Studies have shown that training your employees can increase your profit margin by as much as 24%. While training your employees comes at an initial cost, there’s no doubt that the benefits of a highly qualified group of staff more than pays for itself in the long run. These are just a few of the reasons employee training is so crucial to the success of your business.

Reduce wage spending
Hiring someone who can arrive at your company with all the necessary skills sounds appealing, but there is one major disadvantage: such a person will command a higher salary. Finding someone who can demonstrate their ability to learn quickly and who could easily fill the same required role could save you a lot of money, because despite having to provide them with the necessary training, you will have a lower wage bill.

Build employee morale
Employees recognise that by being given the opportunity to train and develop new skills or gain new qualifications, their employer is investing in them and their ability to learn. This inevitably raises morale, as not only does training make the employee feel appreciated, valued and self-confident, they can also recognise their expanded skill set may result in a better job or high salary in the future.

Higher productivity
A workforce with higher morale and more advanced capabilities generally means one thing: higher productivity. This in turn should translate into greater profits, proving that employee training makes perfect business sense.

Top tips
There’s more to successful training than just sending your employees on every half-relevant course available, so bear in mind these top tips for employee training to ensure you’re getting everything you can from one of your most valuable resources - your staff.

Which training option is best?
There are numerous ways to provide training for your staff, whether in-house, inviting someone to your company to deliver a training course, or sending your employee to a conference or workshop. Each different method has its pros and cons, and the most appropriate training method will depend on a number of factors, such as the personal circumstances of the employee, whether he or she can take time off work, and what it is hoped the training will achieve.

Choosing the right training course is very important. You should have a clear idea of what skills you want your employees to develop, and how these skills will help them perform their job more effectively. Take time choosing the right course, and if you can’t find one that’s suitable you may want to consider whether it’s worth investing in developing a custom course especially for your employees. The National Careers Service is a good place to begin your search for the most suitable course.

Keep on track of training
Keeping records of the different training that your employees have undergone or need to undergo can be difficult, but thankfully there is plenty of HR software available that makes the job much simpler. HR software can do a lot more than just record keeping. For example, during employee assessments it can help you determine whether there are any training opportunities available that may be useful for a specific employee. HR software can also alert you if and when employees need to undergo refresher courses, so you shouldn’t underestimate how useful such a tool can be.

Don’t let the competition get ahead
A business that doesn’t regularly invest in its staff in order to improve its products or services is doomed to failure, because the competition is certainly willing to invest. While it’s clear that training offers multiple benefits to staff members as well as the company itself, actually getting the right training delivered is not necessarily so easy. Researching the available training courses and investing in HR software that can ensure training is delivered effectively are the top two ways to ensure your business benefits from a well-equipped workforce.

Image credit – business training room by Silicon Beach Training on Flickr