Almost half of large companies in Western Europe plan to spend more on training and L&D in 2008, according to Human Resources consultancy Mercer.
Its 2007 European Total Rewards Survey found 46% of 200 multinationals surveyed planned to up their training spend this year. Just 4% said they would spend less, while half said expenditure would remain steady.
Some 66% of those polled said their companies would spend more on career development programmes for management in 2008, while 32% said expenditure on this would remain steady. Just 2% said it would fall.
Mercer principal Paul O’Malley said: “Companies in Western Europe are looking at increasing choice in rewards as a way of differentiating themselves from competitors. Investing more in training and career development is one such tactic in talent management strategies and should help increase employee engagement and satisfaction.”
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Respondents were also asked what were the most important challenges they faced in the coming year. Retaining high performers ranked first and was named by 85% of those asked. Attracting the right talent was rated very important by 80% and engaging employees by 62%.
When asked how effective their company’s total rewards strategy was in ensuring employee satisfaction, only 18% of those asked said very.
