2 . Train and Develop Your Employees/Team
Many of the business owners I interviewed were very afraid to invest in training and developing their employees or building a team.
But even as they were expressing this fear, they were telling me that they think that having well-trained employees can possibly be included in their business solutions.
Huh!? A contradiction if ever there was one.
I am familiar with this problem because I have had several clients who felt that way as well. As a matter of fact, I had one client who said to me, “…you mad! Spend all this money in training people who will be leaving sooner rather than later?”
I really understand this. But my question back to him was: “what if you don’t train them and they remain in your business?”
Just as important as training and developing yourself, is training and developing your employees or team.
In my opinion and experience, even when you have only 2 employees, you need to be considering their development. You see, having well-trained employees is a great route to growing your business fast.
Furthermore, you might not be able to offer them the salary and compensation packages that a big business can. When you can’t , you can still create opportunities for on-the-job training, coaching and mentoring. These can prove to be far more valuable and attractive to your employees than money.
Here are some strategies you can use to develop your employees:
- Training – Training employees sends a powerful message that you value them and this serves as a serious retention strategy. In addition, trained employees will almost always make fewer mistakes and this will save you time and money. Of course, this is not without it challenges but the benefits far outweigh those challenges.
- Mentoring – when done right, is rewarding for you and your employees. As a small business owner, you would have acquired experience and experiences which are invaluable. You can use these to help your employees perform better on the job and in life generally.
- Coaching – It’s a process in which a business owner or manager helps an individual or a team to do the best job that they are capable of doing. It includes aspects of teaching and training, as well as observation and feedback.
In addition, coaching serves as an effective communication tool. It also leads to engaged employees and helps to let you know what employees need to improve. And if that’s not enough, it also enhances your performance as an employer and team leader.
If you’re really serious about selecting great business solutions for your business, then training and developing your employees must be one of them.
