If budget cutbacks are placing team professional development opportunities in the crosshairs, consider this: 44% of employees cite a lack of opportunity for growth and advancement as a top source of work stress; and we all know that unhappy employees aren’t helping your bottom line.
If we drill down to basics, we work to earn a buck to provide for ourselves and our families; but there’s more to the daily grind than this.
Engaged, motivated and productive employees want a great work environment, package and benefits that also includes professional development opportunities. We don’t stop learning just because we’ve left the world of formal education behind.
Total human capital costs average out at close to 70% of a company’s operating expenses. This can be offset against the fact that talent is a business multiplier (and therefore a key profit driver), yet a 2015 US-based report found that more than 40% of organisations claimed that they rarely, or never, provide career planning or development.
In addition, 44% of employees cite a lack of opportunity for growth and advancement as a top source of work stress, which highlights the importance they place on career growth; and those that are exposed to new learning opportunities are less likely to seek other employment opportunities. Good news when the financial cost of staff replacement can be anywhere from six to nine months’ salary.
It’s important to step outside our corporate comfort zone to interact with like-minded people, learn from the experts, and explore new ways to support business growth; and there’s no denying that it can be a mental and emotional rush.
THE BENEFITS CHECKLIST
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Employees who don’t feel understood or valued aren’t going to stay long with a company that has no intention of investing in their future, so it’s goodbye loyalty and hello higher turnover.
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Team members who are given opportunities to pursue continued professional development boost the company loyalty factor are more engaged and less likely to look elsewhere. Looking at the bigger picture, this positively impacts the company’s market position, profitability…and, ultimately, revenue growth.
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Engaged employees are also fantastic learning ambassadors, who can share and apply knowledge acquired at a conference or workshop with colleagues.
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We can get stale when surrounded by the same people, day in, day out. Conferences are repositories of inspiration, and bringing back new ideas, market insight and contacts has the dual benefit of empowering team members and arming talent with knowledge capacity to support business goals.
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Companies that don’t commit budget to education, whether that’s employee training programmes or active participation at industry relevant conferences, are not evolving their business or fostering innovation. And that is inevitably going to trickle down to the bottom line.
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A natural networking environment, the conference milieu exposes participants hungry to share experiences and acquire knowledge to peers with their own unique input and experts who deliver invaluable practical insight. An agile business is one that is truly market flexible; and informed, ‘on point’ team members are better placed to react to market changes.
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Leveraging existing contacts and forging new partnerships (suppliers, vendors, government bodies, like-minded businesses) is the cornerstone to boost competitive advantage and access new markets. Dive in with both feet to get to the heart of issues impacting your business – and its growth potential – and walk away with the inside track and the basis for strategic action that your competitors won’t have.
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Not only a knowledge opportunity, by being active at high profile conference, brand equity also gets a boost. Sharing content and comment through social media platforms, contributing in forums and being part of the conference buzz, favourably positions forward-thinking leaders, and their teams, with clients, peers and your internal audience.
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Immediate cost savings can be at the expense of your company’s long-term outlook. If you’re not part of the diversity and inclusion discussion, you’re not going to benefit (socially and economically) from being a change driver.
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Diversity drives efficiency. Companies committed to diversity and inclusion, with 30% female leadership for example, can add up to six percentage points to their net margins, and are 15% more likely to see financial returns above the national industry median.
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Companies in the top quartile for racial/ethnic diversity can see returns bumped to 35% above the national industry average.
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Diversity committed teams are also up to 70% more likely to capture new markets. That alone is surely reason enough to book your seats in the conference auditorium….
Sources: Cornerstone, Ernst & Young, Lee Hecht Harrison, Society for Human Resource Management, The Peterson Institute for International Economics
