Support your people’s CPD. Everyone wins!

Every blog or website you read about managing your team will include the line ‘your people are your biggest asset’ at some point. It’s probably one of the most used sentences in business.

Do you know why? Because it’s true.

Your business is only as good as the people who work for you. Recruit the right people and don’t let them go. Sounds pretty straight-forward right?

Why should you invest in your employees?

One of the best ways of retaining your staff is to invest in their Continuous Professional Development (CPD).

Henry Ford allegedly once said, “The only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay”. Investing in the training and development of your staff will lead to a more valued and engaged workforce. If they feel more valued, they are more likely to stay, and will share their newly learned skills/knowledge with colleagues.

The cost of investing in your employees doesn’t come close to the cost to your business of replacing people. Employee retention is a huge challenge for businesses and can be very costly. There’s advertising, recruiting and training, and then there’s the cost of lost productivity. These costs will just keep increasing if you don’t retain your employees.

The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), predict that every time a business replaces a salaried employee it costs 6-9 months’ salary on average. For a Manager earning £40,000 a year, that’s £20-30,000 recruitment, training and lost productivity expenses.

Supporting your people’s CPD also creates a learning culture within your business. Become renowned as a business that invests in your people, and not only will you attract the best talent but you will also create a culture of innovation and be more able to respond to the ever-changing dynamics of business.  

CPD during unprecedented times

During the current Covid-19 lockdown, for a lot of people their ‘normal’ way of working is very different. This may also mean that their normal method of learning is different. At ION for example, we deliver face-to-face. We pride ourselves on the relationships we build with our delegates, and they build with each other, whilst learning together. We have to look at new ways of delivering learning, in a virtual world. Keep an eye out for future developments.

I for one am taking this opportunity to invest in my own CPD. As I am currently working from home I have ‘gained’ an extra 90 minutes a day where I would usually be sitting in traffic on the way into Swansea. I’m spending this time wisely developing my skills and knowledge. Now I’m not going to lie, this isn’t all work-related CPD. I’m learning the drums for example, alongside my 6-year-old boy. I’m ‘developing’ myself as a ‘teacher’ by homeschooling my 2 kids alongside my wife. But I’m also taking part in a number of webinars, especially with the Institute of Leadership & Management, and completing a number of online courses with FutureLearn covering everything from Getting Started with Agile and Design Thinking to Innovation Management. As you would expect, we have a strong 'learning' culture within ION and ION team members have recently completed courses on social media marketing and collaborating remotely (very timely!). We share our learning in our weekly #FridayFootnote which you will find in our blog section. 

There are plenty of online learning opportunities out there for CPD in various subjects. Is the current situation going to lead to online learning becoming the ‘new normal?’. For what it’s worth, I certainly think so (and hope so!).   

Employee engagement is more important now than ever

At a time when employee engagement is even more difficult because people are working remotely, if you’re a Manager/leader, ask how your team members want to develop themselves and support them as much as you can. They’ll develop as people and develop their skillset. You benefit from their new skillset and knowledge and have a more engaged workforce. Everyone’s a winner.

Why not spend some time thinking about what really interests you. What have you always wanted to learn? Who knows what skills you’ll develop (I can highly recommend the drums).

If we can help with any professional development for yourself or anyone in your team, get in touch.