Appetite for training

What does training look like in UK organisations? Is training prioritised by employers, and is it having the desired impact on employee outcomes? We will look at a couple of recent surveys to highlight this issue.

The UK Commission for Employment and Skills survey provides a useful summary of training in the UK workplace (UKCES 2014).

• 86% of employers reported that they had a fully proficient workforce, with 14% reporting a skills gap
• 66% of employers had funded or arranged training or development for their staff over the previous 12 months
• The total number of training days provided in the previous 12 months rose to 118m days in 2015, compared to 113m in 2013 and 115m in 2011
• Total employer expenditure on training increased by 6% between 2013 and 2015, from £43.0bn to £45.4bn

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is an excellent source of up-to-date research about the world of work and how current trends are impacting upon the lives of UK employees. In the Knowledge Hub area of their website, you will find a wealth of articles, research and reports covering a wide range of topics.

The learning and development survey report ran from 1998 to 2015 and examined current practices and trends within learning and development, offering a useful overview of what learning and training looks like now.

Your task

Study this learning and development infographic from the CIPD which communicates their main findings.

• What surprises you the most and why?
• What do you think should be top priority for a learning and development department aiming to make training more effective?

We will now look at the overall findings from this report, first establishing the current trends in training approaches and then moving on to observe trends in the assessment of training.

Reference

_{UKCES (2014) ‘Employer Skills Survey 2015’ [online]. available from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukces-employer-skills-survey-2015-uk-report [25 July 2019]}