CEO's Column, 3rd Quarter, 2011
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Chip Emery, CEO |
Investing in Your People…Why Bother?
Investing in your staff seems like a no-brainer. It’s logical, seems like it should pay back and every business consultant will tell you that’s the first place to put your precious cash. At first thought it seems easy and almost painless. So why aren’t you doing it? And doing it aggressively?
Well, first it requires you to think about what specifically you want to do. Second, it requires someone to set up the logistics. For example, a training class needs a trainer, materials, class room and a schedule commitment from your staff. It takes a lot of time to find and evaluate a trainer (outside consultant, webinar, seminar, inside staff; references, content, customized or standard, cost, availability, payoff). This is followed by the time it takes to coordinate everyone AND to follow up to ensure people actually attend. Then there’s the post class evaluation. Did you really get what you expected? Is it helping your people progress in their results—in their careers? How will you measure the impact? Is specific follow up activity required? Who will lead that and how will you ensure it gets done, effectively? And you cannot forget the time taken away from your staff to carry out their day jobs. There is potentially a huge lost opportunity cost or a drag on some administrative side of your business. WHY BOTHER????
Of course the reason to bother is obvious. Employees are your company. They make the business work. You have no business without them. They design, develop, produce, market, sell and support your products. They count and track your progress, they interface with the regulators and the auditors and they are routinely the only communication pipeline to your customers and suppliers. Even if you have all the great ideas, they are the ones who implement those ideas. If you are like most business owners, they are actually the source of all the great ideas. No employees, no business. Employees are your company.
So the next time an employee struggles a bit on something, think not about how incompetent they are but rather how you can help them improve. Leadership is more than directing and telling. It’s observing the developmental needs of your people and seeing to it that they get that development. Spend your personal time and money to arrange the training, find the seminar, contact a professional or subscribe to a trade journal for them. They will thank you for that in more ways than you will ever realize.
