Sitel Group’s Future of Work Report Reveals US Employees Believe the Employee Experience Affects the Customer Experience, Avoid Asking for Training

Three in 10 employees admit they have avoided asking their employer for training and almost half believe their employer penalizes them for not having certain skills

Almost one-third of employees (30%) admit they have avoided asking their employer for training on a specific topic or activity because they thought he/she may be concerned they didn’t know about the topic or how to complete an activity. What’s more, almost half (46%) of employees believe their employer penalizes them for not having certain skills on the job. This is according to Sitel Group‘s 2019 Future of Work and Employee Learning report, which analyzes US employee perceptions of the future of work and employee learning. The report also uncovers themes related to hiring, recruiting, learning and development, skills gap and how it all affects the employee experience (EX) and the customer experience (CX).

Learning and development in the workplace is crucial, but employees say managers don’t deem it a priority. In fact, the report revealed that when it comes to attending workplace training, U.S. employees don’t feel supported as the majority (26%) admit they have not attended, participated in or completed training in the past because their manager didn’t encourage them to attend/they felt their manager didn’t think it was important.

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“The Future of Work and Employee Learning report revealed extremely eye-opening statistics about how employees view and feel about learning and development in their workplace,” said Mike Small, CEO – Americas, Sitel Group. “What’s most critical for employers to understand is how L&D impacts the employee experience and how that translates to impacting the customer experience. A good employee training program will not only help you retain and attract top talent, it will absolutely affect your organization’s ability to provide optimal experiences for your customers.”

Understanding that L&D has a direct effect on the EX is crucial for organizations looking to improve their CX. In fact, nearly all U.S. employees (95%) think the EX affects the CX. What’s more, employee training influences both EX and CX as 93% of employees who receive regular, on-the-job training say they deliver better CX, customer service and overall care to clients.

“With today’s workforce being more diverse than ever, learning and training styles are ever-changing,” said Aaron Schwarzberg, Chief Operating Officer, Learning Tribes USA. “Companies looking to improve EX, with the intended outcome of improving CX, should continually optimize their L&D program to meet the numerous and evolving needs of their employees.”

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Additional findings from the report show that:

If you train them, they will stay

• While more than half (60%) of employees believe their employer takes the time to get to know them and accurately understands their skills gap and the training areas most beneficial to helping them advance in their role, nearly two in five (35%) employees say their employer does not.
• That lack of skills gap understanding can lead to turnover as more than one-third of employees (37%) say they would leave their current job/employer if they were not offered training to learn new skills.
• Nearly eight in 10 employees (79%) say when searching for a job, it is important to them that the employer offers a formal training program to their employees.
• Among employees, men (81%) are more likely than women (77%) to say a formal training program offered to employees is important when searching for a job.

On-the-job training is wanted

• When asked what kind of training they find to be the most effective in helping them perform well in their job, more than eight in 10 employees (83%) say on-the-job training is the most effective.
• However, there are differences in training preferences among different generations of the workforce. Baby boomers (79%) are the least likely to say on-the-job training is the most valuable in helping them to do their job effectively and deliver great performance, compared to millennials (83%) and Gen Zs (84%).
• In fact, one in 10 baby boomers (11%) say self-paced training is most effective in helping them do their job most effectively and deliver great performance, compared to 9% of millennials and Gen Zs.

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