Businesses that invest in training
increase their profits nearly twice as fast as those that don’t, a study has
revealed.
The strong links
between increasing employee skills and bottom line performance are highlighted
in research published by the Learning and Skills Council.
The report, People and
Profit, finds that the difference between those firms that do and don’t make
financial gains out of training can be an investment of as little as £50 a week.
Bryan Sanderson,
chairman of the LSC, said, "Some businesses still question the impact of
training on the bottom line. This research will pull them up short. It shows
that without training profits and growth are significantly lower.
"The responses of
businesses that took part in our research shows that fresh investment in
training, typically just an extra £2,500 a year, reaps rewards."
Independent
researchers carried out 800 interviews to match the training budgets and
attitudes of SMEs to their profits and growth.
They found that
companies that increased their annual training budgets saw profits rise on
average by 11.4 per cent compared to an increase in profits of only 6.3 per
among firms which did no invest in training.
Sanderson added,
"We’ve put numbers on the small cost and huge reward to companies of
investing in training. Businesses simply cannot afford not to invest in new
skills.
"Businesses make
all the right noises about training except for saying yes when it comes to
investing. No fine words will keep your business and your people competitive –
it’s money that talks, in training as in most things."
A nationwide programme
to improve knowledge and skills in the workplace is being introduced by the new
Learning and Skills Council. It aims to attract 50,000 adults into further
education (News, 3 April).
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By Ben Willmott
