Employee education investment can reduce turnover

30 - SEPTEMBER - 2020

For over a decade, the rate of employees leaving their jobs has risen at a significant rate. Each year, more than 40 million employees leave their jobs voluntarily, leaving employers reluctant in terms of their choices to invest in the training of employees.

Employers are often hesitant to spend in training, in fear of employees who are only there to poach the investments to acquire skills which they can use to move up the career ladder. These skills can be lucrative; in high-demand fields, therefore, some employers are reportedly willing to double the salaries of new hires. A large number of companies are now investing less on training than they have in the past years. They now believe that investing in training is just building up your competitor’s talent, thus, opting for poaching talent from their competitors rather than creating their own.

Recent researches show that as shelf life of skills shrinks and the labor market tightens, employees are not only growing to value education as a benefit but they are also more likely to stay when they receive it. Investments in education can actually bend the curve on employee turnover. The best way to retain your top employees may actually be to prepare them for their next job. Companies can sow loyalty and boost goodwill by investing in talent, even if it makes their current employees more marketable to other employers.

Continued investment in learning is not only valued by young employees but working adults are also acknowledging the necessity of training throughout their careers. Employees rate professional or career growth and development opportunities as important aspects of a job and believe opportunities to learn and grow are extremely important to them.

No employer wants to be the only one investing in talent, employee training has become a collective action problem. But the advantages of investing in employee training extends beyond helping reduce turnover. Companies need to start investing in up skilling programs, offer career advising services, job advancement opportunities and tuition assistance to earn a degree, instead of running dry the same pool of talent, and create a new pool of talent that is loyal and ready to take on the emerging economic challenges for the company.