Employee Development While The Pendulum Swings
A refusal of the offer is not the same as rejection. It is common that small businesses and some larger ones too, will refuse the offer or opportunity for employee training. Is employee development important for your organization?
Behind the scenes, quietly, the label is sweatshop. The organization that believes employees are a tool, and only a tool. They are a tool to push the button, drill the hole, and fill the box. Jobs like that still exist, but largely, they are rapidly being replaced by robotics.
Scaling
Most for-profit organizations are attempting to scale. They are trying to maximize value, ROI, and increase sales. The most fundamental underlying principle of scaling in a service economy driven by technology is, building knowledge.
General Managers, Presidents, and CEO’s alike have suggested to me that they don’t have time for training. The messages spreads, it goes to Human Resources, Engineering, and front line teams. The knowledge gain stops, stalls, and the organization temporarily stabilizes, right before the pendulum starts a backward swing.
Questions Drive Direction
Not so long ago a G.M. stated a rhetorical question, “When you have a chance to ship product and fulfill orders, or sit in training, what are you going to do?”
Perhaps we need to look at it through a different lens, with different questions.
- How did you become the G.M.? (Not sarcasm, sincerity.)
- What mattered most for you to become a supervisor, manager, or business owner?
- Who will you promote or seek to help advance the organization?
The questions are the tricky part because they answers will illustrate the future of the organization. Will the organization scale, or will it become another statistic of stop, stall, and temporarily stabilize?
Employee Development
Nothing will help the organization scale faster than employee development. Knowledge gain for those who seek it will guarantee a better future.
Information and knowledge are spreading more rapidly and easier than ever before. Perhaps the best part of all is that developed employees create other developed employees. Standards for work performance rise and so does the quality, customer service, and sales.
Employee development ensures that reputation, loyalty, and job satisfaction continue to rise. People on the outside want in and those on the inside want to stay.
Momentum is a hard thing to start, but it is also a hard thing to stop. Which way is the pendulum moving?
– DEG
Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.
