WITH the lowest unemployment rate in evidence in the history of the State, right now Ireland is an employee’s market. Gone is the notion of a ‘job for life’ so important in the past when permanent jobs were rare. Nowadays the opposite is true. Staff retention is a problem for many businesses. However, the more benefits and incentives an employer offers its employees, such as flexi-working or extra holiday days, the better the retention. Corporate training and upskilling is another important tool for staff retention. Lifelong learning has become a key phrase in today’s economy. It has been cited as one of the main priorities by the Forum on the Workplace of the Future and the EU. Corporate training has major advantages for employers themselves as it ensures staff are up to standard at all times and are constantly developing their skills. Shane McAllister, director of business development at Primelearning.com, says the main advantage for employers in supplying corporate training is that the company seems more attractive both to existing and potential employees, which leads to better rates of staff retention. “When employers have good in-house training schemes there’s less of a chance that employees will be stagnant in their jobs,” he explains. “With training it is easier for staff to do their tasks quicker, more efficiently and it frees up more time for other duties. “If employers don’t get involved in a training programme employees may become bored and listless and decide to move elsewhere,” he continues. Biggest asset The major concern about employee training is that if money is spent on training employees it will be a waste because they’ll just leave anyway. However, this isn’t true, according to McAllister. “Some may believe that training employees is only training them for their next job but this isn’t the case. Employees are the company’s biggest asset so should be treated well. Many companies spend a lot of money on IT, software and security but don’t seem to spend anything like those amounts on employee development. If you give something back to them and provide them with further training employees are more inclined to be happy in the company and their job.”
Steven Long, business unit manager for softskills training with Sureskills, says corporate training programmes should be organised as a joint effort between the individual employee and the employer. “A programme should be individually based. The person should have input into the type of course they need,” he says. “The key word in training is engagement. There should be a programme and flow chart done up to monitor each individual’s training.” Employees need to be honest in explaining what they need assistance in and what skills they are lacking. Every employee in an organisation could benefit from training, be it IT or customer service skills, but often the most customer-facing people in an organisation are those who get training. “Some training is mandated at corporate level, such as compliance and health and safety, but most employees in a workplace could benefit from extra training. It lifts everyone up,” says McAllister. To get the most out of courses, training should be monitored on a regular basis to ensure the type of learning suits the employee and that he or she is getting some good out of it. “Training plans ideally would be reviewed quarterly,” says McAllister. “Though many companies organise these things on an annual basis it’s important that the business keeps up to date with the learner’s needs.” Long reiterates this, saying ideally a person will be briefed by a senior before, during and after training so as to get the optimum out of it. “Unfortunately, logistics often doesn’t allow this but it’s important that the employer and employee meet once a year to devise an ongoing plan,” he says. The time dedicated to training depends on the industry an employee may be in, for example, an accredited accountant in training may need to spend at least 22 hours in a year on a professional development course. In other industries, however, it isn’t so black and white. “The time dedicated to training is totally individually based,” says Long. McAllister says a good rule of thumb for training is 40 hours or one working week out of a year, spread out over the year to suit both business and employee. “However, this depends on the company and environment,” he adds. With the plethora of training programme providers out there it can be difficult to decide which organisation to approach. Issues such as time, the trainer’s experience and whether the course gives accreditation are important. “It’s important to consider whether a course has an accreditation as this adds to the bonus of the training,” says Long. “There’s a quality control attached to accreditation. Accredited bodies have to meet certain standards so it’s important to factor this in when considering which course provider to go with.” In terms of the type of courses available, there are e-learning courses to consider as well as the traditional instructor-led courses. Both
McAllister and Long agree that a blended approach of e-learning and traditional classes work the best for most individuals. “Ireland is very much behind the US and the EU with workplace training but this is something that will hopefully change in the future as employers begin to realise the importance of keeping employees happy and retaining staff,” concludes McAllister. For more details on the courses available check out www.corporatetraining.ie for a list of course providers.