They go hand-in-hand, or at least they should. No one wants to be the employee who doesn’t know their job, and no one wants to work with that employee. Initial training, as well as continued training, gives employees a sense of worth and the chance to excel in their position.  Engagement and pride in a job well done is a big part of why people decide to stay with a given company, and this all starts with proper training.

 People want to work with capable people.

Organizations are a machine, when one part is broken, the rest of the work is affected, and may even come to a halt. When an employee’s work is impeded by another’s lack of knowledge, nothing but a bottleneck of work will ensue. This can rarely be chalked up to a “bad hire”, but rather bad (or no) training.

When an employee isn’t given the tools and knowledge to complete tasks, it is the organization that has failed, not the employee.

People want to be capable.

There are few things more frustrating than not knowing what you’re doing, what is expected of you and how to deliver it. Good training resolves all of these problems. Everyone worth hiring wants to be good at what they do, but they will rarely achieve this without training.

Training should start the day of hire, and never end. Formal training should be considered an ongoing process and a true investment in employees. A survey on the business case for employee engagement sites employee improvement in skills as the number two motivator of employee engagement. Number 7 was an employee’s ability to grow and advance in the company.

Employees are thirsty for this knowledge, and it is ultimately what keeps them satisfied and engaged. 80% of employees asked about what why training is important answered, “I can do my job better”.

Good training means higher productivity.

This is a no-brainer. When employees know what they’re doing, they’re more likely to do it. For newly hired staff, training during orientation and onboarding means that they can start being proficient at their job quickly. If training is delayed, or not present at all, the productivity of this new hire starts quite low. This missed opportunity sets the bar at poor level.

Ongoing training for employees keeps them up-to-date on industry trends, policies and new technologies. Assume that no one is in charge of seeing to it that your staff is informed of these things. A business can fall to the wayside pretty quickly in a fast paced environment.

A few words from Susan Heathfield on training and retention:

The American Society for Training and Development has traditionally recommended a minimum of 40 hours of training a year for every employee. This is consistent with the emphasis employees place on the opportunity to grow and develop both their skills and career while in your employ. The chance for ongoing development is one of the top five factors employees want to experience at work. In fact, the inability of an employee to see progress is an often-cited reason for leaving an employer.

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photo credit: Enokson via photopin cc