Staff training leads to increased business and company profits

Training of staff in the financial sector produces a significant increase in business Ð sometimes up to a 10-fold return on investment  –according to initial results from a pilot accreditation scheme by the Financial Services Skills Council (FSSC).

The link between training and company profits emerged as part of an accreditation scheme being developed by the FSSC that will give recognition to firms, training providers and sole traders who can demonstrate that their investment in training produces a solid business outcome.

Companies that meet the standards will earn a FSSC Accreditation award, and will be listed as an accredited firm by the FSSC. The accreditation scheme will begin in spring 2005, following the completion of the pilot projects in January 2005.

One company involved in the pilot project, Norwich Union Life, saw a 24 per cent increase in self-generated appointments and an overall increase in sales productivity of 27 per cent in just five weeks after a training event that was part of the FSSC scheme, called Accreditation of Training Excellence (ATE).

Jim Colgan, head of sales at Norwich Union Personal Finance, said: “Often we don’t give the training side of our business credit for what it is doing. They don’t just respond Ð they identify threats to the business and alert me to them. Twenty per cent of my business would not exist if it were not for the training and competence department.”

The FSSC, one of a network of government-funded skills councils representing key industry sectors in the UK, provides strategic leadership for training, education and workforce development in the industry.