Training? Why should I bother?

adminBlog, Software, Training

When it comes to training, many small businesses are torn. Although they want smart employees who are well-equipped and productive, they don’t want a big bill or time out of the office. Another common fear is that just-trained staff will take their shiny new certificate and leave them for a competitor.

Although these fears are understandable, this is a short-term and ultimately self-defeating viewpoint. Businesses which fail to pay attention to staff development are damaging not only morale, but also their profits.

Multiple studies and surveys back up the case for training. In the US, HR Magazine found that companies investing £1,500 or more per employee per year in training average 24 percent higher profit margins than companies which spend less.

The American Society for Training and Development gathered data from over 2500 companies and found that those offering comprehensive training programmes have a 218 percent higher income per employee than those with less thorough training policies.

Other research has shown that every £1 invested in training returns a net benefit of £8. A trained user is said to be directly equivalent to 6 untrained users. And directly addressing the fear that trained employees will leave, research has found that 41% of employees who received no training plan to leave their current job within a year.

These statistics show that if a small business wants to be competitive and profitable, investing in staff training and development is essential.

We consider training to be a crucial part of our offering, and we are continually surprised when some clients seem not to ‘get’ it. As I said in my last blog post, training isn’t an expense, it’s an investment. A well trained user is faster, more effective and generates more revenue for your clinic. It’s a myth that software can be learned without some expert input, especially for a sophisticated application such as e-clinic.

Investment in training will repay itself many times over. A client who recently travelled from Dubai for training said this: “Having spent two days training, I now understand e-clinic is a clever and flexible system. After taking time to discuss our needs and arrange bespoke training, we are now able to operate far more cost effectively with greater productivity, and less stress on the team. This system has so much more than the online manual shows.”

We offer a range of training options including scheduled courses in the the e-clinic classroom in Yorkshire (from £250 plus VAT) and onsite training at your clinic to minimise staff downtime.

We’re not suggesting that you do anything we don’t do ourselves. At e-clinic, we care a lot about training our staff. All our developers are FileMaker certified or working towards certification and as a company, we are a fully certified Platinum member of the highly regarded FileMaker Business Alliance.

This emphasis on training means our team members are continually expanding their skill set and are always up to date with the latest technologies. It gives our clients reassurance that our software is built using best practices and with the latest technology. This gives us credibility as a company and directly improves our bottom line.

If you want to grow your business, beat your competitors and deliver the very best to your patients, perhaps it’s time to evaluate your training plan?