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The U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics found that companies with fewer than 100 employees provided only 12 minutes of manager training every six months. Organizations with 100-500 employees provided just six minutes.

If this holds true for managers, how much training do front-line employees get?

A long-term research project commissioned by Middlesex University for Work Based Learning found that from a 4,300 workers’ sample, 74 percent felt that they weren’t achieving their full potential at work due to lack of development opportunities.

The lesson here: invest in retaining and constant training of your present employees. After all, the cost of retaining present employees is much less than the cost of replacing them. Help employees expand their knowledge by offering more training options. I have always recommended that organizations train and retrain all employees to carry out their roles to the highest standards and deliver high quality services to the customer. Customer service is the bedrock of all companies whether they believe it or not. So it only makes sense to constantly train and raise the standards of employees

Why Invest in Continuous Training and Development?

Some organizations ignore continuous training sessions for employees as they feel they are expensive and employees miss out on their work time while attending these sessions or their employees will leave. What they fail to understand are the benefits of these continuous training sessions and how they contribute to the organization in the greater scheme of things. Benefits of conducting these programs are far greater and long-lasting. Let’s take a look:

• Takes care of weak links. Helps to reduce weak links and ensure the same mistakes are not repeated.
• Increases employee satisfaction. Shows employees that they are valued They will know that the training they do can take them into other positions within the organization — positions with better growth opportunities and/or better pay.
• Boosts employee performance. Continuous training empowers employees, gives them confidence and keeps them up-to-date on new developments. This confidence pushes them to perform better.
• Training on your time. Because employees are being trained on your time, they see that you value them enough to invest in them. You offer them an opportunity to be an integral part of the company with opportunities and successes that you encourage them to achieve.
• Stay ahead of the competition. Make sure your staff is constantly advancing and you will continue to move forward and be more competitive in the marketplace. Standing still can kill your business.

Increasingly, high-performing organizations today are recognizing the need to use customer service training and development practices to enhance their competitive advantage. Training and development are essential elements of every business. The image of an industry and of individual employers is influenced by the extent and quality of staff training and development.

Unfortunately, Time magazine was right; “Business, in general, spends too little time training and motivating front-line employees whom they treat as the lowest workers on the ladder.”

Regular training is well worth the investment because building up the skills within the business will effectively improve your company’s bottom line. Motivate employees to read books on successful people, on successful businesses, and on those who take a stand on innovative ideas. I firmly believe too many people are bystanders and the fear of failure keeps them locked into positions they have outgrown.

Jack Canfield tells us in his book The Success Principles to “Learn more to earn more.” Good advice. I personally read at least two books a month. I like to keep up on new trends, new ideas, new thoughts, new faces, and how people got where they are and where are they going.

One way businesses stay at the top of their game, i.e. Apple, Amazon, Metro Bank, etc. is by continuing to invest in their greatest asset — employees. From mentorship programs and live seminars to classes and in-field training, there is no shortage of ways to engage your employees. Whether a company’s training takes place on-site or online, the benefits are great.

“Ongoing customer service training is important not just to employee development, but it also affects the success of your business.” — John Tschohl

MANA welcomes your comments on this article. Write to us at [email protected].