In the UK, only 17% of British workers claim to love the job they’re in. One of the key reasons for this comes from feeling that they’re not valued or respected by management.
As a manager, one way you can show employees you value their work is by encouraging personal development. In this article, we’ll look at the ways that training can help both your business and your employees, encouraging productivity while decreasing staff turnover.
Why should training be encouraged?
With the lack of satisfaction that British workers are experiencing, training programs can help employees achieve their career goals. A survey conducted by Censuswide of Britain’s workforce showed that a majority wanted to be promoted to a new role in the coming year, and 69% wanted to feel more satisfied with their job. 67% of employees interviewed thought that adding new skills to their repertoire would help them achieve these goals.
Employees interviewed in this survey showed that the desire for training was there, but 36% of respondents felt like they couldn’t due to a lack of time. Allotting more time for learning and development (L&D) will allow people to engage with courses to hone their skills or learn new ones.
Every industry experiences change over time. Keeping your employees on top of industry knowledge will help them not only progress but remain beneficial to your business. Supporting your employees keeping up to date by offering more L&D should motivate them to be productive, and the knowledge they gain will keep them efficient in the long run.
The benefits of training programmes
On an individual level, training courses help people get better at doing their jobs and developing as workers.
By creating a working culture that supports learning as part of every role, you increase worker confidence and morale as they continuously improve their skills. Gallup reported that the top reason for employees handing in their notices is because they haven’t felt like they’ve grown or had the chance to. And with 77% of workers wanting to learn new skills or retrainaccording to PwC data, offering training opportunities could help not just with retaining employees but attracting new starters as well. When people look at your company and see that you encourage learning and growth, it can make them more eager to work for your company. So when the time comes to hire people in roles, you’ll have a workforce who are hungry to work and prove their determination.
Learning plans benefit everyone in your business. It can show employees that no matter their position that upskilling and development is an option.
How to build a training and upskilling structure
Before you begin structuring a training and upskilling program for your business, it’d be wise to sit down and analyse the strengths and shortcomings of your business. Knowing where your greatest successes and pitfalls lie will help more accurately decide what to prioritise with training and learning. This can be done both as a more communal plan or an individual one curated with team leaders and managers for the members of that department.
When it comes to the source of the learning and development, they can come from anywhere. More experienced members of your company could provide masterclasses for those in need of filling their knowledge gaps. You may know someone from outside of the business who could provide these learning sessions. There are also a wide variety of online courses for workers to be enrolled on, such as a digital leadership course.
Continuing to show that you value putting effort into personal development is a great way to maintain a positive outlook among your workforce. Keep track of their progress through check-ins and assessments, collecting feedback on how they feel they’re doing. This way, you can amend or adjust their development plan to suit their needs based on how they individually feel things are going.
Encouraging your workforce to take on more training is great for a business to succeed. There are numerous options for development available, including onsite training from more skilled team members or outsourcing to training courses. Building a culture that supports learning and upskilling can improve levels of happiness.
