Everyday we’re reading more and more shocking stories of companies laying off staff and industries nose-diving, the banking and construction sectors are prime examples. Cut-backs may be essential everywhere, yet companies still need to remain competitive to ensure survival, and where they are operating with a somewhat skeleton workforce this can prove a problem in itself. Employees, as well as carrying out their own work, are being asked to step into the shoes of a redundant colleague and take on tasks and jobs that lie outside of their capabilities and experience.

So what are companies doing to maximise the abilities, skills and output of these employees? Doing what some might say is not a priority when facing such drastic cash flow problems, investing in training. The core employees that are keeping companies running, competing and winning today, now need to be skilled to carry out a wider range of activities. This investment may be hard fought for with the finance teams who are keeping the purse strings tightly double-knotted, however the pay off is evident very quickly. Companies that realise this have the edge over those who are crossing fingers and winging it, throwing employees into the deep end without a life vest and expecting them to keep the company afloat.

At ThirdForce, we are seeing an increasing interest in our elearning solutions, particularly in areas such as business & professional development and compliancy. If a company has to cut back on a full salary, but takes a small percentage of that cutback to invest in a current employee the knock-on effect of that redundancy can be greatly reduced.

The survivors of this recession will be employers that maximise the resources they have cleverly and innovatively. Training shouldn’t be simply taken off the agenda it should be explored, looking at how it can be facilitated more cost effectively with the biggest impact to the output of employees.