Why training and development should be part of your employer branding strategy

At Ambitions Travel Recruitment, we offer FREE eLearning essential soft skills courses, created by travel industry experts and designed for new employees, experienced staff and managers alike. Take a look at what we have on offer here, and read on to find out why and how learning platforms like this can actually contribute towards your employer branding.

What is an employer branding strategy?

We discussed the importance of employer branding in our ‘How much of your recruitment comes from repeat and referral?’ blog – head over to the article for more information on the subject. 

In a nutshell, employer branding refers to the process of creating a favourable perception of your organisation as an employer, both among current employees and potential candidates. Employers can harness employer branding to showcase company culture, values and the work environment to attract and retain top talent. 

A strong employer brand can help a company stand out in a competitive job market, increase employee satisfaction, engagement and loyalty, and ultimately lead to better business performance.

How does employer branding relate to training and development? 

Often overlooked is the fact that many employees place a high value on essential skills training and development at work. The travel industry is great at providing destination and product training but how about 'how to sell', 'great customer service', 'time management', etc?

A survey published in October 2019 by Harvard Business Publishing Corporate Learning demonstrated a direct correlation between employee learning opportunities, higher employee retention rates and job satisfaction. 

The study found that:

• Just 20% of employees would recommend their company’s learning and development programmes, compared to 50% who would not
• More than 55% of employees consider opportunities for career growth more important than salary
• Around 21% of employees would be three times more likely to leave their jobs if the training offered was not meeting their needs 

When organisations invest in soft skills training, they demonstrate a commitment to the professional development of their employees. Not only does this increase employee loyalty and satisfaction but it also decreases the time spent on recruitment (and basic training). As a result, the higher retention rate allows you to focus on growing your business and improving employee branding in other areas.

Furthermore, your employees become advocates for your business, improving your reputation and contributing to a positive employer brand.

How can I improve my employee branding via training and development? 

We’ve previously discussed the importance of exit interviews, and this is a good place to start when you’re looking at improving your training offer. Find out if your employees are citing a lack of training and development opportunities as part of their reason for leaving, and if so, specifically what they would change. It’s also a good idea to gather data from current staff. Use anonymous surveys to find out what kind of training and opportunities they want. 

Once you have the data, you can then start taking some actions towards improving your training offerings and your employer brand. For example:

• Develop and implement training and development programmes that align with your business values
• Establish a culture of everyday learning
• Develop a solid onboarding programme, giving new employees the best chance possible to succeed
• Use internal communication channels to showcase the success stories of employees who have benefited from training and development programmes
• Provide incentives or rewards for employees who complete training
• Share employee success stories on external channels

Soft skills training 

Many training programmes in the travel industry focus on hard skills like GDS know-how or product knowledge  – which are, of course, important and often crucial to the employee’s ability to do their job. However, soft skills are often overlooked, with managers often assuming that the employee already has them or will ‘pick them up as they go along’. 

This is a recipe for frustration and dissatisfaction for everyone involved. Training out soft skills, such as complaint handling, sales skills, and stress management, needn’t be a resource-heavy venture. At Ambitions Travel Recruitment, our soft skills courses cover everything your employee needs to know for a successful career in travel. They’re FREE and can be completed online at your employee’s leisure. 

Investing in learning and development is a surefire way to create a solid employer brand – and as a result, a successful, sustainable business that everyone wants to work for.