Why you shouldn’t cut your learning & development budget (even with a looming recession)

It should go without saying that investing in a training budget is an essential part of a company’s growth. Assessing short and long-term skills will assist in driving employees to meet your company’s strategic goals and objectives. Allocating your resources effectively will also ensure you are filling knowledge gaps and leveraging your current and future employees. Here are just three reasons why you shouldn’t cut your learning & development budget (and there’s plenty more where these came from!).

Investing in your employees strengthens engagement and work culture

Organizations with an engaged workforce exceed a level of productivity and motivation than their less involved competitors. Learning and development programs assist in increasing employee retention. Employees are likely to quit their jobs when they fail to see a path for professional growth. However, if there is access to growth and development opportunities, employees ae more likely to engage with their daily roles and overall workplace involvement. When you consider the time and financial impact it takes to interview, hire, and train new employees, the cost of a learning and development program is substantially less, meaning maintaining a budget in this space will likely allow you to maintain revenue, as opposed to losing it.

Training and development fill gaps that are needed in order to adapt

When companies cut learning and development costs, bigger skill gaps form within their workforce, which causes organizations to fall behind their competitors. During recessions, it is essential that your employees have the essential leadership skills to guide your company during difficult financial and economical times. As technology continues to advance, it is important that your employee’s skills are developing and advancing along with it. Upskilling your workforce will help your organization become better decision-makers, facilitate innovative ideas, and build high-perfoming teams.

Continuous training development gives your organization a strategic advantage

An ongoing focus and commitment to learning and development can help organizations build high-performing teams, influence resilience during uncertain times, and push for innovation rather than management. According to Lorman Education Services, 1 out of 3 employees say that their company’s training services are out-of-date. During uncertainty, it is crucial that an organization’s skills are practical, modern, and relevant.

With a current looming recession and no definitive stability in sight, organizations need to push for motivated, productive, and eager employees.