Horticulture

Skills & Training

Significant returns can be derived when training is well-designed, expertly delivered, when the transfer and acquisition of skills and knowledge is facilitated and when organisations employ the new skills and knowledge productively.

Direct costs

• production and supply of training and learning materials
• facilitation time
• travel costs
• accommodation costs
• costs of training equipment: simulators, personal computers
• computer software
• training delivery costs
• trainee wages and salaries

Indirect costs

• opportunity costs of time
• foregone output

Benefits arising from training

Organisations finance training because they expect benefits to flow from it. Some of these

benefits may be difficult to quantify, while others will be relatively easy. The following is a list

of the benefits for which data were collected in the process of evaluating the case study

organisations. All of these were expressed as dollar values:

• additional sales revenue
• improved productivity
• reduced costs
• reduction in training expenditures
• reduced staff turnover
• improved safety record

Enterprise return on a training investment

• reduced WorkCover premiums
• reduced equipment downtime and reduced maintenance costs
• reduced fuel usage
• reduced rolling stock damage
• reduced stock shrinkage

Since recruiting, separation and replacement are costly processes, organisations strive to minimise staff turnover.

Benefits of training

Companies that have a healthy training culture report the following benefits:

• improved quality
• increased productivity
• greater flexibility and responsiveness to change
• reduced insurance premiums
• less wastage
• reduced maintenance and repair costs
• greater commitment from staff
• higher staff retention rate
• improved morale.

Perhaps the most important benefit of a healthy training culture is that the skills of your staff are formally recognized and that your employees feel their contribution to the company is valued.

Benefits of investing in staff training

• Enhancement of staff motivation and productivity.
• Increase in the skills within your business.
• Developing existing employees costs less than recruiting new staff.
• Staff are more likely to remain loyal to a business that nurtures them.
• Rather than rewarding staff with a pay rise, training puts money back into your business. 

Developing a training culture

An organisational training culture starts with the owner or manager – you. A management team that is knowledgeable about training issues will send the message that your company cares about the professional development of staff, and that training is part of ‘the way we do things around here’.

Having a ‘training champion’ in senior management is paramount to successful implementation of your training initiatives. To champion the development of a training culture, you must first know a little about the benefits of training, and how you can access the training system. This knowledge will enable you to make informed decisions, and will provide support to those members of staff who will be charged with implementing the system.

A training culture is not something that develops overnight; it needs to be fostered and encouraged. Although building a training culture can be hard work, companies that have successfully developed a culture of training are perceived as quality organisations.

Close collaboration and open communication between management and staff on training issues results in improved working relationships and, in most cases, greater productivity.

Acknowledgement and promotion of the training achievements of trainers and participants, both in-house and to clients and suppliers, will also assist in making training a valued component of your company’s operations.