Regular staff training is essential in helping this ongoing skill development. This can often be a worry to business managers though, due to its ongoing cost to the business. There are a number of important reasons why ongoing staff training can be beneficial to the business and should therefore be made a priority. With a quality training plan in place, you will also see your return on investment within your balance sheet.

Here some benefits of training and staff development:

• Keep up with industry changes
  Industries are constantly changing and so it is important for a business to develop to avoid being left behind. It’s also important to make sure your business is complying with any industry regulations, which can be achieved through ongoing training, making sure your staff’s skills and knowledge are up-to-date
• Be in touch with all the latest technology developments
  New technology is being developed all the time and so it is not sufficient to run a one-off training session. Regular training needs to take place to ensure that staff are using all the latest technology comfortably and to its full potential
• Stay ahead of competitors
  Standing still can kill your business, so by making sure your staff are constantly advancing, you will continue to move forward are remain competitive within the marketplace
• Be able to see weaknesses and skill gaps
  With regular training, a business can more easily identify any gaps in the market and skill gaps within the existing workforce. By identifying these gaps early, there is time to train staff in these required areas so they can fulfil the role effectively
• Maintain knowledge and skill
  Although one off training may be provided to new starters, or other employees, it’s important that training schemes are put in place to help develop skills throughout their job. To retain knowledge, skills need to be practiced and refreshed on a regular basis so elements aren’t forgotten.
• Advance employee skills
  Once a business has spent money on providing basic level skills, these can easily be built upon and improved to provide much more benefit to the business. Staff that know more can bring more to the table, and your business will reap the rewards
• Increase job satisfaction levels
  Through continued investment from the business, staff can have a much higher sense of job satisfaction, which can improve their motivation towards their work. This reduces employee turnover and increases productivity, which directly improves the profitability. It also prevents competitors from taking away your best employees by offering training incentives
• Provide internal promotion opportunities
  Employing new staff involves high recruitment costs and hiring fees. However, with ongoing training, your existing staff can become more eligible for internal promotions. Unlike new staff, you can guarantee they have a complete knowledge of your business, the correct skill set and are people that you know and trust.
• Attract new talent
  All businesses want to have the best employees and so with ongoing training, this will not only mean better staff retention, but the business may also attract better talent from the start, as this gives the business a good image and is a key feature many people look for within their job search.

As you can see, ongoing training is important not just to employee development, but it also affects the success of your business.