How Training And Development Breeds Employee Loyalty, The Mindset That Predicts Success, And Why Phone Use Could Damage Professional Reputation

Cognicent | June, 2026 | Newsletter

Welcome to the June edition of our Insight Articles!

In this insight, we explore how training and development opportunities enhance employee loyalty, the mindset that predicts success, and why phone use during meetings hurts your reputation.

In a time where there is a hunger for skilled workers, companies have been found to withhold training and development opportunities from their people for fear that they will take those skills and apply them elsewhere. However, research conducted at the University of Würzburg in Germany has found that these fears may be unfounded. In a study of approximately 4,300 employees across 150 companies and spanning five years, they found that the impact may be a lot more positive than people think. 

The study found

Productivity improved when continuous professional development opportunities were provided to employees

Training was found to increase employee loyalty to their company by 10%

Even when the training and development provided employees with knowledge and skills that they could take elsewhere for a wage-increasing role, employees still tended to stay with the company

Consider

Do we ever hold off on training and development opportunities for our people?

Where are the opportunities to invest in training and development to support organisational commitment within our teams?

Article Reference:

Daniel Dietz, Thomas Zwick. The retention effect of training: Portability, visibility, and credibility1. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2020; 1 DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2020.1737835

Often, you’ll hear about the need for a change in attitude or mindset towards a task in order to achieve it. Whether on the sports field, in business, towards education, or health and fitness, our attitudes play a crucial role. But how important is our mindset in a world where success is often guided by our ability to accomplish in the face of challenges? A study conducted out of the National University of Singapore decided to look at this by exploring the mindset that best predicted the likelihood of people overcoming challenges and therefore succeeding.

They found

People with what was called a “Strategic Mindset” were more likely to overcome challenges or setbacks they were faced with

Those with a “Strategic Mindset” tend to ask themselves things like “what could I do differently here?” or “ how else could I go about this?”. They essentially focus on what they can do rather than what they can’t.

People with this mindset then apply more effective strategies towards dealing with challenges or setbacks

This extends not just to the workplace but to other areas of life as well, allowing these people to complete challenging tasks more efficiently

Consider

When faced with challenges what is your mindset? Do you adopt a Strategic Mindset or do you find yourself blaming, putting things in the “too hard basket”, giving up on tasks or procrastinating?

Within your team, do your people adopt a Strategic Mindset to challenges they’re faced with?

How could you encourage the development of a Strategic Mindset within your team when challenges arise?

Article Reference:

Patricia Chen, Joseph T. Powers, Kruthika R. Katragadda, Geoffrey L. Cohen, Carol S. Dweck. A strategic mindset: An orientation toward strategic behavior during goal pursuit. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2020; 202002529 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2002529117

If you own a phone, you’ve likely been told or heard someone be told to get off it. With the influx of problematic phone use in society, this advice may actually serve you not just from a brain perspective, but from a reputational perspective too. In a study out of the University of Kansas, researchers uncovered the implications of using a mobile phone during meetings, with the results serving as a cautionary tale for employees.

The study showed

When compared to using a notepad or laptop, those who used mobile phones during meetings were viewed as less competent and less effective

While we know you can do work on your mobiles, the assumption tends to be that people are doing things other than work, because mobile phones are often used for leisure as well

Employees who apologised for their phone use after a meeting were still viewed unfavourably, even when they cited that it was for work use only

When meeting managers set technology expectations for meetings, ratings of employees did shift, in that if a pro-technology rule was in place then those using it were viewed as competent, however a total ban on certain devices or the absence of a ‘tech rule’ led people to view mobile users more unfavourably

This highlights that following meeting expectations for technology use is important for employee reputation, but that in the absence of expectations, keeping off your phone is most desirable

Theses effects were especially noticeable for new starters to a business

Consider

Are you one to check or use your phone during meetings?

Are there any meeting expectations or rules in place around tech use?

What’s the potential impact to our relationships at work if we have people using phones during meetings?

Article Reference:

University of Kansas. “To make a good impression, leave cell phone alone during work meetings.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 18 June 2020. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200617145932.htm>.

We hope that you have a safe, well and productive rest of your week.

– The Cognicent Team