Train your staff - to retain your staff

A recent study by PWC found that 35% of millennials ranked 'comprehensive training and development programmes' as the top benefit they would want from a company. Another study by IBM showed that employees who felt that they could not develop in a company were '12 times more likely to leave the company' and a final study by Right Management said that nearly 70% of organisations admitted that staff turnover had a 'negative financial impact'.

The theme here (whatever generation you belong to) is that employees want to develop and grow in their roles - as well as progress in their careers. This might sound obvious but I've certainly worked for a number of companies in the past, that literally provided no role specific training, annual appraisal or attainable career path.

I'm sure that most employers don't purposely set out to neglect their staff but perhaps get wrapped up in the everyday running of their business and unfortunately, everything else goes on the back-burner (including staff development).

Training and upskilling staff will benefit all parties concerned. Staff will feel more valued when developed and this helps to keep staff attrition rates down. Valued staff will show more loyalty towards a caring employer too and this helps keep recruitment costs down (because of less staff turnover). Training will also identify future talent for progression i.e. every company needs a staff succession plan for business continuity.

Staff who have received the appropriate training will generally be more engaged and productive members of staff (which helps to keep absenteeism rates lower). They will also be more positive ambassadors for a business - which can only be good for a company's brand and reputation.

Employers, I believe, are starting to recognise this and an increasing amount of my work is now training up salespeople. This training isn't always about turning around the performance of an underperforming salesperson but increasingly, to develop a 'future sales supervisor or manager' for a company that might have expansion plans and wants to promote from within.

Sir Richard Branson's said “Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to” - and this really sums up why an employer needs to develop and value their staff. If an employer doesn't, then that business might earn a 'burn and churn' reputation, which will dissuade talented applicants from applying for any future vacant position. This will then stunt any potential business growth plans!