Managing Director of the Knowsley Chamber of Commerce Lesley Martin-Wright says investing in training can lay the groundwork for stronger recovery
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I spoke to an audience of young people at St Hilda’s School in Liverpool. As I stared at the hundreds of fresh, impatient faces staring at me, my mind returned to my teenage years when I participated in The Duke of Edinburgh’s awards program and received the Silver Medal.
When I heard about the Duke’s passing a few days ago at the age of 99, I was brought back to those days once again. I have kept the libretto and other items from this period. I have lived and worked all over the world but have not forgotten the lessons of resilience and stepping out of your comfort zone that this process taught me.
And since then, I have never stopped learning, I have never missed the chance to live new experiences and acquire new skills. It taught me that few things are more valuable than training and personal development. And the potential gains for business are enormous.
In recent days, we’ve seen an acceleration in our emergence of what we all hope will be the final lockdown. We can finally get down to repairing our struggling economy. Businesses in Knowsley and the City of Liverpool area face challenges in the coming months, but also have the opportunity to change, reinvent themselves and enter a new era of growth.
READ MORE: Never Better Time to Invest in Learning
A few years ago, I attended an event where I met Steve Smith, the former Olympic high jumper from Merseyside who now runs a successful Prescot-based business called Raise the Bar. It focuses on the development of leadership and management.
Steve gave me a phrase that we still use in the bedroom. This applies to any new idea or decision made by a business. And it is “is he going to move the boat forward?”. Will what we are doing now help us achieve our goals?
And I think, as we enter this recovery phase, that it is useful to remind SMEs of the value of training and, in particular, of apprenticeship. With many organizations struggling with pressing cash flow issues, training and development may have slipped down the priority list.
It goes back to the old adage that people are so often a company’s most valuable asset. In my role as Managing Director of Knowsley Chamber, the members I have seen enjoy periods of growth are those who invest in staff training and development. It is not a coincidence.
Not only does training provide your business with the skills it needs to adapt and grow, it also helps your team feel like they are an integral part of that success. They will feel valued and believe that they will play a role in the future direction of your business.
Much of the value of any business is based on the skills of its team. This offers a big advantage to owner-managers when it comes to succession planning. At some point, they may want to realize the value of the businesses they have built. An organization with a strong skill set will be much more salable.
It is also a big plus for your existing and potential customers. They will see you as a forward-thinking and adaptable organization. It says a lot about your approach and your philosophy.
The big concern for companies, of course, is that they perceive training as expensive. Certainly, training requires an investment, both in terms of time, money and commitment. But there is help available here in the city area.
Skills for Growth is a program run as part of the Growth Platform. Through the City Area Skills Brokerage service, you can access free advice and support to identify your training needs and, once these goals are set, financial support is available to help fund the training. .
There is also a lot of help and support available when it comes to learning. The emphasis is of course on apprenticeships for young people aged 16 to 24. Some start at a high level and offer a real alternative to college. But apprenticeship has no upper age limit. They can be a fantastic way to deliver training in a cost effective manner for staff of all ages.
Here in the House, we use Sysco to deliver our apprenticeship training and they do an amazing job and have an impressive delivery track record. Knowsley Council also has a program in which they will help cover the salary of an apprentice. We had two people in the House as part of this program and they continued to play great roles.
With the additional government support now available, there has never been a better time to consider apprenticeship as a way to build the skills of your business or organization. I think that the apprenticeship tax system could be improved. It is seen by some companies as just an additional tax.
Larger companies can offer small businesses in their supply chain access to their apprenticeship tax funds. This process is not as straightforward as it could be, but if you contact us here in the House, we can help.
My time on The Duke of Edinburgh’s program has been so invaluable and has shown me why training and development is so important. Of course, the specific skills you acquire relevant to your job and the needs of the business are of crucial importance. But it can also be much more than that.
I found myself immersed in a whole new experience (I also found myself literally immersed when I went kayaking in the Lake District). It was a game changer for me. When you put yourself in a different environment during the training periods, you learn more about yourself, what you are truly capable of, and you learn from others.
So I would say to business owners – training doesn’t have to be expensive and as we enter the new fiscal year and a period of recovery, the dividends you could recoup by investing in your team could provide extraordinary benefits. in months and years. forward.
