How training can help staff retention – and succession planning

As we approach the new school year, we’re thinking about training here at New Dawn Resources.

Going back to school isn’t just for children. Training your staff to learn new things means that you’re upskilling them – and you will hopefully reap the benefits through improved performance.

However, not all employers are aware that training is also a key contributing factor to employee engagement. If your staff can see that you’re investing in them, they are more likely to be committed to you, and to recognise the development opportunities that your company offers them.

This is great in terms of both staff retention and succession planning.

Getting your money’s worth

If you’re funding external training, you may want to ask the employee benefiting from it to sign an agreement that they will pay back the training costs if they leave their employment before you’ve gained from the money you’ve paid out.

We would usually advise on a maximum of a two-year tie in, with the amount to be repaid reducing gradually over that period – for example 100% in the first six months, 75% in the next six months, and so on.

If you have a properly written agreement, you will be able to make deductions from the employee’s pay to recoup the training costs or recover it as a debt if you need to do so. Let us know if we can help you with this.

Talking of training, we’re running some courses for managers this autumn. These include:

Knowledge versus risk

This is a three-day training programme designed to meet the needs of senior managers who find themselves having to navigate sometimes complex employment matters.

Your team and staff look to you for leadership and guidance in resolving workplace disputes and performance issues, but who do you turn to?

This programme will help to develop your understanding of employment law and your confidence in dealing with HR issues in the workplace, through a series of practical, no-nonsense sessions.

Our autumn/winter programme will run on Wednesdays 2 October, 6 November and 4 December. Please contact us for more information and booking.

Employment law update

This is a free employment law update, which we’re running in conjunction with Stafflex Limited on Thursday 10 October.

We’ll bring you up to date with recent developments in case law and look forward to legislative changes due in the coming months.

We’ll also have a look at building resilience within your staff to create successful teams. The update will start at 8am with some breakfast, and conclude at 10.30am.

This is a popular event and spaces are limited, so please contact us to secure a place.

Here’s some more information about our courses.