Does Training Reduce Or Lead To Attrition?

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It is not countries or companies any more but individuals that are on a global platform with their skills, capabilities and expertise. No wonder it has become one of the key challenges employers face and fight today – what gets implemented as a retention measure backfires at them: Training and Learning

People learn and leave is the prevailing concern of most employers. It is almost like employers are investing huge amount of money in training their resources and making them work ready for another company or their competition.  This happens at all levels.  Companies tie up with MBA institutions to sponsor their employee’s higher education or let them attend seminars to enhance their depth of knowledge, who often leave for greener pastures and higher pay.

Engage individual

If trainings are conducted to engage the individual and equip him to do his work well and perform better, the chances are high that training objectives will make sense to him. It does not necessarily have to be group training – it can be a combination of knowing, coaching and mentoring as well. If training succeeds in connecting with resources to ignite passion for the job, half the battle is won.

Competency and culture match

If there is no competency match, there should ideally be no hiring. If you hire people just to close a vacancy you automatically run the risk of losing them after hiring and training them.  Perfect competency fit is not a solution either as while little gaps can be managed with training, if there is a mismatch with organization culture, the risk remains the same.  Both the resource and the organization have to be ready for each other for a successful take off.

Retention Measures and Analysis

When you introduce training as a retention measure, you have to analyze in detail if it will trigger or mitigate stability issues. Contracts and signing bonds does not work as it is a clear reflection of the low trust quotient companies have on their employees, which is serious disconnect in itself.

Training is ongoing

Ideally, training should be a process and not an annual event or monthly exercise that an employee undergoes out of compulsion and not voluntarily to learn. It should be ongoing and with responsibility and accountability to deliver. 

Involve stakeholders

The work environment has to be training friendly. Each member and stakeholder  has the support and create an atmosphere for learning – how training can make you more capable, how training effectiveness will be measured, how the resource can manage crisis and critical situations after relevant training – practically anything to create that interest in the employee’s mind to be trained.

Assess needs

Training is a strategy that can increase productivity, reduce attrition, impact business outcomes or increase employee satisfaction however it can fail miserably if a thorough training need analysis is not conducted before releasing the calendar for different workshops.  Assess needs of individuals, business units, leaders and the organization to launch appropriate training programs and be ready for the next level of progress.

Investing in human capital is not a matter of choice. Training does not directly cause attrition, it is the associated factors with training that needs to be viewed with a critical eye and taken care of.