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.

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.