As workplace productivity concerns dominate boardroom discussions across the globe, business leaders are grappling with a familiar debate: are employees quietly disengaging from their roles, or is something more fundamental at play? Allan Murphy Bruun, Founder of SimplerQMS, a cloud-based quality management solutions provider, believes the answer lies in examining what companies are actually doing to develop their workforce.
“While it’s easy to blame productivity problems on employee attitudes, the data tells a different story,” says Bruun, a former business systems consultant who has spent years helping life sciences companies optimize their operations. “When 87% of companies worldwide acknowledge existing or impending skills gaps within their organizations, we’re looking at a training crisis, not a motivation crisis.”
Rather than accepting declining performance as inevitable, Bruun argues that targeted training interventions can address the root causes of workplace productivity challenges.
The Training Gap Behind the Numbers
The productivity challenges facing modern organizations aren’t happening in isolation. While headlines focus on “quiet quitting” and employee disengagement, a closer examination reveals a more complex picture. Most workers aren’t deliberately reducing their effort – they’re struggling with roles that demand skills they were never properly taught.
“We’re seeing companies struggle with the same pattern repeatedly,” explains Bruun. “They hire talented people, throw them into complex roles with minimal structured training, then wonder why performance doesn’t meet expectations. The problem isn’t the people, it’s the process.”
This training deficit becomes particularly acute in regulated industries where compliance requirements add layers of complexity to already challenging roles. Without proper onboarding and ongoing skills development, even motivated employees can find themselves overwhelmed and underperforming.
Why Traditional Training Falls Short
Organizations often still rely on outdated training methods that fail to address modern workplace realities. One-size-fits-all approaches, sporadic delivery, and lack of follow-up create knowledge gaps that compound over time.
“We’ve seen companies spend thousands on training programs that deliver minimal results because they’re not tailored to actual job requirements,” Bruun notes. “Effective training needs to be specific, measurable, and directly tied to performance outcomes.”
The most successful training programs share several key characteristics: they’re role-specific, include regular assessments, and provide clear pathways for skill progression. Technology plays an important role in making this scalable across different departments and locations.
Practical Solutions That Drive Results
Smart companies are already implementing targeted strategies to address the skills gap. Structured onboarding programs that extend beyond the first week can significantly reduce time-to-productivity. Regular skills assessments help identify gaps before they impact performance, while technology-enabled learning platforms make training accessible and trackable.
“The companies seeing the biggest productivity gains are those treating training as an ongoing investment, not a one-time expense,” says Bruun. “They’re using data to identify exactly where skills gaps exist and designing targeted interventions to address them.”
Integration with existing business systems proves particularly valuable. When training management connects directly with quality management and performance tracking systems, organizations gain visibility into which programs deliver real results and which need adjustment.
The Cost of Inaction
For businesses focused on short-term cost management, the temptation to reduce training investments may seem logical. However, this approach typically backfires as skills gaps widen and productivity continues to decline.
Companies that fail to invest in systematic skills development often find themselves trapped in a cycle of declining performance and increasing costs. Employee turnover rises as frustrated workers seek opportunities elsewhere, creating additional recruitment and training expenses.
“The math is pretty straightforward,” Bruun explains. “Investing in proper training and development systems costs less than dealing with ongoing productivity problems, compliance issues, and employee turnover. The question isn’t whether you can afford to train your people. It’s whether you can afford not to.”
Building a Skills-First Culture
The most successful organizations are shifting from reactive to proactive approaches. Instead of waiting for performance issues to surface, they’re building continuous learning into their operational framework.
“When training becomes part of your quality management system rather than an afterthought, you see measurable improvements across all performance metrics,” says Bruun. “Individual skill development matters, but the real impact comes from creating systems that support consistent, high-quality output.”
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