How Not to Lose Staff… Train Them?

For years, I had the wrong mindset about training staff.
Like a lot of small business owners, I used to think:

• “If I train them, they’ll just leave.”

• “If I train them, I’ll have to pay them more.”

Back then, it felt like a lose–lose situation. Why should I spend time and money on training if it only made my staff more expensive or more attractive to competitors?

Looking back now, I cringe. That way of thinking cost me more good people than I care to admit.

The Wake-Up Call

In my early days running an IT company, my engineers constantly asked to go on Microsoft training courses. Not the cheap, do-it-yourself ones — the proper in-classroom, during-work-hours kind. My answer was usually no unless we absolutely had to.

My reasoning was simple:

• I worked 70+ hours a week and did my learning in my own time — so why couldn’t they?

• If I paid for their training, I’d then have to increase their salaries.

In my head, training was an expense. What I failed to see was the investment.

Fast forward years later, sitting on a 10-day training course myself, I realised how wrong I’d been. Almost everyone else on that course was planning to leave their current job. Why? Because they felt undervalued, stuck, and denied opportunities to grow.

That’s when it hit me — that’s exactly how many of my own employees must have felt.

The True Cost of Not Training

Replacing staff is expensive. Recruitment fees, onboarding, disruption, loss of knowledge — it adds up fast. Especially for skilled people.

Imagine if, instead of spending thousands replacing unhappy employees, we invested a fraction of that in developing the ones we already had?

Training isn’t just about skills — it’s about culture, engagement, and retention.

The Benefits of Training

Obvious wins:

• Better quality work

• Happier customers

• Higher profitability

• New ideas and fresh thinking

Less obvious, but even more important:

• Motivated, loyal staff

• A stronger, more productive culture

• Better retention and teamwork

• A reputation as an employer people want to stay with

Training Doesn’t Have to Cost the Earth

If your budget’s tight, get creative:

• Buy your team relevant books and ask them to share what they learned.

• Give 1–2 hours a week for online learning (FutureLearn, YouTube, podcasts).

• Start peer mentoring — let staff coach each other.

Small steps build momentum, and the return is huge.

Final Thought

There’s an old advert that said: “Instead of looking for new customers, why not look after your existing ones better?”

The same goes for staff.
Look after them. Invest in them. Train them.

Because when everyone gets better, everyone gets better.

— Mark Matthews