Employee Training on a Budget

Do you remember the story of David and Goliath? The moral of that story (if memory serves) is that you don’t have to be big to be effective. Small businesses can react to changes in the market much more swiftly than larger public companies (think motorboats

and ocean liners). A change in your market like a new competitor, a new technology, or a shift in customer demand, may require changes in your employees’ skills.

Training is one of the key tools a small business can use to help employees adapt. Even if your business does not have the budget or resources for elaborate training programs, you can still keep your employees competitive. Dig a little deeper into several common solutions to address in-house training and developmental needs; there are several methods that leverage external resources and won’t break your budget.

While training may seem like a large investment, consider the cost of losing— and having to replace—one good customer. Think of the damage one poor service experience can do to your reputation. Similarly, consider the lifetime value of retaining one key account or customer. It may pay for this training investment many times over.

Another way of increasing the return on investment is to send one person to a training program and have him or her share the training with others in the company upon their return. Creating that expectation will improve the results of the training experience for your initial participant and help embed learning when they begin to teach others on your staff. Adding some type of performance expectation into your performance management

system is another way to ensure everyone will learn and apply the skills (since they know you will be measuring and assessing them come appraisal time).

Informal Education

Given the continuing development and evolution of the Internet and, now, social networking, content is easier and easier to find. This is true for training and educational content, as well, making it easier to get creative with developing your own training programs.

Look for someone within your company who is particularly interested in professional growth or skilled at a specific competency your company needs to develop, and who has the capacity to take on a blended role or whose schedule is unpredictable, leaving them with downtime. Designate that person as your development watchdog, in-house training expert, or service guru.

You could even get crazy and give them a formal title! Assign them responsibilities they can turn to in their downtime or during seasonal lulls, like researching available options for your specific training and development needs; joining groups that serve your industry or employee profiles (engineering, sales, manufacturing, etc.); starting discussions online by asking questions related to your development needs; asking for complimentary resources; or finding other experts in fields related to your needs and asking if they’ll come speak to your employees. You would be surprised how many subject matter experts will jump at the chance to address a large group of potential clients.

Perhaps you set aside a certain amount of “growth-to-grow” time each week or month during which employees are expected to work on refining a particular skill or talent, say “closing sales” or “communicating with difficult clients” (we’re not talking about trying to turn a weakness into a strength; that is time poorly spent). Stagger the times among employees so as not to affect production.

Use part of weekly staff meetings to focus on developing a particular competency or skill as determined by you, the owner, or by your line managers, if you have any. Maybe January is Goal Setting and Planning Month, February is Customer Service Month. Any development would tie back to the company vision and mission and will support the specific goals of the employee’s job function and department’s objectives. These goals should be established and communicated before training begins. They should also be reflected in and by your performance management (appraisal) system. Take a baseline measurement prior to beginning a training initiative. This allows you to track progress and determine return on investment.There are numerous best-selling business books dedicated to all types of business competencies and sectors. Pick one each month or quarter and create an informal training around the concepts from the book. Get people involved regarding how to accomplish this.

One other simple way of identifying a training resource is to think of the companies you deal with (as a business owner and as a consumer) whose employees exhibit the types of skills and behavior you are looking for from your employees. Ask the manager or owner of the business you work with how they train their employees. Getting referrals to training vendors and resources from companies who demonstrate the level of performance you are seeking is a great way to pre-certify a training program or company. It should also lower the chances of a bad experience and increase return on investment.

Any informal system you set-up may require some sort of tracking of development hours to avoid abuse. Before embarking on any informal training, speak to your payroll provider about ways to address this issue.

Buy Off-the-Shelf

One of the simplest ways of addressing a personnel development issue is to send your employee(s) to a standard off-the-shelf training program offered by an established or proven training provider.