Why Training Matters

By Janelle Callahan, Principal Consultant, Institute for Public Sector Employee Engagement, CPS HR Consulting

When you think about employee engagement in your organization, you may wonder what factors or tactics will have a positive impact on employees’ engagement level. Today, we’ll look into one of those factors. In our national poll of U.S. workers, we found that training and development was a key driver of the employee engagement score. In other words, if training and development can be improved, the engagement score is likely to improve as well.

In the book The Human Equation, a study of successful organizations, management expert Jeffrey Pfeffer concluded that good companies – no matter the industry or size – foster a high degree of commitment in their employees. At the Institute for Public Sector Employee Engagement, we agree that commitment is the key. Our measure of employee engagement is focused exclusively on commitment and attachment to the organization. Perhaps it is no wonder then that our findings support Pfeffer’s assertion that providing training and development can help create a virtuous cycle of employee commitment. “Training signals a commitment to an organization’s people in a tangible way; it says, we value you enough to invest in you,” writes Pfeffer.

It sounds simple enough – so what is the challenge? One problem is that training and development is often viewed as a perk or a “nice-to-have,” especially in the public sector, where such spending is sometimes criticized. Another problem is that measuring the return-on-investment (ROI) of training is “difficult, if not impossible to carry out,” notes Pfeffer. When he asked a successful company’s CEO to estimate the monetary ROI of a new training center, the CEO responded, “It comes back in the form of attitude. People feel they’re playing in the game, not getting kicked around by it. You step up to the plate and improve your work skills; we’ll provide the tools to do that.”

Our poll results show no significant differences between public and private sector in overall employee ratings of training and development. The average score for six questions in this category was 65 for the private sector and 62 for the public sector. However, there were differences by level of government. Local government employees’ view of training and development in their organizations were on par with their private sector counterparts at 66. Results for both federal and state government, in contrast, were significantly lower at 58. The largest difference (over 10 points) was on the question, “Training and development activities I have completed in the past 12 months have helped to improve my performance.” Local government employees were significantly more likely to agree with the statement than federal or state government employees.

You may be wondering what you can do to improve the training and development experience in your organization. We recommend starting with a review of your onboarding program. Do you know what trainings are essential to help someone off to a good start in your organization? Do you have formal or informal opportunities for them to learn their job and familiarize with the organization? If you start with your new employees, you will likely be able to realize the benefits of improving training and development very quickly. Your new workers will feel supported and energized by your organization’s effort to set them up for success. If you have employee survey results, look at training scores by location, department, or occupation to explore additional opportunities where improving training may improve employee engagement.