Workplace Slideshow: Employee Training Can Improve Your Bottom Line

Many employees complain that they don't feel they're given adequate job training or opportunities for career development, but CIOs and other senior executives are calling for their organizations to make an effort to improve the skill sets of their workers, according to a recent survey. The survey, "Training Out of the Recession," was commissioned by Promethean, a global education company, and conducted by The Economist Intelligence unit. While tough economic times have prompted companies to reduce training budgets, these execs say that enhancing developmental programs will actually produce dramatic bottom-line payoff over time. "The right training not only leads to increases in productivity and customer satisfaction, but at least a 20% jump in profits," says Jim Wynn, Promethean CEO, in citing a key finding from the research. "Skills training is not just a growth issue, but a vital component for companies to surviving this recession. The challenge is that fewer employers are devoting adequate resources to training. Yet, the benefits of training are hard to ignore." More than 250 executives in the U.S. and the U.K. took part in the research.