Employer Benefits

Employers gain higher profits and a host of other  bottom-line benefits from workplace education programs.  More skillful employees save employers time and money, and improve performance and productivity. 

Other benefits include reduced error rates, a better health and safety record, reduced waste in production of goods and services and increased customer and employee retention.  These benefits translate into financial savings, productivity gains and higher profits.

On top of all that, employees with better basic skills tend to learn more and faster when they take job-specific and technical training.

Employers who support workplace education programs enjoy a more conscientious, resourceful, loyal and dependable workforce as a result.  When employees learn that high-quality work is crucial to the success of the organization and to their own job security, they often become more conscientious.  Once they become fully aware of what is expected of them and how their efforts fit into the big picture, and then gain the skills to meet those demands, the quality of their work generally rises.

Employers often gain because more skillful employees are more confident employees.  Confidence translates into creativity and initiative that, in turn, contributes to the overall performance of the organization.   

BOTTOM-LINE BENEFITS

Employees' basic skills gains yield direct and indirect bottom-line benefits for employers:

  • Increased Profitability

  • Better Health and Safety Record

  • Increased Customer Retention

  • Increased Employee Retention

  • Enhanced Corporate Image/Employer of Choice

  • Improved Recruiting

"We have invested in my employees.  They've given back. That is profitable."

- Chief Executive Officer,
Mount San Raphael Hospital, Colorado

ABILITY TO WORK SMARTER AND BETTER

When employees gain skills that allow them to work smarter and better, employers gain:

  • Increased Quality of Work

  • Increased Output of Products and Services

  • Reduced Time per Task

  • Reduced Error Rate

  • Better Health and Safety Record

  • Reduced Wastage in Production of Products and Services

"Training programs really drive continued business improvement. If you want to see improvements in multiple aspects of your business, you need good training programs. You need to improve knowledge to increase skills."

- Cast House Director,
Large Aluminum Manufacturer

NEW ATTITUDES

As employees gain basic skills, their attitudes become more positive.  As a result, they are better able to cope with change, work with managers, and continue to learn: 

  • Improved Capacity to Cope with Change in the Workplace

  • Improved Labor-Management Relations

  • Reduced Absenteeism

  • Improved Employee Morale/Self-Esteem

  • Positive Attitude to Lifelong Learning

  • Better Team Performance

"I can't go out there and tell my housekeepers how to clean a floor.  They tell me how.  We tell them: 'You are the expert, what can we do to help you do your job better.'  Workplace education has greatly facilitated that type of communication."

- Chief Executive Officer,
Small Western Hospital

WORKING WITH OTHERS

Employees who gain basic skills perform better as members of a team or in supervisory roles: 

  • Better Team Performance

  • Improved Effectiveness of Supervisory Staff

  • Improved Understanding of the Culture of the Group/Organization

"Now the guys figure out most things for themselves.  Even 5 or 6 years ago they saw that as the supervisor's job. The math has almost completely shifted from front office to the shop floor."

- Operations Manager,
Small Central-U.S.Metal Fabrication Company

BASIC SKILLS

Improved basic skills give employees greater capacity to perform for employers:    

  • Improved Capacity to Solve Problems

  • Improved Capacity to Cope with Change in the Workplace

  • Improved Capacity to Use New Technology

  • Increased Capacity to Handle On-the-Job Training

"Basic skills training gives people better coping skills and they realize that they have the ability to solve problems on their own.   Employees see what they can do to put out the brush fire before it becomes a five-alarm."

- Co-ordinator, Skills Enhancement Program,
Large Eastern Hospital

JOB-SPECIFIC SKILLS

Employees take part in more job-specific training and gain better results once they improve their foundation of basic skills:

  • More Employees Participating in Job-Specific Training

  • Improved Results in Job-Specific Training

  • Quicker Results in Job-Specific Training

"Workplace education has provided a different class of employees now.  They seek education now rather than have it forced on them.  We went from 15 percent to 60 per cent of our workforce seeking education."

- Vice-President,
Large Mid-Western Hi-Tech Company

IMPROVED HUMAN CAPITAL

Employees' skills gains make them better candidates for promotion and transfer to new jobs:

  • Higher Success Rate in Promoting Employees Within the Organization

  • Higher Success Rate in Transferring Employees Within the Organization

"The need for training came from the fact that re-engineering was paramount in our hospital at that time.  Positions and responsibilities were changing on a weekly basis.  Skills enhancement helped people to bid for or retain positions."

- Co-ordinator, Skills Enhancement Program,
Large Eastern Hospital

BROADER BENEFITS

Basic skills gains also have important positive impacts beyond the workplace, in families and communities:

  • Improvements Outside the Workplace

"The training helps people dream -- that there is another world beyond the job they have been doing.  A lot of them didn't realize how bright they were."

- Co-ordinator, Skills Enhancement Program,
Large Eastern Hospital

For problems or questions regarding this web site contact info@lincs.ed.gov.
Last updated: March 16, 2001.