The WIT Network

Blog: Companies and leadership training

LEADERSHIP in Action

 Companies reap the rewards when they invest in leadership training

Hiring, on-boarding, and training new employees is costly when you factor in the time of those involved in the hiring and training process, fluctuations in productivity, and impact on the company or department morale. It’s an expensive repeating cost for companies with high turnover rates, and the expenditure increases with the rank of the position turning over.  

  • An entry-level employee costs between 30% and 50% of their annual salary to replace
  • A mid-level employee costs 150% and above of their annual salary to replace
  • A high-level or highly specialized employee costs approximately 400% of their annual salary to replace[i]

Companies that invest in leadership training and professional development for their employees significantly reduce employee turnover, increase employee motivation, build loyalty, attract better caliber talent, create more positive corporate cultures, and help their bottom line.

Here’s some proof:

  • Companies that proactively offer learning and development opportunities show up to 218% of the income per employee of companies without formalized training, and they can have 24% higher profit margins.
  • Companies that invest in next-generation leaders are 2.4 times more likely to hit their performance targets.
  • 94% of employees say they would stay at a company longer if it invested in their learning and development.
  • 76% of employees are looking for career growth opportunities.
  • 40% of employees leave their job within the first year unless they receive training and education from their employer.
  • 74% of employees feel they are not reaching their full potential unless they receive training from their employer.
  • 87% of Millennials state that having access to professional development and education is very important to their decision of whether to stay or seek employment elsewhere.[ii] 

Historically marginalized employees need to see a path to leadership and recognition of their capabilities. Therefore, offering female-focused leadership training is important for companies, especially those with diversity and inclusion mandates who struggle to attract and retain top female talent.

The female-only factor

When a man walks in the room, they are assumed to be competent until they prove otherwise. For women, it’s the other way around.

—Lindsay Hudson, Chief Executive Officer of BAE Systems, from The Confidence Code

Women-only leadership training is essential to elevating more women into leadership. It creates a safe learning space, which is needed because the shortage of female confidence to step into leadership is real—researched and documented. It helps ensure that the curriculum addresses the underlying challenges and personal barriers that typically hold women back at work more so than men.[iii] It also helps negate the potential for women to learn and adopt a male leadership model.

There is power in a community of women learning and growing together who can speak openly about the challenges they face as women in a male-dominated industry – and address their own internal biases.

WIT: Women in Training

The reality is that you can’t fund MBAs for every employee, and community college continuing education programs aren’t tailored for female leadership and development in technology. But you can invest in The WIT Network Global Unlimited Corporate Membership and give your employees access to training, resources, and support made for the technology industry.

In addition to the coding coaches in our WIT WISE (Women in Software Engineering) community and our Tech Track Training scholarships for women to gain cloud and AI skills and certifications, in 2022 The WIT Network is offering new leadership training for women at every stage of their career—from emerging leaders to those focused on gaining a coveted boardroom seat. Upcoming leadership training includes:

  • WOMANagement Training (coming 2022)

The WIT Network Global Unlimited Corporate Membership is an affordable way to invest in your employees, increase your retention rate, and build a better corporate culture, all while strengthening your diversity and inclusion mandate. 

[i] https://www.simplybenefits.ca/blog/employee-retention-what-is-the-true-cost-of-losing-an-employee