9 Key Benefits of Updated Employees for a Franchise Business The 20th CEO Survey by PWC indicates, 87% of CEOs worldwide mentioned 'Non-availability of key skills' as the topmost concern impending their growth.

Although it has been agreed upon that initial training should be the only step of a long-term process, since recent times there has been a rising debate around why ongoing training should be considered as of utmost importance. The 20th CEO Survey by PWC indicates, 87% of CEOs worldwide mentioned "Non-availability of key skills' as the topmost concern impending their growth.

With India spending just under USD 1 billion per year for training and development, it can be seen that currently, 90% of the jobs in India are skill-based, a sharp contradiction to the current figure of only 6% trained workforce in India.

However, regular training is well worth the investment for building up skills within the business as it will lead to improvement in the company's performance, and ultimately its profit margin.

Let's have a look at a few benefits of continuous employee training:

Keep up with industry changes

It's the age of the millennials, and every industry is adapting to their ever-changing expectations. In such a scenario one cannot afford to remain oblivious as it would result in the company's loss, or even worse a shutdown. Also, government policies keep changing. Hence, it is important to ensure that your company is following the industry's regulations. Therefore, ongoing training is important to ensure that your staff's skills and knowledge are up-to-date.

Be in touch with all the latest technology developments

Technology has advanced by leaps and bounds giving all the more reason for companies to upgrade themselves. Regular training needs to take place to ensure that all the latest technology are used and your staff is comfortable using them and to its full potential. This can be achieved by implementing a customised staff IT training program, and by integrating employee training with IT support.

Stay ahead of competitors

Let's face it, the business world is ruthless... One simple lack can lead to your fall. Hence, to stay abreast of everything current constant training is important.

Be able to see weaknesses and skill gaps
With regular training, you easily identify any gaps in the market and skill gaps within the existing workforce. An early identification of these gaps can buy you time to train staff in the required areas, thereby fulfilling their role effectively.

Maintain knowledge and skill

Training schemes are continuously required to retain knowledge. Skills require frequent practice and need to be refreshed regularly to ensure that the elements aren't forgotten.

Advance employee skills
Once established and running smoothly, a business needs to ensure that the basic level skills are improvised upon to reap more benefits.

Provide an incentive to learn
If training is provided as part of a longer development pathway, employees will have much more incentive to learn, participate in the session and put their new skills into practice.

Increase job satisfaction levels
Continuous investment from the business will provide the staff with a much higher sense of job satisfaction, improving their motivation towards work. Thereby reducing employee turnover and increasing productivity, directly improving the profitability. It also prevents competitors from taking away your best employees by offering training incentives.

Attract new talent
To have the best employees, ongoing training will not only mean better staff retention but also attract better talent from the start. This gives the business a good image and is a key feature many people look for within their job search.

As you can see, ongoing training is important not just to employee development, but it also affects the success of your business.

The article was originally published on Franchise India by Smita Nag.