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Staff Skills Problems? - Top Ten Training Tips
 One
of the best answers to this problem is
training, helping you to make the most of
existing staff; and develop new and
enthusiastic employees to give them skills
they may not already have.
Kim Clemo, Human Resources Director, AXA
commented: “Many of us happily chant the
well known adage that our most valuable
business assets walk in and out of our door
each day. At the same time we then wring
our hands in dismay that we can’t get the
staff, can’t afford to hire the best and the
people we do have don’t have the skills we
need. We value training but have to justify
it against other capital investments that
always feel more pressing.”
She continues: “There will be few better
business investments made in the next few
years to both enable business to grow or
more importantly remain competitive than
training. If we can’t hire the right
skills, and our survey suggests we can’t,
then we must create them from our existing
workforce. The impact is then twofold – you
have the skills you need to succeed today
and your reputation for staff investment
puts you ahead in the recruitment game. A
no lose situation. It needn’t be
expensive. Or put another way – not doing
training could be very expensive indeed.”
Axa has also teamed up with the Learning and
Skills Council (LSC) to give you some top
tips on cost effective training solutions:
1. Use local support organisations. Work
closely with your local TUC Learning
Services and local Learning and Skills
Council to take full advantage of all
support offered by these organisations in
training and development.
2. Lead the way. Develop a consortium of
representatives from local employers,
training bodies, colleges and industry
associations in your local area to
coordinate local recruitment and training.
3. In - house trainers. Consider using
successful employees as trainers to the next
generation by giving them coaching to be
effective trainers and presenters or do an
NVQ in training.
4. Partner with local schools. Work with
local secondary schools and colleges to
develop courses and work experience to
support growth of local basic skills.
5. Go back to basics. Offer a range of
learning methods as some staff lack the
confidence to fully participate in workforce
development through lack of numeracy and
literacy skills.
6. Think long term. Develop a long term
strategy to train your staff and communicate
this to them. This will encourage a feeling
of job ownership and of being valued
employees. Go to
www.traintogain.gov.uk
7. Develop clear training programmes. Put
visible bespoke development and training
progression routes in place for your
employees. This will enable each team member
to see a defined route for their development
within the company.
8. Meet regularly. Conduct regular
appraisals with staff to ensure that their
development needs (as well as yours) are
being met and progressed.
9. Use your own premises. Consider on-site
assessment and training. This will mean that
people are more comfortable in demonstrating
their skills and are assessed in their
natural environment.
10. Dedicate specific training days. If
possible, set aside a set number of days per
member of staff for training over the next
year..
Find more information on employment and
training issues in our Employment and
Personal Development (You and Work) portal
here.
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