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Employee training and development is sometimes the most divisive aspects of HR when it comes to approving how much money should be spent on it and how much time should be focused on it. But it shouldn’t be! Employee training and development is an integral part of HR in any company, and there is no question it deserves the time and other resources you wish to dedicate to it.
Evolution of Employee Training and Development
Employee training and development is also one of the facets of employee management in HR that is undergoing a sea-change, with many different training paradigms emerging and novel ways of looking at employee training and development. Moving from an offline, curriculum-based mode of teaching to a more online, real-world, skills-based approach, employee training and development is something that brings with it several benefits.
Positive Impact on Employee Performance
An employee’s performance is proven to increase with training and development. When an employee is provided on-the-job training and motivated to work harder, he/she develops more confidence on the job.
In an independent study conducted in 2018, on the performance of employees in banks, it was proven that employee performance in public sector banks showed a vast improvement as opposed to private sector banks and this was largely due to the greater adoption of employee training and development programs in these banks.
Stronger Workforce
A confident and engaged employee who is also rewarded for his productivity is expected to stay longer than one who is not. Studies show that one of the reasons cited for moving from one company to another was the access to better employee training and development programs, which they felt leads to better career growth.
Improves Alignment with Organizational Goals
The fact that the employer is engaging with the employees through a training and development program secures a buy-in from the employees. Their activities are also more aligned with the organisational goals as they have more clarity on them now after the training.
Building a knowledge base of all the content imparted during the training programs can further strengthen the mutual faith between employer and employees, as employees now believe that the employer is working towards their benefit and trying to retain them and strengthen the alignment with the organisational goals.
Helps Fix Skill Gaps
Some employees need to be trained in specific skills but there often is no way to find out what skills need to be added to. This requires a skills assessment, which needs to be very thorough and address all aspects.
Sometimes a general training program which happens on a routine basis can help employees navigate their way to the right skills and thereby remove any skill gaps that exist, allowing them to complete the tasks on hand as efficiently as possible.
Boosts Employee Motivation and Engagement
Employee training and development not only boosts employee productivity but also improves employee engagement, inspiring employees to be more supportive of the company and put in longer hours at work, sharpening their skills if not helping other employees too.
And increased employee engagement and motivation is known to impact productivity too. Increased employee engagement also improves reputation by WOM and is reflected on online review websites such as glassdoor.com where employees will try and leave positive feedback.
Increases Knowledge Sharing
Not only do employees get better at their jobs but the same employees will also inspire and be able to help his/her peers also be better at their jobs. This is because learning is a continuous process, and it is easily transferrable. Thus, training even one individual helps the entire team want to learn and upskill and directly impacts their performance when they do so.
Increases Innovation
There are three factors that improve innovation at the workplace. They are (a) great leadership (b) engaged employees and (c) the desire to learn. Of these we know that without a great leadership a good employee training and development program wouldn’t be possible and that higher engagement among employees is a result of training and development.
All that is required then to drive innovation in the workplace is the desire to learn, for which employees must be coached also in the benefits of such training, how it helps the company and how it helps employees too.
Improves business processes
As a result of training and development, when employee performance improves, employees transform into strategists. They not only work on their individual performance, but they help improve existing processes and process efficiencies.
They have more time on their hands to meet unconventional challenges at work more confidently. They can work with their teams to come up with solutions that speed up delivery of products or services and invite positive feedback from customers.
Creates a stronger employee value proposition
Your employee value proposition is just what the name suggests – it is what you as an employer offer any new employee upfront. It is the sum of your reputation, the benefits you offer etc. But how does training and development help?
Training and development come in as a benefit that your company provides and even helps to distinguish it from other companies. Adding such a benefit helps create a strong employee value proposition, which in turn helps to attract quality talent from anywhere in the world.
Training gives a competitive advantage over others
When your company implements a training and development program that helps tens or even hundreds of individuals in your company grow and their productivity and performance improve, this eventually translates to much higher ROI at the end of the year.
This gives them an advantage over other companies in the same industry year after year. Training and development programs also are reviewed to align them better with organizational goals and this continuous process of improvement makes them better with time.
Are You Looking for a NAPS/NATS Training Partner?
It is no secret that companies that recruit apprentices benefit not just from government stipends but save a lot of money on salaries and can also get refunds from the government on their training.
They also need not be provided with any of the benefits, employers just need to bear in mind the provisions of the Apprenticeship Act of 2014. The NAPS (National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme) and NATS (National Apprenticeship Training Scheme) can be very beneficial to any employer, provided they partner with the right HR consulting company.
Alp Consulting, an HR company for 25 years, has been a NATS/NAPS partner for nearly a decade now and we are looking to make a difference with our training to your company too. When will you be calling us?
