13 Convincing Benefits of Training an Employee
Employee training = cost. That’s what many of us have been led to believe, but the reality is not that simple. What if investing in training could actually save money?
Here are our top 13 reasons why training is an invaluable tool - both for your employees, and for you.
What are the benefits of training employees?
While it’s clear to see why training would benefit employees, employers sometimes overlook how training their employees could benefit them. Yes, training is an initial investment, but, in work as in life, you reap what you sow.
The benefits of training range from increased employee retention (through increased engagement, satisfaction and ambition), to widening the talent pool and breathing new life into recruitment, not to mention many more besides.
Should employees be paid for training?
To put it simply, yes. Any training that an employer requires an employee to do should be paid. If it is directly related to the employee’s job function, it is considered as ‘hours worked’.
This said, some contracts state that unpaid training may be required, which is then dependent on the agreement of the employee. While this is true in theory, it’s also important to consider the practical element. Even if it’s legal in your specific case, your employees won’t thank you for expecting them to do training unpaid. This is likely to limit many of the benefits of training outlined in this article.
The exception is training that’s not directly work-related. Employers legally do not have to pay employees if they request time off for training or study that isn't required for their job.
13 Major benefits of training an employee
Let’s get straight into the many benefits of training and development.
You can turn a great talent into great expertise
Talent is an innate ability to do something. Expertise is specific knowledge or skills acquired through learning. To put it simply, talent can’t be taught - but expertise can. Talent is expertise waiting to be unlocked, and the key is training and development.
Investing in training for employees not only gives you, as an employer, full control of the precise skills and knowledge you want your employees to acquire, but it also allows you to widen the net for potential new hires.
Limiting your options based on certain, specific skills that can, in fact, be taught may cause you to overlook incredible talent - talent that could be the future of your company.
2. You can keep up with moving technological goalposts
The one constant in the world of tech is the fact that it is always changing, and businesses need to remain agile in order to stay competitive, relevant, and profitable. So how can they do this?
Staying on top of new technologies and adapting to new software requires two things: research and training. If a company is to keep up with moving technological goalposts, the importance of regularly training its employees in these new ways of working cannot be overstated. And don’t wait for the goalposts to be moved - move them yourself!
Training sessions and workshops are an excellent way to spark new ideas and inspire innovation.
3. You can make your company more resilient to skills shortages
The world of work is ever-changing, and this can often lead to skills shortages in places where these skills are very much needed. In fact, a recent McKinsey survey revealed that nearly 9 in 10 managers and executives ‘either face skill gaps already or expect gaps to develop within the next five years’.
So, where can organisations find these skills? Well, they can develop them in-house! Training and upskilling existing employees is a clear way to ensure your organisation remains resilient to skills shortages, and has the added benefit of being less costly in the long run. Indeed, around half of the survey respondents cited skill building as ‘the most effective way to close skill gaps’ over the coming years, with fewer than a third citing hiring.
One business-critical skill in 2022 is cultural intelligence. Test yours here.
4. You can save money by hiring less experienced talent
Not only does training allow you to save money on recruitment, but it also creates scope for hiring less experienced talent (read: lower salaries).
But why take a gamble on candidates with less experience? Hiring in this way has all kinds of advantages; an important one is adaptability. An employee with limited experience in the role, regardless of age, will be more open and willing to adapt to your organisation's specific way of working, more so than someone who is already set in their ways.
Secondly, a less experienced employee is likely to offer new perspectives and opportunities for innovation, bringing a fresh pair of eyes to old problems. They will have a keen awareness of the opportunity you’ve afforded them and will be keen to prove themselves. Skills can be taught, as we mentioned – but talent and motivation can’t.
5. You can save money by creating scope for internal promotions
Not only does hiring for potential allow you to save money on salaries by avoiding the higher salary demands of more experienced candidates, but it can also save you more money later down the line when it comes to hiring for a more senior position. With the help of training, that same, inexperienced employee you hired a year ago could now be the perfect candidate for that more senior role you’re hiring for, meaning you can save money and time on recruitment.
In addition, the existing employee won’t waste time adapting to the company culture and ways of working - they’ll be better able to hit the ground running. In fact, research undertaken by business journal Knowledge at Warton indicates that new hires (as opposed to internally promoted candidates) generally display worse performance, and are paid more.
And that’s not all - clear paths for internal promotions foster greater ambition in junior employees. It’s a win-win situation.
6. You can save money by reducing staff turnover
What’s the opposite of a company culture that places value on growth and internal promotions? The answer is a company with high staff turnover.
Losing good employees is a double whammy: not only do you lose valuable knowledge and experience, but the situation also results in low morale for those left. Low morale results in poor company culture and poor performance, and poor performance costs a company money.
However, what costs even more money is an unnecessary recruitment process. According to Centric HR, replacing a salaried employee can cost, on average, 6-9 months of their salary, in the form of recruitment costs, training the new employee, and a potential salary increase for the position.
Training reduces turnover both because it enables existing employees to qualify for more senior roles within the company, and it also helps retain employees, who see the value it adds to their work and professional development.
7. You can create a company culture to be proud of
Company culture is created and maintained by many different elements, such as transparency, communication, trust… and training. Training and development opportunities are a key way of increasing morale among employees, as such initiatives show that you’re investing in them as people.
And why is this important? Well, it means that they’re more likely to invest in you as an organisation. What’s more, a company culture that places importance on learning and development is also one that promotes curiosity, critical thinking, and a constant quest for self-improvement.
8. You can foster job satisfaction
Curiosity and critical thinking increase job satisfaction. Your organisation may boast a state-of-the-art coffee machine, gym access, and free chocolate, but real job satisfaction happens when employees associate work with feelings of positive self-worth: achievement, recognition, responsibility, and growth. Growth, in the form of learning, development and training, is a key pillar.
As more and more members of Generation Z join the workforce, it’s important to be aware of what really catches their attention in their search for a job. According to LinkedIn's latest Workforce Confidence Index research, increased learning opportunities are a top priority for Gen Z, with learning and growth ranking as the second most important factor in their job hunt.
9. You can attract more ambitious employees
Ambition is all about a desire for achievement and striving for success. So how can companies foster this? Employers can maximise their employees’ opportunities for success and achievement by making space for learning and growth.
In return, ambitious employees drive change, increase company performance, and strive for internal promotions and increased responsibility. While experience is essential for those who strive to climb the ladder, training is a catalyst, and is the perfect way to maintain that sense of ambition.
10. You can turn employees into brand ambassadors
Never underestimate the power of internal brand ambassadors. Employees can do so many things to promote your company’s brand; they can re-share social media posts using their personal profiles, they can post about a company milestone or achievement, share pictures of branded merchandise… the list goes on.
But have you considered leveraging training as a brand awareness opportunity? Any form of internal training event, team building or workshop would make an excellent shared post on LinkedIn, particularly if photo sharing is actively encouraged.
Do you have a particularly generous training budget? Encourage your employees to post their training achievements on social media! This could be a talk they’ve attended, a course they’ve completed, or, of course, a new language level they’ve reached. Such posts will inspire trust and confidence in your brand from potential new hires and clients alike.
11. You can help experienced employees keep their competitive edge
It’s been proven that Generation Z value opportunities for learning and development (see reason #8). But let’s not forget experienced employees! More people over 50 than ever are in employment, and they value growth just as much as their younger colleagues. According to a study by Centre for Ageing Better, employees over the age of 50 place the most value on ‘social interaction, scope to contribute their ideas and experience, and opportunities for learning and progression’.
Remember: training isn’t all about preparing new employees for their role - it’s also about upskilling existing employees and allowing them to specialise in the areas that matter most to you and to them. Experienced employees have an incredible bank of skills, valuable perspective, and irreplaceable institutional memory - we should be fighting to keep them
12. You can increase employee engagement
In a post-‘Great Resignation’ world, how can companies keep employees engaged? The basics such as supplying the right tools, listening to what employees want and giving individual attention to their work will always be key. Opportunities for team bonding are also invaluable.
But what else can employers provide? Training and coaching! Whether it’s setting up a mentor scheme, investing in language training, running workshops, or organising talks and events, showing that you’re really engaging in employees’ development will make them engage in you. Engaged employees are high-performing employees, and are less likely to look elsewhere.
13. It allows you to hire for other skills, experiences and attributes
Hiring for potential is, of course, a gamble, but it has the power to be a hugely successful one when done well, both in terms of performance and budget. As Orion Talent put it:
“highly experienced can mean that they are very good at their job. It can also mean that they come with some hefty salary requirements.”
Similarly, having a solid training programme and a growth mindset in place allows space to consider top talent that more narrow-minded recruiters may overlook. Put it this way: would you disregard a stellar salesperson, oozing charisma and a genuine love for the job, just because they’ve previously specialised in software sales and not physical products? It may just be their insights from the world of software sales that allow you to revolutionise your own strategies and ways of working!
Training can also open up incredible opportunities for increased diversity and inclusion in your workplace. So many gifted individuals are shut out of roles through no fault of their own, and the pattern is reinforced when such individuals don’t even bother applying for roles because they’re intimidated by the demands of the job ad.
This leads to an enormous pool of overlooked talent. Training allows companies to capitalise on these different skills, experiences and attributes, laying the foundations for unprecedented innovation.
The bottom line: great training makes for rockstar employees
Training offers benefits across multiple areas; not only does it benefit current employees, but it also provides future benefits when it comes to potential new talent. For current employees, training is an invaluable way to keep up with moving goalposts whilst also remaining satisfied, engaged and ambitious in the long term.
When it comes to future recruitment needs, an established culture of training and development on the job allows you to widen the net and consider more diverse talent, overlooked talent, or inexperienced talent, or even reduce hiring altogether by investing in internal promotions.
Finally, the importance of a growth mindset and a spirit of curiosity in the workplace cannot be overstated; you will be surprised by where it takes you.
