Training your staff benefits them and business

Aug 18 2008 by Iain Laing, The Journal

MOST of us understand the importance and benefit of employing trained or skilled staff. But often the “day job” gets in the way of supporting our staff in their endeavours to improve their skills.

The benefits of training staff on new machinery, software or systems are obvious, as are those of training to meet new legal requirements such as health and safety regulations. But it is also important to train people so they can move to the next level. Training your staff can result in:

Better Performance

Often the primary reason behind training is an increase in efficiency and effectiveness.

Increased Confidence

Given the knowledge to perform to their highest abilities, staff could gain in confidence, decreasing their reliance on you!

Improved Customer Satisfaction

From front-of-house customer service to administration, many courses can help your staff to improve their skills and ultimately provide a better service to customers.

Motivation

Investment in training is proved to increase motivation and confidence, leading to greater staff retention and lower recruitment costs.

Compliance with Legislation

There are legal requirements covering health and safety, discrimination, etc which your staff can be trained to meet.

Achieving Accreditation

Investors in People is one of several accreditations which place a high importance on staff training. By investing in staff and achieving such an accreditation, you will add credibility to your business.

A good starting point for businesses that want to investigate staff training opportunities is the Skills Pledge. This is a voluntary commitment made by organisations to support their employees to develop their basic skills, including literacy and numeracy. Further information can be found at www.traintogain.gov.uk.

Alternatively, there are many outstanding training providers in the region, some offering subsidised or even free courses.

Why not investigate some training for your staff? With a little investment both you and your team could reap the rewards!

If you need support or advice, please call Tedco on (0191) 428-3300, email starting@tedco.org or visit www.tedco.org