespoke to needs and culture, means that skill sets and behaviour are inevitably improved and individuals will be able to bring more to the company. Adding value by way of creative problem solving, owning and generating new ideas and improved levels of performance, ultimately fostering company growth.

Return on Investment (ROI)

By investing in the leadership population, the driving force of any business, overall business performance and ultimately profits are improved. Research has found that by offering leadership and management training, company profit margins can be boosted by as much as 47%.

Though it’s not just people in leadership roles that should be invested in through training and personal development. Commitment to building the potential of an entire workforce can increase individual productivity by 5.2% and the overall company’s productivity can rise by as much as 21%.

Any initial financial investment will soon pale into insignificance when you consider the rewards of constantly investing in the training and personal development of the people in your business – more highly skilled teams, increased productivity, a more satisfied, loyal workforce, and a string of young enthusiastic millennials knocking at your door.

This blog post was written by DIB Development, a team of specialists in people development and experts in leadership and team development, aimed at helping people be the best version of themselves that they can be.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Julie McGeever .