Investing In the Generation of Tomorrow

I have covered the first pillar of VHR in my previous article. You can read it here: (Setting Us Apart…) This article is focused on our second pillar, which is Training.

If there is something I have done from day one since the founding of VHR, it has been to pass on knowledge so that everyone is equally equipped in dealing with day-to-day scenarios. I did this even when we were a two-man company. I believe in training so strongly that I even make sure our interns receive training!

You may be wondering, what is the point of training employees, especially if they decide to leave? I would counter that by saying, what if we don’t train our colleagues and staff but they stay on at the company? As a business owner, you lose out in that scenario because your employees won’t be as productive and your company will not be as efficient as it could be.

Learning Gets You Places

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – I am a firm believer of continuous learning. When I first started VHR, I took it upon myself to personally conduct the training. I use the method of role-playing to get my message across. By employing this method, I find that the retention rate of information increases threefold and through asking questions during role play, we get a lot done.

This is also known as the feedback loop and it entails being clear about objectives before the training begins and getting your staff to acknowledge if they have achieved those objectives at the end of the training. There are many benefits to the feedback loop, and I highly recommend looking into this method for better results.

I’ve engaged external trainers on a regular basis for VHRians. The external trainer I have on hand is a former general manager of a multi-national company. Very early on, we sat down together and I, rather painstakingly, passed on my training notes to him. The training is specifically customised to VHR and its business goals.

Our hard work paid off when, last November, a high-ranking client of ours came up to me and asked me how I trained my colleagues. I ended up signing a deal with them where I would train his whole Asian Pacific HR team. We taught the team how to conduct training, how a good HR recruiter pulls data from databases, how to bypass receptionists and so on.

It felt wonderful, to not only be recognised for our training, also to be asked to share it with a valued client and their whole HR team. A proud milestone, indeed.

The sad part is that most SMEs don’t believe in training, or if they do, it is not made a priority. I believe this needs to change if we want to progress as a productive and efficient society. 

Training the VHR Way

We were also one of the early adopters of Leaderonomics’ digital learning platforms - which is a portal where your staff members can access leadership training materials. In fact, the CEO of Leaderonomics’ himself was surprised to learn about us and were curious about why we wanted to adopt this.

Back in 2015, VHR started enforcing monthly KPIs for the digital platform. We would initiate breakfast sessions and assign a topic of discussion. For instance, we would all watch a video of an interview featuring a successful individual and discuss what we learn from it. These sessions helped us come together and forge a bond but we also had a chance to learn from other successful people. It helps us keep each other motivated, especially when we read about how they overcome those moments when they wanted to give up.

At VHR, meritocracy rules the day. Each and every one of our staffs are certified in personality assessments. Everyone here knows how to read human behaviour and how to profile and evaluate our candidates. For this, I flew in a trainer from overseas and even shut down operations to ensure that we got this training completed. Top performers at VHR are sent for external training that sometimes last more than two days.

Every new staff at VHR receives two weeks of training - one in their first week, another after a few weeks, and they also get guidance because our senior staffs are committed to teaching them. I find that this method appeals to the Gen-Y working crowd - while money is important to them, they also value continuous improvement at the workplace.

Be Willing To Hand Over The Reins

It has been proven that 70 percent effectiveness comes from on-the-job training. It is from real-life situations that one actually learns. As a boss, I have to be willing to give my employees a chance to learn, even though it may cost me. I will encourage those whom I believe are ready to go out and meet new clients. The worst case scenario is that the client will decline our services and that won’t kill me.

When I give my staff a job, I also give them feedback. I believe in letting the young take the lead.

A lot of SME bosses are very protective over their client base. I believe we at VHR have a bigger goal in mind. The way I see it, if I don’t let our staff try, how will the company grow to greater heights? My employees will always be under my shadow, and the company will only be this much if I hold everything to myself.

Training at VHR is meant to transform the quality of our consultants. In the HR world, your consultants can influence the job by up to 50 percent, and this is why they need to be well-trained and well-versed in all that we do.

I can tell you from experience that doing all this does take up a lot of time, but there is a reason why Training is the second pillar of VHR. It has brought tremendous results and helped to enhance and add value to VHR. Personally, I have also grown a lot because by sharing, I too, learn a lot.

The bottom line is, investing in your people pays off.