Recently, Michael was talking with the management team of a large nonprofit organization, and they raised the issue of the coming hikes in minimum wage. They are flatly unable to pass along the increase in the costs that will come, and they will likely experience increased salary compression, where a recently-hired lower-level employee will earn close to the same amount as a more experienced three-year veteran of the organization.  Regardless of whether you conceptually support the increases in minimum wage, it’s more important than ever to maximize your employee talent.

Ensure your business’ success by giving employees the tools and skills they need to succeed. Whether it is showing your new hires the right processes early on or offering continuing education of your existing team — training pays off!

Benefits of Training

In a recent Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement survey, 89% of employees ranked “Job-Specific Training” as Important or Very Important; and of these, only 62% were somewhat or very satisfied with their employer’s current training offerings.

Implementing the right type of training for your employees is going to vary from business to business. But these statistics show that employees have a desire to keep learning and growing in their positions – which hopefully includes gaining increased responsibilities and enhancing their performance. Employee training isn’t just GOOD for employees, it also results in:

• Higher retention
• Lower absenteeism
• Lower turnover
• Improves performance
• Improves productivity

The Container Store is an example of a company who understands the value of employee training. They are known by college business students across the country for its extensive training, (263 hours of formal training compared to industry average of only 8 hours). The Container Store shows one direct benefit of this expanded training — they have a 90% year-to-year employee retention rate!

Surviving the Minimum Wage Hike – See tips #1-3

Quantifying the Benefits

HR Magazine reports that companies investing $1,500 or more per employee per year on training, average 24% higher on their profit margin than companies with lower yearly training investments.

The ability to show your return on investments in areas such as employee training is crucial. Set specific training targets and measure them!  The website businesstrainingexperts.com identifies three key areas you should focus on when quantifying training benefits. They are time savings, increased productivity and better personal performance.

A wide variety of learning experiences can develop and enhance an employees’ skill set, and show them that their employer recognizes their value — a real workplace morale booster! Let those well-trained and satisfied employees become enthusiastic recruiters for your company. It is a great return on your investment!

Arin Carmack, Lindsey Beveridge & Michael Kraft