Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.
by Dennis De Peiza
“A company’s employees are its greatest asset and your people are your product,” is a comment attributed to Sir Richard Branson, a British business magnate and commercial astronaut, who is the founder of the Virgin Group, which currently has a controlling interest in many companies around the world.
His comment should help employers to understand the importance and value which is attached to the recruitment of employees. When it comes to investing in employees, consideration ought to be given to addressing the professional and personal development of the individual.
On the surface, it would appear that employers are more concerned with the productivity of their employees. It is understandable that employers may be inclined to pay more attention to improving productivity and efficiency; for them, it is the bottom line of the enterprise which matters most.
Sir Richard’s comment should have conveyed the message that people are the most valuable asset of the employer and by extension, the nation. It is for this reason that the national development strategy of a country should have as a priority, the education and development of the people. The empowerment of the people is therefore of great importance when it comes to addressing the issues of economic and social development.
Employers should be mindful of their responsibility in helping to shape the character of their employees, building their knowledge capacity and contributing to the building of their skills and competencies. The best way that this ought to be done, is by employers undertaking to invest in their employees. Companies and organisations need to demonstrate that they are interested and committed to the growth and professional development of their employees.
Employers should understand and appreciate that providing training positions the enterprise or organisation to maintain a cadre of quality staff members. The added value of investing in the members of staff is that of the high possibility of retaining talented staff. Moreover, it serves to drive the recruitment of high-quality and talented persons. It ought not to be missed that workers feel a sense of worth, knowing that they stand to benefit from training opportunities. With such exposure, employees tend to have access to information and opportunities to enhance their skills, which would assist them to grow and excel in their respective jobs. Moreover, this prepares them for possible promotional opportunities.
Where employers are not inclined to invest in their members of staff, it is more than likely that this group of individuals would become demotivated. As a consequence, there is also the likelihood of a decline in productivity being experienced. It is in the best interest of employers to invest in their employees for the reasons that it will bring about job satisfaction, and job retention as opposed to a high turnover of staff, build skill sets, build employee loyalty, improve staff morale and bring about an uptake in the bottom-line of the enterprise or organisation. Right-thinking employers should see the wisdom of investing in their members of staff, from the point of view that where they do not, the price to be paid may be in the exodus of employees. Where this occurs, there is a constant expenditure to be incurred in the training of new members of staff.
The value of investing in employees is supported by the research findings from the Employee Training and Development (Talent Magnet Institute: June 27).
“According to a survey by LinkedIn, 94 per cent of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career development. The Association for Talent Development (ATD) found that companies that offer comprehensive training programmes have a 218 per cent higher income per employee than those with less comprehensive training. The same ATD study revealed that companies that invest in employee training and development have a 24 per cent higher profit margin compared to those that don’t.”
Research shows that when it comes to employee engagement, this too can make a fundamental difference. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report found that companies with engaged employees outperform those without by 202 per cent in terms of profitability. According to a study by the Harvard Business Review, organisations with highly engaged employees have a 21 per cent higher productivity rate.
Where there is the incidence of high turnover of staff, it should be of concern to most employers, as to how they are to attract and retain talent. A perspective on this is shared by Johnny C. Taylor, the Chief Executive Officer of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). In addressing the annual conference of the SHRM Las Vegas on June 21, he commented that: “One of the issues that’s top of mind right now is training and development. Given that 50 per cent, even as much as 70 per cent, of the jobs that exist today won’t exist five years from now – or will be so meaningfully reconstituted that they won’t exist – if we are not investing in our employees’ professional development…then employees will leave because they’re going to go where they can get the talent to remain competitive for decades.”
Dennis De Peiza is a labour and employee relations consultant with Regional Management Services Inc.
