The Widening Employee Skills Gap: Corporate-Based Training
Employee training has become a hot topic as more companies use it to train employees on needed skill sets. According to the Forbes Corporate Learning Fact Book, corporate-based employee training grew to $70 Billion in the U.S., and $130 Billion worldwide in 2014.
Employee Skills Gap Widening
Many attribute the increase in training to a proficiency gap between the specific skills companies need to be successful and the skills those employees possess from previous education and experiences. As the economy continues to move towards an information-based system, most employees struggle to obtain essential skills needed to compete in the global workforce.
Bersin by Deloitte estimates that as many as 70% of companies see the capabilities gap as one of the top five challenges they face moving forward. An underperforming employee can bring down productivity by as much as 40% and cost a company nearly $300,000 in lost revenue, according to business strategist Suzie Wittbroht.
Informed Customers Become Loyal Customers
The need for corporate-based training doesn’t apply only to employees. Most companies base the success or failure of a solution on how quickly employees can deploy the solution to customers and how quickly a customer benefits from the solution. Most customers have less time to learn new technologies and solutions than ever before. As companies continue to offer increasingly sophisticated solutions, they run the risk of customers not being able to keep up with the evolution, and thus, not getting the most out of the solutions.
Partner Training Feeds Company Success
Another aspect of corporate-based training pertains to training partner organizations. Many companies today sell or market through channel partners. These partners have a much broader reach than the company would have on their own, but there is a downside to this arrangement. If the partner doesn’t know the full capabilities of the product, service, or solution – or fails to understand best practices for marketing the brand – they will struggle with selling it to other organizations. Many channel partner arrangements fail or become inactive because the parent company doesn’t adequately train the partner. Dedicated support programs can resolve this issue.