Why should companies invest more in training?

In today’s extremely competitive business environment, having any advantage over the competition is useful.With an ever changing and fast paced corporate world, training and development is an indispensable function.

Training and development is one of the lowest things on the priority list of most companies. When it's organized, it is often at the persistence of the human resources department. There is, however, enormous value in organizing proper training and development sessions for employees. Training allows employees to acquire new skills, sharpen existing ones, perform better, increase productivity and be better leaders. Since a company is the sum total of what employees achieve individually, organizations should do everything in their power to ensure that employees perform at their peak.

Especially Management Training is Vital and below mentioned points testifies it.

1) An employee’s relationship with his or her direct manager is the most important single factor in employee engagement.

2) Engaged employees are happier and more productive.  Disengaged employees are frustrated and more disruptive.

3) Because there’s no widely agreed-on skill set for management (good managers come in all shapes and sizes), there’s an assumption everyone knows how to do it.  This is akin to someone who’s never driven before being given keys to a car and told: “Drive.”  (Many many years ago, this is how I first learned to manage.  I blundered my way through it.  Trial and error.  It wasn’t pretty.)

4)  The basics of sound management – clear objective setting, structured performance evaluation systems, honest and open feedback and communication, etc. – aren’t rocket science.  In fact, they’re way easier than rocket science.  Which is why companies ought to get them right.

5) Your young managers of today will become your leaders of tomorrow.  (And if your company is just going out and hiring leaders instead of developing your own, you have to ask: Why?)

6) Many companies invest heavily in training at the top (leadership development, executive retreats, etc.) but less at the bottom or the middle, where it may well be more needed.

7) Management is often uneven throughout an organization.  You have your outstanding ones, your okay ones, and your downright incompetent ones who can do a lot of damage.   In this biz, as in so many, consistency is a good thing.

8)  Respected well-trained managers boost morale, and improved morale boosts retention.   And as you of course know, it’s wicked expensive to hire and fire.

Also one of the most important tools that a company can have to ensure that stay one step ahead is a strong sales team. According to a study cited on the Sales Force Training website, the caliber of the salesperson, in a B2B environment, is the most important factor influencing prospects’ decisions to buy. In the U.S., more than $5 billion is invested in sales training and improvement. It is extremely important that your company is making the right training investments.

Vishnu Vardhan, MBA, is a certified Master Trainer and Facilitator by Dale Carnegie and Carlton Advanced Management Institute. Addition to being an L&D specialist he speaks and trains on leadership, career, professional development and cross-cultural business communication.