A simple solution to retaining great talent in growing businesses

The UK has suffered a substantial decline in employer training investment for staff over past decades (CIPD, 2019). Studies show most training provided to staff is compliance based or as part of the induction process.

This is a wasted opportunity!

“In a third of all businesses, the majority of the training that’s delivered is health and safety or induction based”

(Addressing Employer Underinvestment in Training, CIPD 2019)

Training provides a fantastic opportunity for employers to really get creative about developing their staff and it’s a great opportunity to motivate talent in a unique way that reflects their employer brand. 

Personal development and self improvement is a great way to emotionally engage with your people.  Offering a wide range of interesting, unusual and bespoke training that actually brings something new to their personal and professional lives is a no brainer when it comes to motivation and development.

So why do so few organisations bypass this invaluable opportunity to retain and develop their people? 

It’s probably because you haven’t got the time.  Business owners and one person teams responsible for HR simply don’t have the time to get creative with their training and development.  You’re legally required to offer Health and Safety training, so it stands to reason that’s the most common form of training on offer. 

The other challenge is cost.  There’s a common misconception that training employees has to be costly.  With the right approach to training you can do a huge amount with a fairly limited budget, there are a fantastic range of online training options; business coaches and even books, as well as a wide range of alternative non corporate training options that can really help develop soft skills.

Running effective training programs that not only actually develop your employees with new skills have a tangible impact on the organisation as well as keeping employees motivated and engaged can be challenging.  It’s not easy to do without an expert involved but the return on investment in this area is tenfold.  

Executed correctly, and you could both retain great talent, but also, overtime become known in your marketplace as a fantastic employer for people development.  This will have a significant impact on your ability to attract the best talent available which in turn will have a longer term impact on your bottom line.