Three Fundamental Reasons You Should have an IT Training Plan

What thought have you given to your own career development? You spend almost half of your waking hours in your workplace, so you owe it to yourself to ensure you make the most of that time, by being engaged, growing and satisfied. Training plays an important part in creating a successful and enjoyable career, so here I provide you with 3 fundamental reasons why you should start preparing your IT training plan:
1. Developing your capability increases your engagement and satisfaction
Recently more than 3,500 New Zealanders participated in the 2013 Kelly Global Workforce Index™. The findings showed that training improves the level of engagement from staff. And as further shown by the The Great New Zealand Employment Survey 2013, conducted by Clarian HR with Massey University, work engagement is one of the most influential factors in job satisfaction. We all want a work environment where we are happy and engaged, and capability development is an important step help achieving this.

2. Training gives you stability
According to Jane Parker, from the Massey University School of Management, the average employee turnover rate in New Zealand is high at 11 to 20 per cent. Getting a new job can often be a hassle and upheaval for you, and can be expensive and unproductive for your employer. Training can be a valuable investment for your employer to give you the growth and skills to be productive and satisfied in your role, providing career advancement with a stable employer.

3. Training improves your performance
People who perform and are recognised as performing are happier in their work and have better opportunities to grow and succeed in their careers. This is where you want to be. Training along with on-the-job development can provide the knowledge, skills and techniques you require to perform and deliver in your organisation, allowing you to be recognised as a contributor to the success of your team and organisation.

Your value pitch
I believe that a workforce that is both highly enabled (can do the job) and engaged (want to do the job) will outperform those that lack enablement or engagement. This is what your employer wants.

So, pulling this all together, here’s the beginning of your pitch to your employer about why they should be investing in your training:

A more knowledgeable you equals:

• a more engaged you
• a more satisfied you
• a more stable you
• a higher performing you

In a future post I will show you how to create your training plan.

About Mindi Clews
Mindi is Equinox IT's Manager, Learning Services. She facilitates training and capability development activities at Equinox IT, both for our own teams and people as well as those of our clients. Mindi has a background in training, capability development and organisational performance.