If you own or run a small business, employee training is one of those costs you probably try to avoid.
It’s costly to backfill, it takes staff away from core duties, and you don’t always know whether it will have been time well spent until afterwards.
Because of this, many employers either don’t understand (or live in denial of) the fact that employee training is extremely important.
Not convinced?
Ok, Imagine you just found out you need an operation and are having the interview with your prospective surgeon…and he lets slip that he doesn’t have the proper training. How do you feel?
“Any workers can make mistakes, but in many industries not training workers properly puts management in direct legal risk.”
You’d check out of the hospital faster than Jiminy Cricket!
…You wouldn’t let an engineer build a bridge without the right training.
…You wouldn’t send your kids to a school where the teachers weren’t trained.
The list goes on. So, most of us admit it eventually, staff development is important.
How do so many of us end up with problems in this area? Hint, its not a hiring problem. Business managers don’t usually hire unqualified employees, but they do hire under-qualified workers, and worse, we all let standards slip over time.
An employee can become underqualified for several reasons:
- Our company is too busy to train right now
- When there’s a lot of changes in a business such as technology
- We don’t have enough money to pay for training
Yes, It takes materials, money and time to train employees. In many cases, third parties are required for the job training. There’s an investment of time which is un-billable as well as other costs. Some employers don’t train employees because of their past negative experiences. The training may not have been done correctly or the wrong topics were taught. When training fails it’s a high cost for the company.
However, If you don’t train your employees, this is also a serious risk. Here’s why untrained employees are costing you far more than you think:
1. Untrained is Unhappy
When you have employees that feel like they underachieve, feel inadequate or unsupported, they tend to feel unhappy. If you want staff buy in to your vision and mission, you need to train them. This ends up costing money and time for the company.
2. Production Value is Lower
An untrained employee won’t be able to solve problems to the same degree as someone who is properly trained. The performance and dollar per hour value of that employee tends to be lower than it would if the employee was given professional development.
3. Inconsistency is Inefficiency
You can spend more money and time when you have an untrained employee. It ends up taking them longer to complete the work assigned to them and the consistency just isn’t there. Even basic tasks can be done faster with training, and the more complicated the process, the more important the training.
4. Mistakes and Damaged Goods
You’re not losing money with training. An employee without the right training causes mistakes and wastes time which does cost you money. There’s materials and time lost when an employee makes a mistake. In some cases, there’s an inadequate product which is delivered to the client. The damage to you
5. Legal Liability
Any workers can make mistakes, but in many industries not training workers properly puts management in direct legal risk. Staff, clients, customers and the public are all at increased risk of accidents and mistakes if employees are not well supported and educated on their roles and responsibilities.
6. More Miscellaneous Expenses
Untrained workers are less likely to look for issues in service delivery or ways to improve customer experience. These expenses can be harder to track and mistakes may take more time to fix. If things were done right the first time, there wouldn’t be added costs. Trained workers are more likely to think about improving your business offering and make your clients happier.
7. Lost Clients
If you have untrained employees, the degradation to product or communication quality you can lose clients and customers. Staff could be selling out of fit or talking to customers with entirely the wrong language. This impacts your customer experience and erodes client base as they expect more from you as a company.
There you have it, 7 scary reasons not to ignore employee training and skills development. So…what then?
Solution: Better Quality Work with Quality Employee Training
When you have a trained workforce, you have workers which are learning new skills and this can cut production time, improve consistency, reduce costs, reduce mistakes, and build up a confident workforce. This all creates a safer working environment, happier, more passionate staff and a better customer experience.
When you invest in the skill set of your employees, you’re making an investment in your company. When you have trained employees, everyone benefits.
If you need help to implement an online training platform for your staff, then Wyzed can help. It’s what we do best.
