Whether training is considered to be an investment or an expense depends exclusively on someone’s perspective. However, it is generally accepted that training is an investment – which pays dividends, on a daily basis. Is this true? Let’s find out. Is this true? Let’s take a look.

Training is an endeavour which is pursued by an organisation with the primary aim of developing new skills, or improving the existing ones in its employees. Training is more commonly provided to employees and managers – such as management training, but it can be extended to customers and suppliers too. The ultimate aim of training is to facilitate a better understanding of the essential concepts in the employees so that they can actively participate in conducting the various activities in extended areas of the business enterprise.

The majority of business coaching experts agree that there is usually a delay between the time of investment in training and the moment when these new benefits become readily apparent in business. This delay varies in duration depending on the kind of investment and the actual scope of the training which has been undertaken. Training is generally considered to be a long-term investment, which very rarely pays off quickly; in most situations the real differences are seen in time. The returns on training endeavours are not realised at any single point in time – they pay off daily, therefore they are regarded as “Dividends”.

Training dividends can’t be completely measured in monetary terms, but they can be consistently measured in terms of:

1. Increased Productivity – By providing in-depth training, the productivity of the employees can be dramatically increased, thereby empowering the workforce to be able to set their own goals and achieve them consistently.

2. Improved Communication and Participation – Training greatly helps in the improvement of communication among the staff members of an organisation.

3. Waste Reduction – With training, the workforce is able to understand the effective ways of doing a particular task and the procedures for minimising any wasted time or materials in their activities.

4. Reduced Labour Turnover – Trained and empowered employees are satisfied with the work that they do. This in turn automatically improves the retention of the employees in the business and significantly increases the loyalty of the current ones.

5. Improved Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty – When a customer is satisfied with the products and services of a company – he becomes loyal, and for the foreseeable future he will also be a source of continuous revenue for the company.

So finally, we have found that training is definitely a dividend driving activity! If you want to ensure that healthy dividends are always realised from training, you should conduct every aspect of this training with a decisive aim in mind.

Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of the L2L Group. He specialises in delivering Executive Coaching, Training and Consultancy Services to International Businesses across the World. Want to discover more about these insightful business building success strategies? Get Alan’s essential FREE Business Pack today!