"We don't have time for training." Have you ever said that? Or maybe thought it? I have heard it more times than I can recall. And it is the most damaging of self-fulfilling statements. Your workplace, regardless of your industry or market, continues to change at a rapid pace. If you and your associates don't focus forward, then your customers will move on without you!
There are three things you can do today to train. First, ask each associate to identify one skill, one area of knowledge, or one prevailing attitude that they want to improve. Make sure they are specific. Second, give each of them fifteen minutes a day to step away from current work to focus on the training necessary to improve. It has to be daily not just once a week.
Third, have them identify a resource online where they can get that skill instruction, information about the knowledge they need, or insight on how to improve their attitude. There is an abundance of free online resources. Better yet, allocate $100 for them to purchase online resources. Tell them that in 30 days you will sit with them for half an hour and they will be expected to demonstrate how the training paid off. But I suspect you will recognize improvement long before that.
Be encouraged,
Barry
