About half of businesses say they plan to train new hires this year, up from 39% in 2013, according to a recent survey by CareerBuilder.
"Training budgets that were diminished or nonexistent during the recession are starting to make a comeback," says Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder and author of The Talent Equation. The firm surveyed 1,025 employers in computers, healthcare, manufacturing, engineering and finance — fields with many open skilled positions. via www.usatoday.com
That's good news.
Investing in training is one of the 5 Ways to Keep Employees Happy and Engaged in Tough Times.
Use a slow time to be creative. Look for ways to develop skills that staff have an interest in, but did not have the time to focus on before.
That would help narrow the skills gap that so many company leaders complain is still growing. I bet that opinion is strongest in those companies who chose to not invest in training for their new hires. That was 61% of the companies in 2013 ... What you put your attention on grows stronger in your life. What you fail to invest in grows stronger too.
Investing in employee training ( investing in training new hires is a start ) addresses four of the twelve statements that comprise Gallup's Q12 survey measuring an employee's engagement level.
• In the last year, I have had opportunities at work to Learn and Grow.
• In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about Progress.
• There is someone at work who encourages my Development.
• I have the Materials and Equipment I need to do my work right.
The good news, again, is that ... more companies are returning to the basics of investing in their most important asset, their most important investor, their most important customer. Maybe this renewed investment in their most important asset will help generate a positive ROA, Return on Assets. For about 40 years, public companies had generated a negative return on assets which may be why a recovery has been ... so slow. Chicken do come home to roost and so do gaps in job skills.
Again, the good news is that companies are increasing this interest and their investment, or at least planning to do so in the 2014.
Here's to the future when companies investing in their employees, in their training, is not newsworthy.
Comments