Small businesses typically work under enormous financial strain. They are constantly required to examine their budgets to keep their operations afloat. In many cases, business owners interpret that to mean relying on inexpensive low-skill labour that requires workers to learn on the job.
The neglect of proper training and ongoing employee education can quickly become a limiting factor in a business’s ability to grow and provide quality services. Jobs that don’t offer appropriate professional development breed incompetence and quickly become dead-ends; this results in lower quality products and services, dissatisfied customers, low morale, and high employee turnover.
Invest in Employees to Stabilise Turnover
Businesses that already operate with a high level of employee turnover may feel that it’s hard to justify investing in training and educating new workers. Of course, the issue with this is that employees often leave precisely because of this lack of development.
Competence is Critical for Morale.
Workers who aren’t well trained learn by making mistakes, often in a relatively high-pressure environment. While you might tell a new employee that you expect errors, the lived experience of your new hire may not reflect this. Mistakes inevitably impact client relationships, which puts pressure on management. Often, that pressure lands squarely back on the hapless employee. That might look like a natural educational process, but it is also a punitive feedback mechanism that punishes employees for their employer’s failure.
The fear of making an error can quickly become a source of anxiety and stress. Not only is this unhealthy, but it can also lead to other undesirable outcomes, such as employees trying to hide incompetencies to protect themselves or simply quitting to escape the situation.
Education is Upward Mobility.
One of the few things that motivate people to put up with high-pressure situations is the prospect of future gain. Most often, that means professional development and advancement. Providing excellent training and ongoing professional education for employees has multiple compounding benefits. It can help reduce unnecessary stress and create a smoother working environment. It also gives them the skills they need to move ahead in their careers and a reason to accept stressors in their professional life in the longer term.
Use Improved Competencies to Drive Growth.
Of course, investing in excellent training to produce reliable, competent, and long-term employees isn’t just about being a good employer. It’s about driving growth. While some of these benefits come naturally due to your professional development programme, others need to be recognised and explicitly taken advantage of. Together, they can transform your business.
Improved Client Retention
The most apparent benefit of training employees is that their increased knowledge and expertise will result in better client outcomes. It will also improve client retention and reduce time spent trying to put out metaphorical fires. The time saved allows leaders to effectively lay the groundwork for future growth by devoting more of their focus on the future of the business instead of managing day to day operations.
Tap Your Employee’s Industry Expertise
As employees gain experience and skill, they will become industry experts in their own right. Their informed opinions and ideas can provide critical insights into potential avenues for disruption and growth. Keep lines of communication open between these employees and management so that you can access and leverage them as a resource. By doing this, you can vastly increase the variety of perspectives and professional backgrounds from which you draw ideas.
Market Your Employees
The investment you’ve made in your employees sets your business apart from competitors. Not only will you benefit from their advanced skills, but you will change how your customers and your industry view your business. Over time, some employees will secure their place as influencers in your industry; this is a marketable point of difference. Long-term team members can become powerful brand advocates in their own right.
By providing proper training and ongoing professional development, businesses lay the foundation for growth in the short and the long term. Education and the pursuit of a high level of competence for all team members are crucial for building a stable organisation and establishing your business as an industry leader.