It seems illogical, but training is definitely an area of business where you spend more to earn more back. But how? Here are three ways that prioritising training (and increasing whatever budget you have allocated to it, which usually isn't enough) can actually save you money in the long run.

Internal staff are cheaper

You may think that if a position pays 25 thousand a year, then it's the same cost to you whether you recruit internally or not - after all, you have to pay the new employee the same. That's not true. Internally sourced staff are much cheaper. For a start, any money you spend on an internal recruitment drive is far cheaper than the excessive costly advertising that is mandatory to an external one. If your new starter isn't new to the company, then you save time and money by avoiding lots of additional details such as them having a tour of the building or an introduction to policies of the company, and so on.

Also, don't forget that people want to go for promotions and to better themselves - if people see a new manager or new staff member come in above them instead of having the chance to elevate themselves to the role, then they are going to lose morale.

You can cover illness and leave better

If you keep up to date with your staff training, then other members of staff can be pulled in to complete a project at short notice because they have the same skills and knowledge required of the job. If you had to bring in a consultant on a temporary basis, it would cost you a lot more. Absence through sickness costs businesses big amounts of money year on year - if you have enough trained up staff around, you can fill the gap and keep that role working rather than letting a project fall behind. The same goes for when you grant mandatory leave for your team members - if they are trained up, other members of the team can take things forward.

Trained staff means less turnover

Staff turnover costs companies huge amounts of money for reasons linked to the above. Every time someone leaves their job through non career progression (in other words, not getting better jobs, possibly from lack of training), then it's a huge expense to fill that role again - especially if you find yourself doing it a lot in any one financial year. Training has knock-on effects such as boosting morale and self-worth, which in turn brings down sickness and absence because of work-related stress.

These are just a few reasons that show that in the longer term, training your staff - and that's having a training schedule and constant assessment of how trained people are - can result in savings for your company. Training is often put on the back burners of budgets as an expense only deemed necessary when someone asks for it, but that's not true - train up your workforce and it will pay you back in many other ways.