Why do companies seem to have cut back on soft skills training - like team building, leadership training, etc.?

LinkedIn Question from Mel Wildermuth:

If the number one reason for employees leaving is manager or team leader, why do companies seem to have cut back on soft skills training - like team building, leadership training, etc.

With the cost of turnover easily discovered, why do many companies see relationship training as an expendable expenditure?

My Answer:

Dear Mel,

In this era of quarter on quarter survival, the management is always under pressure to show immediate results. Initiatives around Training, Quality, HR & Organization Development and R&D, which can only yield dividends in relatively longer term, are first to be trimmed in an adverse situation.

Following changes in the mindsets are needed desperately.

1) The management needs to focus more on "value perspective" and less on "cost perspective". This essentially means that the organization needs to constantly endeavor to generate more value at the same cost rather than getting better figures through creating same value at a lesser cost.

2) The owners of the critical functions like Training, Quality, HR & Organizational Development and R&D need to establish a clear connect of their output to the bottomline and the valuation of the organization. The management will then be vary of trimming down the investments on these functions.

All of us are pushing the business down a deep hole with our being "cost conscious" without even realizing it. It's high time that we switch over to being "value conscious".

Regards

Sudhir