A study by researchers at the University of Iowa finds that employers could actually increase their turnover by providing more training to employees. Professor Scott Siebert, says the research counters commonly held beliefs in the business worlds. He says you assume that employees would be thankful for the training and that they would see it as a value and it would make them want to work harder and stay with the company.
But Siebert says they found another factor that shows the employees must have career opportunities within the company. Siebert says the employee wants to see their additional training leading somewhere. He says employees that don’t see a future for themselves in the company are more likely to leave, and they won’t even work as hard, because they are already thinking about the next job.
Seibert, is an associate professor of management and organizations, and says the finding doesn’t mean you have to promote everyone who gets training. Siebert says giving them another job could be another position within the organization, working in another department, working with new technology, or working on a new project, something new that isn’t necessarily moving them up the ladder.
Siebert says businesses that don’t understand this need for their employees could end up training them for someone else. And he says it could end up adding even more costs to the business. He says the hiring process and getting the new employee up to speed as you replace the person that left could cost one-and-a-half to three times that person’s yearly salary when you add up all the costs.
The survey was conducted with 246 employees at a Fortune 500 company. Siebert co-authored the study with fellow U-I researcher, Maria Kraimer, and two researchers from the University of Illinois-Chicago.