Training and development are the most important part of a new employee’s assimilation process.

When you employ new personnel, you need to invest time and energy to teach them what they need to know to become productive employees.

However, the business environment is always changing. If you want your company to grow, your employees need to keep up to speed. Although some businesses benefit from the skills employees learn organically, you also need to consider investing in formal training for your employees.

Here are the top nine reasons why you should invest in your employees’ skills:

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Good for Morale

Employees who lack confidence in their skills are prone to low morale episodes, resulting in under performance.

Providing them with an opportunity to develop and upgrade their current skills is great for their morale. Investing in them shows that you care about your workers and their careers. In addition, it makes them competent and confident in what they do. But it is not just that they feel more competent – they actually are.

Identifies Potential Team Leaders

Investing in your staff’s education can help you identify your best performers.

You can recognize them as they will be the ones that take education seriously and help to motivate others. These people are confident in their work and are fully aware of their value. They are not only interested in salary or visa benefits, but also in how a position can help them develop their career. They see more value in the future than in the present. It is important to identify them as they are the ones you should continue to invest in. The opportunity to grow and develop should be awarded to those who deserve it, and staff training and development courses are the best way to identify those individuals.

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Improves Employee Engagement

A wise business owner never underestimates the importance of employee engagement.

The lack of training and development can have a negative impact on a person’s engagement and ambition. Most of your employees will greatly value and appreciate the opportunity to advance, and most of them want to work in a place where they feel empowered and where the environment is up-to-date, rather than stagnant and uninspiring. If they are doing the same job day after day with no prospect for change and excitements, their motivation will fall, along with their performance.

Efficiency and Quality

Naturally, if an employee needs more time to perform a task they aren’t trained to do, your business will suffer. This unnecessary waste of resources leads to long-term losses.

As an immediate investment, appropriate training will turn your employees into better informed and more efficient individuals. Apart from improving their efficiency, formal education can also improve the quality of work they produce. Poorly trained employees produce work of lesser value, which in return lowers the value of your business.

Lower Staff Turnover

Over time, employees might start asking for more out of their current position – more money, more challenges, more responsibility, etc.

If you - as a manager - can provide them with new skills and show that you are interested in their growth, you can contribute to reduced turnover within your company. Investing in your employees’ skills will not only boost their morale and efficiency, but it will also prepare them for more responsible positions within your company. This way, you won’t have to look for external candidates but, instead, can reward a loyal and knowledgeable staff member with a promotion. Every organization should try to reduce staff turnover as it is both expensive and has other negative impacts, such as lower productivity, overworked staff, loss of knowledge, and additional training costs.

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Fewer Mistakes

An under trained or unskilled employee is a potential mistake-making machine.

Whether the mistakes are administrative, health and safety related, or anything in between, they are bound to occur if an employee is not trained. However, with appropriate training, their competence level will increase and they will become more aware of their working environment. Training will improve your employee’s confidence, morale and loyalty, and most importantly, they learn new skills. In the long-term, training is an investment that will produce a great ROI.

Seeing the Big Picture

If your company consists of different departments, make sure you create a collaborative environment that encourages members of different teams to learn from each other.

For example, if one team is holding a training session, don’t hesitate to make it open to members of other departments. You might be surprised to see who turns up to learn about an area of business they don’t have contact with. This is also a unique opportunity to identify employees with a set of skills that’s broader than their position requires.

Finally, if your staff can see the big picture, they will feel more accountable and motivated to achieve your company’s goals.

Keeping Up with the Trends

Today, the tools of business are advancing faster than ever before. It is unrealistic to expect all your employees to stay up-to-date with the latest trends while they are busy with their work.

It is also not realistic for you, as a manager, to find time to develop expertise in the latest technology. By offering technical training to key people within your organization, you can be sure that your team is working efficiently and not falling behind. In addition, new technologies and practices can lead to new business ideas that may once have been considered unfeasible. Investing in tech training will provide your skilled employees with an opportunity to hone their skills, saving your company both time and money.

Consistency

Hiring the most skilled and qualified candidates is often not enough. Having a well-trained team is important but, as a manager, you need to ensure that you offer a consistent level of training for all employees.

By sending your newly employed staff on the same training programs, you ensure that they are performing as required by the guidelines and expectations. Consistent training can also identify incorrect assumptions about how things should be done, and break any bad habits learned from previous employers.

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The list doesn’t end here. These are just the most important reasons why training your staff benefits your business in multiple ways. What is more, having more positive, skilled and motivated employees is a win-win situation for everybody.

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