A well respected Consultant, who works with an impressive list of US companies, Dr. Edward Gordon, spoke at the Future Force Summit in Halton. Here is a summary of his important points:
“There’s good evidence that the gap between current skill levels and those needed to maintain business competitiveness can be addressed effectively through workplace education.
In a Conference Board study, 98% of employers surveyed reported a significant payoff to both employees and the organization from such programs. Here are some of the benefits they reported:
Increased quality of work 82%
Improved capacity to cope with change in the workplace: 75%
Improved capacity to use new technology: 73%
Improved management-management relations: 65%
Increased output of products and services: 65%
Increased profitability: 56%
Dr. Gordon concluded that:
“The foundation of any country’s economy in the 21st Century will be a smarter workforce. Investing in human capital is what a knowledge economy is all about. Those businesses that make this investment will survive and thrive. Those that don’t will fail to compete and disappear.”