Employers urged to offer 'executive-style' training to all employees
Training might be in demand across many workplaces today, but a new report has found that executives receive better quality and have more access to training than lower-ranked staff.
A survey of 4,000 employees from CYPHER Learning reveals that 88% of business owners and C-level executives have a choice on when, where, and how they do training.
Another 42% also said they had received more training this year than last year, making them the group who feel that they're receiving "adequate" training programs.
In contrast, only 37% of entry-level employees have flexible options when it comes to training, and only 17% said they received more training this year than the previous year.
"This is most likely because the higher employees climb the corporate ladder, there's more opportunity for tailored, personalised training," the report said.
Executives are also three times more likely to say that training was "enjoyable" than entry-level staff, despite 64% of viewing it as a chore.
For employees, 42% of intermediate and junior staff said they struggle with "boring and unengaging training," with 36% saying that workplace learning and development has become death by PowerPoint.
When employees don’t have training, especially at the start of their career when they need it most, it can prevent them from "reaching their full potential," warned CYPHER Learning CEO Graham Glass.
The findings come as the desire for training remains strong in the workplace - with 98% of all employees saying training is important for their role.
According to the report, 76% of the respondents would stay with an employer who puts a premium on training, with 71% saying that employers who don't invest in them don't care about staff.
"Employees clearly place high value on training, which is why it can help to attract top talent. In fact, employees rank training as high a priority as healthcare," Glass said in a media release.
But he warned employers that offering "forgettable" training would not be of much use to employees and the organisation.
"For higher performance, businesses can reset the balance by delivering quality, 'executive-style' training to staff at all levels," he said.
It is also important to modernise development programs, according to the executive, as many employees said they wanted training that was more fun and engaging (39%) and was tailored to their job roles (41%).
"Greater personalisation at scale takes a more agile platform – something that supports competency-based skills development one employee at a time. Such a platform can foster a culture of habitual reskilling that unlocks more potential organisation-wide and keeps the innovation engine purring," Glass said.
