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Why Do You Need to Develop Your People?

Picture of Ryan Johnson

Help Wanted

Photo Credit: Tim Mossholder; Unsplash

You May Have a Problem

This is a common phrase heard in offices across the country. 

"No one ever taught me that." 

Have you heard this or something similar to your employees? 

If you have, then you have a personnel development problem that is costing your company valuable resources.

The Truth

Whether it's a new employee struggling to understand a complex process or a seasoned worker struggling with a new piece of software, the lack of personnel development can be a real problem for businesses, especially small to medium-sized businesses.

The truth is that many small businesses simply don't have the resources to provide comprehensive training programs. 

But without proper training and development, employees may struggle to keep up with the demands of their job, leading to decreased productivity and increased turnover.

Which will cost your company time and money!

So what can small to medium-sized businesses do to address this issue? 

Here are two suggestions. 

#1 - Create a culture of development.

Make it clear that life-long learning and development are priorities for your business.

Then, back that up by actually allocating time and a budget for your employees to learn how to be the best they can be. 

Now you may be thinking, "how can I do this in a way that doesn't cost too much money and even more non-productive time?"

Get Creative

Thanks to advances in technology, e-learning and training have become an affordable and time-effective way for small businesses to develop their employees that will make a big difference.

For example: 

  • Online Conferences & Courses 
  • Virtual 1:1 and Team Coaching
  • Online Business Forums and Communities

Then, if you do have more money and time to allocate. All these things can be done in-person or in hybrid options as well.

#2 Get practical with on-the-job training.

In my opinion, the most effective way to develop employees is to provide them with hands-on experiences that give direct calls to action in small bites. 

Then, provide a framework of accountability to implement what they have learned.

Whatever strategy or strategies you choose, be sure that they provide this key element. 

Practical Application.

Why?

Learning is great but if the knowledge is not applied or able to be replicated to others then your time and money is wasted.

Think about it.

Have you experienced this scenario before?  

You attend an all day webinar or a 2-3 day conference, either on-line or in-person, that did not have any practical steps to take. 

However, there was a lot of knowledge given and you heard a lot of applicable case studies and stories. 

In fact, it was more like “drinking from a fire house” that left you exhausted, with unclear next steps and no accountability to implement the information properly. 

Then, once you pulled out your notes the next day or week you could barely recognize them. 

How much information do you think you retained? 50, 25 or maybe even only 10%?

Don’t get me wrong webinars and conferences are great if they are not just created for presenting knowledge and building their brand to upsell you, but more importantly retaining and applying the knowledge.

This is Critical

Personnel development is critical to the success of small to medium-sized businesses. 

By prioritizing and investing in a culture of development businesses can ensure that their employees have the knowledge, skills and ability to execute what they have learned to personally succeed AND grow the company. 

This creates a win-win situation and people love working for someone who seeks out mutually beneficial situations.

Don't let the "no one ever taught me that" phrase become a common one in your workplace. 

Instead, empower your employees and start scaling your business to whatever level of sustainability you want!

Enjoy the process.

Grow more. Risk Less

 

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