With so many tasks now being completed on computer systems, it has become essential for employees who work in places such as office to possess the necessary IT skills they need in order to do their jobs properly.
However, it seems that many employees in the UK are lacking IT skills, and this makes it difficult for them to do their jobs. Many have not even had basics such as the programs offered at STL Training, and this poses a big issue for both the employees and for businesses as a whole. Recent research has shown that huge numbers of employees in the workplace feel that they are not equipped to do their jobs properly due to a lack of IT training, and this is resulting in wasted hours and reduced productivity for businesses.
Identifying a Need for More Training
The research that has been carried out has identified a serious need for more IT training for employees of businesses across the UK. As part of one study, 2000 workers were interviewed, and out of those, more than one third said that they did not feel they had the necessary IT skills to perform their jobs properly. In addition, it was found that each worker wastes around ten hours per month on average just trying to work out IT systems so they can carry out their jobs, and this squats to more than £1,600 per employee being lost by businesses every year. This, in turn, equates to an astonishing £16 billion per year being lost by UK businesses simply because their employees do not have sufficient IT skills.
The results of these studies have highlighted the need for more training across the board. Many businesses owners and managers assume that new staff that are being taken on will already know basics such as how to use WORD and Excel or create spreadsheets and presentations. However, this is not the case, and for those who are assigned tasks that involved the use of these solutions, work can become very stressful because they do not have the knowledge and training required. This then has an impact on their morale and their productivity, which can eventually impact the business in a variety of ways.
According to research, those employees who lack IT skills and struggle to perform their jobs as a result are often reluctant to seek assistance from their IT departments. Worryingly, more than 40 percent said that they felt embarrassed about approaching their IT teams for help because they felt that the help that they needed would be considered too basic. Often, workers turn to other colleagues for assistance, but in many cases, these colleagues have also not had necessary training.
This highlights the problem that UK businesses face when it comes to the lack of IT skills among workers.
