One of the ways in which companies are responding to increased business competition is by evaluating their employee turnover. Employers are in fact questioning themselves what is coming at a higher cost: whether it is the employee turnover or employee investment. And most times, they are finding out it’s the former not the latter.

“We understand that investing in training in today’s economy is a challenge for many companies, however companies cannot expect improved productivity if investment in their people is not on their agenda,” says Maria Zahra, HR Consultant and Trainer at MISCO.

MISCO will be tackling this subject during an event to be held on the 18th September targeted at all those working or involved in Human Resources. The event themed Training: Investment or Cost? will be addressed  by Joseph FX Zahra and will be held at MISCO’s Training Center on Level 1, Fino Buildings in Mriehel.

MISCO specialises in training related to management, leadership, marketing, sales, customer care, human resources, administration and secretarial and personal development and offers a number of accredited qualifications. With an annual training rate of over 2,500 employees from around 300 organisations from the public and private sector in Malta, MISCO keeps confirming the importance for companies to view people training not as a cost but as an investment.

“Training is an investment for two main reasons: because it brings the best out of your people’s talents and ultimately, it helps you retain your staff,” adds Maria Zahra.

“It’s a chain reaction. Trained employees will be better equipped to perform their duties and they learn to develop a rounded set of skills which will help them contribute more to the organisation. They feel engaged and when they do, their employer believes in them and keeps investing in them. This sends a reassuring message to the employees that they are valued and when they feel valued, they become more committed, loyal and motivated.”

Ms Zahra acknowledges that it may take some time for companies to see a return on the investment due to the fact that training not always deals with what is strictly practical and is not always directly applicable to the daily tasks of the employees. This particularly applies to soft skills training where the more employees are engaged and motivated, the more willing they  will be to apply what they learn to their job.

“But the long-term gains make a big difference and we have seen it happen with many of the companies who train their employees with us. Today they view training as a proactive strategy which strengthens their productivity and helps them keep abreast with the constant changes in the external environment. Ultimately, the more trained the employees are, the more valuable they are and this makes the company and its products and services even more valuable,” added Maria Zahra.

Ritienne Xerri, Head of Business Advisory & Training at MISCO referred to the level of staff training in Malta, and noted how a number of sectors have been investing regularly in staff training for their employees.

“The i-Gaming and IT development and software sectors have been showing a lot of proactivity to train their employees. Nonetheless, it is important that more companis come to terms with the reality that in today’s highly competitive sector, trained employees can turn out to be one of the most important assets,” said Ms Xerri.

“We also notice that training is many times reserved for middle/supervisory management to top management and not so popular for lower levels. We feel that companies should be giving more importance to their front-line staff especially in aspects such as customer care which is not fully tapped into. Having said that, we are pleased that MISCO has been recently engaged to give over 20 training courses in customer care to employees from a number of leading food stores and retail outlets on the island,” added Ms Xerri.

“Employee training does not necessarily have to involve the whole workforce. We usually meet the companies, we seek to understand where training is needed and we identify which employees and we help them identify a plan of action and create a training programme centred about the company’s requirements. We also understand that most times companies cannot stop operating whilst their employees are being trained. Therefore, to offer more flexibility we adopt a practical approach by slotting the training round the company’s schedule. This might require training to take place at the client’s premises to reduce travelling time and if need be, we also offer to conduct training outside normal office hours and during the weekend.”

MISCO has also experienced an increase in training for best methods of using social media for businesses. These are usually attended by the marketing persons or owners of small businesses wanting to increase their exposure on social media.

“As the business world expands, it is creating new positions which in turn, require people to be constantly trained in these new responsibilities. It is a developing sector for us too as this leads us to expand our expertise which is then passed on through our growing portfolio of training courses,” concluded Maria Zahra.

MISCO’s event TRAINING: Investment or Cost? On Thursday 18th September starts at 18.00hrs. Registrations for this event are free. Email Sophie Terpougoff on [email protected] to register a place by Monday 15 September.