Is a bird in the hand always worth 2 in the bush?

“Better to have a bird in the hand than two in the bush.”

It’s a very wise saying but if that bird in the hand is rotting away at you, there should be no reason to keep it.

Unfortunately many owners unwittingly follow the “one hand, two bush” model to the detriment of their business.  This is none truer than in the industry we work in here at OI Group of Companies. Many companies we encounter already have systems or processes in place to handle such things as bookkeeping, payroll, and human resources.  What we often hear, though, is how much these owners struggle with their existing systems and find their time wasted on menial tasks.  However, when given the opportunity to try  something new that would elevate some of this pressure, they shy away, holding fast to the dying bird in their hand.

Don’t get me wrong.  I can sympathize with many of these companies.  When it comes to technology solutions, businesses often invest a lot of money into software and programs they expect to work.  It’s hard to walk away from all that has already been invested into a given system without any absolute insurance that a new system will be different.  Often, there really isn’t the time to spend relearning processes and screens and buttons and programs.  Then there’s the intrinsic trust factor.  The systems need to work flawlessly or there are legal and monetary consequences!

It can be daunting to face the possibility of change but staying with an existing setup that isn’t working can be just as dangerous and worrisome.  Critical information can be missed or slip through the cracks.  Opportunities can come and go without you as the business owner having the time or capacity. On top of it all, there’s just as many legal and monetary consequences for staying with older or broken systems.

Weighing risk vs benefit in these situations can be complicated for any company.  There are ways, however, to help you identify when it is time for you to consider another solution.

Calculate the “true” cost of your system

Often people give us a dollar value for their system which only relates to a program or software they have purchased.   It’s easy to measure an expense when it’s a direct payment such as this.  In most cases, this is far from the true cost.  Other factors should be taken into consideration:

• How much of your time are you spending on the system?
• How much of your time/effort is invested in fixing the system or training others on the system?
• How much of your employee’s time is invested in entering information into the system?
• How much of your employee’s role/job relate to the system?

Each of these can easily be given a dollar value by equating it to $/hour which will help in establishing some of the true costs of your current system.

Clearly identify the needs and gaps

Many business owners sense there is something wrong with  their system but haven’t taken the time to truly identify the issues with it.  That often leads to overspending and repeating the same issues and mistakes.  Some business owners get won over by a flashy salesman and are disappointed afterwards.

• Create a simple list of everything you can think of that you’d like to see in your system or process.  Make sure each thing you list is something that can be measured and not a soft aspect; e.g., Don’t use phrases like “Customer Support is prompt”.  Instead be definite, “You can be assured of a response from Customer Support within the business day on critical issues.”
• Decide which are “needs”, things that absolutely must exist for you to operate, and which are “wants”.  Try to limit your needs to no more than 10 items.
• Decide how important your “wants” are.  Can you live without some of them?
• As you explore systems, evaluate them honestly and against the “needs” first.  If a system doesn’t meet a particular need, don’t waste any more time on it.   Move on!

Don’t get rid of it all

Many people think that if they do away with one part, they must do away with the whole system or process.  In reality, many times you can still retain certain components that are working and get them integrated into better systems or processes.  By doing so and being able to reuse what is already working, you have a higher chance of future success which will help alleviate some of the concerns about wasting money.

Develop a transition plan

Without a doubt, if you decide to make any changes even within your existing systems, it’s good to have a solid transition plan.  A good transition plan is like a good story; it has a beginning, middle and end.  There are many great project management resources out there to help you plan this.  The basics are:

• Have clearly identified roles and responsibilities and real people assigned to tasks.
• Have a realistic timeline laid out
• Have clear goals and a vision of what the final product will look like
• Have contingency plans in the event something goes wrong

Letting go of the bird in the hand can definitely be a scary step for any business owner but often it’s a necessary step in order to allow the business to grow.

Have you considered making a change for your business?  Are you in the midst of such a change right now?  We’d love to hear from you if you’ve tried any of the above strategies and found them of help.  Just comment below.

You’ve recruited and hired an employee with an impressive background.  They’ve accomplished so much that their resume practically jumped out at you.  Then you get them on your team and things begin to fall apart.  Suddenly this superstar isn’t doing all the great things you expected.  You think it’s because they are new and it will take time for the team to adjust but time passes and nothing seems to improve.  Team morale is down and productivity is suffering.

Unfortunately, what’s often missed in most resumes and interviews is that most accomplishments are not done in isolation.  We ask the candidate questions like: What did you accomplish? What was your part in the project? How did you handle the situation?

All questions are viable interview techniques and need to be asked, but they all focuson the individual and disregard the environment in which it occurred.  A skilled hiring manager can understand and recognize this distinction and change accordingly to make the right matches between company and candidate.

Step 1: Consider your current environment

Before you start to look at the candidates, you need to have a solid understanding of the dynamics at play already in your existing environment.  The current situation may not be ideal but it’s obviously operating in some fashion that allows your business to continue.

Dynamics go beyond the dressed up HR terms you see on most job descriptions.  Your company is more than just a group of “strategic thinkers willing to be self-motivated”.  They are people, each with their own personalities, strengths and weaknesses. Being a hiring manager, you almost have to be a matchmaker in finding the personalities that will fit together and complement one another.

Step 2: Ask the right questions

Asking the right questions is key during an interview.  It is how you tell what is real and what is hype.  Beyond your normal list of questions,  consider asking the candidate questions that provide insight as to what environments they have worked in and what support helps them to excel.  The more aware a candidate is of their environment and what helps them to succeed, the more likely they will be able to adjust to your business.

Be cautious of the HR “buzz words”, the ones that candidates feel they need to throw around in order to appear more professional.  Instead, seek deeper to find their true styles.  You aren’t going to uncover their style in just one question, so be prepared with a series of questions.

Example:

• Describe the characteristics of your ideal boss
• How do those characteristics help you to succeed?
• Share an example where you’ve experienced this and which of your projects on your resume reflect this influence?

Try to look for situations where they may have dealt with situations or employees similar to your current staff.  Were they able to yield results with that group?    Did some of the personalities and characteristics of their co-workers help them to succeed?  These are all good indicators of the success that person will have within your environment.

Step 3: Establish the right onboarding techniques

As a small business, we have the luxury to uniquely address each of our employees. After you’ve hired the employee, devise an individual onboarding process that will help the candidate succeed.  Consider the information you received from the interview about their style.  If you can help the new employee establish a strong bond with another valuable member of your team immediately, it will help them become integrated with the staff more quickly.

Consider developing a sponsor program.  A sponsor is not a trainer.  Training still needs to occur with the most experienced staff in the area you wish the employee to work in.  Rather, a sponsor is a “friend” to help your new employee become oriented.  Based on many studies, employees who have a good friend at work tend to stay with the company longer and have better success.

If you can accomplish all 3 steps and perform them effectively, you will find it much easier to bring in new staff and have them performing at their peak in no time.  Struggling with your own HR issues?  Drop us a line and let us know how we can help here at OI Group.

Picture source: http://tapiture.com

So what do these two significant events have in common?

Well for starters, they both show the amazing possibilities we have to accomplish great feats that only a few years ago where things of science fiction. In the Olympics, people are breaking world records, running and swimming faster than ever before without relying on technology to accomplish it. And what fan of science fiction hasn’t imagined what it’s like to land on Mars.

But there’s an even deeper message here, one that is near and dear to this OI’s heart and philosophies. Simply put, none of this could have been accomplished without first seeking out the best and the right support.

When athletes step on the field, it isn’t just them standing there. Their accomplishments represent countless hours, sacrifices that parents and loved ones have made, and the right mix of coaches and trainers to make it all work together. There isn’t one set solution or formula for everyone. Each athlete, like each company, is different. There has to be a match between the different elements to work together properly.

Curiosity team cheering at the landing.

In business, the same philosophy applies. A good company that will grow and continue to succeed in times like these has to involve the right partnerships. These partnerships include both on-staff employees and contracted external support. Finding the right mix that works for your company takes time and experience. This experience can be your own trial and error or that of a firm, such as OI, with the expertise of working with many different companies.

Likewise, in order to land something like Curiosity on Mars, there needs to be a strong team of talented people behind the project. Each person on the team has a role and task to accomplish that makes the end result possible. There are a variety of tasks that are involved in landing a vehicle on Mars. Some of them we may never even hear about or realize.

In a well-functioning organization, even small ones, there has to be a strong team supporting it. Successful business owners know that it’s not cost effective to do everything themselves. The business is being paid for a particular expertise. Everything else that is needed to run the business is overhead. Owners have a choice to do it themselves, hire someone in house to handle the task, or hire a firm to handle it for them. Again, it boils down to a question of expertise, time and money.

So whether you’re going for gold or shooting for Mars… or running a company, make sure you have the right team on your side. Do you have the right team on your side?

These days there are so many worries about healthcare. It’s one of the largest issues on the news and may determine how people vote in the US election in November. Everywhere, it seems, work is becoming more stressful and we are suffering from health issues.

Laughter can help with many of these issues, but is there a place for it in business?

If done correctly, it can be of benefit. “…Chris Robert, assistant professor of management at the University of Missouri-Columbia’s Robert J. Trulaske Sr. College of Business, says joking around on the job can actually have a positive effect on productivity and employee retention.” [BusinessWeek]

Humor has always been a component of business. Sales and marketing have used it for years to help push product, however it’s rare to hear about humor in the office. During the late ’90’s, humor was cautiously used in the workplace. This was the era of litigation and many companies were afraid of the implications of a poorly placed or used joke. This was also the period where many companies were expanding into the international market. Humor didn’t always translate well into other cultures, therefore there was a great air of reserve when it came to humor outside of marketing ploys.

So what’s changed?

Well, we’ve begun to realize in human resource that the “human” aspect is very important if we are to succeed in business. A successful business isn’t just about engaging customers but also employees. Even for a small business, owners can’t ignore the need for human resource.

In particular, humor in the workplace can help:

• alleviate stress
• increase teamwork
• create an open atmosphere
• encourage sharing of ideas
• create a positive attitude

While having humor in the workplace is a positive influence. There are still some standards that should not be ignored:

Be willing to have humor in your work! Laugh and enjoy what you do.

• humor should never be directed at a person to demean or belittle them
• humor shouldn’t be a grab for attention or dominate the work
• be willing and open to laugh at yourself first and foremost
• accept that not all things are humorous to everyone and don’t force humor on anyone
• be true to yourself, people can tell when you’re faking humor

Using humor can be a positive influence in your business. Give it a shot!

If you need help with your human resource needs, sign up for our newsletter or give us a call and we’d be happy to assist you.

Even if you’re just a year old, your company has a history. Where did it come from? Why did it form? What guided you to this point in your life?

All these pieces of information help to not only make your company unique but will also give your company life. Sharing in the history of your company helps build stronger relationships with your current and potential clients.  Relationships are the key to any successful small to medium sized businesses.

It’s like having a conversation with someone about the weather. It may be intriguing at first but eventually the conversation runs dry. If, however, you explain the relationship you have with the topic, you build a stronger bond with the person and can find more common grounds to associate with. Maybe the weather led to how you meet your wife or your great-great grandfather was a rainmaker. Whatever it is, taking that topic to a more personal level and involving your history will make the conversation stronger.

Not only that, it makes you memorable. In business, people buy from those they can associate with and those they remember.

People also want to work for companies that they know and understand the history of. History helps to highlight what the company’s values and core beliefs and allow employees to relate. Everyone talks about involving employees in the ownership of the company.  One of the best ways to accomplish this is to have the employees relate to where the company came from. Have you ever seen the commercials where they bring on an employee to talk about why they work for a company and how the company personally impacts their lives? This is an effective way to make a product more than just a physical entity.

Too short to have a history?

Often we come across companies who say they haven’t been around long enough to have a history to tell. Even if your business has only been open for a day, there’s still a lot to be said about your company and worth sharing your history. That initial opening of your company realistically represents countless hours of planning and decisions that led up to that first day. Tell the story.

Building Your Company History

Building your company history is not hard to develop. Ask yourself questions such as:

• When did I first have the idea for the company?
• How did the company form?
• Why did the company form?
• What guided you to want to form this company?
• What is your background?
• What has happened to the company since its doors first opened?
• What are some major milestones or changes you’ve made that impacted your company?

When to Share your Company History

Sharing your company history can be done at almost any point in time. The most effective way, though, is to make sure that it reinforces the topic at hand. Relevance is the key to making this successful. For instance, if you’re talking about the weather, don’t spend time explaining how you put the floor together. That would be awkward.

Examples of where it makes sense:

Talk about why you created the company before introducing it.

Explain a milestone or event that helped to shape a value or philosophy in your company.

So next time you make a presentation about your company, take a moment to consider introducing your company history to make your relationship stronger. Stronger relationships equate to stronger sales.

As a member of this community, I find this news not surprising at all. Rather, some of the reports of “greypreneurs”, especially one of a man in his 70′s who said he had energy enough to start at least 3 more companies, are inspiring and not just for the greypreneurs out there.

In observing all these stories, it’s important to recognize the keys to their successes.  These keys can be applied to any age group of entrepreneur or business owner.

Leverage your pool

This is an old term but it still holds true today.  Each of us has acquaintances and we shouldn’t be afraid to reach out to them for help and assistance.  If you look at the most basic business plan, you will see there is a section specifically highlighting coaches and advisors.  Don’t be hesitant to grow this section and reach out to those you know to help you out.

Have passion for what you do

Many of these stories highlight how important it is to be passionate about what you do.    What’s even more interesting is that these people aren’t afraid of having changes in their passions.  It’s this fearlessness that helps them excel as entrepreneurs.

Solve a problem

Most of the successful entrepreneurs, be they grey or otherwise, are out there to solve problems.  If you can identify a problem which you are trying to solve with your business, you are more likely to succeed.  Clearly defining a problem helps make it easier to establish a clear customer target, a value statement, and a marketing plan.

Be community driven

One of the keys to success is to be truly and honestly giving.  Generosity these days goes a long way.  If you listen to any of the marketing gurus or business coaches out there, they will tell you to never be afraid to give your clients and potential clients the best possible solution… many times for free.  This giving nature and desire to truly drive a situation to be “win-win” helps build strong client bonds and ultimately long-term business strength.

Watch your cash flow

Many greypreneurs or seniorpreneurs talk about starting their companies on very lean budgets.  They didn’t run out to buy the latest gadgets or build their company too big before it was ready to handle it.  That all lead to better spending of their finances on what really mattered for the growth of the business and better financial stability for their company.

Know your strengths and hire out where you need it

The older generation is far less “ego-bound” in assuming they can take it all on.  They have learned that outsourcing and getting help for non-profitable functions, such as payroll and human resources, makes a lot of business sense.  That isn’t their expertise and they can benefit from spending more of their time on their strengths rather than struggle and squander their valuable time on things that don’t make them money.

Whatever your age, the overall trend is that more and more people are starting their own businesses.  We can learn a lot from their success.  If you’re looking for help with any of these areas, please feel free to contact us here at OI Group of Companies.  We look forward to working with you.

The reality is that most entrepreneurs and business owners work harder and longer than anyone else I know.  Be it personal ownership, duty, responsibility, a need for success; whatever the case may be, if you’ve created a business or own a business you know this is the truth.

Your success and the success of your business depends upon your work.   Even still, it is crucial to find balance in your life – what was termed in the HR world about a decade ago as “work-life balance”.   Now, before you throw your hands up and walk out on me saying that’s impossible, let me start by offering the notion that balance does not equate to equal.

During the early years of the “work-life balance” program, I worked with many managers who heard the word “balance” and suddenly envisioned things must be equal.  They argued on end with me that they couldn’t get everything done and still have the same amount of time/effort/energy to give to their regular life.

Let’s start on the right footing here and be clear that “balance” means:

… mental steadiness or emotional stability … [dictionary.com]

You need to have balance to avoid burnout or drive yourself up the wall.  It’s that quiet time, that moment that allows your mind and body to rest.  Have you ever experienced situations where you’re working hard to resolve a problem and no matter what you do you just can’t figure it out but then you take a walk or a step back and suddenly the answer comes to you?  That’s the reset that balance gives you… the ability to achieve more because your mind is clear.

Balance is different for every person and does change over time depending on what your needs are.

So how do you figure out what your balance is?  Try the following simple exercises.

Determine your balance

When I was working with managers to try to determine their work-life balance, I did a few exercises that really helped them gain focus.  They involved the following questions:

1. Think about a moment where you felt the most relaxed, what were you doing?
2. What is the first thing you look forward to doing when you get off work?
3. How do you celebrate a great accomplishment?
4. What one activity or event makes you feel like you’re on top of the world?

Avoid the guilt

One key point, I don’t emphasize people here.  Many people feel guilty that they are supposed to answer:  Spending time with their kids or spouse.

As much as I love both my husband and my children, the reality is they aren’t my balance.  They can participate with me in finding my balance but they aren’t the balance in and of itself.  For instance, I’m not the type of mother to grab a ball and suddenly go out and play soccer with my kids. In fact, that would probably cause me more stress and anxiety than work does.  Now, break out a movie or let me enjoy a deliciously cooked dinner and I’m in my element… both of which I can participate in with my family and still be perfectly happy.

For some people, balance may be solitary time or activities.  That’s perfectly okay.  Recognize it and allow yourself the freedom to spend that alone time.

Also be honest with yourself and conscious of your own emotions.  If you’re not feeling like you gain balance from doing your event/activity, take a moment to evaluate yourself again.  Perhaps there is some other activity that works better or perhaps it’s a feeling or an emotion you’re looking for that you are no longer achieving.

Balance can and does change over time depending on what is happening in your life and your interests.  Again, don’t feel guilty because you’ve changed or chosen another activity.  This is natural and most people need different influences at different points in their lives.

In fact, most people who do balancing effectively have several different balance activities they can rely upon.  Depending on the situation and what they need, they vary what they do and how much time they allot to each.

Making time for your balance

Now that you’ve identified your balance, it’s time to make an effort to achieve it.  Again, this is where I received a lot of resistance from my well-meaning managers.  Many challenged me saying:  “There’s not enough time/money/{insert limit} here to do my balance activity.”

So here are some tips to achieving your balance:

1. Schedule the time as you would any other important event in your day and try to avoid rescheduling or cancelling it.
2. Break it down into smaller chunks to make it possible to accomplish in the time you have.
3. Get creative with how you want to accomplish your balance.  For instance, if you like to travel but don’t always have the time, try local trips.  Join travel or adventure groups that can give you the feeling of excitement without having to go anywhere.
4. Talk about and share your interest.  For many of us, just the ability to share in our experiences with those around us helps us achieve that balance.

Good luck in finding your “balance”!

Engagement is also an important commodity when it comes to employees. If you can engage your employees, you will have an employee that is motivated and has ownership in all he or she does. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

What’s great is that the same techniques we use to increase engagement on social media can be the same that we use with employees.

Use images to inspire

In social media, video and images are some of the best ways to increase engagement. People just naturally respond more easily to visual influences so it should come as no surprise that visual images can help inspire your employees.

Make the images strong and striking. Pay attention to which images seem to attract the most attention in the office and try to re use that idea in future campaigns.

Individual recognition

In social media, it’s important to acknowledge every person who comes through. Taking a moment just to say hi or respond to their questions can make all the difference in keeping that audience.

As an employee, it can be very intimidating to step forward and make any comments yet it is this very nature of sharing comments that will help employees feel more ownership that they belong in the company. Make sure to take a moment to thank an employee for stepping forward and truly listen to what they have to say.

Sincerity and personality

In social media, it is important to be sincere to our audience and be true to who we are as a person. People on social media don’t want to be sold to all the time. They want to be entertained and connect with other real people. The quickest way to turn people off is to spend all your time trying to sell them your product.

For an employee, it is important to them to know that you’re a real person. Sharing some of your interests and life events helps to make you into more of a real person to them. It allows you to connect with them beyond just work. It is through that connection you can really inspire both yourself and your employee to do great work.

Rewards

Thanks to the world of extreme couponing, people go online a lot to get special rewards and benefits. In some cases, like foursquare, people are rewarded for continued use. In other cases, rewards aren’t even monetary related. Some are as simple as just having recognition or special images known as badges. What holds true is, the more unique the reward, the more interesting it is for people.

Creating unique rewards for the office can really help to motivate employees.

Celebrate important moments

In social media, people love to participate in a celebration. Some of the most common posts that go on social media sites are related to holidays, birthdays and congratulations on special events. It is just a part of our nature to want to celebrate special events in our lives.

Find reasons to celebrate in the office. Don’t just wait for the big results, celebrate smaller milestones as well. Celebrations don’t have to be lavish or extreme and should definitely fit with the level of the event.

Don’t just think of engagement as something you need to do for your social media efforts. Create a culture that engages everyone involved in your business, from employees to clients, and you will be rewarded with a business that practically runs itself.

In a recent Oscar nominated film, Moneyball, a national baseball team, Oakland A’s, faced losing 3 of their top seated players right after they were inches from winning the World Series.  What made matters worse is that they didn’t have the budget to attract the same caliber star back to their roster.

Scene with Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) working with scouts trying to fill in the 3 vacant positions on his team. - © Sony Pictures

These days, many companies are in this same Moneyball situation. It can be extremely painful coupled with the loss of a top performing employee.  Budgets and money are tight and it isn’t always easy to find all the same skillsets the departing employee had.

Even if you’re not a baseball fan, the concept of Moneyball provides a lot of insight as to how to handle losing your key employees.

Identify the right problem

During the movie, the main character, Billy Beane, went around the table asking each of the other scouts what they thought the problem was that they were trying to fix.  Each one answered the loss of 3 top performing players.

However, based on Billy Beane’s assessment, they were all wrong.  They were trying to deal with the situation as if the Oakland A’s were a big ball team that could simply replace like for like.  The reality is that no matter how hard they looked, they were bound by very tight constraints which limited their options.  If they were to succeed, they had to think within the boundaries they had and not simply dismiss the obvious limitations of the club.

Normally to solve a problem, we brainstorm to find possible solutions. This is a good start to get our minds’ thinking.  Business, however, is not free.  If we don’t inject reality into the equation and identify what our limitations are as well, we will always come up with solutionss that we cannot obtain.

Identify the right desired outcome

It is critical that the right issues are identified or we may find ourself running off on a wild goose chase.  During the movie, the scouts were operating on the premise that they had to find replacements for each individual player they lost in order to build the team back up.

The mindset difference that changed the game for them was to look instead at the desired outcome as an entity.  It isn’t about the individual player but rather how the team does overall.  In baseball, that equates to how many runs they achieve which starts with how many times they get to each of the bases.

In business, if we start by looking at the desired outcome, aka our goals, rather than the individual skillsets we’re losing, we open ourselves up to more possibilities and more solutions that will fit within our constraints.  For instance, if we lose our top salesperson, we don’t necessarily have to go out and find another top salesperson to replace hime/her.  The desired outcome isn’t to get a top salesperson; the desired outcome is to sell the same amount of product to maintain current profit margins.  You can see from this example that the solution may be a person with a completely different skillset that can help our business accomplish the same goals.  It may not even be a physical person.

Identify the right required skills

During the movie, one of the biggest objections to the players selected was that none had experience covering a particular position on the field – namely first base.  However, being able to play a particular position is a matter of training, not necessarily skill.  Given the right coaching and support, someone else might be able to fill in the position.  At the same time, there are some skillsets, such as being an effective pitcher that have to be present for someone to even attempt to fill the role.

In business, we often confuse skills that are trainable versus those that are inherent.  We may be stuck in seeing only one way to perform a particular task.  This leads us to overlook those we have internally who can be trained to have the desired skills we need.  Training someone who already fits with our culture, who is interested and desires to learn something new can be very advantageous to the organization and a lot more cost effective than bringing onboard a whole new employee.

If we do have to hire a person, by focusing on the right skillsets, we open ourselves up to more candidates and potentially better salary ranges.

So there you have it, from a simple movie about changing the face of baseball comes a great canvas on how to approach hirning.  It all involves spending time to correctly identify the right problem, outcome, and skills.

Looking for more tips? Make sure to sign up and you’ll receive details on the “Six (6) Steps to Successful Employee Management”.

You may also be interested in several of our articles relating to:

• How to Set SMART goals
• How to Make an Employee Training Program Profitable

Business Case

Beyond a doubt, employee training programs are critical for every sized business.  They can help in all aspects of the company and have a positive impact on the bottom line.

Recruiting.  Companies who can demonstrate a functioning training program to potential candidates often receive better quality applicants.  In many cases, the existence of a training program has often been one of the determining factors in job acceptance.

Speed up new employee productivity.  The sooner you can train a new employee, the sooner they will be able to start generating you revenue.  Having a clearly laid onboarding program will help a new employee gain productivity faster.

Employee retention.  On exit surveys, many employees leave their existing company because of a lack of growth opportunity.  The last thing you want is your high performing employees to feel stifled.  By continually providing training opportunities, you have a better chance at retaining these important members of your team.

Uncover efficiencies.  Technology and industries are making improvements every day.  There are always new opportunities and ideas on how to handle every aspect of your company.  Taking the time to explore these opportunities can lead to efficiencies and savings.

Continual process improvements.  Undoubtedly, as work progresses, employees will find different ways to handle the same jobs.  Some methods may be useful to share with everyone and improve performance overall.  Without having a training program to evaluate, share and unify these methods, they may be at a loss and you will lose a valuable opportunity to grow your business.

Explore new revenue outlets.  Training is an opportunity to extend your revenue pool.  Depending on the situation, it may give you new ideas and opportunities for your product and expose your company to others you might not have met otherwise.  There’s nothing better at opening doors to new leads than having a shared experience together.

Key Components to an Effective Training Program

In order for your employee training program to be effective, it should contain a few key components:

Assessment of need

Before you begin any training program, you should make the effort to assess where your employees are at and what do they need.  This type of assessment should occur annually as you plan out your budget for training for the year.  Without proper targeting, you may not be spending time, money, and effort in the most valuable places.

Structured and unstructured

An unstructured training program is normally what happens through coaching, mentoring, and shadowing.  Structured training is more formal with trainers and external input.  A balanced training program should have both structured and unstructured portions.

Tracking

Training needs to be recorded and documented with clear objectives.  While this can be somewhat of an administrative overhead, it will make it easier to track and save potential retraining costs in the future.  One of the best ways to track training is to tie it into your yearly employee evaluations.

Measureable goals and objectives

Any good training program should have a measurable component to help evaluate the effectiveness of the training.  Without clear goals and objectives, it will be difficult to evaluate the usefulness of the training.

Regularly schedule training

If you schedule training into your regular routine, it will become a natural and part of the company culture.  In addition, it will be less likely to be forgotten or dismissed.

Training for all… including YOU

Often times business owners forget to spend time training themselves.  It is important that you as the leader of your organization continue to grow as well.

Employee training cost saving ideas

The cost of training obviously varies depending upon what type and where, however, these days there are many opportunities to receive training that are both cost and time effective.  Here are some options to consider:

• Participate online.  Because of the rising cost of travel, many programs now offer an online component or are conducted completely online.  While it doesn’t replace human interaction, it can be a more cost-effective means to get some training in.  With online training, however, the value earned may be less than what may have been achieved in live person.
• Cross-train internally.  Many times people within your organization have skills that others do not.  Take that opportunity to allow your employees to do formal training sessions.  It not only cuts down on the cost but also promotes teamwork and personal development.
• Free local opportunities.  If you’re part of any local Chamber of Commerce, chances are they are conducting free or low cost training on a variety of topics.  Participating in these can be a great opportunity to meet other local business owners and open new opportunities for growth in your business.
• Share the cost.  Often times, trainers are willing to come in and train a group of people at the same time.  This is a great opportunity to get training done for your whole organization at once.  If you’re not a very large company, you can also use that opportunity to partner with another local company and perhaps the two (or more) of you can share the expense.

Spending the time, money and effort on Employee Training Programs just makes good business sense.  Coupled with a system like our Virtual Human Resource Database component of the Paperless Office, you can gain the most out of your training program.  If you need assistance, give us a call or email us at the OI Group of Companies and we will be happy to work with you on to accomplish an effective employee training program.