Ten reasons why training is more important now than ever

As you look to fit staff training into your 2007 plan, please keep these points in mind:
 

10. Training boosts morale. Staff members feel better and more motivated about working at your paper if you show your belief that they can improve.
9. Training emphasizes priorities. In a dollar-strapped newspaper, the needs of the current staff can be directed toward specific training.
8. Training is cheap — certainly cheaper than recruiting and hiring. Whatever the challenges your newsroom is facing, eliminating your training budget isn’t going to solve it.
7. Training is a stimulant, while eliminating training can enforce mediocrity.
6. Training helps keep pace with a changing business. You need to stay on top of new developments in order to stay competitive.
5. Training develops teamwork. If you’ve got fewer copy editors than you’re used to, a refresher course on headlines and cut lines can help the existing team zero in on the essentials and work together more efficiently.
4. Training shares the good habits on your staff and reinforces your best work. If you can only send one person to a workshop, have him or her lead a session for the other staffers when they return.
3. Training brings in money. Focused training can pay for itself many times over by raising morale, boosting efficiency and maintaining high standards.
2. Training treats your staff like professionals. People who believe they are valued enough for you to invest in developing their skills might stay with your newspaper a little while longer.
1. Training helps maintain and improve quality and productivity.