The majority of executives believe that training boosts productivity and profits, but are reluctant to back this by investing in it during tough times, research has shown.

A survey of UK and US senior executives by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) found that 90 per cent agreed that additional training would boost worker productivity by five per cent or more, while 86 per cent said the same effect could be achieved for customer satisfaction. Respondents to the study – entitled ‘Training Out of the Recession’ - agreed that these benefits would boost the bottom line, with a fifth predicting a jump in profits of as much as 20 per cent.

However, employers are not backing this belief with cash: less than a third have increased investment in training in the last two years, while two-fifths of U.K. respondents (44 per cent) and nearly two-fifths (37 per cent) of U.S. respondents admit that their organisations could be doing more to promote innovation through training.

“The findings of the EIU analysis confirm that training not only leads to increases in productivity and customer satisfaction, but at least a 20 percent jump in profits,” said Jim Wynn, chief education officer at Promethean, which commissioned the survey. “Skills training is not just a growth issue, but a vital component for companies in surviving this recession. The challenge is that fewer employers are devoting adequate resources to training yet the benefits of training are hard to ignore.”

He added: “During this challenging time we are all making strides to combat unemployment so we must all recognize that training is a key component to stimulate growth and therefore an issue for employers, employees and the nation.”