In the UK, it is estimated that employers spend around £42.0bn each year on training their employees. On average, that’s £1,530 per employee. While it may seem rather steep, an organisation’s human capital is just as important and there’s tremendous benefit to be reaped. For one, upskilling your existing workforce removes the need to bring in further talent which can be time-consuming and costly. According to Glassdoor, this is thought to be around £3,000 per new recruit. Also, those that are already settled and with extensive knowledge of the business are able to take care of those particular functions.
Employee Motivation and Retention
Spending 35 to 40 hours a week in the same role can lead to disinterest over time.
Staff want to be a part of a workplace which not only offers security but invests in their development and can see a future with. According to research, 94% of employees state that they would stay working at a company if it invested in their career development. It provides employees the opportunity to climb the career ladder and access higher paying and more challenging work. Improvements to staff morale can also yield greater productivity.
It makes a lot of business sense too. Aside from the cost benefits that you would gain from avoiding recruitment costs, you’re able to innovate as a business and take advantage of the benefits that it brings.
Zurich, the Swiss insurance company, is an example of an employer that is committed to retaining and investing in its workforce. In 2020, they invested almost £1m to future-proof its workforce and carried out an analysis of its UK team which showed that 270 jobs could go unfilled by the year 2025 if not reskilled. They are a prime example of a business that has digitally transformed while managing its effect and empowering staff.
This trend of adapting to the changes within the market can be seen within the big four accounting firms in the city. Jack Barnet of City A.M. wrote an interesting article on the 5th of August, about PwC’s move of reducing its entry requirement from a 2.1 to 2.2 also known as a “Desmond” or third which is intended to “further diversify its graduate intake through broader access to talented young people, who may not have the top academic achievements but have the attributes and all round proven capabilities for a career with the firm”. Amid an ongoing City talent war. https://www.cityam.com/pwc-scraps-21-entry-requirement-for-graduates/
Over the last 2.5 years firms have been hiking pay to lure graduates to them. A report from the Institute of Student Employers found graduate salaries climbed seven per cent over the last year, a record rise. On average, salaries for those fresh out of university have risen two per cent per year since 2002, with the last peak coming just before the financial crash of 2007/08, when they climbed five per cent in 2006.
Stephen Isherwood, ISE chief was quoted by Jack Barnet saying that the soaring salaries in the past year were a “clear indication of a healthy recruitment market” and the rife competition. And that “High salaries are one way to win the war for talent, but we’re also seeing additional benefits being offered such as support with wellbeing and flexible working patterns,”
Diversity and inclusion
Diversity and inclusion are the most important concepts your organisation will ever embrace. As the business world changes, companies should look for opportunities to change with it, retiring old and redundant practices and thinking outside the box.
There are many ways to diversify your workforce, including recruitment, training, in-house promotions, and internships or apprenticeship schemes for graduates. Over the last few years, successful organisations have adjusted their stale hiring processes, embracing such methods as blind applications for a more equal assessment of candidates.
Whilst some view diversity and inclusion as a box-ticking exercise, the truly smart organisations understand these concepts are an opportunity for futureproofing success.
Investment in Continuous Staff CPD’s
Our November 2021 blog highlighted over a quarter of business leaders believe their employees (up to 49%) are preventing business progress, due to a lack of skills. If you want to be successful in the current business climate, a robust retention and training strategy that focuses on upskilling and reskilling needs to be in place. It is the role of employers to identify skills gaps through critical thinking.
Continuous investment in your staff is an opportunity for growth and progression, which is both desirable for employees and integral to a company’s success. Training is an investment. It is one that you make on your company’s behalf and it should be the company’s responsibility to provide not only access to that learning, but also the time it takes for the employees to learn their new skills.
This may also help with the problem of talent retention. In his City A.M. interview, co-founder and CEO of Beamery, Abakar Saidov, agrees: “… creating an environment that promotes talent mobility in which people want to stay, grow and develop is what will see the best engagement and retention of talent. For those moving too slowly, the consequences will be dire.”
Recognising the achievements of your staff has always been important. There is no better time for your business to create an inclusive learning environment. KTAS believes this starts with proper leadership and management, and knowing how to guide impactful performance appraisals, so that your employees can grow and achieve.
If you would like to learn more about our ILM leadership programmes and how you can empower your workforce, then do get in touch with a member of our team.
