Workplace learning: more than a ‘nice to have’

In the mid-1990’s Price Pritchett’s pithy ‘New Work Habits For A Radically Changing World’ laid out 13 ground rules for job success. One of those rules was ‘Stay In School’.  They warned, “Today’s world takes no pity on the person who gets lazy about learning” and advised employees to constantly retool themselves by becoming perpetual students or “risk becoming obsolete”.

Whatever you think about those stark warnings for the individual, the value of learning through workplace training has been increasingly recognised by business over the years as more than a ‘nice to have’. Research has consistently shown that those businesses that invest most in workplace training tend to be the more successful. As a result, few ambitious businesses today would view training as an unnecessary expense.

There are benefits of on-going workplace training for both the individual and the company. They can be boiled down to employees having the opportunity for career progression and employer’s building a strong capable workforce; however, there are some compelling details behind those headline benefits.

Nurture loyalty

Research confirms that regular training motivates employees and bolsters feelings of job satisfaction. And with a motivated workforce being not only a productive workforce but also a loyal workforce, workplace training has been shown to be one way of improving employee retention rates.

Grow your own

Investment in workplace training can circumvent the huge expense of recruitment, as it’s so much cheaper and easier to promote from within. So, by helping existing employees gain the skills and knowledge the business needs it can provide individuals with internal progression opportunities, promote from within and build strong succession plans.

Attract talent

Of course every business needs to attract new talent at some point and being able to demonstrate to potential candidates that workplace training is valued and available is an important attraction tool. Businesses that show a genuine commitment to training will attract new talent. 

Maintain high quality and consistency 

On-going workplace training is a great way of ensuring every employee is up to the same standard in terms of his or her skills and knowledge. And this also means responding to industry changes with timely and targeted training that keep knowledge bang up to date, quality high and delivery of services consistent.

There is no swerving this last point in financial services where regulation makes very specific demands. The FCA’s training and competence regime supports consumers by making sure the financial services workforce is appropriately qualified and well regulated. Firms must review their employee’s competence and training needs regularly and consider changes in the marketplace and products, regulation and legislation on an on-going basis, making sure appropriate training is provided so employees remain competent.

In short, in financial services organisations workplace training is far, far more than a ‘nice to have’; it’s a regulatory requirement. To paraphrase Price Pritchett, the FCA takes no pity on firms that get lazy about training and their employees must be perpetual students.

So what about the delivery of that training?

The benefits of using external providers

While going external for your training needs has its costs, the time savings for your own employees could actually cancel those costs out. Employees already face time pressures to complete their business as usual tasks, so adding training delivery could mean it is rushed and poorly delivered or mean their important day-to-day tasks don’t get done. 

Training on specialist subjects, of which there are many in the financial services sector, is certain to be more effectively delivered by professional trainers with specific skills and knowledge. Bringing in subject matter experts who will also have worked with a variety of firms will have a host of unique perspectives to bring to the table as well no preconceptions of your business to cloud the delivery.

A simple change of scenery for employees can be refreshing and a chance to network and gain knowledge from those from other businesses. External training, off-site or virtual, offers this opportunity.

Corporate Training Partnerships Ltd (CTP) provides training courses and events for organisations across the financial services and insurance sectors.

We are fully independent and succeed or fail by the quality of the training we provide. Our trainers and presenters all have the technical expertise, communication skills and industry experience to deliver training of the very highest quality. To see all our forthcoming courses visit https://www.ctp.uk.com/open-courses