Articles & Insights
BUSINESS ACUMEN MEASURES UP FOR RECRUITING AND RETAINING TALENT
Are your organization’s learning initiatives helping it recruit and retain the best people? If not, 4 out of 5 of your peers would argue that your initiatives are ineffective.
According to Chief Learning Officer (CLO) magazine’s data, more than 80 percent of high-performing learning organizations ranked the ability to recruit and retain essential employees as a top metric for the success of their learning programs in 2017 — up 25% from 2014 and now the most agreed-upon measurement for program success. This metric has become critical because, according to the author, “the job market continues to tighten and organizations [are competing] for workers with in-demand skills.”1,2 Put simply, because the best companies are run by the best employees, the best learning programs aid recruitment and retention.
If your organization prioritizes effective recruitment and retention programs, you need business acumen training. With the understanding that comes from business acumen training, your employees will engage with your business. Your hiring representatives will seek and find the best candidates for open positions because they understand how your business works and how each role supports the business’s overall function. Your new and existing employees will engage in their roles as business acumen training teaches them to understand your organization’s business model and how they can make a difference within in. (On the flip side, disengaged employees will squander their responsibilities or exit your company, costing you resources that could have gone toward employee engagement initiatives.) Getting and keeping the best employees is only possible when employees are engaged, and business acumen training is the best way to engage talent.3
So does your organization recruit and retain essential hires effectively? Do your education initiatives increase your ability to get and keep top talent? If not, it may be time for you to think about new learning and development programs. Start now by calling Acumen Learning at 801-224-5444 to discover how customized business acumen training can transform your business into a high-performing learning organization by engaging your employees.
See “Measuring Up the Elite” in CLO’s June 2018 edition for more information on CLO’s research.
Getting and keeping the best people is vital in competitive markets. Take for example the grocery industry, which commonly skimps on recruiting and retainment in hopes to account for low 1–2 percent industry margins. Most grocers hire teenagers at minimum wage and train them as little as possible. But the bill comes due quickly: most part-time grocery employees last less than six months before packing their (paper or plastic) bags, costing grocers thousands in operational fees and productivity. In contrast, the few grocers that invest extraordinary time and money developing their employees reportedly see margins well-above the industry’s average. See Acumen Learning’s “Top of the Food Chains” case study for more information.
About Acumen Learning If employees don’t know how their companies make money, how can they be trusted to set the right priorities and implement the right initiatives? They can’t! New York Times best-selling authors Kevin Cope and Stephen M. R. Covey founded the world’s leading business acumen training organization, Acumen Learning, to teach professionals about the business of their businesses. Since 2002, more than 500,000 business leaders in more than 35 countries and 22 of the Fortune 50 have counted on Acumen Learning to drive their business results through customized trainings.