Disregarding the need for training and development

This is part five of our Newsletter series that has been focusing on the Seven Common Mistakes That Business Owners Make With Their People In the past four newsletters, we explored the following topics:

1. Making ill-fated hiring decisions
2. Maintaining single-handed control of all authority and decisions
3. Failing to manage employee performance
4. Neglecting to comply with legislation

Today we will examine the fifth of the common mistakes, which is when small to medium enterprise (SME) owners / managers:

Disregard the need for training and development

You know that change is inevitable. If you are running a successful business you anticipate and react to changes within technology, the market, customers, the economy, and your competitors. But have you considered that jobs and employees change as well?

Jobs evolve along with the other forces that shape your business. When work became computerized, jobs changed. After 9-1-1, jobs changed. As the economy changes so do jobs. If your business experiences a merger, downsizing, new competition, a product launch or a new customer, jobs change.

Employees change as well. The whole team may change because of some of the forces mentioned above. In addition, individuals go through changes driven by their personal circumstances, changing interests, values, needs, problems, etc. While employees are an asset of your company, they are not static inventory - they are living, breathing human beings that come with faults, problems, needs and capabilities that are limited to the knowledge they currently possess.

If you are not keeping your employees appropriately equipped to handle the changes in their lives and their jobs, you are not realizing the highest levels of performance in your organization. How do you keep your employees equipped? By training and developing them to prepare for change.

If you are a leader within an SME, it is your responsibility to develop people. At what point do you develop employees? Here are some examples:

• When they are new to the job (e.g., hired, promoted, transferred)
• When you merge with or are acquired by another organization
• When you merge with or are acquired by another organization
• When there are new challenges in the organization (e.g., product launch)
• When there are obstacles facing the organization that affect the job (e.g. new competition)
• When you have new policies, procedures (e.g., ISO), equipment, technology that require new skills
• When there are legislative (e.g., PIPEDA) or industry changes that affect the job
• When there is a performance or behaviour problem
• When you wish to "raise the bar" on some aspect of the job, department or company (e.g., improved customer service)
• When you would like to impact the employee culture
• When the employee has reached a plateau and development would allow them to move to the next level
• Anytime the employee's job changes
• When you are terminating the employee (e.g., career transition coaching)

We believe that development of employees should be an on-going process. Generally speaking, the more you invest in your employees, the more benefits you will accrue for your business.

There have been several studies showing that employees who receive on-going training and development are happier, more productive and more loyal. Many industry leaders offer a specific amount of training time per employee annually, not only to address the need for development but also to attract and retain employees. We already knew that training and development was strongly linked to improved employee and company performance. When these benefits are accompanied by the improved attraction and retention of good employees training becomes an irresistible tool for all employers, including SME's.

"The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership."
— Harvey S. Firestone