Our top advantages and disadvantages of employee training
You might think that the purpose of employee training is to simply teach your employees the basic skills required for the job. But its advantages are much more far-reaching! It helps make the most of your employees’ potential and ensures employee satisfaction! Despite its many advantages, employee training also comes with its own challenges. If you are considering implementing employee training, check out this list to see whether the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
Table of contents
- Advantages of employee training
- Disadvantages of employee training
- Can Easy LMS help me implement employee training at my organization?
Advantages of employee training
Implementing an employee training program is an important aspect of making the most of your human capital, gaining a competitive edge, and ensuring employee satisfaction! Read on to learn more about its important role.
Advantage 1: Increased job satisfaction and employee engagement
When you invest in employee training, it shows them that they are valued by their company
One of the main benefits of employee training is that opportunities for learning and career growth increase employees’ levels of job satisfaction. Many things contribute to job satisfaction, but it all boils down to people being able to feel good about what they do at work. When you invest in their training, it shows them that they are valued by their company. It also gives them the tools they need to grow and feel confident at their job! Job satisfaction is closely tied to an employee’s level of engagement. In today’s workforce, the level of engagement is quite low; only 13% of employees feel engaged at work worldwide! [1] This should not be ignored, as satisfied and engaged employees are more profitable, less likely to miss work, and provide better customer service.
Advantage 2: Increased employee motivation
When you provide learning opportunities, your employees can apply their new skills and take on new challenges at work, which improves their level of enthusiasm for their job.
Employee motivation, according to inc.com, refers to “the level of energy, commitment, and creativity that a company's workers bring to their jobs”. Like job satisfaction and engagement, motivation has many benefits such as lower turnover and increased productivity. Surprisingly, material benefits such as a company car, influence motivation less than you might think [2]. Rather, employees want to feel empowered, valued, and inspired. Learning opportunities and training address these, where material items fall short.
Advantage 3: Improved knowledge equals increased profit
Companies that had comprehensive training programs had 24% higher profit margins
The know-how and skills that employees learn through successful training programs translate to tangible benefits like increased sales, fewer accidents, improved processes, and more satisfied customers. All of which positively affect your bottom line. In a 2011 survey of 2,500 companies, companies that had comprehensive training programs had 218% higher revenue per employee and 24% higher profit margins! [3]
Advantage 4: Increased employee retention
An average company loses 41% of their staff within three years, and one method to slow this is to provide adequate learning and development opportunities [4]. Losing employees comes with a big price tag. Employees take their knowledge and productivity with them when they leave, while the company gets stuck with new hiring costs and low morale. When you provide employees with learning opportunities, they see that you are willing to invest in their success. This is especially true of Generation Y who find opportunities to learn and grow extremely important. In turn, they feel like a valued part of the company, and more empowered to do their jobs. And employees that feel valued and empowered stick around!
Disadvantages of employee training
Employee training certainly has a large number of benefits, but it also comes with a few disadvantages that can become a roadblock to successful employee training.
Disadvantage 1: High costs
The expenses associated with employee training can be daunting for small and medium-sized companies. The costs of travel, training facilities, in-house training development, and equipment can quickly add up! While the average budget for large companies was $17.7 million in 2019, in comparison, small companies had an average budget of $367,490 [5]. However, there is good news. Utilizing online learning can cut many of these costs! Learn more about the benefits of online learning.
A half-day of classical training is equivalent to a one-hour e-learning course
Disadvantage 2: Requires time away from work
The time that your employee spends training is time that they spend away from their job. It might not be possible to support a large amount of non-work hours for your employee. However, we would argue that while training takes time in the short run (time away from work), it will save you time in the long run. For instance, after they complete their training they will not need to ask others for help and are less likely to make costly mistakes. Online learning can also help cut down on training time. According to Chapman Alliance, a half-day of classical training is equivalent to a one-hour e-learning course.
Disadvantage 3: Poor quality training can result in poor quality work
We have all heard the saying “practice makes perfect”. But, what happens when you start to practice bad habits? Creating high quality training materials, and finding quality instructors, is time intensive and challenging. It might be tempting to bypass quality in favor of simplicity. But it can quickly backfire if the training passes on bad habits and incorrect knowledge to your employees.
Can Easy LMS help me implement employee training at my organization?
Easy LMS is a great online tool to implement continuous employee training throughout your organization
Ready to reap the rewards of employee training? As you set up your employee training program, we urge you to consider online alternatives. Online learning is a form of learning that takes place on the internet. 90% of corporations already benefit from a form of online learning today, compared to just 4% in 1995. Check out the advantages and disadvantages of online courses and online learning to see if your organization can benefit from it too!
Easy LMS is a great online tool to implement continuous employee training throughout your organization. With Easy LMS, you can create and manage effective training courses, check their knowledge with exams, and generate custom certificates. Our tool will help keep track of your employee’s progress and our automation options will save you time.
Useful resources
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are the benefits of employee training?Employee training increases job satisfaction, employee engagement, motivation, profits, and retention.
- What are the disadvantages of employee training? Employee training can be expensive, it requires time away from work, creating high quality training materials, and choosing the right trainer is challenging.
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