Investment in work experience, quality work-based training and apprenticeships provides not just soft intangible benefits, but also has a positive impact on the bottom line, a UK academic has advised.
Jonathan Garnett, dean of the Institute for Work-Based Learning at Middlesex University, which held a ‘Getting the UK Working’ conference with employers lobby group, the CBI, this week, said that the body’s research showed workers felt far more valued and loyal if they were provided with properly accredited training at work.
“With the costs to students rising and opportunities to engage in skills training and education often seen as dwindling, businesses that offer these opportunities will reap the rewards,” he added.
Colin Kemp, network director at the
Halifax, agreed. He said that the bank’s business performance had been boosted and it had received “astonishing” staff feedback since starting a programme in which hundreds of managers took part in work-based learning initiatives, which linked on-the-job projects with recognised university qualifications.
“Businesses fundamental dilemma is that we are increasingly constrained by cost. How do you balance training your workforce, helping the economy recover and the needs of shareholders?” he said. “The reason we have done this is that there are quantitative benefits, but there are also soft benefits. I recently saw 80 of my managers at their university graduation ceremony and the pride they felt was a benefit you don’t see on the balance sheet.”
But Kemp explained that linking externally-recognised qualifications to in-house training provision had been key to winning a high level of staff buy-in, although the benefits had been experienced far and wide across the organisation.
“As businesses, we often say our staff are our competitive advantage, but many organisations don’t have a plan in place that backs this up. We worry a lot about staff turnover as recruitment costs are huge and we want staff to stay and develop,” he said.
As a result, helping staff to emotionally engage with the organisation was a crucial part of what it was doing.
“Work-based learning isn’t about me giving my staff a certificate with my signature on it. This is a degree, a real qualification and that really counts. This is a great opportunity for many organisations,” Kemp added.