Friday, April 19, 2024
Uncategorized

Learn Why Training During an Economic Downturn Can Help You Grow

(provided by Alberta Labour)

The current economy is tough for many employers and your workers. Retaining and enhancing the skills of your current employees now is an important step to take so you’re ready to hit the ground running when the economy improves. Here are some reasons why the right time to train is now:

Productivity

  • New training programs can help your employees learn new and more efficient ways to do business and improved operations means lowering costs for your company.

Retaining talent

  • Training programs can increase employee morale.  Employees appreciate that their employer is striving for a better work environment and investing in them.  It’s an effective counterattack to low morale, common during a recession when employees worry most about job security. By investing in their skills, it can help them envision a long future with your company.
  • Employees are motivated and engaged when they can see a career path for their continued growth and development.

Prepare for the future (when the economy recovers)

  • Training helps ensure workers have the required skills to help the company grow.
  • Well-trained workers are able to pass on their knowledge to new hires. This allows your staff to act as mentors and teachers to the new hires. This can help reduce the on-boarding process and reduce overall training costs.
  • The Baby Boom generation is in the process of retiring and will take a vast amount of knowledge and experience with them. Training younger employees now will help you to fill this knowledge gap, and plan for the future.

How does the Government of Alberta help?

The Canada-Alberta Job Grant (CAJG) is a joint funding program with the Government of Canada, where employers and government share the cost of training employees to increase their knowledge and skills. The CAJG is an employer-driven training program. This means that employers decide on who gets training and what type of training may be needed. Employers are required to use a third-party training provider to deliver the training.

Under the CAJG, employers cover one third of direct training costs, while the government contributes two thirds, up to a maximum of $10,000 per trainee.

Learn more about the CAJG and apply now!