What does training say about an organisation?

I was talking yesterday to a friend who has just moved jobs to a different division in her organisation. She was telling me how 'brilliant' the organisation was in providing a number of training opportunities and courses to upgrade her knowledge and skill sets.

It set me thinking back to how other friends and colleagues have talked about their employers with regard to training they provide - almost all who had active training programmes were thought well of by their staff. Contrast that with; 'Huh, never get our bosses to pay for me to go on a course'.

When I was involved in front line advertising there was regional newspaper network that was renowned for the quality of training it gave its staff, particularly sales staff. This did wonders for the company's reputation - of course many of these well trained staff moved on in time to take topline jobs elsewhere, but the company's reputation for training meant it had little problem recruiting quality replacements.

Being an organisation with a sound training policy does far more than just enhance your skills base - it enhances your standing, reputation and values, and says much about your company.