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To grow your business, grow your people

Written by Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce | 21 Jan 2020

As a business owner, you know that your people are the heart of your company. They are your most valuable asset, and so it would follow that investing in your staff is a steadfast way to grow your business.

The business case for investing in the professional and personal growth of your staff is strong. The talent shortage means it’s difficult to find people already equipped with the right skills needed to grow your business. Besides, it’s more cost-effective to train your current employees than recruit new staff.

Plus, people crave opportunities for development and growth. So when you give them these opportunities they feel valued and become more engaged and more productive as a result. Studies have consistently proven a direct link between career development and job satisfaction, and people who are more satisfied at work perform better.

So how can you grow your people to grow your business?

Professional training

Professional training is the most obvious way to ensure you equip your staff with the right skills and capabilities to help your business achieve its goals. It may be time-consuming and expensive, but it will pay off in the long-term.

New skills learned through training could prove invaluable to your business. And the learning doesn’t just end with the individual who undertook the training, as the knowledge can be filtered down through your company.

No matter how skilled or competent your current employees are, it never pays to stop learning. In order to thrive, your people and your company need to be fuelled with the most up to date information and new trends. In the first instance, training may involve workshops or online courses. But staff can continue to further their knowledge and abilities by attending industry events, reading business books, or undertaking further training.

If your staff are given the appropriate training and encouraged to never stop learning, it can lead to great opportunities for your business.

Mentoring

Mentoring is another great way for employees to learn and gain encouragement in their work. When your employees have someone supporting and guiding them, they will be both better equipped and more driven to help your business reach the next level of success.

Mentorship can take many forms. You can partner junior team members with more experienced employees, or you could look to external mentors too. A different perspective from someone who has no vested interest in the organisation can be valuable.

Through mentorship, employees can be supported to achieve their true potential, and your business will thrive as a result.

Create a development plan

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to developing the individual members of your team. Your employees need a growth plan and goals that are aligned to their individual strengths, interests and experiences, as well as the overall business growth strategy.

Every employee has different goals they want to achieve and different ideas for how they want to achieve them. A development plan helps set your employees up to meet goals and provide a sense of achievement once they get there. If their own goals are aligned to your growth goals, then both your employees and your company will benefit.

Make staff accountable

If you want your staff to really drive your business to the next level, you need to give them the trust and responsibility to contribute. This means collaborating with them on how to grow the business and making them accountable for certain elements of it. There may be a particular skill they are interested in learning, like social media marketing or data analysis, that could help your business to grow. Let them take the lead and make them accountable. Showing trust will also make them feel more valued and more driven to achieve their true potential, which can only benefit your business.

The highest-performing companies are those that invest in their people. By offering opportunities for learning experiences, development and new challenges you can grow your people and push your growth goals.

People and skills are at the top of the agenda at Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce. Get in touch to find out how we can help you to grow your people to grow your business.

Bedfordshire Business Manifesto 2019/20

Topics: growth, people development

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