In the past 20+ months, we have been enlightened with learning about the effects of low wages, "unreasonable" expectations and poor or even "inflexible" working conditions, as significant contributors to the "silent resignation". With this being the most intriguing labor crisis, our generation has faced so far, I would like to address training as a form of non-traditional employee benefit.
Training is the most compelling way todemonstrate to your team that you believe in a culture of care.
As we moved from shutdown to crazy busy, most organizations were not prepared to onboard team members at a fast pace, especially in industries such as hospitality & service. To make matters worse, most organizations lost the same number of employees during the first ninety days, as the number they had hired. An outcome that reflects how a poor and unsupportive work culture creates a revolving-door syndrome.
In many cases, leaders were forced to push their new hires into the open air of everyday job duties without a parachute. Such new team members did not receive the proper training for the job. The cherry on top? After COVID hit, many people transitioned into other industries thinking the grass was greener on the other side. They started new jobs without any hands-on experience in their new fields.
So, in case you are still asking yourself, how does training add value, I am here to present my case. When team members feel recognized, cared for, and valued, they feel positive and confident. This increased sense of self-worth and self-esteem are key drivers in building loyalty, morale, and best of it all, greater efforts.
Training yields significant dividends for bothcompanies and staff members. Team members are readily available for promotionswhen properly trained, ready to take on the next step and grow. When anorganization invests in their team's training (in all levels), team members seethe opportunities that the organization has for them. Team members can plan acareer path, making them more likely to invest their time in the organizationbecause the organization's future becomes THEIR future.
When we can determine what our team'slearning gaps are, and discover weaknesses, training helps employees at everylevel overcome those weaknesses and turn them into opportunities. Let's behonest, it is unlikely to find a team member who does not have some sort ofweaknesses they can improve upon. Training creates the foundation for excellentjob performance, leading to happy team members, which in turn leads to happycustomers. The following statistics illustrate the importance of proper jobtraining to today’s workforce.
• Nearly 59% of employees claim they had no workplace training and that most of their skills were self-taught.
• 74% of workers are willing to learn new skills or re-train to remain employable.
• 87% of millennials believe learning and development in the workplace is important.
• 59% of millennials claim developmentopportunities are extremely important when deciding whether to apply for aposition.
• Only 29% of employees are “verysatisfied” with their current career advancement opportunities available withintheir organization.
• 34% of employees are very satisfied withtheir job-specific training even though 41% of them consider it to be veryimportant.
• 74% of surveyed employees feel theyaren’t reaching full potential at work due to lack of developmentopportunities.
• 41% of employees consider their organization’s career advancement opportunities a very important factor to their job satisfaction.
• 76% of millennials believe that professional development opportunities are a very important aspect of company culture.
• 76% of employees say that a company would be more appealing if it offered additional skills training to its staff.
• 59% of employees invest in their owntraining, to a certain extent.
• 61% of adults in the United States seek career development opportunities when considering job opportunities.
We can agree that training traditionally leads to increased job performance, reduced turnover rates, lower operating costs, improved customer service satisfaction, and the list goes on. Team members find infinite value in learning and development opportunities, especially the younger generation. It is no surprise then that they are more likely to stay at companies that invest in their continued education.
Training undoubtedly leads to employee retention and ultimately growth!
Gift the gift of training!
