Training Employees = Investment in the Business

There is a cost in achieving a company vision, and in most cases, this is investing in your employees, be that their learning, development, and personal improvement, or simply offering the support required for them to get on with their jobs. This does not have to be in the form of traditional training, it can be and is more effective if it is in the form of workshops, coaching, or mentoring, where employees can contribute and feel valued.

Likewise, when aspiring to be an employer of choice in your industry, there will be a price to pay. It may be investing in training your staff, it may be investing in development opportunities, it may be ensuring your leaders have the support required to spend time on employee engagement. Regardless of the price, it will be worth it because when you are investing in employee engagement, the returns are limitless. Being an employer of choice means you get the best talent aspiring to work for your organisation. This means greater creativity, performance, and accountability in your teams.

Sadly, the training and development budget is often the first to go when an organisation is required to cut costs, and it is an opportunity gone begging in my opinion. When the economy takes a dive, if you want to get ahead of the competition, it is an ideal time to invest in the people that you have in the organisation. They are the ones that are going to be relied upon to lead the company out of the downturn.

Richard Branson’s famous quote, shown below, puts it perfectly, and it is so obvious when articulated, so why do many companies still have this attitude? It is often a case of short-term thinking, in my opinion. Investing in your employees is a long-term game, and if the company is in a reactionary state, this is hard to do. The company needs a longer-term view to take advantage of slow times with training and put money away for a rainy day. It requires planning, but it is the smart way to work, your employees feel valued, and that increases their commitment to the company vision.

“What if we train our employees and they leave?

What if we don’t train them and they stay?”