Individual training days, yes. Better still is a training culture.
Training is an important lever to develop people and organisations and to prepare them for the challenges of the future. Unsurprisingly, the Labour Deal on training includes a series of ground rules, such as the individual right to training for every employee. The question is whether this ambitious government target is achievable as well as sufficient.
Labour Deal training days meet hunger for growth
In companies with at least 20 employees, according to the Labour Deal, everyone who works full-time must be able to attend at least four days of training, which is ramped up to at least five days starting next year. And at least a year in advance, every employer must have included a training plan in the Employee Handbook.
Acerta and Stepstone's Talent Pulse employee survey revealed that barely 38% of employees feel that that the company they work at still offers potential for them to advance themselves. Training is an important tool to keep people on board of your organisation (for longer). And not just to retain them. Training is nothing short of necessary. For employees to stay employable and for companies to always have the skills they require. In this sense, training courses pay for themselves twice over as both your people and your business benefit. In times of labour shortages and all kinds of uncertainties, this is definitely an asset.
Next challenge: lending your training days lend proper concrete shape
In spite of the good intentions behind the individual right to training, implementing this can be a considerable challenge to companies. The Labour Deal's mandatory individual training days as such are not a one-size-fits-all solution. It is no matter of fact for every sector and every company to offer pertinent training courses. And this is not necessarily something every employee is looking forward to. Nonetheless, the changes on the labour market are happening so fast (consider developments such as AI, automation, efficiency gains, etc.) and the labour shortage is so severe that training is one of the important answers to companies' need for talent. This is about more than a training plan and an individual right to training of just a few days. Real learning is a culture that should be hard-wired into your organisation.
From mandatory training days to a supported training culture
Training is necessary but it is not enough. To arrive at a win-win situation, there needs to be a link between the training courses provided and your company's vision for the future. Lifelong learning and internal job mobility - a change of post or role - are a way of addressing the labour shortage and to keep employees in your organisation for a longer period of time. So, what is even better than individual training days established well ahead of time are individual growth tracks or career plans that rhyme with your organisation's long-term goals.
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Written by
Director Legal, Reward & opleidingen bij Acerta.
