It’s hard to dispute the benefits of employee training. Employees who are better trained tend to adhere more closely to company policies, be more up to date on key skills, be better communicators, and have a greater sense of commitment to their employers than employees who aren’t offered training.
Investments in Training Lagging
Still, so many employers invest too little in employee training and development. Why is this? Well, training can’t happen in a vacuum.
Employees aren’t just standing around waiting for something to do, and because they have their primary job functions to attend to, pulling them away to attend training can be a hit to productivity in the short term.
Additionally, someone has to provide the training, whether that’s a knowledgeable employee or an outside resource, and that comes with a cost, as well.
United Kingdom Values Training
In the United Kingdom at least, there’s a strong appreciation for the return on investment (ROI) of learning and development (L&D) and the fact that, while training does require investing resources, if conducted properly, it should more than recoup those costs in due time.
“Most UK companies initiate and maintain learning and development (L&D) programmes to meet compliance requirements—yet many deem soft skills to be the most important training they offer; most say L&D has a positive impact on revenue,” according to PR Newswire in an article on Yahoo Finance. It points to research from the Virti report “The 2023 State of Learning and Development” based on a survey of 144 U.K.-based L&D professionals.
These results show that, at least in some corners, L&D efforts are given credit for their important impacts on company revenue. However, the Virti survey involved L&D professionals, individuals whose careers are grounded in the value of L&D and who likely have a more uphill battle to drive broader appreciation for the revenue-generating benefits of their craft.
Lin Grensing-Pophal is a Contributing Editor at HR Daily Advisor.