There is a huge advantage in investing in your managers and employees at any time and now is a unique opportunity for you to be one of the companies that comes blasting back from the pandemic like a missile shot.
But this is an opportunity will end and it’s one that won’t come again soon…we hope.
Consider this: What makes the difference between an okay team of workers and a phenomenal team of workers? The answer isn’t just good salaries or benefits. It ties into leadership, but it doesn’t rely on leadership alone.
The true differentiator between adequate teams and phenomenal ones is simply this: training that improves the company’s growth engine, that is, its people.
The importance of training can’t be denied in sports and that holds just as true for businesses. Whether you run a small business with a few employees or need to manage hundreds of people, training managers and employees is important.
Some companies make the mistake of assuming that once they hire someone and go through their onboarding process that training is done. The truth is that training should never end when you’re at work.
Delegate and Prioritize Effectively
One of the most difficult parts of being a manager is learning the right way to delegate work and prioritize all the things that need their attention. The same thing is true for non-management employees. Delegation and prioritization cannot be done without understanding how to proceed using proven strategies that avoid problems.
The business world is constantly changing. Deadlines and milestones that were important yesterday can easily get pushed to the side for more important work today.
If you have a manager that doesn’t understand how to put the most important work first, you’ll eventually see your projects fall to the wayside, team productivity will fall, and problems will remain problems.
The inability to prioritize tasks can kill effectiveness, but not knowing the right way to delegate tasks can have even worse results for businesses.
Some managers may give too many tasks to their best employees assuming they can handle the load, then find that their all-star players are completely burnt out. Also, giving tasks to the wrong people can lead to even bigger issues. There is a right way to delegate and assign tasks and then there is the “other way.” One will lead to high morale, motivation, and effectiveness while the other will result in frustration and poor productivity.
Once managers know how to distribute work and give priority to the most important tasks, work becomes predictable, less hectic and employees and manager are engaged, productive, and happy.
Keep Groups Cohesive and Strong
Managing people is more than just making sure work gets done. If you want to be an effective manager, you need to know how to build and lead a strong team that routinely works well together and supports other teams.
Teamwork is the true reason why management is important. Well trained managers who can keep people working toward the same goal at any time is essential; in times of uncertainty and stress, it’s crucial.
Improperly trained managers typically do not know how to handle conflict between employees and may not notice signs of trouble. If a manager can’t keep everyone working well together, eventually work and communication will break down among team members resulting in lower productivity.
Make Sure Employees Feel Valued
Employees that feel undervalued won’t stay at your company for long.
In fact, when most employees list why they want to leave an organization, feeling undervalued is one of the most frequent reasons mentioned. Part of the value equation is also giving them good managers who know how to lead people. Employees will leave a company over a bad manager quicker than they will from being underpaid.
A good manager can help get work done and give their employees a pat on the back while they do it. They know how to reward and acknowledge good behavior, and to listen to others when feedback is given.
Training your managers to make sure employees feel valued can do a lot to help your business, starting with lower turnover and reducing the cost of hiring and training replacements.
Also, your employees will be much happier at work. Their happiness can help drastically improve their performance and may lead to some good reviews and referrals on hiring sites like glassdoor.com when you’re hiring.
Since their performance will be improved, they can produce at a higher level of excellence. Better performance means happy clients and customers, and that can turn into repeat business and more sales for you.
Upskill Valuable Employees
Almost everyone you hire does their best to do a good job at work, but there are some people who always consistently outrank and outwork some of their peers.
woman watching webinar online on computer, business education concept, coaching
You probably have one or more superstar employees that you know you can rely on to produce great work and help others when needed. With the right training, you can make sure that your great employees move up through the ranks and stay with you for years to come.
We talked before about certain reasons why an employee may leave a company. Feeling undervalued can cause employees to look elsewhere, but so can feeling like they have no place to progress.
Career growth is important to employees at every organization. If your high performing employees feel like they’ll be stuck in their current role for a while, they may move on to places where it seems like growth is possible.
When you provide training for employees, you’re giving them a chance to develop professionally. They can learn important new skills and start doing high-value work that can prepare them for the next level of responsibility and advancement in your company.
Build a Great Team
Hiring the right person for the job isn’t just as simple as ticking off boxes in a job description. In order to truly make a good hire, you need to understand what would work best for your team.
Managers that are properly trained to do their jobs and lead their teams will have no problem recognizing a potentially good hire when they see one. Neither will their team.
If they know that their team works best independently, they won’t hire someone that needs to be constantly told what to do. Managers that know that their team is weak in one aspect will do their best to find someone that can fill in that missing gap.
Here is a great hiring tip: Let the team members the prospective hire will work with talk with the candidate. They’ll spot problems you might miss, so listen to their feedback before you hire.
Learn to Lead in All Situations
There are some companies that thought that they would never allow their employees to work remotely. [quotesright]Much of what we once held as true is now an outdated way of thinking; as we get through this current crisis, we will discover that the pandemic has changed how America works forever. [/quotesright]
It’s true that remote work may not be for your company, but sometimes situations will arise where remote work may be the only way to keep things running.
Before the pandemic, either due to weather events, physical location problems, or other issues, some companies have had to convert their workforce to being entirely remote overnight. And it’s clear to see that some businesses are handling abrupt changes better than others.
Some businesses may already be accustomed to using remote access tools to work with their employees. However, it’s important to note that it’s not the technology, but proper management that really holds remote working teams together.
Learning how to manage, whether you’re in the office or working remotely, is an important and trainable skill that all managers should learn.
Training your managers to learn how to check-in with employees in a timely manner when you can’t walk to their desks is important. Knowing the right way to coordinate a meeting between clients and employees in different locations is crucial.
Giving your managers the right tools to manage their employees, and training employees on proper work from home procedures can save your business a lot of time and money. Working remotely efficiently and effectively is a skill all can learn but it’s not always one that all employees will have unless you invest in developing the proper skills and attitude.
Bring Coaching to the Workplace
One of the worst things for a boss to do is to assume that all they have to do is give orders and everything else will work itself out.
Bosses must learn how to be leaders that develop and support their employees along the way. A good boss should think of themselves as a coach, not just a leader.
Coaches are good at telling players what to do and how to arrange them on a field, but they also know what they need to do to help their players be their best along the way. They run drills, schedule practice sessions, watch and give tips and pointers, and ensure that everyone on their team has what they need to succeed.
Managers who take a coaching approach to managing their team will have better outcomes. Employees feel more involved in all aspects of work and less isolated on their own projects. They’ll know that management cares about their needs and will do what they can to ensure that they succeed.
If the manager cares, the employee will reciprocate and care too. If the team is strong, the individual will support and cheer for their team and produce at their highest level. Of course, if the manager doesn’t care, the opposite is also true…
Treat Adults Like Adults
It’s important to remember that everyone you work with is an adult. They don’t need to be told to do basic things; being constantly reminded of small tasks that need to be done can grate on their nerves.
When you’re new to management, checking in on employees can get dangerously close to micromanaging them.
Micromanagers are bad for companies. They undermine competent employees, make people feel undervalued and untrusted, and can hold up important work by focusing on small details.
Training your managers on the right way to interact with and manage employees can avoid micromanagement and other even more toxic behaviors. Managers will be able to focus on the big picture, helping facilitate their team’s work so employees can spend their time being happy and productive.
Grow Your Business the Right Way
The importance of training at businesses should be clear. It provides better outcomes for employees, management, and even your clients and customers.
Training is only one way you can see the growth you want in your business. There are a lot more owners and managers can do to improve things.