Why it Pays to Keep Your Staff Trained

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. Here’s why you need to keep your staff trained.

Staff training lets you get ahead of the game

Your staff are, presumably, capable of doing their current jobs but, in all likelihood, those jobs are going to change over time. That’s just the way it is these days. Software packages will change, laws will change and working practices will change.

You need to stay informed of mandatory changes, such as legal or regulatory changes, and it’s advisable to keep your ear to the ground regarding other changes, which could influence how you do business and help you predict what training your staff will need.

Staff training lets you address skills gaps

Recruitment is possibly the single, most-challenging part of doing business. You need to find people who fit your corporate culture and have the skills you need. You then need to encourage them to stay with your business for as long as possible.

One way to achieve both objectives is to recruit for entry-level positions and then promote from within as much as possible. This is likely to involve “training-up” staff to shoulder more responsibility, but the expense of this is often significantly lower than the expense of recruiting an external candidate. What’s more, you get a known individual, who is already familiar with your way of working.

Staff training can encourage staff to stay with you

Some employers are wary about investing in staff training because they fear that staff will take their new skills elsewhere, possibly to a competitor. But, if you’re considering putting staff through particularly expensive and/or long-term training, it may be worth making your support conditional on them remaining in your employment.

However, for the most part, fears of staff moving elsewhere are generally unfounded.

Staff who feel happy, appreciated and safe in their jobs tend to stay in them over the long term. Of course, there is always going to be some level of staff turnover as people seek new challenges or transition to a different stage in their lives, but it will be minimal.

In fact, staff training may encourage your employees to stay with you for longer. If your staff are comfortable and are regularly being up-skilled, they’ll be less likely to fear being left behind professionally.

Therefore, they’re less likely to feel like they have to move on while their skills are still relevant. Even if staff have “evergreen” skills (which are increasingly rare these days), they may start to feel stale if they go long periods without training.