In the fight to attract and keep highly skilled tech workers, here’s a benefit that might be able to solve a few common IT staffing problems.

A survey conducted back in 2006 by the Computing Technology Industry Association revealed how important training was for retention among IT employees. More than half (56%) of the respondents who got no help from their employers with training or tuition reimbursement were considering finding jobs elsewhere. That number was only 22% for people whose employers paid for training.

Besides being a benefit you can use to lure in hires and hang on to current staff, having well-trained workers is key to a smooth-running department. Also, when you come across a great candidate who doesn’t quite have the exact skill set you need, hiring him or her and then providing training might be the best solution for both parties.

There are different ways to provide employees with training opportunities, ranging from brief sessions done before, during or after work hours by an IT manager, to reimbursement for classes taken at a college or other institution.

The first method can be a simple and inexpensive way to let people brush up on skills that leadership thinks is lacking. The second might require a bigger investment (depending on how much of the tuition you reimburse) but it can be a better recruiting tool, since most companies require employees to pay back the money if they leave their jobs within a certain period of time.

Either way, the necessary investment is most likely smaller than the cost of turnover at a a lot of companies.