The Promethean-Economist Intelligence Unit survey included 252 business executives and public sector workers from the UK and the US.
The survey found high unemployment in the UK has taken a toll on the job prospects, skills and training of the working age population in the country.
The level of U.K. unemployment stands at 8.4%, the highest since 1994 with 16-24 year olds worst affected (23% unemployment).
A recent report by the International Labour Organisation said that the wide-spread long-term unemployment rate in the U.K. could result in "huge economic and social costs".
But the survey revealed organisations in the UK and US see a direct correlation between training, employee productivity and financial performance.
It found 22% of those surveyed from the US and over one-tenth (13%) of those surveyed from the UK say a more efficient and better trained workforce would lead to an increase of 20% or more in profit.
Employee productivity could improve by 5% or more, according to 90% of respondents. A similar proportion (87% (UK) and 85% (US)) predicts the same for customer satisfaction.
Employers in both countries recognise their responsibility in tackling high unemployment in their home markets. Over three-fifths (62% UK and 64% US) think their organisations should offer more training schemes and update existing ones to help job-seekers.
More than two fifths (44% and 45% respectively) propose working with educational institutions to improve job-seekers' chances at finding employment.
Just over half of UK executives and 40% of US respondents think that governments need to work with the private sector to offer training.
But the survey also found current training provided by employers is often inadequate.
Over two-fifths of UK respondents (44%) and nearly two-fifths (37%) of US respondents say that training at their organisation is not good at improving innovation among employees.
Just over one-quarter of respondents from both countries think employee efficiency and productivity do not stand to benefit from current training schemes.
And few employers are devoting more resources to training with less than one-third of survey respondents from the UK or US reporting their employers have increased investment in training over the last two years.
Over one-fifth of UK respondents say investment has decreased.
The state of the economy should not deter organisations and individuals from investing in training. Seven in 10 respondents in the UK and 58% of US respondents say current economic conditions should not be an obstacle to organisations taking steps to improve their workforce.
The majority (93%) of both UK and US respondents believe organisations should offer a multitude of in-house and external training programs to their employees with 69% of UK respondents and 82% of US respondents saying employees should also pursue beneficial training at their own expense.
Employers in the UK and US expect workers and jobseekers to take the lead in improving their skills.
Eighty four percent of UK respondents and 79% of US survey respondents said jobseekers should be doing more to develop their skills.
Three quarters of UK respondents and 64% of US respondents think local businesses, large businesses and educational institutions (69%) need to increase efforts to advance workers and jobseekers' abilities over the next two years.
Three quarters of UK employers and 62% of their US counterparts think this is also true of central governments.
One size fits all does not work with training and skills development. To become more attractive in the job-market, workers from different age groups should have different goals.
In the US, 46% believe that for the young (16-24-year-olds) investing in further education should be a top priority. Over two-fifths (45%) of UK executives believe that this age group needs to ensure they have a broad range of up to date skills.
Half of US executives and a similar number (49%) of UK respondents say that those aged between 25 and 50 need to make sure they have a broad range of up to date skills that can help them perform better.
More than half of US respondents and 48% of UK executives think more mature workers (51-75 year olds) should become adaptable and flexible team players.
Promethean's chief education officer Jim Wynn, said: "The findings of the EIU analysis confirm that training not only leads to increases in productivity and customer satisfaction, but at least a 20 percent jump in profits. Skills training is not just a growth issue, but a vital component for companies in surviving this recession. The challenge is that fewer employers are devoting adequate resources to training yet the benefits of training are hard to ignore.
"During this challenging time we are all making strides to combat unemployment so we must all recognize that training is a key component to stimulate growth and therefore an issue for employers, employees and the nation. Improving the quality of training starts with increasing collaboration and interactivity to support a more personalised training experience. As a result, we will see a boost in productivity, the strengthening of our businesses and benefits to the economy as a whole."
