Zulu Consulting | Investing in Training & Staff Skills throughout the Recession

Investing in skills for tomorrow

Many companies are operating in challenging environments at present, due to the turbulent economic situation. The ability to meet the challenges presented and adapt the company’s business practices, is often something, which can fall to the skills and capabilities of your staff.

Identifying and investing in staff development and skills training can be a difficult decision to make and for many companies, the training budget is the first casualty of the economic downturn. Once such a decision is made, it can take years before the investment is reinstated. Although the practice of cutting training may look short sighted, it is very understandable as companies struggle to balance their books. However, the ability for an individual company to survive this recession may well be down to their ability to equip their own staff with the necessary skills to adapt to and overcome the challenges of their market conditions.

Why train your own staff?

Deciding on the priority for training is a very real investment decision and testing the individual’s character and commitment is critical in understanding the full potential of your investment.

Select members of staff whose long-term future you feel confident in investing in. Investing in your own staff training also sends a very real signal to the rest of the workforce that you are committed to his or her own betterment and that you are interested in their welfare and career progression. This builds commitment and trust and develops a culture that can be progressive and valuable - especially when the going gets tough.

What’s the total cost of training?

The cost of training not only includes the tuition fees but also day release and extra holidays for studying, in some circumstances. This has a ‘double whammy effect’; not only are you losing the productivity of the individual but you may need to pay for that resource to be replaced, thus adding to the costs of the business.

Getting some help: why training is wider than just the company!

Continuous professional training is critically important to the long-term future of the UK’s economy. The pace of business practice is accelerating and the ability for people to learn all they need to know on the job is an unrealistic expectation. It is well known that the employment profile of an individual is far more flexible than it once was and the skills and time you invest in an individual may well benefit someone else’s organisation. Only by taking a wider perspective can an employer see the need for continuous development of their workforce. This approach relies on all companies within the economy developing a similar approach and this, therefore, becomes part of the economy’s underlying strategy. We need Government support and involvement and organisations need to be able to be supported according to their size and ability to invest.     

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