Remention - Train to Retain

Retain or Develop staff?

Last week I was at an industry event and while the initial question was not posed in this manner, the conversation redirected in a manner that the unasked question which was being answered was how do we use training to retain staff?

The responses from the panel touched on the fact fact that training is not going to be sufficient to retain staff. Staff retention is embedded within the wider organisation culture which should also include ongoing training and professional development for all staff. A well known training industry comment was brought out.

What if I spend money training my staff and they leave, versus

What if you don't train your staff and they stay, what will that cost you?

I believe it is time to think differently because if we consider a range of different information that has been in the career space for a while:

Today people are likely to have seventeen jobs and up to five careers.
The average time in a job is 3.4 years.
The average duration of a volunteer is 3.2 years.

This information should highlight that even though staff retention is important and desirable, a lot of staff will move onto another organisation regardless of the organisation culture. Treating them well, rewarding and recognising staff is important and providing them with work that will fulfil them is important and necessary to retain them for longer than average. It is generally accepted that people will stay in roles if the following criteria are being met. Reward (pay or other), social (leadership and other relationships) and development (training or other developmental activities). Alternatively if the balance between these is significantly lopsided or not all three are being met for a variety of reasons than staff will move on. So training is only part of the picture for staff retention.

There are a range of organisations that know their staff are going to move on and yet they provide introductory and ongoing training for everyone. McDonalds for example know that many people talk about that they got their start in the workforce at McDonalds and with this they recognise that it is not only for their own business that they need to ensure that their staff are trained well regardless of how little time they spend with the company. It is not only their business but also a benefit to the careers of their employees if they are trained well.

People remember the jobs that they have held. They talk about them and list their previous workplaces on resumes. Your current and previous employees can be some of your greatest advocates. One of my previous, wise employers used to say, train them well, treat them well and when they go elsewhere in the industry they will be respected, they will learn more and at some point they will want to come back and they will bring all of their additional experiences with them to contribute back into our company.

After saying all of that my opinion is don't train your staff so that you can retain them. Train your staff because that will benefit your business both during and after the time that they work with with you.