There are many factors at play when we think about what is affecting our industry and inducing the rapid rate of change we are all now very familiar with. We see every day how factors such as globalisation, cross-border supply chain networks, regulatory compliance, stakeholder expectations, and consumer needs (just to name a few) are shaping our industry and changing the way we work.
This ever-changing landscape might have you asking, how do BRCGS certificated organisations keep up? The key to this lies with your employees – their skills to adapt, maintain quality and enhance your processes during change. Attracting and retaining talent will ensure you are developing the leaders you need to take your business into a sustainable future. Here, we explore this topic in more detail.
A recent article by Forbes identified that talent attraction and retention is increasingly becoming a critical business risk. This is because it is often the case where growth strategies are designed to embrace new technology and ways of working to keep pace with the rate of change, but the success and return on investment is limited because it relies upon skills that have not been developed within the workforce. This issue is reinforced in the latest LinkedIn Workplace Learning report, which found that the skillset required from their member base for the same role has changed by 25% since 2015, and at this pace it is likely to reach 40% by 2025. So, it will come as no surprise that, according to Glint Data, learning and development opportunities are the strongest driver of work culture for employees, and this has become even more important to employees in a post-pandemic world where physical presence has been, to differing extents, stripped away.
To add some further context to the challenges we are facing in the industry today:
- The 2021 Work Trend Index shows that 41% of the workforce is considering leaving their employer this year.
- The demand for Food and Product Safety talent is exceeding current supply leading to an increasingly competitive market (GFSI)
- Nearly 80% of executives rated Employee Experience as important but only 22% said their companies are excellent at building a differentiated Employee Experience
- The costs of recruiting and onboarding new employees is increasing - new benchmarking data from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) suggest the average cost per hire was nearly $4,700.
This all leads to the point that any business willing to invest in the learning and development of their people is more likely to keep pace with industry change. Training has been known to improve staff satisfaction and retention. The development opportunity makes employees feel valued as the business has invested in their future at the company, and as a result, they are more likely to be loyal because of these opportunities. An organisational commitment to learning and development will generate highly qualified expert employees, who are motivated and more likely to recommend you as an employer. On the flip side of this, an employer who invests in the learning and development of staff will be very attractive to future employees and ensure the business stands out from the competition in the current employee-led market (https://pmjobs.cipd.co.uk/article/how-to-attract-and-retain-the-best-talent).
There are also other commercial gains that can be seen from investment in employee learning. Recent research from Gartner found that organisations whose employees are satisfied with their employee experience are…
- 45% more likely to meet customer satisfaction goals
- 89% more likely to meet innovation goals
- 56% more likely to meet reputation goals
Providing your employees with greater purpose and enhanced skills will inevitably increase productivity and the pace of organizational knowledge transfer that will benefit the wider business. Newly trained employees will bring their new skills and ideas back to the workplace, apply it to their practices and share their learning with their colleagues.
When it comes to staff training and development in our industry, one solution for BRCGS certificated sites is the BRCGS Professional Programme. It is designed specifically to upskill employees in the core competencies that are required for certificated sites to develop the leaders of the future. The programme provides a clear path of development which makes it easy to implement, and it is very cost effective as you can train whole teams/groups at one time (virtually or at your site) with our in-house training options. The content can also be tailored to ensure the learning experience meets the the unique goals of your business. From a personal perspective, all staff who are part of the programme will be individually awarded BRCGS Professional globally-recognised status, and with this comes a range of benefits to help them to stay updated and continue their development.
If this is something you are considering for your business, please get in touch with the BRCGS Professional Team who would love to have a discussion about the options and what we can do for your business.