BMF welcome training report

The Builders Merchants Federation has welcomed a report by Cranfield School of Management which finds that investment in training is more effective than shopping around for talent and saves employers money.

The report, Nurturing Talent, compares the impact of recruiting externally with that of developing employees and some 75% of the 1,189 companies involved believed that training their own staff was more beneficial to their business than recruiting people from outside.

Half the companies discovered that training staff made them more likely to stay. One-third found it increased staff motivation, and almost half actually saved money in the process.

Emma Parry, senior research fellow at Cranfield, who wrote the report, said that staff are more likely to stay if they are being developed. “They are more committed and are more likely to go the extra mile if they feel the company is helping them to expand their skills,” she said.

“Sometimes, when budgets get tight, companies start to look at what they can save money on. But to be honest, cutting training is a false economy.”

The BMF is the major provider of training services for the merchant industry. Managing director Chris Pateman told buildersmerchantsjournal.net: “We at the BMF have seen a steady and growing stream of training investment from our merchant and supplier members this year, as the industry has concentrated on getting the maximum productivity from its most valuable asset – its staff. Now it seems as though professional researchers have discovered what the merchant trade’s known for years: when times get tough, well trained and motivated staff are the vital magic ingredient to getting the most of what business is out there. And when times improve, companies who have invested in their staff are ready to hit the ground running.”

Details on BMF training is available via their website, www.bmf.org.uk