New Ciphr research reveals the most frequently Googled questions about employee training and workplace learning in the UK
Analysis of Google search data conducted by LMS provider Ciphr has revealed the most searched for employee training-related questions in the UK over the past 12 months.
According to the findings in Ciphr’s study, some of the most frequent queries about employee training arise from uncertainty around who pays for the training and whether people get paid for their time spent training.
The question ‘do you get paid for training at work?’ was the joint top result, with an average of 480 monthly searches on Google UK (around 5,800 a year).
Nearly a third (30%) of the top 10 most commonly asked questions about workplace training and development* mentioned the word ‘paid’. While one in five (22%) of the top 108 employee training questions (those with at least 50 average monthly searches each) contain the words ‘pay’, ‘paid’ or ‘charge’.
The most Googled questions about employee training over the past 12 months in the UK are:
- Do you get paid for training at work? – 480 average monthly searches
- What is training and development? – 480
- What employee training is required by law UK? – 210
- What is off the job training? – 210
- What is on the job training? – 210
- Do I get paid for mandatory training UK? – 170
- How often do day staff require fire training? – 140
- What is staff training? – 140
- Why is staff training important? – 140
- How often do night staff require fire training? – 110
- Should I be paid for mandatory online training UK? – 110
Although it’s impossible to identify the people asking these questions of Google, the wording they use can, at times, distinguish employers from employees.
For example (but not conclusively), people using the words ‘employee(s)’ or ‘staff’, which appear in over a third (34%) of the top 108 training-related queries, are more likely to pose ‘how’ or ‘what’ questions – probably on behalf of their company or as part of their job to enhance their broader knowledge of planning and improving workplace training.
While people using the words ‘I’, ‘my’ or ‘you’, which appear in around a quarter (24%) of the top 108 training-related queries, are more likely to be employees seeking answers to questions that affect them personally. They tend to favour ‘do’, ‘can’ or ‘should’ questions in a bid to find more ‘definitive’ answers from Google’s content.
Bradley Burgoyne, director of customer operations at Ciphr, says: “Ciphr’s latest research sheds light on the types of questions that UK workers and their leaders want answers to and the information that they are lacking about staff training. What it highlights to me is that people do want to understand more about what training and development involves and how to make it work for them, which is great because training should benefit employees and organisations equally.
“It also shows that HR and L&D teams have a real opportunity to spearhead knowledge sharing within their organisation. Thanks to this new research, we know the most popular training questions that employees are asking. So, it’s up to employers to be more proactive in communicating the answers to these questions to their workforce.”
Burgoyne thinks the best place to start is with the most Googled question: ‘do you get paid for training at work?’ The answer will depend on your contract, he says:
“If you were employed after 6 April 2020 your written terms must set out the training that you have to complete, including training your employer does not pay for. If you started before that date, you need to request clarification from your employer. It is, however, standard and best practice that employers pay for your time to complete this (eg your training is completed during your usual paid working hours, or you receive additional pay for the hours in which you complete this outside of your usual work pattern).
“If you’ve been asked by your employer to undertake some training that’s going to develop your skills and help you do your job better and more efficiently – then, again, it is best practice to be paid for the time that you spend on that training (in addition to your employer funding the cost for the training) as it’s also going to benefit the organisation that you work for. To ensure that you are paid for that time, the training should, ideally, happen within your usual working hours.
“It can be slightly more nuanced for employees that are enrolled on long programmes of training, such as degrees or MBAs. These types of training usually require a bit of give and take from both parties, and employees would typically be expected to use a certain amount of their personal time (unpaid) alongside any paid study time.
“It is common and healthy for employees to approach their employers with requests to undertake training, attend a course, or get a qualification in something that may or may not be relevant to their role. It’s then for both parties to work together to agree who will fund the training and what aspects of the training time will be paid or unpaid. Separately, it’s worth noting, that you do have a legal right to request time off from work to undertake study or training under Section 40 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, which employers have a duty to consider.
“In most instances, it’s important that both you and your employer get all the details and conditions set out in a learning agreement. This agreement should detail who is funding the training and what time off will be paid or unpaid, plus things like if travel expenses to attend the training and associated learning materials are covered. It should also include a clause about when an employee may have to repay the costs of their training if they leave the organisation within a certain timeframe before or after completing their course, which can also act as an effective retention method for employers.”
Most searched for types of employee training
Ciphr researchers also investigated the most searched for types of employee training in the UK over the past 12 months. To do this, they identified over 100 different types of training that UK employers commonly provide† and then compared the Google search data results for each.
First aid training, upskilling, and manual handling training were the three most Googled types of employee training, with a combined 16,000 average monthly searches.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, six of the top 10 are types of health and safety training, such as driver training, safeguarding training and COSHH (control of substances hazardous to health) training.
The top 10 most searched for types of employee training are:
- First aid training – 8,600 average monthly searches
- Upskilling – 4,800
- Manual handling training – 2,600
- Driver training – 2,400
- Safeguarding training – 2,200
- Health and safety training – 1,700
- COSHH training – 1,600
- Management training – 1,600
- Retraining – 1,600
- Sales training – 1,600
The full results are available at www.ciphr.com/infographics/employee-training-statistics.
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Media enquiries:
Emma-Louise Jones, digital PR manager at Ciphr
e: ejones@ciphr.com
t: 01628 244206
Notes:
*Search terms analysed using Semrush included: employee training, work training, staff training, training and development, workplace learning, workplace training, training at work, employer + training, my manager + training, company + training, my company + training, and boss + training. Google search data was collected between 2-3 August 2022.
†Not all types of employee training were included in the Google search data analysed using KWfinder. Similar types of employee training were also removed from the results. For example, ‘diversity training’ was included because there were more searches for this term than the terms ‘equality training’, ‘diversity and inclusion training’, ‘diversity equality and inclusion training’ or ‘DEI training’. Google search data was collected between 2-3 August 2022. Ciphr Group is a privately held company, headquartered in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. Over 200 employees work across the group, which includes Ciphr, Marshall E-Learning and Payroll Business Solutions (PBS).
This content was initially published on Digits.co.uk, a Ciphr Company.