Workplace Skills Training in a Tough Economy
Bradford R. GlaserEconomic instability continues to make headlines. As organizations brace to weather stormy market conditions, all business functions are affected – and workplace skills training is no exception.
When belt-tightening is the norm, training plays an even more crucial role in organizational success. As companies streamline their budgets during a market downturn, they must also do more with less – and adapt to staffing cuts and reorganizations through effective training.
Forward-thinking trainers need affordable, high-quality products to keep their organizations working efficiently and effectively – and prepare them to move ahead quickly when the economy improves.
Proper workplace conduct and skills are essential for success. Professional conduct in the workplace shows that employees take pride in their company's mission and standards. Employees who possess the proper skills and exhibit exemplary conduct demonstrate awareness and respect for others, including colleagues, managers, and clients.
Skills training addresses a wide range of social behaviors, including ethics, harassment, appearance, language, cultural differences, interpersonal issues, and more. These guidelines are essential for fostering a workplace where employees are treated with courtesy, dignity, and fairness.
Let’s get into the costs and benefits of training and why it should still be a priority.
- 90 half-day courses
- Customizable training
- Improve key workplace skills
Table of Contents
The Hidden Costs of Not Training
Although training budgets may be tight, you can actually be hurting your team and your organization when you don't invest in training. Without development opportunities, employees may feel undervalued and stagnant, leading to disengagement, low motivation, and a drop in overall productivity.
Untrained employees tend to take longer to complete tasks and are more likely to make mistakes, resulting in inconsistent performance, slower project timelines, and increased workload.
This can put a strain on high performers, who are burdened with a heavier workload to cover untrained employees, leading to burnout and potential employee turnover.
The effects of failing to train your workforce are far-reaching and affect almost every aspect of the organization.
Benefits of Workplace Skills Training
There are numerous benefits to providing workplace skills training for both yourself and your employees. Having the right skills and tools will enable the organization to achieve success through its employees' actions. Some benefits include:
- Improved business model: Trained staff add value to a better motel.
- Better staff morale: Training helps employees feel confident in their jobs.
- Higher ROI and success: A company with trained staff is more likely to achieve its goals.
- Career satisfaction: Employee's recognition of the company's investment in them.
- Increased contributions: More skills training allows employees to dedicate more to the business.
- More loyalty: Employees will see the company's efforts, and staff retention will rise.
- Greater motivation: More skills will enable them to take on more projects and advance in the organization.
Gallup has found that organizations that made a strategic investment in employee development saw 11% greater profitability, and they are twice as likely to retain their employees.
There are numerous ways to conduct skills training, enabling your business to reap the full benefits listed above. It can be challenging, but it is worth the time and effort.
Key Workplace Skills for a Resilient Workforce
Creating a resilient workforce through training is crucial, and there are key skills to cultivate and develop that can make a significant difference in how your organization performs during both good and bad times. Here are some of the key skills that are needed:
- Adaptability: The ability to shift priorities, tools, or roles keeps your employees and organization on top of the change curve.
- Emotional Intelligence: Recognizing your own emotions and those of others can play a significant role in building strong relationships that can overcome conflict and misunderstandings.
- Communication: Clear verbal and written communication is essential for workplace efficiency and success.
- Teamwork: Operating in silos is detrimental to your organization's success. Cultivating strong teamwork skills supports knowledge and workload distribution, enabling everyone to work more efficiently.
How to Improve Workplace Skills
Enhance your organization with HRDQ's workplace skills training. We offer a wide range of resources to help you drive results and stay within your budget. Our learning instruments are professionally crafted, based on theory and research, and designed for easy facilitation and implementation.
One of HRDQ's most popular offerings is the Reproducible Training Library (RTL) – high-quality, customizable training priced for today's economy.
Choose from a library of more than 300 hours of print-on-demand titles that offer training topics critical to every organization, including communication, leadership, team building, coaching, change management, and more.
Each program includes instructor-led classroom training programs and supplemental self-study PowerPoint files, as well as ready-to-train courses that allow you to facilitate classes of any size at any time.
