No matter what the business, or what industry it is in, employee training is one of the activities that will have the most dramatic impact on individual performance, group results and the company's bottom line. Training is also a measurable activity, with a variety of ways to assess its ability to strengthen morale, increase productivity and reduce waste and inefficiency.

In the specific area of Information Technology (IT) and IT training, improvements can be seen in both the specialized IT workforce as well as other, non-specialist employees. To the degree that a specific employee's job description involves functions that relate to the company's overall IT structure, that employee will benefit from training as well. The amount of IT training, then, ranges from "some" to "total," the latter being the province of a firm's IT manager and staff.

Productivity during and after employee IT training

There is a growing body of research indicating that productivity will increase even while the training is taking place. By the end of a training program, employees can be up to almost two-and-one-half times more productive than their untrained colleagues working in the same capacity. The key advantage to employee IT training, in particular, is that the productivity increases achieved in this fundamentally important, core business activity makes possible a cascade of improvements in other departments.

Generally speaking, efficient IT operations will increase business productivity and lead to improvements in service, products, research and development, corporate operations and overall efficiency. Like any other training, IT training is most effective when it supports the overall, as well as specific, business goals and objectives. Of course, the free flow and unfettered access to crucial information is another key advantage of keeping a firm's IT employees on the cutting edge.

Employee morale and retention

A key advantage of all employee training is retention. IT employees in particular need ongoing training, which keeps them at the peak of their abilities and serves to instill a sense of purpose and job satisfaction. Increasing employee retention, in IT and other departments, results in measurable, even dramatic cost savings. The loss of one competent IT professional can impact a firm financially up to double the employee's annual salary and benefits, since time and money must be expended in seeking a suitably experienced replacement.

Some companies have reported that their training programs have reduced employee turnover by as much as 70 per cent with a return on investment (ROI) of some 7,000 percent. An efficient IT infrastructure is required for the efficient operation of all company departments, so the impact of employee IT training is even more dramatic than other training. Information, of course, is the foundation of any company's operations, touching on every single aspect of the firm's operations-manufacturing, sales, marketing, R