Ask Andi: We train for business growth, but it’s such a black hole! It’s becoming more challenging as we add people. The repetitiveness drains me. How can I impart the knowledge I don’t have?
Training for the business growth you need a solid strategy. Transitioning from center stage to training others is a 180-degree turn. People don’t make transitions that big on their own. However, unless the owner makes the change from doer to the manager, the business will eventually stall. Read on, and consider getting help.
Training for business growth
Business growth means it’s essential for employees and managers to build skills. The owner has to lead the way. Taking a page from sports, it’s worth noting that not every coach is an expert player. The best coaches, however, know how to get players to build skills and capacity to perform.
First, employees have to learn the job. Then learn how to do the job better than it’s ever been done before. Why? Because as employees improve skills, the company profits from increased efficiency. And the ability to perform.
Most privately-held businesses start out with the owner as an expert at, and doer of, just about everything. Everyone pitches in to help. Everyone looks to the owner for direction and advice about how to do their jobs.
As the company grows, business growth tasks become more specialized. People concentrate on areas matched to their skills and ability. Experts are trained, or brought in, to add scope. For example, a bookkeeper takes over accounting tasks. A new salesperson brings on more business. A production manager oversees operations.
Grow the business, increase revenue
The business owner, the doer of just about everything, steps back and lets people take over. The owner’s focus shifts to managing and orchestrating. This is a business growth strategy. The owner gets all of the moving parts of the company to work together smoothly while ensuring that the company is adding profitable clients, products, and services year in and year out.
No longer is the owner the expert at how tasks are done within the company. Individuals working for the owner become the experts. And their ability to contribute is limited by what they know, what they experience, and the amount they can handle – just as used to be the case for the owner.
The owner now has four key human resource development tasks to deal with. Identify when individuals are maxed out. Help individuals figure out what they need to learn next. Prioritize the list of tasks that need to be learned. Line up money for learning. Strategize business growth.
As an owner, you might assess an individual’s ability to learn by saying, “Let’s practice together. You teach me what you know. Show me what you’re learning.” Instead of competing to be “best”, the owner becomes a coach, holds people accountable for growing, guides progress, lets employees have the “win”, and builds employees’ confidence.
Strategic thinking is key
If certain tasks have to be taught over and over, assign people as skilled experts. Assing them to be the go-to people when employees need to train for specific jobs. Often the skilled go-to people are not the people managers. Teaching tasks is much different from managing people. However, the experts’ contribution to the whole of the company is just as great. Recognize experts as just as important as managers.
You, as the owner have to get freed up to plan out business growth. Step back and observe what parts of the business are working well. What parts need help, and what parts will need help in the future. Build an overall plan. Budget to ensure all parts of the organization are improving at the pace needed to hit short and long-term goals profitably. Owners oversee the plan’s rollout. Make adjustments along the way. Not sure how to do that? Get someone to teach you, before you become an obstacle to your business growth process.
