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Hiring talented members of staff is one thing, but to truly get the best out of your team investing in training and development is essential. This keeps your employees engaged in their role, maintains staff motivation, and reduces absenteeism, which can have a serious impact on productivity and, thus, revenue.
The need for staff training and development is clear because when employees are left to their own devices with no time invested in them from management, they soon become disillusioned. Eventually, staff feel as though they hit a glass ceiling within the company with no opportunity afforded to them to further their career, feeling as though they need to look elsewhere for those opportunities to better their career prospects.
As well as from a professional perspective, the importance of staff development can also be found in how employees grow as people by improving skills such as communication, organisational and leadership credentials. Confidence is also boosted by training and development plans which can lead to members of staff who, perhaps, aren’t as forthcoming with new ideas to make themselves heard to introduce something innovative that could change the way the business operates for the better.
Businesses that do not invest time into staff learning and development are most likely to find the need to constantly recruit new employees to fill the gaps left by departing members of the team. If your company is having to recruit to replace, as opposed to recruiting to expand, you need to answer the question as to why this is happening.
Employees leave roles for various reasons, which can include not feeling valued by the company they are working for. With little to no time dedicated for training and development, this can lead to employees feeling as though they are not valued and have no opportunity to work towards climbing the corporate ladder leading them to seek other employment.
Providing those opportunities for current members of staff to climb the ranks is not only important from a retention point of view, but this is also how you will unearth the business’ future leaders. If the company almost exclusively only hires from outside of the business, this is another indicator of a lack of opportunity and undoubtedly means that you are missing out on talent that is right underneath your nose.
It is important to recognise the potential of the staff you have at your disposal. Training and development opportunities not only allow employees to learn new skills but can also demonstrate the skills they already have in an environment removed from the usual workplace. When leadership skills are showcased, transferring those skills into the workplace and giving that member of staff the opportunity they deserve is the next step. Additionally, when other members of the team see a colleague given extra responsibility, this can serve as motivation to them as they will recognise that they can also earn the same opportunity if they work for it.
Knowledge is power and when staff are provided with training and development opportunities, they come back feeling empowered. This is because they are more confident carrying out the tasks not only associated with the role they currently have but for the role they want. This leads to autonomy in the workforce, with teams becoming self-sufficient which translates into productivity.
As well as providing a platform for staff development, investing in team-building events and training courses mixes up the usual day-to-day ongoing which, after a while, can feel monotonous. No matter how much you love your job, coming into the office day after day, carrying out the same tasks can become boring and, as a result, see staff feeling unengaged not only with their responsibility but also their colleagues.
Investing in staff development allows for staff to take on new responsibilities which will help to keep them engaged in their role within the business, caring about what they do because they feel the business cares about them. When staff become disinterested through a lack of opportunity, it can be difficult to reverse and, worst of all, that feeling can manifest in other colleagues. Before you know it, because of a lack of opportunity, you could be left picking up the pieces of an entire team suffering from a lack of motivation.
Our team has years of experience in hosting and tailoring team-building and staff development days for businesses up and down the country. Our events are designed to bring the best out of your members of staff, helping them to realise their full potential.
For more information on our events, please do not hesitate to get in contact with a member of our team today.
