9th September 2014: While many small to medium sized businesses were forced to cut back on staff development and training during the recession, new research* released today from breatheHR and OnePoll reveals that as the UK economy returns to growth, SMEs are putting staff training and development back on the agenda.
The Personal Development in the Workplace Study 2014, which contrasts results with like-for-like data from 2013, finds that an increasing number of employees now feel that their employer is taking their personal development seriously, with 58 per cent responding positively compared with just 52 per cent twelve months ago.
This is supported by fact that the number of employees being provided with structured personal development plans has also increased, up 8 per cent year on year to 42 per cent.
In addition, employees are also discussing their personal development more frequently with their employer (see full research for three, six and twelve month increases), while those claiming that they never discuss development and training down 5 per cent to 23 per cent.
While these figures are clearly welcome news, more than half (58 per cent) of all SME workers currently aren’t provided with any personal development or training initiatives, something which can only have a negative effect on their long term morale and productivity.
Men leapfrog women as the most engaged
Compared with their female counterparts, the number of men who feel that their personal development is important to their employer has risen 11 per cent year on year to 61 per cent, while only 54 per cent of women feel the same. In addition, 42 per cent of men now have a personal
development plan compared with only 39 per cent of women.
Men are also discussing their personal development more frequently (see full research for breakdown).
South East back in line with the rest of the UK while South West suffers
The regional picture also reveals some interesting trends. Where last year’s research found London and the South East to be way out of step with the rest of the UK, 59 per cent of employees in the region now feel engaged at work (agreeing that their personal development is taken seriously), while 50 per cent have personal development plans, figures that are above the national average.
Wales tops the table with 68 per cent of employees feeling that their personal development is taken seriously by their boss, while 57 per cent have personal development plans.
It’s a different story in the South West which performed least well. In this region more than half (55 per cent) of those surveyed felt their employer didn’t take their development seriously with only 25 per cent having any form of development plan.
Jonathon Richards, CEO, breatheHR, commented on the study: “While employers are beginning to invest time and resource into providing structured personal development there is clearly still a huge room for improvement.
“Providing staff with a simple development plan doesn’t need to be overly time consuming or costly and can have a massive impact on productivity, morale and ultimately the success of the business.”
* The research was commissioned by breatheHR and run by One Poll in the summer of 2014, with respondents coming from small businesses (1-250 employees) across the UK
Kaynak : 