IT’S been a good week for the winners of the North East’s bids in the Regional Growth Fund (RGF). Companies like Narec, Tioxide, Cummins, TRW and Calsonic Kansei and others regionwide have much more than manufacturing and green technology in common.
Each of these successful companies takes training very seriously.
This was an extra reason for the region’s universities and colleges to celebrate the news that funding will help to drive forward projects, jobs and growth at companies which understand the importance and impact of training.
However dry it all seems, once skills training is embraced by an organisation, the pace of a business can speed up. Having a training strategy means that priorities are clarified, managed and evaluated. This is infinitely better than the stop-start momentum created by one-off initiatives which end just as they begin to make a real difference.
Despite the effects of the recession, businesses of all sizes still have to compete for skilled talent. A well- trained workforce gives an organisation a huge commercial advantage. It may well have been a component in deciding which bids won RGF funding from the Government.
For those companies which have cut back on skills training because of the economic downturn, this is the perfect time to look again at the benefits of training. The impact it can have on production, motivation and morale is remarkable. When staff have the confidence and commitment to apply their learning to improve the workplace, it makes for a more competitive business.
It is an obvious truth that we need to keep talent in this region. Success breeds success. Recruiting the best makes it more likely that our companies become market leaders, in turn able to grow and create job opportunities.
What our local companies could improve, however, is a clear strategy for keeping that talent loyal to the region as their careers develop. If bright, trained individuals are successfully recruited by local companies, there have to be adequate reasons to keep them here for a significant chunk of time.
Dr Sonal Minocha is associate dean of the Faculty of Business and Law, University of Sunderland
