I came across a Richard Branson quote the other day that really struck a chord, it was:

“Train people well enough so they can leave, treat them well enough so they don't want to.”

It struck a real chord with me as time and again the issue of  dynamics training comes up in the Dynamics partner world. NAV, AX and CRM are evolving at an ever more rapid pace which means that everyone involved in the industry needs to keep up if they want any chance of future success.

The pain of training

For employers, the thought of bringing on a new employee and almost immediately ‘losing’ them to training feels like lost money as they want candidates to hit the ground running.  Couple that with the fact that there is only a finite number of developers available and you can understand their fear that putting people through costly courses can result in them taking their new found skills elsewhere. Sometimes employers' fears are realised, and the developer they invested in decides to spread their wings. However, to skimp on training is truly a false economy (and I would argue that a developer rarely leaves because they have been trained..).

Treat ‘em mean, keep ‘em keen?

Whilst some businesses may view training as a luxury, any successful employer takes training seriously enough to budget for it.  Investing in the skills of your people is critical to staff retention and crucial to customer satisfaction so why do some companies struggle with it?

An image problem

I think training has an image problem as for many it brings to mind grey meeting rooms and hours of presentations with a short break for sandwiches that have started to curl at the edges. To counter this, I propose we replace the word training with learning (ok, going on a ‘learning course’ doesn’t entirely make sense but hopefully you get what I mean).  We are curious by nature and to not encourage a learning environment is to view your business as little more than a sausage machine: crank the handle and the same thing pops out over and over again. The world of Dynamics is an exciting, creative, innovative place – make sure you extend this to investing in your people – the more we learn, the more successful we’ll be. At Conspicuous we are expert in recruiting and retaining some of the best talent in the industry.  If you’re a Dynamics partner that is committed to learning - or a candidate with a thirst for knowledge and a drive for Dynamics - get in touch.