Staff Investment: Training and Upskilling Your Staff for the Future

Recent research found that only 7% of the Irish workforce engaged in personal training programmes; a figure which lags far behind other EU states. As Ireland’s talent market is squeezed further, your talent retention relies on your willingness as a business to invest in the skills and experience of your staff.

According to the National Skills Strategy collated by the Department for Education; worker participation in upskilling needs to double to 15% by 2025.

Is your business ready to upskill?

Regardless of how you choose to assess your staff, or set standards in the workplace, a lack of constructive feedback can leave your staff feeling overwhelmed and lacking the drive for improved performance.

Benefits of Upskilling
Employer-employee relationships can be greatly enhanced when a business decides to upskill staff.
Benefits include:

• Staff Value

By investing in training for your staff, you showcase your genuine interest in their careers and development. This will help staff feel valued by their employer and increase the employer’s ability to retain their skilled talent.

• Enhanced Performance

Through training and upskilling your staff, you can enhance their skills, leading to better quality performance for your organisation. Improved performance will lead to happier clients and staff; your business can experience further growth and success, and employee job satisfaction will increase as a result of their improved performance.

• Greater Reputation

As your company performance increases, and staff morale is boosted, this will build a greater reputation for your business amongst competitors, and as an employer to future talent.
 
How to Upskill for the Future
Upskilling and training staff is a much needed, and positive investment step for any business. Here are just some ways you can upskill and future-proof your workforce:

• Learning and Development Programmes

Graduate programmes such as the Jameson Graduate Programme highlight employers’ realisations that new additions to the workforce need personal investment to convert their educational achievements into an applicable skillset. The act of reaching out to graduates and taking a ‘chance’ on them as such builds trust and is highly likely to reduce the rate of employee turnover.

The Irish Institute of Training and Development is one of many organisations dedicated to giving existing employees a chance to built upon their existing skillset or even to just refresh it. Their Thought Leadership Programme offers an in-depth two-day course to give employees with untapped potential to build their transferable skills, improve their confidence and get professional training in communication.
 

• Personal Development

Employee personal development can sometimes fall from top priority when pressure for workplace productivity is high. Energy invested in the employee’s well-being, however, is imperative for workplace performance.

DCM Learning is an organisation which organises training programmes to equip employees with the skills necessary to deal with stress and adversity they may experience in the workplace. The course activities which are available nationwide bring together different methods of resilience to promote physical health, psychological well-being and boost morale. This type of training can reap positive behavioural changes and improve employee resilience tenfold.

• Recognition

The IITD National Training Awards are an example of accolades which demonstrate employer appreciation for staff involvement in training initiatives. The importance of this recognition can sometimes be discounted but from an HR perspective, acknowledgement of staff who work with a business as well as for a business is vital to create employee satisfaction which will be accompanied by improved staff loyalty.
 
A More Dynamic Approach
Demonstrating genuine care and investment in your staff and their skills is now vital to retain your talent.

Effective skills seminars and learning programmes are a tried and tested way to increase staff loyalty, retention and engagement, improve productivity and customer service, and reduce employee turnover.

​The good news is we already have the talent we need and by choosing alternative ways of sourcing potential, businesses everywhere can reap the benefits of their human investments.