Whether you’re running a small business built around the efforts of a small, core team, or manage a large operation inside a big business, you’ll know that the people you work with are more important than all of your other assets and resources.
Potential investors, busy CEOs and hardworking employees all agree it’s people who make a business. You might have a fantastic idea for a product or a service, but without the right people, it’ll only ever be an idea – so investing in training for your team is key for business growth.
By getting the right team and equipping them with the right mix of insight, expertise, and knowledge, you can take your idea from the drawing board to realisation – and even success.
The benefits of training your employees
If you’re running your own business and manage employees, you’ll already know the value of the right team.
How do you make sure your whole team stays competitive and stays ahead of emerging trends, while also making sure everyone is up-to-date with current regulations and industry thinking?
Training your employees has a number of important benefits:
Staying up to date
Employee training helps you to make sure you and your team are keeping ahead of wider developments and legal or regulatory requirements alike.
By bringing in advice from dedicated specialists and trainers, or supporting members of your team as they go through further education at a college or university, you can stay ahead of competitors and bring new thinking and developments into your work – whether with improved technical skills or new approaches to business.
That will have obvious benefits, and could even help refine or rethink your business from the ground up, identifying previous opportunities that you might not have spotted purely because you didn’t know they were there.
Satisfaction and retention
Employees who get the right training at the right time tend to be happier than other employees who don’t get the training they need; or any training at all.
They’re more likely to stick with their employers if they feel they’re investing in their training and development. And employees who have access to continuous training will feel more involved in their work.
Productivity and performance
It sounds obvious, but keeping your teams up to date on developments in their work or specialisations helps them figure out new or improved approaches. Everyone knows that the way you’ve always done something doesn’t have to be the way you do it in future, and training helps your teams to feel confident that they’re doing things the right way.
That can cover everything from giving them hands-on training with new production methods or machinery; making the best use of the latest software and platforms to help your work, or ensuring everyone’s staying ahead of changes to the law and regulation.
A knowledgeable and confident workforce will help you work around obstacles or changes – because training, handled properly, is another form of experience.
Training is an investment – at every level
If you’re able to identify the right training for you, it can be a great investment in every level of your business.
Whether in productivity, retention or the bottom line of your income, training can bring massive improvements outside of day-to-day operations.
How to provide effective employee training
The right training – at the right time
While training is always a good idea, that’s not to say that all training is right for everyone all of the time. Some employees will just need the occasional refresher around their responsibilities, while others might need more technical or specific training. There are some types of training where you’ll need your whole workforce learning the same thing at the same time, while other training will be better suited to individuals.
And bear in mind that good training isn’t just a one-off.
If they don’t get follow-up training, and don’t get the chance to put what they’ve learnt into practice, it’s likely that over time, your colleagues will end up forgetting it. Even with the best will in the world, they need the opportunity to put their new skills to good use.
How can we help you?
We help businesses across Wales invest in their processes, services and teams, making sure they get the targeted investment they need to start up, strengthen and grow.
For more information, click here.
