The Importance of Workplace Training and Development

At Babel, we value training very highly and understand how important it is to continue developing professional and personal skills, no matter how senior or junior a member of staff may be. So highly in fact, that it is at the top of our agenda when it comes to our employee benefits.

In 2021, Babel spent a significant amount of time and money specifically on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for its employees. So much so, Babel was awarded the number one spot for the 2022 PRCA’s Continuous Professional Development points review for the second year running, and four of the team were top-five scorers globally!

But why is Babel so committed to providing both time and financial resources for our training programmes? If you are a professional with experience, is ongoing training necessary? And who benefits?

Training, upskilling, or continuous professional development – whatever you want to call it, is so important in a workplace. This is especially true in a workplace that covers such a diverse range of industries and requires a significant number of different skill sets, like PR. A  good CPD programme has a positive effect on three different levels of a business:

• The organisation –  Undertaking training sessions, even if it is on a topic someone already knows, is likely to increase productivity. That is because even if you have knowledge or understanding of a topic, you will still benefit from hearing a new perspective or way of delivering the subject – it can often provide a new way of thinking or doing. As a consequence, the training may also improve work quality and equip individuals with new and better methodologies, benefiting the organisation in the long run.

• The team – Training improves team functionality by bringing everyone onto the same page. A bespoke training programme can also help prevent and address skills gaps within a team. When you have a team with differing experience and knowledge levels, there can often be a discrepancy in understanding – something which training can address.

• The individual – Investment in training has been proven to reduce employee turnover and improve employee engagement. Not only does training increase an employee’s sense of job security, but it also increases staff motivation. Staff that feel invested in and motivated are infinitely more likely to stick around and enjoy their work.

In addition to specialist training with the PRCA and other dedicated training businesses, Babel also runs an internal training programme (our weekly ‘Lunch & Learns’ are run by the Babel team) and offers bespoke, tailored training in almost any area, to any team member.

Our training programmes are designed in collaboration with each team member, and their line manager, to promote creativity and create an entrepreneurial environment in which the team can understand and deliver against each client’s challenges. Flexibility is also important, so we offer private coaching, a plethora of webinars and virtual training options and educational events. Finally, its important that new team members are focused on even more, so Babel has a bespoke Training Academy to bring new recruits up to speed on business areas, campaign successes and challenges, PR and business tools.

So, congratulations yet again to everyone at Babel for another brilliant year of studying and skills development! And if you’d like to find out about the training and opportunities open to you at our agency, please get in touch – we are always on the lookout for new talent.