Employees have faced many pressures in recent years, from COVID-19 to the current cost-of-living crisis. Workforces face pressure and stress in both their personal and working lives, and this is a huge challenge for organisations. Employers know that wellbeing needs to be addressed, and at a cultural level within the organisation. This includes the organisation’s approach to learning and development (L&D) programmes for employees. A survey by Training Zone – conducted in partnership with The Open University, The 5% Club and Savanta – aimed to understand the role of L&D in addressing employee wellbeing. This briefing highlights its findings.

Learning boosts mental health
The survey shows that training in general (not just mental health training) can alleviate stress and bolster mental wellbeing. All kinds of training, be that long-term skills training, short courses or wellbeing-focused interventions, produce a wide range of benefits. These include improved skills, engagement and organisational culture through to immediate improvements in stress levels and mental wellbeing.

Says author of the survey report L&D’s role in employee wellbeing, Blaire Palmer, who is a Leadership and Culture Specialist, Consultant and Coach at That People Thing Limited:

“It comes as no surprise that employers that offer what we refer to as ‘long-term skills development and professional training’ say the primary benefits are better skilled workers, better engagement and better retention.”

Included within this group are apprenticeships, degree programmes, industry accreditations, mentoring and coaching.

Palmer continues:

“What is more surprising is the impact learning and training has on organisational culture, employee stress and mental wellbeing. While the intention behind training staff might be to improve skills, the secondary benefits are impressive, including better promotion prospects, more creativity, and better time management.”

What does this link between L&D and wellbeing mean?
The report quotes Dr Volker Patent, Lecturer in Psychology at The Open University, who says there is a direct correlation between developing employee skills and improved wellbeing. When staff are more capable there are fewer organisational tensions which means less stress.

He says:

“When you have a workforce that is competent, you are going to get less of the friction that comes as a result of people not knowing how to do stuff, to learn, think critically and solve problems effectively. Simply put, you’re going to meet deadlines, prevent problems, develop systems to work more effectively, and there’s going to be less stress caused by work not getting done properly.”

But he adds that there is a symbolic value to long-term skills development which can also enhance the wellbeing effect:

“The fact that you feel supported by your employer has a protective effect on your mental health. Even when you are facing a difficult situation, the fact that you know that your employer supports people, signaled by the range of interventions that are there, you think ‘I know this is overwhelming but I know I can get support’. It’s very different if you’re facing a difficult situation and you feel no one cares. The symbolic value is perhaps just as important.”

The impact of short-term courses
The survey found that short-term training courses – such as microcredentials, internally or externally delivered short courses and lunch and learns – also benefit wellbeing. In fact, nearly half of all respondents said that greater employee engagement was a benefit of such courses, followed by increased confidence, better employee retention and improved skills. Better stress and mental health management was cited by four in ten respondents as a benefit and 36.8% said they saw an immediate improvement in overall wellbeing.

Courses focused on mental wellbeing
Many organisations that took part in the survey also run programmes specifically targeted at improving mental wellbeing and reducing levels of stress. And while the mental wellbeing benefits are slightly more pronounced for such courses, they are not radically more effective. For instance, 41.7% of respondents said they saw an immediate improvement in overall wellbeing when they ran wellbeing courses. However, nearly the same proportion (35.8%) saw an immediate improvement in wellbeing when they ran short training courses unrelated to the topic of wellbeing. And 27.8% of respondents saw the same improvement when they ran long-term training courses.

Blaire Palmer adds:

“We see a similar trend when respondents asked about improvements in stress and mental health management. In addition, long-term skills development provides a broader range of benefits than wellbeing training. You get a wellbeing boost, but you also get more highly-skilled workers and managers, plus improved employee engagement and better promotion prospects. This suggests that, when budgets are tight and tough investment decisions need to be made, you get a greater payoff from skills training than purely from wellbeing programmes.”

What does this mean for you?
Almost all respondents to the survey saw a link between L&D activity and wellbeing (only 3.9% did not). However, the findings demonstrate that wellbeing benefits can be gained from all kinds of training, not just those that are focused specifically on wellbeing.

The report offers the following guidance:

1. Measure the wellbeing impact
Consider measuring the wellbeing impact of your non-wellbeing-focused training and development programmes. Such data could help increase, or at least retain, levels of investment in skills-based training during difficult financial times.

2. Increase your internal PR for learning opportunities
Promote the availability of training even to those who may not take up the opportunity. The symbolic value of offering training may be nearly as significant for them as for those who actively participate.

3. Be diverse in the L&D you offer
Offer a wide range of long-term skills training, short-term skills training and wellbeing-focused programmes. This gives you the best chance to reap a wide range of rewards for the organisation and for employees.

Investing in L&D is essential for business survival
At a time of uncertainty in organisations, investment in employee development can help prevent tensions in the organisation, according to Kris Ambler:

“Continuing to offer training fosters a greater sense of connection between employees and the organisation. Good employers, who want to ensure their long-term success, invest in their staff. It’s critical to survival. You’re building the foundations for the future. In industries with rapid technological change trying to maintain the competitive edge, if you don’t prioritise training you are at risk of being left behind in the marketplace. You’re also going to have an impact on employees – those wellbeing benefits will go. That can lead to demotivated, less productive staff, quiet quitting, burnout and then the costs begin to rack up in terms of lost time to the business versus the cost of investing in preventative interventions like counselling. Ultimately it can be more costly.”

Blaire Palmer stresses the importance of basing L&D investments on solid data about what is needed in your organisation and spend your money wisely. As Ambler puts it:

“Quite a lot of businesses have invested a huge amount of money on, for instance, mental health first aid training and don’t know why. Avoid being reactive. Think about what your business needs are. Involve your people as much as possible in that discussion and then develop that ecosystem around people.”

L&D can help organisations emerge stronger
With employee wellbeing a top business priority, there is a rising demand for L&D that reduces employee stress, improves mental health awareness and provides resources for employees to regulate their own wellbeing more effectively. Palmer concludes:

“In challenging financial times it can be difficult to justify increasing budgets to accommodate this demand. However, our survey – and the experts who have contributed to this report – shows that any training, no matter the type, timeframe or topic, can positively impact employee health, especially when there is a broad range on offer. Diversity here is key. As L&D professionals, it is ever more important to be able to evidence the complex benefits that come from investing in development programmes and the unintentional costs of cutting training budgets in the medium to long term. At the same time, try to demonstrate the multiple benefits to culture, productivity and mental health of their programmes and other initiatives. If successful, you will find yourself at the heart of the conversation about how to navigate the challenges ahead and help your organisation emerge even stronger.”

Read the full report here.

International Workplace has published a series of guides on L&D in the workplace, including:

Learning in 2023: Key Issues and Trends - A Guide for Managers
The Business Case for L&D: A Guide for Managers
Personalised Learning: A Guide for Managers