Training Benefits
When you take the time to train an employee, it is an investment of your resources, even with the many training benefits you get in return. If you want a good return on that investment, there are some aspects of that return to consider before opting for additional training.
Questions to Ask About Training Benefits
• The first question to ask before looking for a training program is what you hope to achieve with this training. If it is a specific sales goal, such as a 20 percent increase in sales, can the training realistically help your employees achieve this?
• Is the chief benefit worth the time and effort? If you are attempting to raise your customer satisfaction, can you be certain this will lead to more sales? If the bulk of your sales are made for some other reason, this may not yield a good return on your investment of resources.
• Will the training solve a problem that you have? If one of your principal problems is slow productivity or accidents that cost the company, the right training may be able to virtually end those problems.
When changing anything within your company, you should also consider what the competition is doing.
• Are there areas in which the competition is clearly superior? These may be areas that training can help make you more competitive.
• Are your production prices too high? A profit margin that is too low can be helped by a more productive workforce. And with a smaller per-unit price, you may become far more competitive.
• Is your reputation inferior to the competition’s? In many cases, keeping a good reputation for knowledgeable employees is enough to make a company more competitive. If your reputation has suffered because of slow employees or a lack of knowledge from them, training may be highly beneficial to restoring your reputation.
Recruiting Trained Employees or Training Existing Staff
When a company realizes that it needs better-trained employees, of the biggest decisions is whether to recruit and hire staff members that have already been trained or to train existing employees. Though it may seem easier to hire pre-trained staff members, there are many training benefits that often make it the more desirable option:
• Current employees already know the specific needs of the company. Bringing in a pre-trained employee does not mean that the new hire will understand your specific business and how to apply that training to it.
• The morale of employees is higher when they know they may be trained for higher positions within the company. Employees are more likely to stay with a company that may provide them with training than one that will only hire outside workers for open skilled positions.
• Keeping current employees means a better relationship with customers. The employees already on staff have an existing relationship with the public. Allowing them to train for more responsibility keeps that relationship intact.
• A better reputation in the community is one of the least-known training benefits. When the community knows that you are taking the time to train employees for better positions you earn a higher reputation as a community leader.