Question: I’m the HR manager for a small financial firm and increasingly concerned about the credit crunch’s impact on our business. We won’t be able to afford pay rises this year and staff are anxious about their job prospects. How can we keep our staff from handing in their notices without resorting to higher wages?

Amber Kelly, Train to Gain skills broker

Answer: In the current climate, balancing staff retention with rising costs is a concern for many companies. One good solution is to offer your staff training. As you’ll no doubt know, an organisation’s biggest asset is its staff and for your business to succeed they must perform at their best. An effective way to achieve this is through training – not only has it been proven to boost skills levels, but it will also improve your employees’ motivation – helping increase your business’ productivity and see you through the credit crunch.

One way is to invest in your workforce’s skills through Train to Gain, the national service designed to support employers of all sizes and sectors boost the skills of their employees as a route to improving business performance.

Managed by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), Train to Gain provides advice in identifying skills needs at all levels, from skills brokers and training providers. It then helps to identify and source high quality training and qualifications to meet those skills needs.

An expert will pull together a skills solution package which may include government training subsidies, alongside your company’s own financial contribution. Train to Gain takes care of the time consuming parts, such as finding suitable training providers or investigating possible funding opportunities, are also taken care of by your skills broker - leaving you free to manage your usual day-to-day business.

Training may be conducted on-site to ensure minimum disruption. This means you don’t need to worry about employees missing out on their work and you can be assured they will apply their new job-specific skills directly into their working practices.

ABOUT TRAIN TO GAIN 

Launched nationally in August 2006, Train to Gain is a skills advice and support service that gives employers access to the right training to help their business succeed. Evaluation of the service, surveying almost 4,000 employers involved with Train to Gain, has found that 80% of employers and 77% of employees have been satisfied with the advice and training received. 

Furthermore over three quarters (77%) of employers questioned would be likely or very likely to use the service again and eight in ten (80%) would recommend the service to a colleague outside of their organisation.  
 
The evaluation research also highlights the clear benefits of the training received through Train to Gain. Three quarters (74%) of employers using the service reported an improvement in their employees’ job-related skills while four fifths (80%) of learners who had received a qualification through Train to Gain reported that they had gained skills to help them do a better job in the future. 

• Employer evaluation sample size: almost 4,000 employers

• Learner evaluation sample size: 7,500 learners 

To find out more or to book your visit from a skills broker, please call 0800 015 55 45 or visit traintogain.gov.uk