An Investment, Not an Expense

Many moons ago, when I was young and had promise, I found myself in charge of 35 workers. It being the case that I was young and inexperienced, my duties were pretty basic. I made certain that people showed up for work on time and accomplished their assigned, while trying to prevent office supplies from mysteriously disappearing.

I was also responsible for helping my people develop the skills needed to do their jobs. This involved approving employees for formal outside training. Being an eager beaver, I watched my budget closely and spent only when I was 100 percent convinced that the training would help improve performance.

One day I received a training request from a very productive employee. I was concerned that the training was a bit pricey. I didn’t want to tell the employee no, but I also didn’t want to spend the money. I spoke to my boss about the best way to handle it. He asked why I was reluctant to have the employee trained.

I said I was afraid that, with the training, the employee would be more valuable to other companies and that he might leave. My boss, far wiser than I, explained that “training is an investment, not an expense.” He said that yes, the employee might move on, but that he would perform better while with us. I approved the training and the employee did move on, but only after giving our company two years of high-quality work.

That experience taught me a valuable lesson — training does matter to employees, as well as to their organizations. This principle is backed up in a recent report from Global Knowledge. They surveyed more than 14,000 IT professionals about the value of certifications and training and presented their findings in the 2017 IT Skills and Salary report.

The results are eye-opening and provide ample reasons for pursing an IT certification. For example:

• More than 80 percent of managers say training is “effective in developing needed skills for their staff.”
• 94 percent of decision-makers stated that “certifications directly lead to a more effective staff.”
• 57 percent of decision-makers estimated the economic benefit to their organization of a certified employee was north of $10,000 annually.
• Salaries for certified employees are almost 12 percent higher than for non-certified peers.

With so many managers and decision-makers touting the benefits of IT certs, now is a great time to get certified. And to help you get started on your journey to greater skills and money, TestOut is offering a HUGE Labor Day sale: Their entire Library Suite for one year for just $595 — that’s a savings of $300!

And to make an already sweet offer even sweeter, there is no risk: TestOut has a 30-day money back guarantee. TestOut knows that you can spend your hard-earned simoleons in a lot of different places. That’s why their courseware is made up of high-quality, in-depth training sessions designed to give you the hands-on experience that will make you an in-demand IT pro.  

Remember, training is an investment.

About the Author — Calvin Harper is an associate editor for GoCertify and a veteran of the publishing industry. He now manages 35 trained monkeys with 35 typewriters. It used to be the standard 1,000 monkeys, but inflation is rough.