Staff Training - Pros and Cons

Here's a few of the points raised:

1. It's expensive
2. It's often boring for staff and can actually demotivate
3. It's an investment you can lose if your staff decide to move on elsewhere
4. It's hard to quantify and therefore justify
5. It's better to learn on the job
6. It's costly to have staff ‘off the floor'
7. They may never put it into practice anyway

All valid points to an extent, but, IMO outweighed by the effects of not providing staff training - and the potential missed opportunities.

1. No external training means your staff may not be exposed to new ideas
2. They can stagnate and easily become demotivated
3. They may leave because they value the training they can get elsewhere - increasing staff turnover
4. Forces you to ‘hire in' talent as opposed to promoting from within - often this can prove more expensive
5. Your team may lose ground compared to other businesses
6. Your team may not feel valued

I could go on but ultimately it's simply a matter of short term expense vs. long term growth potential. Investing in staff training is just that, an investment.

Of course you can take steps to ensure that you protect that investment by making smart decisions - buying in relevant training, ensuring knowledge is shared within your organisation and becomes part of its DNA and promoting training as integral to advancement within your business.

Mark