Whether training is considered to be an investment or an expense depends exclusively on someone’s perspective. However, it is generally accepted that training is an investment – which pays dividends, on a daily basis. Is this true? Let’s find out. Is this correct? Let’s find out.
Training is an endeavour which is pursued by an organisation with the primary aim of developing new skills, or improving the existing ones in its employees. Training is more commonly provided to employees and managers – such as management training, but it can be extended to customers and suppliers too. The ultimate aim of training is to facilitate a better understanding of the essential concepts in the employees so that they can actively participate in conducting the various activities in extended areas of the business enterprise.
As most business coaching experts agree, there is always a delay experienced by a business between the time of investment in training and the time when the benefits are realised. This delay varies in duration depending on the kind of investment and the actual scope of the training which has been undertaken. Training is a long-term investment which will rarely pay off immediately; usually the real difference becomes apparent with time. The returns which come from training aren’t realised at any single moment – they pay off every day, therefore they’re thought of as “Dividends”.
Training dividends are not directly measured in monetary terms, but can be noticed in terms of:
1. Increased Productivity – By providing in-depth training, the productivity of the employees can be dramatically increased, thereby empowering the workforce to be able to set their own goals and achieve them consistently.
2. Improved Communication and Participation – Training radically improves the communication skills among the employees in an organisation.
3. Waste Reduction – With training, the workforce is able to understand the effective ways of doing a particular task and the procedures for minimising any wasted time or materials in their activities.
4. Reduced Labour Turnover – Trained and empowered employees are satisfied with the work that they do. This in turn automatically improves the retention of the employees in the business and significantly increases the loyalty of the current ones.
5. Improved Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty – When a customer is satisfied with the products and services of a company – he becomes loyal, and for the foreseeable future he will also be a source of continuous revenue for the company.
So finally, we have found that training is definitely a dividend driving activity! If you want to ensure that healthy dividends are always realised from training, you should conduct every aspect of this training with a decisive aim in mind.
Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of the L2L Group, specialising in supplying Executive Coaching, Training and Consultancy Services to Businesses around the World. Want to find out more about these comprehensive business building success strategies? Get Alan’s phenomenal FREE Business Pack right now!