Why Investing in Training is the Smartest Move You’ll Make This Year
Recruiting new employees is expensive. Replacing them? Even more so. But there’s a smarter way to build high-performing teams that stay: structured training.
Whether you’re onboarding new starters or helping experienced hires level up, well-designed training is more than a nice-to-have — it’s a strategic investment. Done right, it improves retention, boosts job satisfaction, and protects you from the hidden costs of team churn.
The True Cost of Churn
Replacing a skilled employee is expensive — far more than most organisations expect. While general estimates from the CIPD suggest an average replacement cost of £6,125 per UK employee, this figure rises dramatically for skilled or management roles. For example, the cost of replacing a mid-level specialist can reach 150–200% of their annual salary, or £75,000–£100,000 for someone earning £50,000. These figures account not only for recruitment and onboarding, but also for lost productivity, disruption, and knowledge leakage.
For senior or technical staff, it’s even worse. Studies suggest replacing a highly skilled employee can cost up to 200% of their annual salary.
These costs aren’t just about money. Every time someone leaves, they take institutional knowledge, client relationships, and internal context with them. That disruption isn’t easy to quantify — but it’s real. Team morale dips. Productivity stalls. The knock-on effects of churn can ripple through your business for months.
Training: A Proven Retention Tool
The good news – Training works.
Research from LinkedIn found that 94% of employees would stay longer at a company if it invested in their career development. Among millennials, that number is 86%. Lack of learning opportunities is now a top reason people leave jobs — not pay, not perks, but a sense that they’re not growing.
On the other hand, companies with strong learning cultures see retention rates 30–50% higher than their peers. And it’s not just about staying longer — employees also report feeling more engaged, more connected to the business, and more motivated to contribute.
This is especially true during onboarding. A well-structured introduction, supported by meaningful learning, makes a huge difference: employees are 69% more likely to stay for three years or more if they experience great onboarding. That’s a big win for a relatively small investment.
Training Costs – More or Less Than You Thought?
Training often gets viewed as a discretionary cost — but in reality, it’s one of the most effective ways to reduce the far greater expense of staff turnover.
Across the UK investment in training per trainee is around £3,300 for Primary Sector & Utilities (ESS 2022) This figure is consistent with equivalent training costs across the EU and the US.
Contrast that with what it costs to replace a skilled employee. Conservative estimates put the cost of turnover at 150–200% of the employee’s annual salary. That includes recruitment, onboarding, lost productivity, and the impact on team performance.
So for a mid-level energy specialist earning £50,000, the true replacement cost is somewhere between £75,000 and £100,000.
Seen in this light, structured training isn’t a cost to be minimised — it’s a strategic investment to protect your team, retain knowledge, and maximise long-term value.
Knowledge Leakage and Team Stability
One of the most overlooked benefits of structured training is the role it plays in protecting institutional knowledge.
When training is ad-hoc or absent, knowledge is often concentrated in the heads of a few key individuals. If one of them leaves, that knowledge goes with them — and often, it’s not recoverable.
Structured training systems, especially those that include documentation, shared resources, and collaborative learning, distribute knowledge more evenly. That makes teams more resilient and less vulnerable to disruption when someone moves on. It also builds a culture where learning is expected and shared — not hoarded.
Training is the Antidote to Churn
Hiring will always be part of business. But replacing the same roles every 12–18 months? That’s optional — and expensive.
If you’re serious about building strong teams and reducing unnecessary costs, invest in structured training. It’s one of the most effective levers you have to improve retention, raise morale, and future-proof your organisation.
Tim Rogers
Want help with onboarding and training programmes that stick?
At Energy Wise Training, we specialise in creating flexible, high-impact learning experiences for the energy sector. Whether you’re welcoming new starters or sharpening up your team’s commercial understanding, we’ll help you build capability — and keep it.