News and Training Update

Diminishing budgets.....downturn in economy....downturn in profits?

10 Reasons to invest in your people .....now!

Budgets have been slashed... no further spending...everything on hold... is an all too familiar response to training requests and, as budgets tighten, it's one managers can expect to hear more often.

It's perfectly understandable that companies are looking to make cutbacks in the current economic climate. But rather than cut the development budget, employers should instead focus on making training pay. Training and development, just like any other area, must be able to demonstrate a healthy return on investment.

So some questions to ask yourself......

Are there any skills shortages?

What are you doing now to address this situation?

Are you in the process of recruiting new staff?

Do you have an effective recruitment and selection process?
How can you ensure you get the right people for the positions?

Will your people be expected to take on new tasks or new skills over the next 12 months?

Do they have the ability or skills to do this?
Do you have flexible working practices and are your people able to work in a multi-skilling way?

Do your managers carry out regular performance reviews to support any changes?

If there is a downturn in business do you know who your top performers are and who is key to the development of your business?
Do you have a comprehensive skills matrix for the key tasks within each department?
Do you have a succession plan in place if your key people move on?

What are you doing to support your existing customer base?

Are you in danger of losing your existing customer base to a competitor through lack of customer support and customer awareness?

Do you listen to your customers when they give you feedback on the levels of service they are getting?

Whilst the above are all questions - they are also the reasons why you should be investing in developing your Managers to:

Recruit the right people with the right skills and more importantly the right attitude for your company.
Take a proactive approach to developing their people
Know exactly what skills and abilities are crucial to your ongoing success
Have a training and development plan to ensure that if those skills are lost through staff turnover, others can step in and therefore not leave your company vulnerable
Actively support your existing customer base through customer first programmes
Know who should go and who should stay .....if reducing staff is necessary due to the downturn in business output .....and manage the process professionally, fairly and not leave your company vulnerable to employment tribunals.