Jenny does Business: Replacing Valuable Staff

Scenario:
Jenny runs a small business with five fulltime employees. Her most senior and seemingly happy, staff member Larry, has just been poached by your largest competitor, conveniently located across the street. Jenny’s four remaining staff members have various levels of ability with the newest recruit Danny showing the most promise within the business. She starts to panic because the likelihood of having someone trained to the same standard as Larry by the time he leaves, seems impossible.

Here are some questions Jenny needs to ask herself:

1. Do I have the talent available in-house to replace Larry?
If so, what training needs to be completed before Larry leaves?
If no, how am I going to go about employing a suitable candidate?
2. What happens if this situation arises again?
3. Do I have a suitable training plan in place to avoid a skill gap?

Jenny has a problem that needs to be resolved quickly. She is not on her own though, these are the problems faced by small businesses on a day to day basis.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu’s study, Aligned at the Top: Technology, Media & Telelecommunications Sector, shows that retaining critical talent is ranked the most important when dealing with the scope of management. Deloitte’s study also suggests that companies are most likely to find their most valuable employees from developing and training existing ones.

As seen with the scenario above and the views of the polled companies in the study, skill gaps in training and recruitment are the greatest challenges faced.

So what is Jenny to do?
Jenny decides that, in this situation, she is going to recruit someone new to replace Larry but is determined to not be placed in the same position again.
Jenny wants to make sure that all her existing and newly recruited staff members are adequately trained for

Jenny now just needs to find her new staff member and have a training plan in place to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
Stay tuned to see how she gets on……

Can You Keep A Secret?

There are many trade secrets that I’ve picked up in my 6 years as a trainer and if you promise not to tell, I’ll share some with you.

Secret number one is that there is more to training then standing in front of people and speaking!

To maximise peoples learning there are many things that a trainer needs to take into consideration, even down to dress code. One trainer I know told me of a time when she accidentally put odd shoes on, as expected this was quickly picked up by her delegates. Her argument was that they were both black and she was in a rush

This brings me on to secret number two. Preparation and planning. The training process starts long before the delegates walk through the training room door, with everything from the computers being set up, to having workbooks, refreshments and even checking the lighting and temperature in the room. Not to mention the research that will have happened to enable the trainer to run the course in the first place.

The reason I became a trainer was so I could help and support people gain new knowledge, skills and confidence in something that will benefit them, and there’s nothing better than watching the look on people’s faces as things suddenly click into place. No two days are the same even if it is the same course being delivered as the day before, and there is always an air of anticipation on what the day will bring.

Secret number three is that trainers have a ‘tool kit’ of experience, knowledge and ideas to help enhance the learning experience. You have to quickly read peoples body language and establish everyone’s learning styles so that they get the most from the session. Accelerated Learning techniques are also used-this doesn’t mean talking at twice the speed and rushing through things! It’s about how people learn and how the brain processes information. Smells, sweets, group exercises, toys and a variety of learning methods are all used to optimise the learning.

Secret number four is that training is not about teaching but about a fun, informative, supportive learning environment, the focus being on the learners and how they can get the best out of the day.

Truth be told training is pretty fun and in addition to the learning and support material that you get to take away you just may also find out the difference between a koosh ball and a tangle but Ssh that really is a secret.

I Wish I had that Job

A recent article on the BBC news website suggested that four in ten UK workers are thinking of quitting their jobs in the next year.

Why? What is it that makes us so unhappy in the workplace?
Is it the money? The travel in rush hour? That annoying guy who sits opposite you?
Instinctively, we all know we need to work to support ourselves and our families so we muddle through the week, the best way that we can.

It is human nature to always want something better than what we have – always trying to keep up with the Jones’ – but I think sometimes we need to look at what we currently have before we make the rash decision to jump ship.

We hear about “so-and-so” who works here and has this amazing job and often say “oooh, I wish I was them,” but the reality of it is, that a job will always be a job. In other words, we all need to work for our pay checks; there is no way to avoid it.

So maybe we should look at how we can improve our current working environment rather than automatically thinking that some new position you’ve heard about will ultimately be better.

Let’s discuss what it is about our jobs that we dislike so much. The aforementioned BBC article says that the main reasons for unrest in the workplace are:

• Unreasonable workloads
• Feeling underpaid
• Lack of career path

It is quite easy to blame the above entirely on poor management but this is insinuating that we have no control over our own futures. It is very easy to sit back and say, “There’s nothing I can do, it’s just the way things are.” Whatever happened to being proactive and taking the future in our own hands? Both management and employees alike need to look at ways to make everyone happy.

Here are some thoughts on the subject.

• There are always those daily tasks that take us longer than we would like; if we were adequately trained from the outset and provided with regular training workshops, we would be able to be productive throughout the day and hopefully minimise workloads.
  
• Help management to understand that although we may always put our gripes down to money; it is amazing how far a pat on the back goes.
  
• It is in our nature to learn so give us the chance to. This will not only help keep staff happy but it will benefit companies as well.
  

In short, there are small things that companies can do to keep great staff. Make them feel wanted by providing training options; the chance to learn and grow with the company. The best promotional tool a business has is its staff – keep them happy and they’ll do great things for you and everyone will want their job!