Is There Any Point in Developing People If They’re Going to Leave?

A few months ago, I was working with a manager who sighed and said to me:

“Jo, I don’t see the point in sending my team on training. They’ll just leave after a couple of years and take those skills somewhere else.”

It’s a concern I’ve heard many times. With staff mobility higher than ever, investing in development can feel risky. Why pour time and money into people if they’re going to walk out the door?

But here’s the thing: when you look at the evidence, the story isn’t nearly so one-sided.

Why Training Still Matters

Research tells us that employees who receive employer-sponsored training are nearly 60% less likely to leave and often report job satisfaction equivalent to receiving a 20% pay rise. That’s not a small effect—it’s transformational.

And the trend continues across multiple studies:

• 94% of employees say they would stay longer with an employer who invests in their career development.
• 76% are more likely to stay when ongoing training is available.
• Replacing an employee can cost between half and twice their annual salary—so retention matters.

In other words: the real financial risk isn’t investing in development. The risk is losing people sooner because you didn’t.

Beyond Retention: Engagement and Purpose

Training doesn’t just reduce turnover. It also increases engagement and a sense of purpose.

Eight in ten employees say learning gives them meaning at work. Seventy percent say they feel more connected to their organisation when they’re learning. When people can see growth opportunities, they’re not just “doing a job”—they’re building a career with you.

Development also strengthens organisational identity. When people feel proud to belong and see their values reflected in the workplace, they’re far more likely to stay loyal, even in a competitive job market.

What Leading Organisations Are Doing

Big employers have noticed this shift.

• Amazon committed $1.2 billion to upskill 300,000 employees, explicitly tying training to retention.
• Cognizant retrained tens of thousands of staff in digital skills rather than recruiting from outside.
• Laing O’Rourke redesigned its programmes into bite-sized, TikTok-style learning, meeting employees where they already are.

Closer to home, companies that focus on career progression and CPD report 12–13% higher retention, productivity, and job satisfaction.

The Counterargument

Of course, there are challenges.

Yes, some staff will leave and take their new skills with them. That’s a reality. And yes, ROI can feel uncertain if training isn’t linked to business priorities or if the environment doesn’t allow people to apply what they’ve learned.

But here’s the question I always return to: What happens if we don’t train them—and they stay?

Your Investment Still Pays Back

Even if an employee only stays two or three years, your investment still pays back. During that time, they’ll be more engaged, more productive, and more likely to speak well of your organisation when they do move on. In today’s networked world, former employees become your brand ambassadors—or your critics.  How much would you spend from your marketing budget to get that kind of reach?

The smartest organisations design development with this in mind. They:

• Align training with business needs.
• Offer visible career progression.
• Build learning into culture, not just one-off courses.

That way, the return lasts longer than the individual’s tenure.

Final Thought

I understand why leaders hesitate. It’s easy to see training as a sunk cost if people leave. But the evidence tells a different story: development is one of the most powerful levers we have for retention, engagement, and productivity.

The real danger isn’t that people leave after being trained.
The danger is that they stay—untrained, disengaged, and underperforming.

💬 Over to you: How does your organisation view training—an investment in the present, or a risk for the future?

Sources & Further Reading

• Kosteas, V. (2024). Should companies bear the cost of employee training? LSE Business Review
• LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report – via Edume
• SHRM Training & Retention Statistics – via Intellum
• Abel Personnel – Training and Retention
• Wikipedia: Employee Turnover
• Intellum – Employee Training and Engagement
• Emerald Insight – Organisational Identification and Training
• Financial Times – What Are Organisations Doing to Ensure Staff Have the Right Skills?
• The Australian – Empower Employees and Create Workplace Happiness
• The Australian – Laing O’Rourke Training Revolution
• The Times – Every Office Could Use a Skills Guru
• Wikipedia: Transfer of Training