How Training Affects Employee Retention
Employee retention, it seems, isn’t just a nice idea—it’s good business. But it’s also clearly going to require a plan if you want to keep your best employees long-term.
Employee turnover is expensive. How expensive? According to a review of 30 case studies taken from the 11 most-relevant research papers on the costs of employee turnover done by the Center for American Progress, it costs businesses about one-fifth of a worker’s salary to replace that worker.
And, according to another survey (this one by Linkedin), 85% of the workforce is either actively looking for a job or open to talking to recruiters about relevant opportunities; even the ones who are “satisfied” with their jobs.
Employee retention, it seems, isn’t just a nice idea—it’s good business. But it’s also clearly going to require a plan if you want to keep your best employees long-term.
Ongoing employee training should be an important piece of that plan. This time last year Forbes shared 6 reasons that your best employees might quit—ongoing training helps negate 4 out of 6 of these reasons.
1. No Vision for the Future
Forbes first reason good employees leave a company was lack of a vision. Training shouldn’t be random; strategically chosen training programs help employees understand the larger vision their company is aiming for and actually gives them the tools to help it get there.
2. No Connection to the Bigger Picture
Just as training can help employees better understand and achieve their company’s vision, it also helps them understand their role in the organization and how their actions impact the company as a whole. And that understanding of the bigger picture not only impacts retention, it also positively impacts productivity and profitability.
3. No (Effective) Motivation
Most people are intrinsically motivated to want to do good work and create a successful product. Ongoing training helps them achieve both of these ends, while also making them feel valued and cared about, since their company is investing in them.
4. No Future
Employees belief that there are opportunities for advancement within their company is a major factor in retention. However, while on-the-job training is certainly valuable, it rarely provides employees with all the knowledge they need to take on a role with additional responsibilities. Training can help fill that gap.
Employees want to know they are part of something bigger, and that there are opportunities for them to grow—training helps accomplish this, leading to happier employees who stick around long-term.