As a small or medium business owner, you know that your employees are the key to your success. However, investing in their development and training can present some unique challenges and come with concerns.
As we are entering uncertain times, although it is debatable that this trend is already well started, it's important to re-evaluate our concerns and look past what's holding us back to evaluate the cost of inaction.
When facing a labor shortage, it becomes all the more important to become obsessed with optimizing the value we can create with the people we do have onboard at the moment.
Here are some common challenges that SMB owners face when it comes to employee development, and some tips for overcoming them:
- Cost: One of the biggest challenges of employee development is the cost. Training and development programs can be expensive, especially for small businesses with limited budgets. To overcome this challenge, consider implementing low-cost or even free training options, such as online courses or webinars. You can also try to negotiate discounts or bulk pricing with training providers. An alternative, low-cost/high-output, solution is to implement a lunch and learn/peer sharing culture within your business to leverage the expertise already available with your business.
- Time: Another common challenge is finding the time for employee development. Training and development can take employees away from their regular duties, which can be disruptive to your business operations. To overcome this challenge, consider implementing flexible training options that allow employees to learn at their own pace, such as e-learning courses or self-paced tutorials. You can also try to schedule training during slower periods to minimize the impact on your business operations. Business seasonalities are opportunities to ramp up your workforce skills, provided you plan this strategy ahead of time to block time so that it is easily actionnable when the ebbs and flows of operation cycles happen.
- Measuring success: It can be difficult to measure the success of employee development initiatives, which can make it hard to justify the investment to stakeholders. To overcome this challenge, consider setting clear goals and objectives for your training programs, and track the progress of your employees to see if they are meeting those goals. You can also ask for feedback from employees and managers to see if they are seeing the benefits of the training. Other than the operational KPIs, you can pay attention to the Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS), retention rate and/or Employee Lifetime Value (ELTV) as value metrics to support your argument
- Engaging employees: Another common challenge is engaging employees in training and development programs. Some employees may be resistant to change or may not see the value in investing in their own development. To overcome this challenge, consider making training and development a part of your company culture, and highlight the benefits of investing in employee development to your employees. If your employees are involved in the identification of the training objectives, they are less likely to push back said plan. You can also try to make training fun and interactive, to help engage employees and keep them motivated.
To maximize the output of every single training initiative you do, it is your responsibility as a business owner to make sure that training assets are created for every investment made in employee learning and development. What's good for your employees now will be just as good for the employee you plan to hire in a month from now. Building training asset over time is what creates momentum in your business and de-risk your operations.
Overall, investing in employee development and training can be challenging for small and medium businesses, but the benefits can be significant. By overcoming these challenges, you can help your employees grow and develop, which can improve the overall performance of your business.
