Your Company Without Training - Any Questions?

Okay, be honest!

Are you guilty of sticking in a few boring videos and calling it training?

Do you send in your department heads to deliver a few, rushed, canned presentations and call it orientation?

Are you then surprised when your new employees don't live up to your expectations, and your employee turnover numbers keep rising?

What if you took the time and money that you spend on employee recruitment and put it into employee training? Would it make a difference? Would it be worth the effort?

You Bet it Would!!

Take, for instance, The Container Store, who has made the top of Fortune magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" list for the 6th year in a row! In an employee's first year they offer over 241 hours of training, far exceeding the training hours offered by other retail stores. In the next 18 months they are slated to open 5 more stores, creating over 6000 more jobs!

More impressively, the retail industry averages 150% employee turnover, but The Container Store averages only 25%!!

Learn also, from ACTS Retirement Life Communities, a Continuing Care Retirement Corporation, based in Pennsylvania with additional locations in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. Several years ago, retired CEO Rev. George Gunn launched a program to combat high employee turnover.

One components of that program was to launch ACTS Corporate University. The University offers 70 different courses to all employees of their company. "It's touching to watch some of our direct line employees walk across the stage, accepting their diploma for an 8 week class, so full of emotion for what they've accomplished," says Rev. Gunn.

Not only has the University helped their employees do a better job, there has been a tremendous reduction in employee turnover. Their turnover, which was 38% in the year 2000, was already low for an industry that has a national average ranging from 40-100%. However, after implementing their program, which included the University, employee turnover landed at a low 17.5% in the year 2004. In addition, their employee satisfaction ratings AND their customer satisfaction ratings are extremely high.

Does it cost money to develop a training program that makes a difference? You bet! Is it worth it? No question!

Studies done by the Saratoga Institute estimate the cost of employee turnover to be between 100%-200% of the employee's salary. Spend the money up front with training and you could cut your recruitment costs - in both time and money - substantially. You'll also be ensuring that your employees are delivering the best service to your customers.

High Turnover, Bad Service - This is your company without training.

Low Turnover, Star Service - This is your company with training.

Any questions?

Donna Cutting is an employee morale expert and a frequent keynote speaker at conventions and corporate events. She can be reached at donna@donnacutting.com or via her website at http://www.donnacutting.com

© 2005, Donna Cutting

Would you like to reprint this article for your publication? You have our permission, to reprint the article, in it's entirety, if you include Donna's byline, web site, and the copyright notice. Please send a copy of the issue Donna's article appears in to ShowStopping Solutions, PO Box 76461, St. Petersburg, FL 33734. If you would like a photo of Donna to publish with the article, contact Rachel Street at rachel@donnacutting.com.

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