Prior to the June unemployment figures next week, the Economist Intelligence Unit has released figures today from a survey studying the impact of training on improving the employment situation.

The survey of 252 business executives and public sector workers from the US and the UK was conducted on behalf of Promethean, and assesses views on the role of training in improving skills and organizational performance. Over one-half of the respondents are from the US (54%) and the remaining respondents are from the UK. Almost a quarter of the respondents (24%) are from the public sector.

Importantly, over one-fifth (22%) of those surveyed from the US say a more efficient and better trained workforce would lead to an improvement by 20% or more in profit. Employee productivity could improve by 5% or more, according to 90%. A similar proportion (85%) predicts the same for customer satisfaction.

Additional US findings are included below and the full release with the combined numbers can be found here: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-research-shows-a-more-efficient-and-skilled-workforce-would-lead-to-a-20-percent-or-more-profit-increase-2012-06-27.

If you are interested in speaking with someone from Promethean about the survey results, please contact Sam Brothers, at either 202.479.7178, or at sambrothers@dutkograyling.com.


The key findings of the survey are:

•       American employers recognize their responsibility in tackling high unemployment in their home markets. Out of the US respondents, nearly two-thirds (64%) think that their organizations should offer more training schemes and update existing ones to help job-seekers in their home markets. Nearly one-half (45%) also propose working with educational institutions to improve job-seekers’ chances at finding employment. Two-fifths (40%) think that governments ought to work with private organizations to offer training.

•       Organizations in the US see a direct co-relation between training, employee productivity and financial performance. Over one-fifth (22%) of those surveyed from the US say a more efficient and better trained workforce would lead to an improvement by 20% or more in profit. Employee productivity could improve by 5% or more, according to 90%. A similar proportion (85%) predicts the same for customer satisfaction.

•       Current training provided by employers is often inadequate. Nearly two-fifths (37%) of US respondents say that training at their organization is not good at improving innovation among employees. And just over one-quarter of US respondents think employee efficiency and productivity don’t stand to benefit from current training schemes (27% and 26% respectively).

•       Few employers are devoting more resources to training. Less than one-third of survey respondents from the US report that their employers have increased investment in training over the last two years. Considering the risks involved in not investing enough in training, it is remarkable that such a small number of employers are treating training as a priority.

•       The state of the economy should not deter organizations and individuals from investing in training. Nearly three-fifths (58%) from the US say that current economic conditions should not be an obstacle to organizations taking steps to improve their workforce. Nearly all US respondents (93%) believe that organizations should offer a multitude of in-house and external training programmers to their employees. However, they don’t think they should be alone in their efforts: over four-fifths (82%) believe employees ought to privately pursue beneficial training at their own expense.

•       Employers in the US expect workers and jobseekers to take the lead in improving their skills. For 79% of US survey respondents, jobseekers should be doing more to develop their skills. Nearly two-thirds (64%) think local, large businesses and educational institutions need to increase efforts to advance workers and jobseekers’ abilities over the next two years. For over three-fifths (62%) of US employers this is also true of central governments.

•       One size fits all does not work with training and skills development. To become more attractive in the job-market, workers from different age groups should have different goals, according to US survey respondents. For the young (16-24-year-olds), investing in further education should be the top priority is the view of a significant number of executives (46%). One-half say that those aged between 25 and 50 needs to make sure they have a broad range of up to date skills that can help them perform better. Finally, over one-half (53%) think more mature workers (51-75 year olds) should become adaptable and flexible team players.