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Training, Upskilling & Employee Education

Many companies are facing employee shortages. Either the employees laid off and do not want to come back or they have had to find other jobs in order to make ends meet.

Finding employees who do want to work and have the needed skills is like hitting the winning numbers in Lotto 649! If you haven’t had that kind of luck, consider hiring to fit your company culture. Offer training, upskilling, and mentoring to bring the employees skills up to speed.

Employers may be averse to offering training to employees because of the real and perceived costs

Education costs money, whether it is a one-off course or a series of courses offered by an educational institute, they all cost money. The time an employee spends in the course equals unbillable hours that must be paid for by the company.

Negative training experiences in the past can influence what educational opportunities a company is willing to offer.  The cost of failed training can be very high to both the bottom line of a company and the morale of the employee who took the program. Often businesses do not want to take that kind of risk.

Training can actually save you money in the long term

Employees who feel inadequate, lacking in skills, and unsupported by their company are often unhappy employees. Unhappy employees are low producing and inefficient. They make more mistakes, wasting supplies, and time to achieve the requested tasks.

Unhappy staff often means unhappy or dissatisfied customers, which leads to fewer customers, especially in this day and age of Google Reviews.

Reskilling, upskilling, mentoring, training, and employee education are important tools for every company. Investing in your employees can give you the competitive advantage that you need to increase sales and reduce costs.

Make a plan, spending willy-nilly on any education or trend can lead to expensive mistakes

Figuring out what skills your company needs, what skills your employees have, and where the gaps are is an important first step. Always recognize that your employees may have the potential for promotions and skill increases but they may not be ready to make the commitment.

Formal education, including classrooms and online courses, may be expensive so be aware of the grants and funding options in your area. There are other options besides formal education including mentoring and coaching, teamwork on projects, and local networking groups. Extend the education plan beyond the before and during training, make sure that the new skills are applied and used. After all, you helped pay for them!

Keep in mind when developing your plan of education, that not all employees learn the same way

Finding a variety of courses that deliver the information needed in different ways will help to ensure your employees succeed. Make sure all employees are aware of training opportunities. While there may be some people that you are particularly interested in developing, you might be surprised at who takes advantage of the opportunities offered and who benefits the most. Let your employees follow their interests within your guidelines for education.

Not everyone in the company needs to have marketing skills but if someone is interested in developing them then they are more likely to be engaged in the learning process. Acknowledge the employees who do the upskilling and training. Celebrate their successes and reinforce how important upskilling and employee development is to your organization. This cycle of positive re-enforcement will lead to more employees willing to improve their skills.

Invest in your employees and your business will reap the benefits!

Investing in your employees helps to increase employee retention. People don’t leave companies that they feel care about their well-being and future endeavors. Upskilled employees will not become obsolete and your company can spend less time on the hiring cycle.

Happy workers make for a positive environment both for workers and customers. High morale amongst the employees can translate to higher customer satisfaction as employees go the extra mile for customers rather than doing the minimum required. Happy employees also talk about their company in a positive light. This can lead to more applications to work for the company helping to bring in more high achieving employees without the expense of advertising or headhunting. 

Upskilling your employees can be as simple as improving their skills in various programs that they use. If you have a junior bookkeeper, needing to move to the next level in Quickbooks or Sage software, check out our one on one training. See how Preferred Client Services can help your employees grow!