• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

‘Learning & development crucial for productivity in organisations’

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lot has been written and said about the problems plaguing the growth of organisations in Nigeria over the years, but what may not be getting so much attention is the role that learning and development of employees plays in the overall productivity of the workforce.

With organisations downsizing to accommodate the current economic realities and budgetary constraint, the unwillingness to inculcate a winning learning and development strategies as part of company goals poses danger especially with a dwindling workforce. 

Chief executive officers observe that for an organisation that not only wants to remain in business, but also grow and transform, good training and development programmes must play a role if they want to retain their staff.

Adesimbo Ukiri, CEO, Avon Health Care Limited says for every business that wants to remain relevant, competitive and grow into the future, learning and development is crucial.

Ukiri while speaking to BusinessDay by the side of a Learning and Development Leaders’ Conference organised by Workforce in Lagos opines practitioners in the area of human resources need to understand that the world is changing and there are many more platforms for delivering knowledge and skills than there used to be before.

She observes that companies have different strategies when it comes to the issue of learning and development, adding that for every company, the view to take in training and development is not just about survival today, but answering the question about the type of company they aspire to be in the future.

According to her, “For professionals who are either leading in the area of training and development in every company, they need to get more involved and more knowledgeable about what their company’s strategy is and what the skills, competencies and abilities that are required across board within their companies to enable their companies achieve its goals both the short, medium and long terms goals.

Segun Akintemi, chief executive officer, Page Financials, opines that good training and development programmes play a role in staff retention, adding that a LinkedIn research showed employees to be more productive when employers provide employees with opportunities for continuous learning.

According to him, “For an organisation that not only wants to remain in business but also grow and transform, the key to disrupting in any industry is by revolutionising their thinking “successful organizations think outside the box, but exceptional organisations think like there is no box”.

Ukiri while responding to a question on the role Ceos play in accepting the concept of learning and development says every Ceo wants to the given the assurance that for every kobo they spend, it is generating income.

“So for the human resource practitioners who lead and direct initiative programmes around learning and development, they must show the Ceo the value they hope to create first before talking about the monetary involvement”, she added.

KELECHI EWUZIE