“Rather than going out and competing with five other companies for [certain] skill set[s], why not develop [them] in-house?”
That’s the question a recent CBC article ends with after delving into an interesting report released by research company Kantar.
The study reveals that close to 50% of companies are planning to invest more in skill training for their employees over the next two years. Responses were received from 2,500 businesses – 200 of them Canadian – in 14 countries.
According to the article, “investing in adaptable employees is good business sense.” One of the specialists interviewed – Leah Nord, Director, Skills and Immigration Policy, Canadian Chamber of Commerce – says that larger companies do invest in on-the-job training, but a greater emphasis needs to be placed on small and medium-sized organizations since they make up 98% of Canadian companies and often have limited resources prohibiting them from sending staff to training sessions.
The CBC reveals that the chamber is urging the government to develop a policy and set aside funding that would assist businesses in providing learning opportunities for their workforce. It also states that “not only is training and development key to solving labour-market and skills shortages, it’s what employees are looking for these days.”
Looking into an article by Actionable Conversations – which focuses on learning culture – the belief is the same. It too states that employees, millennials in particular, are focused and in search of development opportunities citing them as “essential to their career.”
Pair employees need for learning and the fact that it can propel businesses to a competitive advantage, and the investment that gets put into training will show its rewards.
