As an entrepreneur, I’ve always cringed at the cost of training and developing staff. During a hiring process, I used to get so frustrated when I couldn’t find a candidate who already knew how to do a job exactly the way I needed it done. Finally I learned the incredible value of staff training and development. Yes, it costs money to train employees, and some of those folks will leave your company, costing you (potentially) thousands of dollars… But the consequences of not training staff in your policies, procedures, and company culture will have long lasting impacts on the future productivity of your workforce and profitability of your enterprise.
Before I started exclusively doing fractional CFO engagements, I held the COO and CFO positions for a retail company with 6 locations. Not long after starting the job, I noticed our staff was made up of about 50+ full-time and part-time employees. The next thing I noticed was that we had hired over 700 people in the prior twelve months. In short, we had a turnover rate in excess of 100% each month! After discussing this with the owner, I embarked on a recruitment and training program… which I had never done before. Six months later, our turnover rate had been cut by 80%… Not only that, but the same year was the most profitable in company history. Employment costs dropped in total, but we were able to pay each team member higher wages.
Companies that don’t compensate their staff generously pay a tax for their shortsightedness.
This article from the Society for Human Resource Management goes into detail about creating and maintaining a staff training and development program. Even the most seemingly common sense conversations with your staff can pay dividends. Fifteen minutes a day or 30 minutes a week will soon make big impacts in the performance of a company, whether you’re looking to decrease turnover or drive profit.
For more reading recommendations, or to discuss other entrepreneurial maladies, contact Harvard Grace Corporation at stewart.heath@harvardgrace.com.