Hiring the best possible people remains one of business‘ greatest challenges. The combination of the right talent and the right work environment is the winning formula, paving the way to success. But even when you get your team in place you can’t rest on your laurels. You need to continually provide the best professional learning and development (L&D) programmes. This will ensure that their skills are honed and up to date.
A path for progression
“In business, what’s dangerous is not to evolve.”
Jeff Bezos
Providing professional learning and development creates a path for progression and aspirations. Employees feel valued and are more invested in the company. Your business in turn will benefit – greater innovation, enhanced technological advancement, slicker and more efficient systems and processes.
The net result should be improved profitability and a strong pipeline of future products and services. In their highly regarded report – The Value of Training – IBM reported that “84% of employees in the best performing organisations are receiving the training they need compared with 16% in the worst performing companies.”
L&D is great for company culture
Investing in people’s training also has an overall far reaching, positive impact on a company’s culture and its brand. It makes it an attractive option for future talent as well as other key stakeholders - customers and suppliers alike.
As Richard Branson identifies, “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” Learning and development helps employees feel valued and empowered. Couple this with a reputation of training staff. Businesses will then have an internal talent pool for further opportunities – it’s one of the best investments they can make.
Don’t overlook how L&D can positively impact staff retention
“Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don’t want to.”
Richard Benson
The bottom line is that employees are more likely to stay with a company that invests in their future. Employees who don’t feel that they can achieve their career aspirations will inevitably look around for other opportunities which can.
Therefore looking at your employee retention rate is an important metric and shouldn’t be overlooked. There are hidden cost and impacts if your business is one with a high staff churn. Not just in terms of recruitment and on-boarding a new team member. Looking at the change in headcount over a specified period can therefore be a valuable piece of data. Consider how your staff churn may impact your business’ performance.
Align your business’ goals to your employees’ learning and development
“As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”
Bill Gates
Regular, on-going training enables the sharing and retention of valuable knowledge within a business. Management must focus on aligning learning and development to a business’ goals. Matching job specifications to skill sets will help to highlight any knowledge gaps that need to be addressed and filled.
Paying for employees to study for relevant qualifications or setting up apprenticeships are potential ways to get skills in your organisation. Apprenticeships are popular with GRENKE Leasing and the UK Government wants to increase numbers in the UK.
In 2019 the company recruited their first six apprentices in the UK. It is launching a recruitment programme for three more soon. You can read more about the experiences of two of our apprentices, Izzy Minor and Matt Colleer.
Keeping your business on top of the digital curve
Above all, we’ve become a digital world – some call it the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This fast-paced shift means a workforce with the most up to date skills is vital. If regular and strategic training is not provided then the skills gap between the business that does and the one that doesn’t, will widen exponentially. The impacts will be far reaching and will affect all aspects of a business. Learning and Development needs to play a central role in a business’s strategy to stay on top.
How GRENKE Leasing can help your business
Keeping up to date with the latest technology which facilitates both product and service advancement can be challenging. It can tie up a significant proportion of a business’s cash flow and employees’ learning and development are impacted. But leasing, rather than making an outright purchase, can be the solution. Matching payments to an asset’s useful life means that upgrading when you need to is even easier. GRENKE can help you lease a wide range of equipment – more than you realise – get in touch to find out more.
