Learning and development (L&D) have been playing an important part in every company. According to a research by Gallup, 87% of millennials claimed that L&D in the workplace is important, in which around two-thirds insisted that they would consider the opportunities to learn and grow when deciding whether to apply for a job. In this article, we are going to discuss the reasons why learning and development is extremely important in each and every organisation, taken into account both the employee and organisation sides.

1. Employee side:

With frequent training and development sessions, employees can quickly recognise their weaknesses and improve in a timely manner. A development program brings all employees to a higher level and ensures that they all have similar skills and knowledge. Thereby, everyone can be kept to the same level, which helps reduce any weak links within the company and erase the cases where someone relies heavily on others to complete basic tasks.

Furthermore, L&D also enhances employees’ satisfaction and morale. They may gain access to training they wouldn’t have known about or seeked out themselves. Employees who feel appreciated and challenged through training opportunities have a tendency to feel more satisfied towards their current jobs. This helps boost the happiness of the employees in general.

2. Organisation side:

Staff tend to feel more valued if being invested and taken care of, so they are more likely to stay with the company. As a result, the employee retention rate will increase, which adds in various benefits for the organisation in terms of cost and work efficiency. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, on average it costs between 6- and 9-months’ salary to recruit and train good quality replacements. Thus, retaining employees will usually provide more benefits than hiring new ones.

Furthermore, L&D helps reduce risk of untrained employees. Usually those who are untrained will fail to comply with industry standards in safety and workplace behaviour. Besides, the untrained ones who work directly with customers may have difficulties in advising or answering questions from clients. This has a negative effect on the reputation of the company. According to a research by IBM, there is a 16% increase in customer satisfaction with companies utilizing learning technology.

By providing an opportunity to understand the job better, frequent training and development helps the employees work more effectively, which leads to an increase in work efficiency of the team in particular and the organisation in general. With L&D sessions focusing on filling in the knowledge gaps and upskilling employees, it can boost the productivity and profit of a company from 15-30%.

Summary:

In summary, learning and development is extremely important in every organisation. It contributes directly not only to the employees but also to the company. Investing in learning and development activities not only helps individuals develop and keep up with each other but also improve the efficiency and productivity of the organisation, which result in higher profits and better reputation.

 

About the author:

Article written by Trung Nguyen (Senior Consultant) and updated by Quynh Anh Tran (HR Consultant), AIMS International Vietnam

AIMS VIETNAM