For the second year running the hotels giant Hilton Group has found a link between staff development opportunities and reduced staff turnover.

The results come from its global team member survey to which more than 1,500 employees responded.

Forty per cent said that being given development opportunities was the main reason why they were continuing their career with Hilton. A further 49 per cent said that although it wasn’t the main factor, being given the chance to develop professionally is very important to them.

The Hilton Group’s training methods include the Hilton University – an online learning platform through which the survey was conducted in May.

The survey also highlighted how learning is being applied in the workplace with over 70 per cent believing that what they learned during training could be used the next day in their work.

It also looked at where team members like to learn; respondents overwhelmingly prefer to learn at their desks or at home, although an increasing number of people like to use the dedicated learning zones within Hilton hotels and offices.

HR managers, e-learning champions and learning managers are continuing to use Hilton University to monitor and support team members as they progress through their individual learning plans.

And 90 per cent of respondents are convinced that the resources they access through Hilton University help them with their professional development.

Maarten Staps, international learning and development manager at Hilton, said: “After conducting this study for the second year, it is encouraging to see that an even greater proportion of team members are remaining loyal to Hilton due to the development opportunities offered through Hilton University. This will have an inevitable impact on the business, both in terms of increased productivity as well as in reduced recruitment costs.”