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Businesses need to focus more on how to get the best value out of their training in order to increase productivity, a new report shows.
The recently released Skills Productivity Nexus report was commissioned by the Industry Training Federation and the Department of Labour. It emphasises that increasing productivity requires not just an increased supply of skills, but also thinking about how businesses can get the best value out of the training in which they invest.
The report was prepared as part of a study on how industry training organisations can help to build the productivity of individual businesses.
"It shows that getting the full benefit from your training requires thinking carefully about the work environment in which training occurs and what skills are actually used - thinking about deployment as well as development," explains Industry Training Federation executive director Jeremy Baker.
The report also examines what a selection of New Zealand industry training organisations are doing to promote productivity in individual workplaces.
"While ITOs continue to focus on developing and arranging training for their industries, many are also increasingly working with businesses to ensure that skills are effectively utilised in the workplace," said Baker.