Benefits of training employees: 12 insights for HR professionals to future-proof company growth

Here’s a massive challenge HR teams are facing as they consider the future of employee training: new AI advancements could put 300 million (1) or approximately 40% (2) of the world’s jobs at risk in the near future. 

At the same time, innovation has historically fueled so much economic and technological growth, that it tends to create more jobs than it overtakes. (3) 

These diametrically opposed realities remind us that only the most flexible, creative, and well-trained organizations win in times of technological and economic volatility. 

Still, it can be hard to make a case for the benefits of training to your company’s leadership without a compelling ROI (return on investment). This article explores twelve proven advantages of training that your company can expect when it invests in employees’ professional growth. We’ll also briefly unpack why team members are interested in jobs that offer development opportunities. 

1. Goldman Sachs, 2023
2. International Monetary Fund, 2024‍
3. National Bureau of Economic Research (US), 2022‍‍

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The importance of employee training in an AI-enabled world

Employee training has always been crucial to business success. Still, as AI is poised to change the future of work in previously unforeseen ways, team member development is now non-negotiable.

‍“Historically, automation and information technology have tended to affect routine tasks,” wrote the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, for the IMF blog. “But one of the things that sets AI apart is its ability to impact high-skilled jobs. As a result, advanced economies face greater risks from AI — but also more opportunities to leverage its benefits — compared with emerging markets and developing economies.”‍

‍Employees are aware that AI puts their current jobs at risk. That may be why four out of five team members want to learn more about implementing AI in their work, according to LinkedIn’s 2024 Workplace Learning Report. According to the same report, 90% of leaders agree that training should now be their top retention strategy, recognizing this increased demand for employee development.‍

Even setting the AI conversation aside, training enriches the overall employee experience and empowers team members to move forward professionally. 84% of companies say fostering a learning culture creates a positive work environment that helps to motivate and engage their people; employees value it so highly that 21% of them would leave a company to pursue development opportunities elsewhere. That’s why learning and development should be an integral part of your strategy when investing in people enablement.
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12 employee training benefits for businesses

Employee development can have far-reaching effects. Here are the main training benefits organizations can enjoy:

1. Spurring innovation

One of the great benefits of workplace training is that it encourages employees to be more inventive — but only if HR and L&D leaders are willing to be open-minded and give team members access to the right resources. 

Think of Pixar: the company’s co-founder, Ed Catmull, said his team’s revolutionary animation techniques result from the company’s extensive training programs. Staff can choose what they want to learn from a library of courses on various technical skills like screenwriting and drawing.

You can also take a page from Duncan Wardle’s playbook. The former Vice President of Innovation and Creativity at The Walt Disney Company shared that creativity is about more than telling employees to “think differently, take risks, or get in the room to brainstorm,” he wrote for the Harvard Business Review. “We had to give them the tools to make creativity at work second nature. A chef with a full set of knives is more confident in the kitchen than one with a single, dull blade; having the right tools empowers people to excel in their craft. To ensure that our teams could be creative at will, we needed to give them resources to prompt their creativity.”

Here are some of the key takeaways from Disney’s new approach to the benefits of employee training:

• Make “what if?” a go-to question — “First, write down all the rules of your industry,” said Wardle. “Second, pick one rule and think of provocative ways to break it so it no longer applies. This allows you to access your river of thinking, which your expertise and experience enable.”
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• Ask “how else?” to prompt more creativity — Find new ways to reframe and reexpress solutions outside of pre-established ways. This strategy allowed the team at Disney to increase revenue by 3% per quarter without raising theme park entrance fees.
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• Give people more time to think with playfulness — still according to Disney’s former VP of Innovation and Creativity, most “employees are given no time to think. That’s why they get their best ideas outside the office. Our conscious and subconscious brains tend to be closed off on the job. When we’re free to think, such as while showering or exercising, we are often suddenly more creative and playful.”
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2. Boosting performance & productivity

“Training has created opportunities for cross-department collaboration and teamwork, improving our overall team dynamic. For example, after our customer service team received sales training, we saw a 20% increase in closed deals, resulting in significant revenue growth.”

— Shri Ganeshram, founder and CEO at Awning

Another key benefit of training and development is enabling employees to work more efficiently — but what that looks like varies between roles and industries. A software developer might learn how to fix bugs faster after taking a skills-based training course, while a salesperson may develop techniques to assess the different needs of potential customers.

When team members work more efficiently, organizational performance improves, too. Studies show that companies that invest in training are 59% more likely to grow (and have 27% more chances of being cost-efficient). 
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3. Reducing the need for supervision

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As you train employees, they become more independent — and how they prefer to receive guidance may change. For instance, instead of expecting a manager to be available for questions while they do a certain task, they might just ask their supervisor to share feedback once they’re finished. And when people don’t require as much supervision, it can benefit the entire team:

• Managers can invest more time in training initiatives to improve the team’s skill set.
• People work more efficiently if they don’t have to wait to get their questions answered or contact someone for assistance as often.
• All team members will have more capacity to assist each other when needed.
• Fewer demands on department leads’ time enable them to offer employees more in-depth guidance. 

Providing team members with relevant, valuable training and development opportunities allows them to work more independently and build self-confidence — increasing job satisfaction.
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4. Creating more opportunities for internal promotion

A big part of defining professional goals and career development opportunities is for managers and reports to evaluate what learning and development initiatives to prioritize. Overall, investing in staff training can help you refine how your organization approaches employee promotion management. 

Giving people more chances to enjoy the benefits of employee training and development can expedite the promotion process, as they’ll build the skills and knowledge they need more quickly. Establishing a learning program within your organization will give you a clearer overview of your team’s progress and who may be eligible for upcoming positions.
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5. Enriching communication

One of the major benefits of a training program is boosting transparency and communication. After all, training programs can give staff a deeper understanding of their roles by defining expectations and showing what high performance looks like.

When you cross-train teams, you also help develop an understanding between colleagues. Gaining insights into other departments’ work processes and challenges is especially beneficial for interrelated teams that often exchange feedback. An example would be sales and product teams discussing what new features potential customers want.

A performance management system that also provides training analytics (like Leapsome!) can help you explain company processes and the reasoning behind big decisions to your team. For instance, you can use learning progress and development feedback to clarify why reports have a specific pay band during salary reviews.
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6. Increasing alignment with company goals 

Investing in employee development can clarify and strengthen your organization’s mission and values. If you offer regular training opportunities, team members will know your company prioritizes knowledge sharing and professional development. They’ll also see that you value your people.

Training can also clarify your company’s direction. Let’s say you announce that one of your objectives and key results (OKRs) is reducing client turnover by 10%; you can reinforce that message by enrolling your customer success team in a customer satisfaction training program.
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7. Encouraging agility

72% of employers think regular training makes for more dynamic organizations. That’s because people find it easier to adapt to change when they have a robust skill set.

Such resilience is invaluable during the unpredictable times of AI explosion and a narrowly avoided US recession. “​The rise of generative AI, like chatbots and image generators, has shaken the tech industry (...) causing executives to promise investors that the advancements will revolutionize the world and help them make lots of money,” tech reporter Gerrit De Vynck wrote for the Washington Post. “Long-held concerns about AI taking away jobs from humans have grown more urgent as lawmakers debate how to legislate the tech.”

Thankfully, training can help companies stay adaptable. Developing employees to fill open positions reduces the risk of essential roles staying empty. That means spending less time on recruitment and rewarding top performers who want to advance within your company. It’s no wonder that 51% of HR managers are upskilling their teams to fill skills gaps rather than competing for talent.
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8. Making company processes more efficient

Training helps staff work more accurately and thoroughly. That means your employees make fewer errors that require time to fix and are more likely to streamline current processes. This shows again how investing in learning and development can positively impact internal business operations.

Also, teaching employees relevant knowledge and skills is crucial for tasks that rely on teamwork. If you haven’t given your people adequate training, they won’t be able to collaborate to the best of their ability, which could hinder the entire team’s workflow. Ensure your employees are deeply familiar with your company goals, current projects, and products or services to improve communication and cooperation throughout the organization.
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9. Attracting top talent

80% of job seekers consider a company’s employee development opportunities when applying for a role; offering more training programs than your competitors may be what wins candidates over.

Employee training also facilitates the onboarding process. Gallup recently found that new hires are 2.6x more likely to be satisfied with their jobs if their initial training is exceptional. Investing in learning and development attracts the right people and helps you retain new key team members.
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10. Improving customer satisfaction

Training initiatives that boost staff work performance may result in better customer service. This is especially the case in sales or other client-facing roles, where learning programs can directly improve response time and value. Of course, delivering a higher-quality product or service also generates higher ratings and reviews and more repeat customers. 

When employees add new skills to their repertoire, you can further impress clients by expanding your range of services. For instance, a law firm could train its staff in social work to better serve vulnerable clients.
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11. Strengthening your company brand

Although you should prioritize empowering your people with training over boosting your brand reputation, the two often go hand in hand. Having well-trained, competent employees can contribute to your organization’s public image. You can even use your training programs or team members’ credentials as a testament to the quality of your products or services.
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12. Raising retention rates

Another purpose of training and development: reducing your company’s turnover rates. A recent SHRM study showed that 76% of workers are more likely to stay with an organization that offers professional development. That’s because training has many benefits for employees, which we’ll explore below.
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The importance of employee training for individuals

‍Employees should be at the center of training decisions. Understanding the importance of training and development in the workplace is essential for fulfilling your people’s needs; here’s a list of the main advantages.
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1. Fewer roadblocks to career advancement

One of the biggest reasons professionals want training is to move up in their organization. However, if their workplace responsibilities don’t provide sufficient development opportunities, they’re unlikely to learn the skills they need to progress. To employees, a lack of training opportunities might indicate that your company doesn’t value development efforts or prioritize internal growth.
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2. Increased motivation & engagement

Leapsome discovered that 54% of staff members need to develop new skills to feel engaged with their work — and many scientific studies link learning with happiness. Therefore, offering more training opportunities could boost your organization's employee motivation and engagement levels. 

But offering training isn’t enough — ensure you satisfy people’s specific training needs, too. Conduct employee engagement surveys to measure the impact of your current development programs and uncover what other learning opportunities staff need to feel more connected with their work. Employee engagement models can provide you with frameworks to get started.
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3. Extra job security

Offering comprehensive employee training makes team members more agile. Instead of having to let people go as they contend with budget cuts, companies might be able to retrain or reassign them to new roles. This is especially relevant to modern workers, as the skills needed for positions have changed by 25% in the past seven years — and will continue to evolve.
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4. A more even playing field

Employees come from diverse backgrounds and have different demands on their time and money. For example, staff from underrepresented groups may have less access to resources than their peers. And some team members may have free evenings and weekends to study independently, whereas others might have full family care schedules or other personal responsibilities. Situations like these can create an unfair competitive advantage between colleagues.

Offering a range of employee training programs can make your workplace more equitable. Staff can access the professional development resources they need during working hours without having to spend money on their professional growth. They’ll also feel more positive about their co-workers getting pay raises and promotions when they know they have equal opportunities to achieve them.
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Develop your people with Leapsome

Employee training updated for an AI- and tech-powered world can have a powerful impact on your organization. It boosts business performance, bolsters company culture, and helps people thrive.

Platforms like Leapsome can help you build a learning culture within your organization. Leapsome Learning has all the tools you need to manage development programs and create custom training courses to suit specific employee needs. You can upload multimedia materials from internal and external sources to cater to every learning style. You can also manage training workshops easily by automatically assigning courses to team members and getting a clear overview of their progress. Finally, our new Learning Marketplace gives you access to ready-made, high-quality courses from Ethena and Lawpilots. 

Best of all, we make our tools modular to fit into your current business model. This way, you can revolutionize your learning and development program without overhauling internal processes.
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🌱  Foster a learning culture in your company
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