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If one ever needed the services of a neurosurgeon, computer programmer or financial planner, it would be automatically assumed that the person you chose was fully trained, had completed the necessary qualifications, and was licensed to provide you with the best possible service available. It would also be taken for granted that those same people continue to update their knowledge and skills to keep abreast of the latest developments in their respective fields of endeavour.

Sadly, these assumptions cannot be made when dealing with the majority of businesses.

Once again, reflecting back on the ‘people are our most important asset’ adage, we see the hollowness of this statement when it comes to staff training.

If people truly are an organisations most important asset, then how come so few businesses have people development as their number one priority.

No one was ever born a great leader, salesperson, or receptionist. They were all trained, every single one of them.

In the industrial age, it was possible to succeed in business by adopting a ‘best product’ or ‘best price’ strategy, but in the info-tech age, or the ‘age of the never satisfied customer’ as Regis McKenna calls it, service has taken over as the basis of competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Some business texts argue that systems, not people, hold the key to modern business success, however I strongly contest this point of view. My argument is that you can have the best systems in the world, but if you don’t have the best fully trained competent people to operate those systems, they will amount to very little.

In order to achieve success in this new era of business, it is not only vital that people are regarded as an organisations greatest asset, but it is essential that the necessary time and resources are allocated to train and develop people to their fullest potential.

The place to start is a full training needs analysis involving every member of staff, including the CEO. This analysis, when done properly, will identify the strengths and weaknesses of all personnel and enable a training schedule to be drawn up commencing with skills training in areas determined as high priority.

After training deficiencies have been taken care of, a regular training schedule can be established including computer software updates, time management, customer sales and service, teambuilding, stress management and so on.

It continues to amaze me how prevalent the ‘peter’ principle is in modern companies. This is where people are promoted to their level of incompetence. The number one reason for this is that businesses assume that once people reach a certain position in the company, there is no need for further training. As an example, people who have been successful in sales are often appointed to the position of sales manager, yet these people regularly have zero management or supervisory skills or training. Don’t fall into this trap.

If you want to ensure that your business either becomes, or is to remain a market leader, then make sure that people development and training is your number one priority.

Until next week, many happy customer returns!

Graham Harvey APS

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