Steve Cook: Is your firm really invested in the future?

If you are like me, you read the article titled “How committed is your organization to training” in our ASA News section in the May issue of Supply House Times with a degree of alarm and concern.

The article outlined how our industry stacks up against other industries and companies in respect to our investment in training our employees. According to the article, our industry is outspent roughly 5 to 1 in dollar spend per employee and roughly 3 to 1 in hours spent per employee in training.

What’s clear is that we are facing staggering shortfalls in available talent, and as owners we are not taking the alarm bells seriously enough to invest in training to ensure that our companies remain relevant and viable well into the future. For too long, we have relied on our company managers to train the new employees, passing down the knowledge that we have spent a career cultivating. What we haven’t thought about is that within the next 10 years, half of our industry will retire, taking with them years of knowledge and education. The numbers cited in the article prove that. We are not taking the “canary in a coal mine” warning sign serious enough to drive us to invest in our future.

Our industry is outspent roughly 5 to 1 in training dollar spend per employee.

One of ASA’s strategic goals is to support our members’ ability to recruit, train and retain their employees. Today, our ability to identify and deliver custom and personalized training directly to an employee’s desktop or mobile device is giving our members the confidence that ASA is the right partner — both for the short-term and long-term. Through ASA’s educational programs, which have become the industry’s recognized standard, our members and their teams can choose from 230 courses in 29 training tracks, which gives them the ability to develop their talent to become the best trained and most professional in the industry.

The tools and resources to begin your company’s training program are available now! Don’t make “not knowing how to get started” an excuse for not investing in your future. Clearly, the stats should inspire all of us to take a long and serious look at the thought of remaining relevant and successful over the next decade. If you were a career seeker, which industry would attract you? Ours with minimal investment in training, or some other company or industry that demonstrates their commitment to train and advance careers? Think about it.

We can’t force you to invest in training. We can only show you what the companies you are competing with are doing. If you have made the commitment to be around for the next decade, then you need to get serious about training.

Call ASA today to see what you can do to get started down the path to train both new and seasoned employees.

Your future depends on it.