Let’s talk about employee training and development. It’s not an item for your organizational “wish list,” but rather a critical “must have.” It’s an investment in your most valuable asset—your people. A critical “must have?” Yes! And here’s why.

An increase in productivity

Teaching employees new skills or refreshing them on best practice methods helps keep them sharp at what they do. Yes, I know that some may think spending time training employees takes them away from work, but that is a short-sighted view. The knowledge and skills they’ll learn will help increase productivity in the long run. Think efficiency with new tools, technology, and problem-solving.

A decrease in turnover

One of the most common reasons employees leave their jobs is because they were not properly trained or didn’t receive the right development opportunities to be successful…and we all know that when we feel successful at what we do, we feel good about ourselves and our jobs. When employees are trained properly and provided with development opportunities, they are less likely to be combing the job boards for a new place to work.

Happier employees

Who likes to be unhappy at work? No one. But employees who don’t have the right knowledge, tools, and resources to do their jobs successfully are not your poster children for the image you want to display when trying to attract and recruit candidates. However, organizations that value their employees enough to provide the appropriate training and key development opportunities to their people have happier employees. And think about this—happy employees tell others that they’re happy!

Creative problem-solving

We’ve all had to face ambiguity and the unknown that has forced us to pivot the way we solve problems and find new methods to success. Training and development can help your people adapt to changing customer needs, external factors impacting business, staffing shortages, changing technology, etc. Allowing employees to learn, develop, and hone their skills is a sure way to innovation.

Of course, this is not an all-inclusive list, as the benefits of training and development are infinite. But yet, organizations are not always willing to commit to the costs it takes to sharpen the tools they need to make organizations run. What is technology without people? What are tasks without people? What are plans without people? The answer is immobile. It’s our people that make things work, so why aren’t we working to help them mobilize?

Purple Ink offers training on a wide variety of workplace topics, so if you’re looking to provide development opportunities, reach out to us to learn how we can help. And check out our training series page to learn about the programs we offer to help your employees hone their skills.