Continued training and development are important to make businesses and their workforce function effectively. The world has changed so much since the COVID pandemic sent shockwaves through businesses across the globe, and it’s now even more critical than ever in our changed ways of working to make sure that our team members are able to develop and grow to support the future of your business.

This article will take you through the significance of team development as a core part of your business strategy.

Ongoing development will boost adaptability

Training and development will boost the adaptability and resilience of your teams and make them more likely to want to support the needs of your business. 2020 was a year when many businesses had to close offices and make the quick switch to working virtually. Companies that have maintained consistent training up until that point found that their teams were better able to switch to a virtual working environment.

According to Carson Tate, employee engagement expert, many businesses, including household names like Johnson and Johnson Kraft Heinz, offered executive management programmes to their leaders to help them stay calm in a crisis. Kraft Heinz launched a workshop to help team members manage their e-mail inbox effectively, which helped them to keep workloads in perspective and manage their time more effectively.

Training leads to more engaged employees

The cost of a disengaged employee is high. According to analytics experts Gallup, employees that are not fully interested in their work have 37% higher absenteeism and 18% lower productivity. With effective training, employees can expand their skills and expertise, ultimately leading to a renewed sense of excitement and passion about their job.

According to David Rice at the HR Exchange Network, employee wellbeing is currently a large issue affecting their levels of engagement at work. He suggests that this can be helped by managers creating safe learning and working environments where employees feel engaged and open to communicating. Establishing these norms as part of your company’s culture will help to give staff some stability at a time when life feel so uncertain.

Rice has found that this level of support, along with allocating appropriate resources to learning and development, will drive employee wellbeing and increase their engagement.

Offering your teams regular opportunities to update their skills is a way to retain valued employees and avoid the time and financial costs of recruiting new staff.

Achieving more consistent performance levels

We’ve all changed how our teams work over the last year, resulting in differing levels of productivity, with many team members loving the freedom of working from home and some craving the structure and formality of the office environment. Now is an optimum time to invest in productivity training which will enable team members to assess their own productivity in day-to-day work, managing time and making the most of the time they spend in meetings.

Find out more about the importance of learning and development

If you’d like to find out more about applying these concepts to help your teams thrive at work, talk to us. Our workshops will help you to lead your teams to success.

I’ve set aside part of my working week to offer free mini Executive Coaching and Mentoring to people who would value some help in adopting new ways of working. Get in touch if you’d like to talk.