Researchers from the Cranfield School of Management have released a report “Nurturing Talent", which clearly supports the up-skilling of current staff, utilizing online training tools and not cutting the training budget is a smart thing to do in low economic times. If you want to read a summary of the report a great article can be found on UK Edition of Times Online called "Training your way out of the recession" The study conducted has concluded that 'investing in training not only saves money but is more effective than shopping around for talent.'

The report is the first to compare the pro & cons of developing current employees vs. bringing in new recruits. Here are just a few results: 

'Three quarters of the 1,189 companies involved in the study felt that training their own staff was more beneficial to their business than recruiting people from outside.

Half the companies discovered that training staff made them more likely to stay. One-third found it increased staff motivation, and almost half actually saved money in the process. '

It can't really be said enough at the moment - hold on to your staff, show them how valued they are by investing in their future and you will be rewarded. This also ties right in there with our invaluable Gen Y'ers and the need to keep them interested through on-going learning.

Many of Britain's business leaders are urging employers to follow suit:
 “Now is precisely the time to keep investing in the skills and talents of ourpeople. It is the people we employ who will get us through. When marketsare shrinking and order books falling, it is their commitment, productivity and ability to add value that will keep us competitive. Investing now in building new skills will put us in the strongest position as the economy recovers.” Well worth a read – I have a PDF of the report if you want to read it… water@waterworth.com.au