Recently KPMG released their findings from a survey asking 151 CEO’s about their investment plans for the future. Two prominent themes emerged; operational and reputational risk came top of being the things CEO’s were most worried about.
Accordingly, more efforts were increasingly being placed in hiring experts to help understand the various risks to their business, whilst also investing in their own knowledge about pressures that will effect their businesses such as cyber security. 42% of those who participated, said however that they had no plans to invest in new employee workplace training programmes. Similarly, only one in ten listed the development of talent as a priority for their business over the next three years.
Bill Michael, Chair-Elect at KPMG in the UK said “Closing the book on new staff training while future growth is uncertain may seem sensible, but it risks throwing future opportunities away. The recent election result in the UK, combined with ongoing uncertainty over the implementation of Brexit, means CEOs must invest now to have the skills they need for the future. Leaders must equip their colleagues with the right training, confidence and resilience to enable them to quickly adapt as political events unfold”.
Assisting with employee professional development needs to be seen as an investment. Typical reasons for companies shying away from development activity is often that it is costly, or taking people away from their day to day work. Appropriate training however, improves competence and performance, ultimately allowing employee’s to take on new responsibilities and grow with the business.
Companies would benefit from taking time to assess different training options as there are plenty of options available including qualifications, online learning, conferences, workshops, in house training or even shadowing/observation. Organisations must remember that after all, an organisation that takes career development seriously shows that they value their staff, which should lead to a workforce much more engaged with the business.
Let us know what you think of the findings, or your experiences of training development in the workplace. Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin
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