Study: Training improves employee retention

It’s no secret that recruiting and retaining good employees poses a bigger challenge than ever in many sectors of the economy. So employers obviously want to hang on to their best people as long as they can.

One way of doing that, according to a wide-ranging research study, is offering your people training and professional development opportunities. The research showed a clear correlation between people staying with their employers and the degree to which they were able to expand their capabilities through learning initiatives.

The research, led by a professor at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, consisted of a review of 27 previous studies from around the world on employee training and development.

Lower turnover

Among key points to emerge from the review, training and development were associated with:

• increased intention to stay in a job
• decreased intention to leave a job
• a lower rate of job change
• a lower rate of retirement, and
• faster return to work after health-related absences.

The review indicated that higher job satisfaction and commitment arising from opportunities to learn and grow influenced the lower turnover intentions. These opportunities also led to greater confidence and a sense of coherence, which in turn fostered intentions to stay with the job.

Conversely, a lack of training and development was shown to fuel employees’ intention to look elsewhere. In one study, for example, 46% of employees who received training or were sent on external study assignments acknowledged thinking about leaving their jobs, while half again as many — 68% — of those who didn’t get these opportunities had such thoughts.

Worldwide range

The studies reviewed were mainly of health care employees, with a handful of studies covering other industries. The research was conducted over a period of two decades through 2022, and came from the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

The authors of the review defined training and development as including short courses and training programs, conferences, workshops, and seminars. They said among the beneficial outcomes were increased professional knowledge, networking and collaboration, attitudinal change, and enhanced skills and performance.

This blog entry is based on the following research article: Shiri, R. et al. (2023) The Role of Continuing Professional Training or Development in Maintaining Current Employment: A Systematic Review. Healthcare, 11, 2900.