In times of plenty everyone has the scope to find a work opportunity that Improves their life.
In economic downturn some will fare better than others.
It’s gratifying that some who never took full advantage of their education time went on to become great achievers. What they have in common is motivation and a will to succeed. Often you will find they preferred sports to knowledge when at school.
They are the exception though.
For the rest of us we develop our level of skills through acquiring knowledge and then practising hard.
In general we get knowledge in two ways.
Either in our own pursuit of personal development or through our employer’s training.
In recent years I have found it discouraging to find many Companies do not recognise the value of Investing in staff or simply lose sight of it in favour of what they see as more compelling Issues that demand time.
The transfer of knowledge is vital for Companies stability and future.
Neglect it and you will soon be following your competitors rather than leading them.
Think of any outstanding professional footballer and you will find they stayed behind when everyone else had left to train to a higher level.
As a young salesman my Managing Director gave staff a tip.
To set aside reading time and absorb Information from a product specification or safety data sheet, picking out points that could be understood and explained better to add value.
The general opinion was that there were better ways to bore yourself to death!
I have always taken the view that an Idea from someone successful is worth checking out.
He was overwhelmingly right.
Many people hand out Important Information but have never read or understood it themselves. You look pretty stupid when asked to explain a point!
A problem exists though when an employer loses sight of the need to develop staff.
You see a common problem when someone leaves after ten years and no-one has any Idea how the job was done.
Succession planning is vital to a business but often nonexistent.
A question for senior managers might be “do you know how to do the job if it was needed?”
Thinking you have others who perform the daily tasks is not helpful when they are not there!
You get greater respect by asking your staff what methods they find best in accomplishing their tasks.
If you have staff that have no desire to learn more or get Involved you have a problem looming.
I recall years ago the frustration one of my salesman was causing departments in our business.
He was always asking questions, phoning in to clarify something and generally soaking up as much from people as he could.
He would ring in at the end of a day to check all his customers had received their promised delivery.
I was asked “to have a word”.
I understood that it was having an “effect” on others but my view was that the level of Involvement meant something.
This salesman wanted to learn, succeed and cared for his customers.
In truth he was just young!
We had “our word” and found a way to satisfy everyone.
Years later we laughed about it but he turned out to be the most successful of his group.
He had an appetite to learn and put things into practise.
The moral of the story is not to get frustrated with staff. Those who want to learn are a big asset.
That does not mean that those who are quieter are to be neglected.
Give them the environment, tools, training and encouragement and they will make a big Impact on the business.
Whatever other Investment you may reduce, neglect your staff development at great risk to the future.
Fully occupied, well trained staff do a high quality job and you get the best return on Investment by maximising their skills.
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