Account for employee differences with training, bosses advised

Training provision should take the differences between employees into account, it has been suggested.

Following a study entitled One Size Does Not Fit All, employee engagement and retention specialist TalentDrain concluded that a flexible approach is an advantage to bosses who are keen to improve a range of worker skills.

The report, based on information about over 16,000 employees, singles out the factors important to different demographic groups when it comes to maintaining their organisational commitment.

Authors Ron Eldridge and Anthony Miles recommended that managers provide a 'shopping list' of commitment factors for workers, to ascertain the importance to individuals of salary, career progression, personal growth and work-life balance.

"These are the factors that influence whether or not people will stay with an organisation but they vary from individual to individual," observed the duo.

"Employees can then select the factors that will press the right buttons for them," they concluded.

The advice echoes the findings of a separate report, released last week, in which bosses were told that business rewards can be reaped by facilitating innovative training tailored to suit employees' particular talents.

A collaboration between the Trades Union Congress and the Confederation of British Industry, Talent not Tokenism emphasised that firms which "unlock the talents of all" benefit from higher productivity and fewer skills shortages.